The present invention relates to a controller effectively controlling the power for a washing machine and a drier, and a method of doing the same. More particularly, it relates to a controller for a washing machine or a dryer, and a method for supplying the power so that a washing machine and a drier as a one body may perform an optimal efficiency in a range of a current limit, when supplied the power by the same power source. A controller for a washing machine comprising a micom; and communication means for communicating with a controller of a dryer. A controller for a dryer comprising a micom; and communication means for communicating with the controller of the washing machine.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a controller effectively controlling the power for a washing machine or a drier, and a method of doing the same, and more particularly, to a controller for a washing machine or a dryer, and a method for supplying the power so that a washing machine and a drier as a one body may perform an optimal efficiency in a range of a current limit, when supplied the power by the same power source.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a related art device combining a washing machine and a dryer.
As sown in FIG. 1, a washing machine 10 and a dryer 20 are included. At a top of the washing machine 10 are formed a display part 11 for displaying operation of the washing machine and an opening part 12 for having the laundry loaded therein or vice versa. At a top of the dryer are formed a display part 21 for displaying operation of the dryer 20 and an opening part 22 for having the laundry loaded therein or vice versa.
In general, every electric home appliance has an optimal performance current for performing the optimal efficiency. There are some cases of not supplying an optimal performance current due to other reasons, and that is caused by a current limit.
The current limit is an electric current value limited for securing the customer, preventing a fire caused by overheating an electric home appliance, and an accident of an electric shock caused by electric leakage due to overflowing currents in the electric home appliances. A designer of an electric home appliance should set an optimal performance current in a range of a current limit value. Especially, the sum total of the whole currents for an electric home appliance combining more than two products should not exceed the current limit, even in case that the more than two machines are put into operation at the same time.
For example, under the regulations a current limit of an average American house should not exceed 15 amps (A), and in that case, the sum total of a current consumption for the electric home appliance should not exceed 15 amps.
For example, when designing a device combining a washing machine and a dryer, the current consumption in case of putting the washing machine and the dryer into operation at the same time should meet the current limit. Thus, each electric home appliance has an optimal performance current, and since the security of the customers has to be put into consideration, the device should be designed to find an optimum level between its optimal performance current and the current limit and to perform the optimal efficiency within the range.
Generally, the optimal performance current is determined by independent operation of each product. If more than two products are operated at the same time and the current value satisfying each optimal performance current of the products is provided, the current value would exceed the current limits of the products. Also, even in case that each product is not operated at the same time to satisfy the current limit values of each product, an amount of currents is reduced in advance, preparing against the case of operating the products simultaneously. Thereby permanent current loss may be cased as shown in FIG. 2.
Referring to FIG. 2, a method of supplying the power for the related art washing machine and dryer will be described.
A product 1 (a washing machine) and a product 2 (a dryer) drive by means of lower currents 32 and 42 than each optimal performance current thereof 33 and 43, even when the product 1 and 2 are operated separately. That is, even when either of the two products is operated, the two products are designed to drive by the regularly lower currents 32 and 42 than the optimal performance currents 33 and 43 for being prepared against the case of operating the two products simultaneously. Thus, the following problem may be caused. Since the current loss 31 and 41 of the products are expected in advance, neither of the two products may perform its optimal efficiency although either of the products is operated.

Controller effectively controlling the power for a washing machine or a dryer, and a method for doing the same


There is provided an ice making method capable of reducing the required number of gyrations of a gyration member used for making ice to have a high level of transparency and determining a point in time at which ice is to be released. The ice making method for making highly transparent ice by revolving a gyration member provided in a tray member in which water is put such that a plurality of dipping members, on which ice is generated or from which generated ice is released, are immersed, wherein a method for driving the gyration member in making ice to be supplied to a user and a method for driving the gyration member in making ice to be used for generating cold water are different in order to reduce the number of gyrations of the gyration member.

An ice maker IM shown in FIG. 1 is designed to make ice I, and such an ice maker IM is provided in a water purifier, a refrigerator, or the like.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the ice maker IM includes an evaporator E in which cold refrigerant or a hot refrigerant flows in a refrigerating cycle (not shown). Also, a plurality of dipping members D are connected to the evaporator E, and a cold refrigerant or a hot refrigerant may flow in the dipping members D. A tray member T is also provided in the ice maker IM. Water is maintained in the tray member T, and the plurality of dipping members D are immersed in water in the tray member T. Accordingly, with the plurality of dipping members D immersed in the tray member T, when a cold refrigerant flows in the dipping members D, ice I is generated on the dipping members D. After ice I is generated on the dipping members D, when a hot refrigerant flows in the dipping members D, the ice I generated on the dipping members D is separated from the dipping members D. Namely, the ice I is released.
Recently, demand for highly transparent ice is increasing. To this end, in order to make highly transparent ice, an ice making method for making highly transparent ice by using an ultrasonic generator, and the like, is used.
In order to make highly transparent ice, a gyration member C provided to gyrate periodically in the tray member T as shown in FIG. 1 may be used. With water in the tray member T, when the gyration member C periodically gyrates, waves are generated in the water in the tray member T, and accordingly, a bubble layer cannot be grown in ice I when the ice I is generated on the dipping members D. Thus, highly transparent ice I can be generated on the dipping members D.
Besides the generation of the highly transparent ice I, the gyration member C may also be used to detect whether or not the formation of ice I generated on the dipping members D has reached an intended level along with a sensor S in order to determine a point in time at which the ice I is to be released.
Meanwhile, the ice maker IM may make ice I for generating cold water, as well as the ice I to be supplied to a user. Namely, the ice maker IM may make ice I to be supplied to a cold water tank (not shown) so as to cool water stored in the cold water tank and make or generate cold water.
In the related art ice making method, the ice I for generating cold water is also made to have a high level of transparency, like the ice I to be supplied to the user. This causes a problem in which the number of gyrations of the gyration member C is accordingly increased. Besides, as mentioned above, the gyration member C is required to gyrate periodically to detect whether or not the formation of ice has reached the intended level in order to determine a point in time at which the ice I is to be released. As a result, the number of gyrations of the gyration member C increases significantly.
When the number of gyrations of the gyration member C increases, a large load may be applied to the gyration member C or to a magnetic force generation member Me such as an electromagnet, or the like, used to drive the gyration member C, or the sensor S used to detect whether or not the formation of ice has reached the intended level in order to determine a point in time at which the ice I is to be released. Then, the durability of the configuration of the gyration member C, the sensor S, or the like, deteriorates and cannot be used for a long period of time.


Provided herein is a phantom capable of mimicking both a dense breast and a fatty breast. A phantom for ultrasound measurement includes: a first member that mimics an object of interest for measurement; and a second member having provided therein the first member. The second member has the property to decrease its sound speed with a temperature increase brought by external temperature control. The sound speed of the second member at a predetermined temperature is equal to the sound speed of a third member surrounding the second member. The first member and the second member are immiscible with each other.

A breast dedicated ultrasound CT (computed tomography) device is available as a medical diagnostic device used for the ultrasound detection of breast cancer. The ultrasound CT device uses an ultrasound transmitter and receiver that are disposed around a breast placed in water. With the ultrasound transmitter and receiver, the device measures the all-round ultrasound reflected signal and transmitted signal, and a tomographic image of breast is obtained upon image reconstruction. The reflected signal provides information concerning the structures of breast tissue. The transmitted signal provides information concerning the sound speed and the attenuation of ultrasound in the tissue.
As a rule, ultrasound has a higher sound speed and attenuation in tumor than in normal tissue such as the mammary gland and the fat surrounding a tumor. A tomographic image of ultrasound speed or attenuation thus enables quantitative detection of tumor.

Phantom for ultrasound measurement, and ultrasound CT device


A side rail pad system that provides modifications and components operable in association with hospital beds and the like that are designed to articulate. The system improves upon the structural shape of the side rails used in association with the articulating bed frames and provides an arrangement of side rail pads that are positioned between the side rails and the existing mattress platform. The side rail pads are positioned on the bed frame with flexible hinges in a manner that allows their alternate movement between a placement that fills the space between the side rails and the mattress when the side rails are in a raised position, and a placement away from the side of the mattress when the side rails are rotated into a lowered position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to side rail systems utilized on patient support platforms and beds. The present invention relates more specifically to a system of partially rigid pads positioned in conjunction with the side rails of patient support platforms, hospital beds, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
The basic patient support system utilized in most hospitals and extended care facilities provides a number of essential elements intended to accommodate a variety of patient conditions and situations. The basic support system incorporates a mattress positioned on a platform or other frame, most commonly connected with an underlying base frame mounted on casters for mobility. There is typically a head board and a foot board to enclose the upper and lower end of the mattress platform. There are also typically a number of side rails that may be raised or lowered to alternately enclose the mattress or allow the patient access to or exit from the bed. In addition, most such patient support systems incorporate articulating frames and mattresses that allow an upper (head) section to be raised at an angle with respect to a middle or torso section, and likewise for a lower (foot) section to be lowered at an angle below the middle or torso section. Such articulations facilitate both the comfort of the patient and the ease with which the patient may enter and exit the bed.
The combination of side rails and articulating frames on patient support surfaces has resulted in the development of very specific design features that are incorporated into the side rails to allow their movement into either raised or lowered positions both while the bed is horizontally planar and while the bed is articulated into angled configurations. In most instances the requirements for bed articulation dictate that each side rail be divided into two parts, an upper side rail associated with the head section of the bed and a lower side rail covering the balance of the side of the bed enclosure. Mirror images of these side rails are positioned on an opposite side of the bed, and operate in conjunction with the head board and foot board to fully enclose the patient within the bed or mattress area. The various components of the basic patient support system that serve to enclose the patient within the platform area give rise to new problems associated with the safety and comfort of the patient. Because it is necessary for these various enclosing panels to move and articulate themselves as the bed frame moves and articulates, there are necessarily gaps, openings, and passages between the various panel components, and between the panel components and the mattress itself. Efforts have been made in the past to appropriately fill the gaps and spaces between the various components that make up the patient support system. For the most part these efforts have focused on the addition of loose cushions to block the openings between the various enclosing panels and side rails. Such systems clearly suffer from the inability to maintain a fixed association between the cushions and the patient support platform and to accommodate the articulation of the bed frame.
As discussed in more detail below, various governmental agencies and standards organizations have identified spatial zones of concern that relate to the safety and comfort of the patient positioned on the typical hospital bed utilizing side rails. For those hospital beds and patient support platforms that have an articulating structure, these elements take on added dimensions depending upon the various orientations of the support platform components. The typical articulating patient support platform that utilizes side rails will incorporate split side rails on each side of the bed. A first set of side rails are associated with the upper or head portion of the support platform, and move in conjunction with it as it is raised and lowered. A second set of side rails are typically associated with the lower and/or middle portion of the patient support platform and move in conjunction therewith. A number of existing bed designs include mechanisms that allow the knee area of the platform to articulate. Although the angle that is achieved is generally less than that between the upper (head) section and the middle (torso) section, the rails that are connected to the lower (foot) section do move in conjunction with the lower (foot) section as it is raised and lowered with respect to the middle (torso) section. Each of the side rails also move (typically through an arc of rotation to the side and down) into a lowered and stored position away from the side of the mattress as is well known in the art. Because of the relative movement between the two side rail components that occurs with the above articulations, it is necessary to structure and design the components to both accommodate the articulating motion, the ability to rotate the side rails out of the way, and the continued purpose of having side rails, namely the appropriate enclosure of the patient support area.
While efforts have been made in the past to improve safety and comfort for the patient, such efforts often fail to allow the continued versatility associated with existing articulating bed frames. Such safety and comfort panels and pads very often must be removed before a bed platform can be articulated into an elevated or lowered position. It would be desirable to have a system for side rail pad components that continued to allow full movement of the bed frame components at the same time it provided for improved safety and comfort to the patient. It would further be desirable that such components could be moved from positions directly in contact with the sides of the patient support mattress to positions completely apart from the patient support mattress, such movement occurring in conjunction with the same or similar movement of the side rails themselves.

Side rail pad system for patient support apparatus


A facsimile device is linked to an external station via a telephone line in a data communication and processing system, the external station being one of a host computer and a fax server. The facsimile device includes an input unit which inputs image data containing task processing data and a kind of task. A recognizing unit recognizes the task processing data and the kind of task from the image data from the input unit, and converts the task processing data and the kind of task into code data. A facsimile communication unit transmits the code data from the recognizing unit to the external station via the telephone line by using a facsimile communication function, the facsimile communication unit receiving code data from the external station via the telephone line by using the facsimile communication function.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data communication and processing system which provides a facsimile communication between a facsimile device and a host computer in order to transmit a kind of task and a processing data from the facsimile device to the host computer via a public telephone line and receive processed data on the facsimile device from the host computer via the telephone line.
(2) Discussion of the Background
In a conventional system wherein a personal computer and a host computer are linked, a telephone line is used to allow data communication between the personal computer and the host computer. Usually, the conventional system utilizes a network control unit (NCU) and a modulation/demodulation unit (MODEM) to carry out the data communication. There is a case in which a simplified system utilizing an acoustic coupler attached to a telephone handset is used.
It is necessary that the personal computer of the above-mentioned system inputs code data by using a keyboard of the personal computer and transmits the code data to the host computer via the telephone line. It is necessary that the personal computer of the above-mentioned system inputs code data, stored in a floppy disk or hard disk, by using a floppy disk drive or hard disk drive of the personal computer, and transmits the code data to the host computer via the telephone line.
However, it is problematic that the above-mentioned system recognizes image data, read from an input pattern sheet on which characters or lines are hand-written, and inputs code data as a result of the recognition to the personal computer. Also, it is problematic that the above-mentioned system transmits the recognized code data to the host computer via the telephone line.
Further, a conventional system wherein a facsimile device at a user location and a host computer at a data processing center are linked via a telephone line is used to provide a data communication between the facsimile device and the host computer. The conventional system may include a fax server at an intermediate location, the fax server and the host computer being linked via a local area network.
In the case of the above-mentioned system, image data, read from an original image, is transmitted from the facsimile device to the host computer via the telephone line by using a facsimile communication function. The image data (or facsimile data) from the facsimile device is received on the host computer, and recognized as code data that requests the host computer to perform a task processing. On the host computer, the task processing for the recognized code data is performed to produce processed data. The processed data is again converted into image data on the host computer, and the image data for the processed data is transmitted from the host computer to the facsimile device via the telephone line by using a facsimile communication function.
However, when the above-mentioned system is used, the image data (or facsimile data) must be transmitted and received on the telephone line between the facsimile device and the host computer. There is a problem in that when it is needed to send massive data, a processing time for the facsimile communication becomes very long. In addition, there is a problem in that when a facsimile communication over a long distance is needed, the cost of the facsimile communication becomes very high.
Further, when the above-mentioned system is used, image data (or facsimile data) from the facsimile device is received on the host computer, and recognized as code data that requests the host computer to perform a task processing. It is impossible that an operator on the facsimile device obtains a notification as to whether the image data received on the host computer is correctly recognized or whether the recognized code data has an error. In order to obtain the above notification, it is necessary for the operator on the facsimile device to directly inquire an operator on the host computer of the recognition of the image data transmitted thereto.
Therefore, when the above-mentioned system is used, it is necessary that a full-time operator is always allocated to the host computer or the fax server. Practically, it is difficult to always keep the host computer or the fax server of the above-mentioned system in a ready condition with a full-time operator being allocated thereto for 24 hours. The cost for the maintenance of the system in such a case would become very high.

Data communication and processing system in which code data generated by recognition of image data is transmitted


A frictionless service carriage system including: a shaft 1 having a first 2 and a second 3 helix-shaped guide in its surface, each helix shaped-guide 2, 3 defining a linear movement along the longitudinal axis of the shaft 1 of a carriage 4 in opposite directions and both helix shaped-guides 2, 3 crossing each other 2, 3 along the longitudinal axis of the shaft 1, wherein the carriage 4 includes a movable element 5 located successively in each of the helix-shaped guides 2, 3 and movable along the guides 2, 3, the movable element 5 comprising a set of rolling elements 6 along the first or second helix-shaped guide 2, 3 of the shaft 1 and configured such that in a crossing with the other helix-shaped guide 2, 3, the set of rolling elements 6 has at least two contact points with the helix-shaped guide 2, 3 for which it rolls.

Hose and drogue refueling systems include a drum for winding/unwinding the hose in connection with an air-to-air refueling operation. As the hose is wound onto the drum, typically the hose forms several layers on the drum. Typically, the hose moves across the face of the drum from side to side of the drum as the hose is wound onto the drum. As the hose reaches one side of the drum, it reverses direction and again moves across the face of the drum. Each pass across the face of the drum causes the hose to form a new layer of hose on the drum.
Due to the internal construction of the hose, which provides high rigidity, the hose requires a strong force to wind the hose onto the drum. An auxiliary service carriage system is required to guide the hose laterally back and forth across the face of a drum for a proper winding and unwinding of the hose onto or from in the drum. The auxiliary service carriage system includes a service carriage for guiding the hose onto or off the drum.
The auxiliary service carriage system is typically geared to the drum. The service carriage moves the hose back and forth across the face of the drum as the hose is wound onto or off the drum. The movements of the service carriage system and the drum are synchronized by a series of gears.
The service carriage system is geared to the drum by an Archimedean shaft, e.g., Archimedes' screw, which is part of the auxiliary system. The Archimedian shaft is which offset from the drum and parallel to the rotating axis of the drum. The Archimedean shaft includes two helical guides, e.g., grooves, in the surface of the shaft. Each guide forms a helix along the longitudinal axis of the shaft. As the shaft rotates, each helical guide drives the service carriage along a linear direction parallel to the rotational axis of the shaft and the rotational axis of the drum. One helical guide drives the service carriage across the face of the drum in one direction and the other helical guide drives the service carriage in the opposite direction.
The helical guides have several cross points on the shaft. At the cross points the cross sectional shape of each guide expands due to the crossing of the two guides and corners are formed in each of the guides due to the intersection of the guides.
A conventional service carriage has a pin which fits into the helical guides. As the shaft turns, the pin is driven by one of the helical guides to move the service carriage and the hose carried by the service carriage across the face of the drum. The pin moves along one helical guide until reaching an end region of the shaft. At the end region, the pin slides into the other helical guide and reverses its direction of movement across the face of the drum.
The pin may have a shape similar to a shark fin. The pin moves laterally back and forth across the drum while being in one of the helical guides. The two helical guides in the shaft have cross points where both guides intersect. The pin is to say in the same guide as it travels along the guide and through the cross points. However, the pin may move out of the narrow path defined by a guide at a cross point and bump into one of the corners formed by the intersecting guides.
The conventional carriage system has a disadvantage in that as the pin wears as it moves back and forth along the helical guides. The wear on the pin requires the pin to be periodically replaced or repaired.
As the pin wears, the possibility increases that risk that the pin does not smoothly traverse the cross points and become stuck at one of the cross points or switch guides at a cross points. When the carriage becomes stuck or the carriage reverses course before fully traversing the drum, the hose no longer is wound onto the drum uniformly across the face of the drum. Rather, more hose is wound on some portions of the drum than other portions, or the hose binds with the drum. Non-uniform winding of the drum is not desired and can lead to situations where the hose cannot be fully wound onto the drum from landing of the aircraft.


An impact and a vibration are applied to a portion of a piston ring on which a belt body is wound, and a vibration is also applied to the belt body. A position where a desired tension can be obtained is obtained by using a master gauge having an outer diameter equal to the inner diameter of a cylinder, and the like. When measuring the tension, a measuring mechanism is moved to this position. The frictional force between the piston ring and the belt body can be considerably decreased, and a closed gap need not be measured every time measurement is performed. Accordingly, the tension of the piston ring can be stably measured at high precision within a short period of time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tension measuring apparatus and method for a piston ring mounted on a piston and inserted in the cylinder of an internal combustion engine or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A piston ring must have a predetermined tension in order to apply a predetermined surface pressure to the inner circumferential surface of a cylinder when the piston ring is mounted on a piston and inserted in the cylinder of an internal combustion engine or the like. For this reason, the tension of the piston must be measured. For the measurement, a thin steel belt or the like is wound on the piston ring, and a tensile force is applied to the steel belt to reduce the diameter of the piston ring. When the diameter of the piston ring is reduced until the closed gap reaches a value at the cylinder insertion state, the applied tensile force is determined as the tension of the piston ring.
According to the first conventional case to measure a tension of a piston ring, an impact or a vibration is applied to the piston ring and the thin steel belt at the wound portion to remove the frictional force between them. The diameter of the piston ring is reduced until the closed gap reaches a value obtained in advance in a reference ring gauge. The tensile force applied at this time is measured by a load cell, a spring balancer, or the like.
According to the second conventional case to measure a tension of a piston ring (e.g., Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 2-667), a vibration is applied to the piston ring and the thin steel belt at the wound portion to remove the frictional force between them, and the length of the thin steel belt is adjustable. Once the length of the thin steel belt is set to obtain a predetermined closed gap, the predetermined closed gap is obtained automatically.
In any of the first and second conventional cases described above, since vibration or the like is applied to only the piston ring and the thin steel belt at the wound portion to remove the frictional force between them, the frictional force cannot be removed sufficiently. Therefore, the measured tension varies largely, and it is difficult to stably measure the tension of the piston ring at high precision.
In any of the first and second conventional cases described above, the closed gap of the piston ring must be measured at least once. However, it is not easy to obtain a closed gap close to that in the actual use state. In addition, measurement of the closed gap tends to cause an error and takes a comparatively long period of time. For these reasons, it is difficult to stably measure the tension of the piston ring at high precision within a short period of time.

Tension measuring apparatus and method for piston ring


A semiconductor package having a light, thin, simple and compact structure including outer leads having a minimum length and a resin encapsulate having a minimum volume. The semiconductor package includes a package body, a semiconductor chip mounted on a central portion of the body, inner and outer leads bonded to a peripheral portion of an upper surface of the body by an insulating layer in such a manner that the leads are supported on the body, conductive wires or bumps for electrically connecting the inner leads to the semiconductor chip, a resin encapsulate for encapsulating the semiconductor chip, the conductive wires or bumps and the inner leads. Each outer lead has an end positioned at a level higher than an upper surface of the semiconductor chip so that a boundary portion defined between the associated outer and inner leads serves as a barrier for the resin encapsulate. The end of each outer lead is exposed outside the resin encapsulate and extending to a peripheral edge of the body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor package having a light, thin, simple and compact structure, and more particularly to a semiconductor package having a light, thin, simple and compact structure in which outer leads extending outside a resin encapsulate are supported on a package body, thereby enabling the outer leads to have a minimum length while minimizing the volume of the resin encapsulate to maximize the mounting density of the semiconductor package on a main board and to achieve an improvement in the heat discharge efficiency.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, semiconductor packages are known as electronic devices having an encapsulate for encapsulating a semiconductor chip, such as a single device formed with a variety of electronic circuits and lines, an integrated circuit or a hybrid circuit, while having signal input/output terminals connected to a main board in order to protect the semiconductor chip from harmful environments, such as dust, moisture, electrical loads and mechanical impact, while optimizing and maximizing the performance of the semiconductor chip.
Semiconductor packaging techniques have been developed along with developments of semiconductor chips. Hermetic packaging techniques using ceramic or cans made of a metal material have been mainly used in the early stages of development. However, such hermetic packaging techniques have a limitation in satisfying the super-high performance tendency of semiconductor chips and a demand for high productivity resulting from an abrupt increase in a demand for semiconductor chips. To this end, a plastic packaging technique has been mainly used. In accordance with the plastic packaging technique, a lead frame is used. An epoxy molding compound is also used to encapsulate semiconductor chips.
The lead frame is a member not only serving as a lead for electrically connecting input/output pads of a semiconductor chip to an electrical circuit formed on a main board, but also serving as a frame for fixing an associated semiconductor package to the main board. The epoxy molding compound, in particular, thermosetting epoxy resin, is mainly used as an encapsulate material for encapsulating semiconductor chips because it is inexpensive while exhibiting a high productivity even though it exhibits inferior thermal stability and inferior reliability as compared to ceramic.
FIG. 10A is a plan view illustrating a general lead frame having a conventional structure whereas FIG. 10B is a partially-broken perspective view illustrating a quad flat package (QFP) type semiconductor package fabricated using the lead frame of FIG. 10A. In addition to such a QFP semiconductor package, a variety of packages are known. For example, a dual inline package (DIP) and a single inline package (SIP) are known. All of these packages are similar in their basic structures in that they have leads outwardly protruded from outer surfaces thereof, respectively. The above-mentioned packages are distinguished from one another by their structures respectively having leads protruded from four side package surfaces, leads protruded from opposite two side package surfaces and leads protruded from only one side package surface. Accordingly, the following description will be described only in conjunction with QFP type semiconductor packages.
The lead frame denoted by the reference numeral 100' in FIG. 10A includes a semiconductor chip mounting plate 140' for mounting a semiconductor chip (not shown) thereon, a plurality of tie bars 110' for supporting the semiconductor chip mounting plate 104', and a plurality of inner leads 130' and a plurality of outer leads 120' provided around the semiconductor chip mounting plate 140'.
FIG. 10B illustrates a semiconductor package 200' formed using a lead frame having the same structure as the abovementioned conventional lead frame 100'. As shown in FIG. 10B, the semiconductor package 200' includes a semiconductor chip 210' laminated with a variety of desired electrical or electronic circuits and lines and formed at the upper surface thereof with a plurality of input/output pads 240'. The semiconductor chip 210 is mounted on a semiconductor chip mounting plate 140', which is a constituting element of the lead frame, by means of an adhesive layer. The semiconductor package 200' also includes tie bars 110' for supporting the semiconductor chip mounting plate 140', and a plurality of inner leads 130' electrically connected to the input/output pads 240' of the semiconductor chip 210' as input/output terminals by means of conductive wires 230'. Each inner lead 130' is provided at its tip portion with a finger plated with silver to achieve a good wire bonding thereof. The semiconductor package 200' further includes a resin encapsulate 220' molded to encapsulate the semiconductor chip 210', conductive wires 230' and inner leads 130', and a plurality of outer leads 120' formed integrally with the inner leads 130' while extending outwardly around the four side surfaces of the resin encapsulate 220'. The outer leads 120' serve as external connecting terminals (pins) of the package. A thermally conductive plate 250' may be provided on the lower surface of the semiconductor chip mounting plate 140' in order to easily discharge heat generated at the semiconductor chip 210' from the package.
Referring to FIG. 10A, dam bars 150' are shown which are cut in accordance with a trimming process after the molding of the resin encapsulate 220'. In order to improve the bonding force required to mount the semiconductor package 200' to a main board (not shown), the outer leads 120' of the semiconductor package 200' are coated with lead/tin (Pb/Sn) using a solder plating process. The plated outer leads 120' are also bent to have a desired shape, using a forming process.
In the conventional semiconductor package 200' having the above-mentioned structure, the outer leads 120', which are formed by cutting the dam bars 150' using the trimming process, extend outwardly from the four side surfaces of the resin encapsulate 220' at a middle position between the upper and lower surfaces of the resin encapsulate 220'. For this reason, each outer lead 120' should be bent at its outer end thereof using the forming process to have a desired shape so that the outer end of the outer lead 120' is flush with the upper or lower surface of the semiconductor package 200' for its electrical connection to a main board (not shown). To this end, it is necessary for the outer leads 120' to have a relatively large length. As a result, the outer leads 120' have a structure considerably protruded from the resin encapsulate 220'. Where the semiconductor package 200' having such a structure is mounted on a main board, a reduction in the mounting density occurs. Furthermore, a reduction in the design margin for electrical patterns formed on the main board occurs.
In the above-mentioned semiconductor package, the resin encapsulate 220' adapted to encapsulate the semiconductor chip and peripheral elements around the semiconductor chip has a considerably large volume as compared to the semiconductor chip 210'. As a result, there is a degradation in the heat discharge efficiency.
The semiconductor package 200' also has a limitation in increasing the number of its outer leads 120' serving as external connecting terminals because the outer leads 120' are protruded from only the side surfaces of the package 200'. As a result, there is a limitation in designing circuits and lines of the semiconductor chip.
Consequently, conventional semiconductor packages have a problem in that they can not satisfy two conflicting requirements for portable telephones, notebook computers and pagers, namely, the requirement to provide a high performance and high integration of semiconductor chips and the requirement to provide a light, thin, simple and compact package structure.

Semiconductor package having light, thin, simple and compact structure


A method of manufacturing a semiconductor light emitting device includes forming a plurality of semiconductor light emitting devices on a substrate, the semiconductor light emitting devices having at least one electrode pad formed on upper surfaces thereof; forming a conductive bump by forming a bump core on the electrode pad of each of the semiconductor light emitting devices and forming a reflective bump layer enclosing the bump core; forming a resin encapsulating part containing a phosphor on the plurality of semiconductor light emitting devices to encompass the conductive bump; polishing the resin encapsulating part to expose the bump core of the conductive bump to an upper surface of the resin encapsulating part; and forming individual semiconductor light emitting devices by cutting the resin encapsulating part between the semiconductor light emitting devices.

A semiconductor light emitting device is a semiconductor device able to emit light of various colors due to electron-hole recombination occurring at p-n junctions between p-type and n-type semiconductors when current is applied thereto. Such a semiconductor light emitting device is advantageous over a filament-based light emitting device in that it has a relatively long lifespan, relatively low power consumption, superior initial-operating characteristics, and high vibration resistance. These factors have continually boosted the demand for semiconductor light emitting devices.
A light emitting device package using the above-mentioned semiconductor light emitting device has been manufactured by applying a mixture of a phosphor and a transparent resin to surround the light emitting device (LED chip) using a known method such as dispensing or the like. In this case, an amount of phosphor disposed on a top surface of the LED chip may be different from that disposed on lateral surfaces of the LED chip, resulting in a difference in color characteristics, such as color temperature and the like, between light emitted from the top surface of the LED chip and light emitted from the lateral surfaces of the LED chip. In addition, in a case in which the LED chip is mounted in a cup-shaped structure and the cup-shaped structure is filled with a resin, an optical path may be lengthened due to light scattering caused by phosphors, whereby light emitting efficiency may be deteriorated.
In order to address this matter, a wafer level coating method of applying a phosphor to a plurality of LED chips has been used. In this case, a plurality of LED chips are mounted on a wafer and a phosphor is applied to the wafer before optical characteristics of individual LED chips are evaluated.
In a method of manufacturing a semiconductor light emitting device using the wafer level coating method, a metallic bump is used to make electrical connection between the light emitting device and a circuit board. However, the formation of the bump generally involves a relatively complicated manufacturing process and high manufacturing costs. In addition, the metallic bump absorbs light emitted from the light emitting device, resulting in a reduction in light extraction efficiency.

Semiconductor light emitting device and method of manufacturing the same


The discharge lamp has a discharge tube filled with a fill gas and sealed in a gas-tight manner and a cap part made to be suitable for connection to a socket. This cap part has a housing made by a shell and a closing member fixed thereto, and electrical contact components. The shell has openings for receiving the end portions of the discharge tube legs into the housing and the shell is made to be suitable for supporting the discharge tube mechanically. The electrical contact components are embedded in the housing and connected in the inner space of the housing to the electrodes of the discharge lamp and protrude from the cap part. The cap part contains mechanical support component(s) for fixing the discharge lamp in the socket. The mechanical support component(s) forms (form) a part of the shell and the portions of the electrical contact components protruding from the cap part are placed in an outwardly open indentation defined by an indented plate portion of a bordering plate of the cap part, preferably of the base plate of the closing member.

It is known that the various types of discharge lamps commonly referred to as compact fluorescent lamps, have discharge tubes containing electrodes, filled with a fill gas and sealed in a gas-tight manner, to which discharge tube a cap part being in connection with a power source and suitable for being inserted into a socket, is connected at one or both ends of the discharge tube. In case of single-ended plug-in compact discharge lamps provided with a separate operating unit (e.g., an adaptor type compact fluorescent lamp having a separate ballast circuit and housing arrangement), the cap part consists of a support shell and a closing member fixed to the shell which together, fixed to each other by their rims, make a housing. The shell serves for fixing and supporting the parallel discharge tube legs that are preferably still connected with each other to have the same inner space, the discharge tube legs protrude into the inside of the housing through the openings formed in the base plate. The discharge tube legs extend into the housing but do not reach the base plate of a closing member. The contact members protrude outwardly from the base plate of the closing member and are fixed in the housing, preferably in the base plate of the closing member. The contact members are connected to the electrodes of the discharge tube by means of electrically conducting wires inside the housing.
Fixing the discharge lamp in the socket is ensured by a bossage in the closing member of the cap part, which bossage snaps into a seat formed in the socket for this purpose when the lamp is inserted into the socket. In this instance, the socket referred to is the socket formed in the lower housing member; that is, the discharge lamp of the present invention is configured in the form of an adaptor type of lamp product. The bossage can be placed in the socket also, forming a part of it, but in this case the closing member has to be provided with a seat which the bossage of the socket snaps in.
A disadvantage of the discharge lamp construction described here is that when the cap part is inserted into the socket and particularly when, for disconnection, is pulled out from it, a very great force (load) can be exerted on the mechanical joint between the shell and the closing member. The closing member of the cap part is exposed to critical loads primarily in pulling out the cap part from the socket so that the cap part is gripped at the shell or the discharge tube (so, indirectly at the shell) since to remove the bossage previously snapped into the seat, a rather great force has to be exerted, which is transferred directly to the closing member. It is a further problem that if the contact members (pins) protrude from the closing member there is an increase in the length of the discharge lamp on one part and on the other, the contact members can be easily damaged. The risk of damage is especially high when the user of the discharge lamp is attempting to disconnect it from the socket. The reason for this is that the contact members are in general not guided to fit into the sleeves in the socket formed to accept them and so when the discharge lamp is inserted into the socket by the user, the contact members usually do not fit at once into the sleeves formed to accept them and the user has to turn the discharge lamp back and forth until the contact members find their sleeves and during this process, the contact members can bend or become damaged.

Mounting assembly arrangement for a compact fluorescent lamp


An MPU of a second subcontroller in a library apparatus executes an intra-memory apparatus construction data creation program, thereby controlling operations of an accessor and of a bar code reader. Unit construction data is thereby obtained from a bar code label attached to each unit. It is therefore feasible to automatically input the data about a position where a drum unit is disposed, and the number of magnetic tape cartridges that can be housed in the drum unit.

The present invention relates to a library apparatus for housing large-capacity recording mediums and executing recording/reproducing processes on and from each recording medium in accordance with a command issued from a host computer.
With a development in technology of processing information over recent years, there have been demands for a much larger capacity of a recordable data quantity, saving a labor for recording and reproducing the data, and automation of recording and reproducing the data. There is increased a need for a library apparatus for executing recording/reproducing processes on and from the recording medium as one of apparatuses responding to those demands, and a construction of the apparatus is becoming large in scale.
The library apparatus is roughly constructed in the manner which follows. To be specific, a plurality of box-shaped units are connected on both sides along one travelling path (a rail). A carrying device (referred to as an "accessor") for carrying a magnetic tape defined as a recording medium is installed on the traveling path. The plurality of units include a unit (a housing unit) for housing the magnetic tape, a unit (a recording/reproducing unit) for housing a recording/reproducing device of the magnetic tape, and a unit (a control unit) for housing a controller of the accessor. Then, the controller is connected to a host computer for issuing a variety of commands to the library apparatus.
A rocker constructed of a plurality of cells is formed on a surface, facing to the traveling path, of the housing unit, and the magnetic tape is housed in each cell. Further, a slot is formed in a surface, facing to the traveling path, of the recording/reproducing unit. When the magnetic tape is inserted into the slot, the magnetic tape is loaded into the recording/reproducing device, and data is recorded on or reproduced from the magnetic tape. The accessor fetches the magnetic tape from an appropriate cell of the housing unit in accordance with a drive command generated by the controller, and performs an operation of carrying the magnetic tape to other cell and the recording/reproducing unit, or an operation of carrying again to an appropriate cell the magnetic tape on and from which the recording/reproducing processes have been done.
It is required that the magnetic tape be properly carried by the accessor between the units in accordance with the command from the controller in order for the library apparatus to be properly operated based on the command issued from the host computer. For attaining this, the controller of the accessor must hold the data about a total number of the units, kinds of the respective units, positions where the units are disposed, the number of cells housed in the housing units, and positions of the cells, and must generate commands based on these pieces of data.
The library apparatus is, however, capable of arbitrarily setting a recording medium activity quantity (a housing quantity) and a recording/reproducing processing capability by connecting a corresponding number of housing units to a scale of a computer system using the library apparatus and an appropriate number of recording/reproducing units. Hence, there is no fixed type of unit construction in the library apparatus. Accordingly, it is impossible to adopt a method by which the controller previously holds the data about the total number of units, the kinds of units, the disposing positions of the units pursuant to the fixed type of unit construction, the number of cells housed in the housing units and the positions of the cells, and generates the drive command of the accessor on the basis of these pieces of data.
From the reason elucidated above, according to the prior art, on the occasion of installing the library apparatus, the units connected are disposed on both sides of the travelling path, and thereafter a manager of the library apparatus carries out, e.g., an operation which follows. Specifically, the manager inputs the data about the total number of units, the kinds of units, the disposing positions of units, the number of cells housed in the housing units and the positions of cells, to a portable data storage device known as an operation panel with reference to a manual (specifications) of the library apparatus. Subsequently, the manager visually observes each housing unit or each recording/reproducing unit, and thus confirms whether the data inputted to the operation panel are correct or not. Then, the manager stores the data recorded on the operation panel in a nonvolatile memory mounted in the controller of the accessor. After such an operation, the controller of the accessor executes control of the operation of the accessor by use of the data stored in the nonvolatile memory, thereby operating the library apparatus.
The above-described operation by the manager is, however, remarkably troublesome and time-consuming as well, and depends on a manual operation. It is therefore quite difficult to request a perfect accuracy. On the other hand, an input mistake of the data recorded on the operation panel might exert a direct influence upon a performance and safety of the library apparatus. Hence, it is almost impossible to precisely input the data in a short time. Accordingly, there arises a problem in which a comparatively long time is needed for installing the library apparatus.


A component mounting apparatus includes: a plurality of pressure-bonding units which are arrayed in line and each of which includes a pressure-bonding head for pressure-bonding a component to a component pressure-bonding area of the substrate, and an edge-portion support member for supporting an edge portion of the substrate during the pressure bonding; a guide support member for supporting the pressure-bonding units so that their movement along the edge portion for execution of substrate pressure-bonding can be guided; a common head up/down unit for integrally moving up and down the individual pressure-bonding heads; and a plurality of unit-moving devices which are provided for the plurality of pressure-bonding units, individually and respectively, to move the pressure-bonding units along the edge portion so that placement of the pressure-bonding units is changed.

Conventionally, manufacture of display devices includes a pressure-bonding mounting process of electronic components, mechanical components, optical components or other components, flexible printed circuit boards (FPC boards) or other boards or substrates, or COG (Chip On Glass), COF (Chip On Film), IC chips, TCP (Tape Carrier Package) or other semiconductor package components, onto such substrates as liquid crystal display (LCD) panel substrates, plasma display panel (PDP) substrates (hereinafter, referred to as 'panel substrates').
A component mounting system (component mounting line) for such panel substrates (e.g., liquid crystal display substrate) as mentioned above includes: an ACF applying device for performing an ACF applying step of applying an anisotropically conductive film (ACF) sheet to each of terminal portions (component pressure-bonding areas) formed in one-side or two-side edge portions of a panel substrate held by a component holding device; a component temporary pressure-bonding device for performing a component temporary pressure-bonding step of temporarily pressure-bonding TCPs or other components via an ACF sheet in each terminal portion; a final pressure-bonding device for performing a final pressure-bonding step of pressure-bonding and thereby mounting the components, which have been temporarily pressure-bonded to the terminal portions, by temporary pressure-bonding for pressuring with high pressure and temperature and heating so that the components are pressure-bonded via the ACF sheet; and a substrate conveyor device for conveying panel substrates one by one with their lower face sides is held so that the panel substrates can be worked at the individual devices. In a conventional component mounting line constructed as mentioned above, panel substrates, while conveyed in succession by the substrate conveyor device, are subjected to specified process steps in the individual devices, by which component mounting to each terminal portion of the panel substrates is fulfilled.
In recent years, panel substrates to be treated in such a conventional component mounting line come in various sizes, for example, from relatively small-sized panel substrates for use in mobile phones to relatively large-sized panel substrates for use in computers. Also, pressure-bonding positions of the components in the terminal portions of the substrates differ depending on the type of the panel substrate to be treated. In order to meet component pressure-bonding to such various types as shown above, for example, JP 3275744 B2 (Literature 1) and JP 2006-287011 A (Literature 2) adopt a structure in which differences in component pressure-bonding position depending on the type of the panel substrate can be managed by moving a pressure-bonding head and a backup stage that supports terminal portions of the panel substrate from below during the pressure-bonding operation are moved along the terminal portions of the panel substrate.


An agent automation system implements a virtual agent that is capable of learning new words, or new meanings for known words, based on exchanges between the virtual agent and a user in order to customize the vocabulary of the virtual agent to the needs of the user or users. The agent automation framework has access to a corpus of previous exchanges between the virtual agent and the user, such as one or more chat logs. New words and/or new meanings for known words are identified within the corpus and new word vectors are generated for these new words and/or new meanings for known words and added to refine a word vector distribution model. The refined word vector distribution model is then utilized by the agent automation system to interact with the user.

The present disclosure relates generally to the fields of natural language understanding (NLU) and artificial intelligence (AI), and more specifically, to managing the known vocabulary of a hybrid learning system for NLU.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Cloud computing relates to the sharing of computing resources that are generally accessed via the Internet. In particular, a cloud computing infrastructure allows users, such as individuals and/or enterprises, to access a shared pool of computing resources, such as servers, storage devices, networks, applications, and/or other computing based services. By doing so, users are able to access computing resources on demand that are located at remote locations and these resources may be used to perform a variety computing functions (e.g., storing and/or processing large quantities of computing data). For enterprise and other organization users, cloud computing provides flexibility in accessing cloud computing resources without accruing large up-front costs, such as purchasing expensive network equipment or investing large amounts of time in establishing a private network infrastructure. Instead, by utilizing cloud computing resources, users are able redirect their resources to focus on their enterprise's core functions.
In modern communication networks, examples of cloud computing services a user may utilize include so-called infrastructure as a service (IaaS), software as a service (SaaS), and platform as a service (PaaS) technologies. IaaS is a model in which providers abstract away the complexity of hardware infrastructure and provide rapid, simplified provisioning of virtual servers and storage, giving enterprises access to computing capacity on demand. In such an approach, however, a user may be left to install and maintain platform components and applications. SaaS is a delivery model that provides software as a service rather than an end product. Instead of utilizing a local network or individual software installations, software is typically licensed on a subscription basis, hosted on a remote machine, and accessed by client customers as needed. For example, users are generally able to access a variety of enterprise and/or information technology (IT)-related software via a web browser. PaaS acts an extension of SaaS that goes beyond providing software services by offering customizability and expandability features to meet a user's needs. For example, PaaS can provide a cloud-based developmental platform for users to develop, modify, and/or customize applications and/or automating enterprise operations without maintaining network infrastructure and/or allocating computing resources normally associated with these functions.
Such a cloud computing service may host a virtual agent, such as a chat agent, that is designed to automatically respond to issues with the client instance based on natural language requests received from a user of the client instance. For example, a user may provide a request to a virtual agent for assistance with a password issue, wherein the virtual agent is part of a Natural Language Processing (NLP) or Natural Language Understanding (NLU) system. NLP is a general area of computer science and AI that involves some form of processing of natural language input. Examples of areas addressed by NLP include language translation, speech generation, parse tree extraction, part-of-speech identification, and others. NLU is a sub-area of NLP that specifically focuses on understanding user utterances. Examples of areas addressed by NLU include question-answering (e.g., reading comprehension questions), article summarization, and others. For example, a NLU system may use algorithms to reduce human language (e.g., spoken or written) into a set of known symbols for consumption by a downstream virtual agent. NLP is generally used to interpret free text for further analysis. Current approaches to NLP are typically based on deep learning, which is a type of AI that examines and uses patterns in data to improve the understanding of a program.
Virtual agents may be implemented in a wide range of applications for a wide range of customers or clients. For example, virtual agents may be utilized by organizations in retail, manufacturing, accounting, consumer product development and/or sales, software development, information technology services, social media, consulting, engineering, banking, oil and gas, insurance, real estate, commercial equipment sales, media, healthcare, construction, legal services, transportation, pharmaceuticals, marketing, etc. Further, these virtual agents may engage with users within these organizations in a wide variety of roles, such as executives, information technology (IT) professionals, assistants, engineers, attorneys, doctors, nurses, technicians, accountants, human resources professionals, analysts, software developers, janitors, etc. Dependent upon the particular application and the particular users, a given instantiation of the virtual agent may utilize vocabulary terms that may be specific to that application and/or the specific users of the virtual agent. As such, it is presently recognized that there is a need to customize the vocabulary of virtual agents to the particular industries and users they will serve.

Systems and method for vocabulary management in a natural learning framework


A composition for the cleaning of residues from substrates can contain from about 0.01 percent by weight to about 5 percent by weight of one or more fluoride compounds, from about 20 percent by weight to about 50 percent by weight water, from about 20 percent by weight to about 80 percent by weight of an organic amide solvent and from 0 to about 50 weight percent of an organic sulfoxide solvent. The composition can have a pH between about 7 and about 10, alternately from greater than 8 to about 10. Additionally, the composition optionally can contain corrosion inhibitors, chelating agents, surfactants, acids, and/or bases. In use of the composition, a substrate can advantageously be contacted with the composition for a time and at a temperature that permits cleaning of the substrate.

Fluoride containing chemistries have been used for many years to clean prime silicon wafers (wafers that have not yet undergone ion implantation or device construction) in the semiconductor industry. Normally, the fluoride chemistry (usually dilute hydrofluoric acid) is used as the last process step in the sequence called "RCA rinses". The substrate is often contaminated from previous process steps with monolayer amounts of metal, anions and/or organic contaminants or surface residues (particles). These contaminants have been shown to have significant impact on the electrical integrity of simple test device structures and they need to be efficiently cleaned without impairing their integrity. Such cleaning methods could include techniques discussed in the technical literature, for example, mt. Conf. On Solid State Devices and Materials, 1991, pp. 484-486 or Kujime, T. et al., Proc. of the 1996 Semi. Pure Water and Chemicals, pp. 245-256 and Singer, P. Semi International, p. 88, October 1995.
Patents that teach methods for cleaning prime wafers with low pH solutions include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,560,857; 5,645,737; 5,181,985; 5,603,849; and 5,705,089.
Using fluoride chemistries (usually HF) as a final RCA cleaning step will cause the silicon wafer surface to be in a hydrophobic state (the surface is covered with Si-H groups) which will repel water. During this cleaning step a certain proportion of the wafer surface is dissolved (removed). Unless the cleaning conditions are carefully monitored (time, temperature, solution composition) the substrates can be damaged, as reported by Rafols, C. et al., J. Electroanalytic Chem. 433, pp. 77-83, 1997. Numerous compositions combine water and organic solvents. The water concentration in these HF solutions is very critical. Silica oxide has an etch rate of 21 Å/min (@25° C.) in HF/water, but in isobutanol the rate was reduced to 2.14 Å/min and even lower in acetone (an aprotic solvent) the rate was only 0.12 Å/min.
After the Front End of Line (FEOL) cleaning process the wafer proceeds to the typical Back End of Line (BEOL) manufacturing process for a semiconductor devices, in which the devices might be dynamic random access memories (DRAMs), static random access memories (SRAMs), logic, electrically programmable read only memories (EPROMs), complementary metal on silicon (CMOS), and the like. Etching fabrication technology using chemical reactions (liquid or plasma) has been used as a method of forming a wiring structure on such semiconductor substrates.
A photoresist film is deposited on the wafer to form a mask, then a substrate design is imaged on the film layer, baked, and the undeveloped image is removed with a photoresist cleaner. The remaining image is then transferred to the underlying material (either a dielectric or metal) with reactive etching gases promoted with plasma energy. The etchant gases selectively attack the unprotected area of the substrate. Liquid etching chemistries, usually containing fluoride chemistries have been used extensively over the years to etch metals (Al) and dielectrics. The fluoride chemistries can be very aggressive and can result in isotropic etching (etching equally in all directions). Isotropic etching effects cannot be tolerated with today's needs for tight critical dimension control, though there have been attempts to control the isotropic etch through statistical process control techniques, as reported by Taylor, D., Solid State Technology, July 1998, p. 119.
The usual plasma etching process involves anisotropic (unidirectional) etching while at the same time the byproducts (e.g., composed of photoresist, etching gasses and etched materials) are deposited on the sidewall of etched openings as residues.
A disadvantage of forming this protective sidewall deposit is that it can be very difficult to remove the residue after the etching procedure. If the components in these residues are not removed or neutralized in some manner then the residues will absorb moisture and form acidic species that can corrode the metal structures. The resultant acid corrodes wiring materials to bring about an adverse effect such as an increase in electrical resistance and wire disconnection.
Such problems frequently occur, in particular in aluminum and aluminum alloys generally used as wiring material. The wafer substrate in contact with acidic materials, if not controlled, can destroy the metal structures.
Following completion of the etching operation it is necessary that the resist mask be removed from the protective surface to permit finishing operations. It is desirable to develop an improved cleaning composition to remove the organic polymeric substance from a coated inorganic substrate without corroding, dissolving or dulling the metal circuitry or chemically altering the wafer substrate.
Cleaning compositions used for removing photoresist coatings if not already ashed and other substrates have for the most part been highly flammable, generally hazardous to both humans and the environment, and comprise reactive solvent mixtures exhibiting an undesirable degree of toxicity. Moreover, these cleaning compositions are not only toxic, but their disposal is costly since they might have to be disposed of as a hazardous waste. In addition, these compositions generally have severely limited bath life and, for the most part, are not recyclable or reusable.
Side wall residues have been removed with either acidic organic solvents or alkaline organic solvents. The acidic solvents are generally composed of phenolic compounds or chlorinated solvents and/or an aromatic hydrocarbon and/or an alkylbenzenesulfonic acid. These formulations generally need to be used at temperatures up to and beyond 100° C. These chemistries normally need to be rinsed with isopropanol.
Dilute hydrofluoric acid solutions can under certain conditions remove the sidewall polymers by aggressively attacking the via sidewall of the dielectric and therefore changing the dimensions of the device, as taught by Ireland, P., Thin Solid Films, 304, pp. 1-12 (1997), and possibly the dielectric constant. Previous chemistries that contain HF, nitric acid, water, and hydroxylamine are aggressive enough to etch silicon, as taught by U.S. Pat. No. 3,592,773 issued to A. Muller. Recent information also indicates that the dilute HF solutions can be ineffective for cleaning the newer fluorinated hydrocarbon etch residues, as taught by K. Ueno et al., "Cleaning of CHF3 Plasma-Etched SiO2/SiN/Cu Via Structures with Dilute Hydrofluoric Acid Solutions," J. Electrochem. Soc., vol. 144, (7) 1997. Contact holes opened on to the TiSi2 have also been difficult to clean with HF solutions since there appears to be an attack of the underlying TiSi2 layer. There may also be difficulty with mass transport of the chemicals in the narrow hydrophilic contact holes, as taught by Baklanov, M. R. et al., Proc. Electrochem. Soc., 1998, 97-35, pp. 602-609.
The photoresist around the contact hole of common interlayer dielectrics, TEOS (tetraethylorthosilicate) and boron phosphosilicate glass (BPSG), which are commonly used in ultra large scale integration (ULSI) structures for better conformity of step coverage, is usually removed with HF solutions. It is not uncommon for the HF to also attack the dielectric material. Such attack is not desirable (see Lee, C. and Lee, 5, Solid State Electronics, 4, pp. 921-923 (1997)).
The alkaline organic solvents for post etch residue removal can be composed of amines and/or alkanolamines and/or neutral organic solvents. These formulations generally must be used at temperatures above 100° C. Recently a new class of post etch residue cleaning chemistries has been used to clean these substrates. These chemistries include hydroxylamine, amines, alkanolamines and corrosion inhibitors and generally operate at temperatures of at least 20 to 30 degrees lower.
Recently, fluoride-based chemistries have been used in limited cases to remove post etch residues and to a limited extent, photoresist residues from integrated circuit substrates during BEOL (Back End of Line) processes. Many of the wafer cleaning compositions contain fluoride components, specifically hydrogen fluoride. In addition, these compositions might contain strong caustic chemicals (choline-derivatives, tetraalkyl-ammonium hydroxide, or ammonium hydroxide) such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,129,955; 5,563,119; or 5,571,447 (the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference), or might use a two-phase solvent system, which contains one phase with hydrofluoric acid and water while a second phase contains a nonpolar organic solvent (ketones, ethers, alkanes or alkenes; U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,849, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference hereto). Other formulations include hydroxylamine and ammonium fluoride (U.S. Pat. No. 5,709,756, issued to Ward, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference hereto). Additional examples include quaternary ammonium salt and fluoride based compositions, as disclosed in published European Application No. 0662705, and organocarboxylic ammonium salt or amine carboxylate and fluoride-based compositions, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,904, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference hereto.
Some chemistries have also included chelating agents to help remove ionic and anionic contamination from the wafer surface (International Publication No. PCT/US98/02794), but chelating agents such as citric acid, gallic acid, and catechol, among others, can be aggressive toward the aluminum oxide that covers the Al metal lines. Studies by Ohman and Sjoberg show that the strong complexing ability of citric ions can increase the aluminum oxide solubility and thereby expose the metal to further corrosion, by factors of 166 and 468 at pH 5 and 6 (see Ohman et al., J. Chem. Soc., Dalton Trans. (1983), p. 2513).
Other methods for cleaning metal and metal oxide residues on wafers include spraying water vapor into the plasma ashing chamber followed by introducing fluorine containing gases (hydrofluoric acid; U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,985, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference hereto) or a liquid containing hydrofluoric acid, ammonium fluoride and water with a pH from 1.5 to less than 7.
One method employing a fluoride-based chemistry is commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,248,704, the disclosure and figures of which are hereby incorporated by reference hereto for all purposes.
There is also a need to remove particulate residues from the wafer surfaces during the BEOL process. Currently most processes rely on an isopropanol and/or deionized water rinse with/or without ultra- or mega-sonic cleaning. For post chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) cleaning of oxide wafers, normally only deionized water is used, but with tungsten wafers a combination of dilute NH4OH and dilute HF usually are required.
There are five potential mechanisms for removing impurities (particles and/or ions) from the wafer surfaces:                1. Physical desorption by solvents, which involves replacing a small number of strongly absorbed particles with a large volume of weakly adsorbed solvent (changing the interaction of the surface charges);        2. Changing the surface charge with either acids or bases, e.g., making the Si—OH group positive, protonating with acid, or making the group negative with bases by removing the proton;        3. Ion complexation by removing adsorbed metal ions by adding acid (e.g., ion exchange);        4. Oxidation or decomposition of impurities, which involves oxidation of metals, organic materials or the surface of slurry particles, which changes the chemical forces between the impurities and substrate surface (the chemical reaction can either be through redox chemistry or free radicals); or        5. Etching the oxide surface, which releases the impurity while dissolving a certain thickness of the substrate surface.
Currently available fluoride-based chemistries can help in items #2 and #5, but the cleaning conditions must be carefully controlled. In many cases, the components of the cleaning compositions are relatively toxic reactive solvent mixtures and thus must be subject to stringent use conditions and require hazardous chemical handling procedures and wearing of safety garments and apparel by users so as to avoid contact with the cleaning compositions. Additionally, because many of the toxic components of such cleaning compositions are highly volatile and subject to high evaporation rates, they require special human and environmental safety precautions to be taken during storage and use of the compositions.
Accordingly, there exists a need to develop improved cleaning compositions to efficiently clean a variety of deposits from a wide variety of substrates. Particularly in the field of integrated circuit fabrication, it should be recognized that the demands for improved cleaning performance with avoidance of attack on the substrates being cleaned are constantly increasing. This means that compositions that were suitable for cleaning less sophisticated integrated circuit substrates may not be able to produce satisfactory results with substrates containing more advanced integrated circuits in the process of fabrication.
These compositions should also be economical, environmental friendly and easy to use.
The present invention teaches such a new and improved cleaning composition and a process for its use. This composition is aqueous, dissolves both organic and inorganic substances, and, when used in the process, is able to clean a variety of substrates. The composition provides a more effective cleaning of the substrates, which means more effective residue removal, which in turn means that higher product yields can be obtained from the substrates being cleaned.

Forming a passivating aluminum fluoride layer and removing same for use in semiconductor manufacture


An apparatus and method for the preferably continuous manufacture of foamed material using a furnace are provided. A two-part mold mechanism is provided that includes an upper portion and a lower portion that are each endless loops and cooperate with one another to form a closed mold within the furnace. The upper and lower portions can each comprise a plurality of transverse mold members that can be easily replaced or exchanged during operation of the apparatus. A feed mechanism is provided for introducing material that is to be foamed to the mold mechanism upstream of the furnace. Scrapers or the like can be provided downstream of the furnace to aid in separating and supporting foamed material from the mold mechanism.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for the preferably continuous manufacture of foamed material, such as foamed glass or ceramic material, using a furnace.
Foamed glass and ceramic materials are used in the form of blocks, bricks, sheets and the like having various cross-sectional shapes, including triangular, cylindrical and ovoid. Such material can be used for a great variety of products due to its low density, its abrasivity, its excellent thermal insulating characteristics, and its comparative high strength. The foamed material is generally produced by combining a mixture of glass or ceramic powder and a suitable foaming agent in a mold; the mixture is heated so that it first sinters, then fuses, and then foams, whereby the mixture expands to provide pores or bubbles therein.
In general, the mixture of glass or ceramic powder and foaming agent is heated to about 1250.degree. F. so that the material will sinter or coalesce. The material is then heated to from 1274-1700.degree. F. or higher to form a foamed block that is in a plastic state. This foamed material is then cooled to about 1050.degree. F. to rigidify the surface. The foamed material must be removed from the mold at this time. If not, and if the foamed material is cooled further, the thermal contraction of the mold will exceed the thermal contraction of the foamed material and the mold will "lock on" to the foamed material, especially if it is cooled to mold removal temperatures of from 100-150.degree. F. This can lead to crushing or rupturing of the cooled foamed material, and can make mold removal extremely difficult if not impossible.
Pursuant to heretofore known procedures, all commercially produced foamed glass or ceramic is foamed in discrete molds of various shapes and sizes. The foamed material, which is in the form of blocks or blanks, must be removed from the individual molds at a high temperature, whereupon the molds and lids therefor must be cleaned, refilled, and reinserted into a furnace. The foamed material must then be annealed, cooled, and cut into a finished product configuration from the larger blanks.
In view of the above, it can be seen that it would be advantageous to be able to produce foamed material in a continuous process in order to produce a more economical product. Several attempts have in the past been made to provide such a continuous process. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,585,014 and 3,607,170, to Malesak, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,038,063 and 4,124,365, to Williams, disclose the use of a thin, flexible belt on which to foam material as it travels through a furnace. Such a thin belt does not last long in a hot furnace environment, and it tends to warp, abrade and quickly deteriorate. Lubrication of the belt to restrict wear frequently fails in the hot furnace. In addition, the foamed material frequently sticks to the belt and builds up on the belt, even if release coatings are provided, due to the difficulty of cleaning and recoating the belt with release agent inside the furnace at high temperatures. U.S. Pat. No. 4,289,521, to Schymura, utilizes an overhead trolley to convey continuous molds through a custom built tunnel furnace. The molds are complicated, and rely on hinged sides. Failure of the hinge mechanism in a hot furnace environment would make it necessary to shut down the entire furnace and trolley system in order to remove and replace a failed mold and to clean up spilled foamed material. In addition, the sand seal that is used in the overhead trolley system requires constant replenishment of the sand in order to maintain the heat seal. Other continuous foamed glass systems use molds that are pushed end-to-end through the furnace. The pushing force required to overcome friction in a long furnace can deform the molds, resulting in an irregular continuous strip that would have to undergo additional trimming before it could be used. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,972,667, Hanusa, 3,574,583, Goldsmith, 3,532,480, D-Eustachio, and 3,056,184, Blaha, utilize some type of roller mechanism in order to align and/or compress the foamed material. The rollers must be constantly coated with a release material in order to prevent build-up of the sticky foamed material, which could deform the continuous product. The use of rollers precludes the production of shapes that do not have flat or parallel surfaces. In addition to the aforementioned drawbacks of prior known processes, these processes also require the use of custom built furnaces, thus greatly adding to the cost of these known processes.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to not only provide a potentially continuous process for the production of foamed material while avoiding the drawbacks of the heretofore known processes, it is also an object of the present invention to be able to produce finished material having any desired shape, whereby it is merely necessary to cut the finished product to a desired length. A further object of the present invention is to make it possible to change the shapes of the mold being used without having to shut down the apparatus and furnace while making such changes. It is yet another object of the present invention to be able to use a standard furnace.

Apparatus and method for manufacturing foamed material


There is disclosed a silver halide color photographic material, which comprises a compound represented by formula (I) in a photosensitive layer or a non-photosensitive layer and a yellow dye-forming coupler represented by formula (II), (III), or (IV) in a blue-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer: ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1 represents an alkyl group, an alkenyl group, an aryl group, a heterocyclic group, a silyl group, an acyl group, a sulfonyl group, or an R.sub.o group; R.sub.2, R.sub.3, R.sub.4, R.sub.5, and R.sub.6 each represent a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, an alkyl group, an alkenyl group, an aryl group, a substituted amino group, an alkylthio group, an arylthio group, an R.sub.p group, an R.sub.q group, an R.sub.r group, an R.sub.s group, an R.sub.t group, or an R.sub.u group; R.sub.1a, R.sub.1b, and R.sub.1c have the same meaning as that of R.sub.1 ; R.sub.2 and R.sub.3, R.sub.3 and R.sub.4, or R.sub.5 and R.sub.6 may bond together to form a 5- or 6-membered ring or a spiro ring; and v and w each represent 0 or 1, provided that at least one of v and w is 0, ##STR2## wherein the substituents of formulae (II), (III) & IV are as defined in the specification.

In silver halide color photographic materials, as photographic couplers that will react with the oxidized product of an aromatic primary amine developing agent to form color-formed dyes, generally a yellow coupler, a magenta coupler, and a cyan coupler are used in combination.
The color-formed dyes obtained from these couplers are required to have, for example, excellent spectral absorption properties and high fastness to light, heat, humidity, etc. The excellent spectral absorption properties desired in photographic materials should be such that color-formed dyes formed from respective couplers do not have undesired absorption in wavelength regions other than the desired major absorption. For example, in the case of yellow color-formed dyes, since the major absorption part of the formed and is broad, the color reproduction of yellow hue and green hue is unsatisfactory.
In color print materials to be used for recording and storing images, conventionally, pivaloylacetanilide-type yellow couplers are used. However, since the major absorption of the yellow dyes obtained from these couplers is broad, the color reproduction is unsatisfactory and a technique for its improvement is desired. The fastness of the color-formed dyes obtained from the above-mentioned yellow couplers is poorer than that of the color-formed dyes obtained from magenta couplers and cyan couplers, the change in color balance of the respective color-formed dyes during long-term storage is conspicuous, and therefore the improvement is strongly desired.
Thus, to improve light-fastness of such yellow color-formed dyes, steric hindrance phenol compounds described, for example, in JP-A ("JP-A" means unexamined published Japanese patent application) Nos. 48535/1979 and 222853/1985, polyalkylpiperidine compounds described, for example, in JP-B ("JP-B" means examined Japanese patent publication) No. 20617/1982 and JP-A Nos. 116747/1984 and 11935/1984, and compounds described, for example, in JP-A Nos. 239149/1987, 240965/1987, 254149/1987, and 300748/1990, are known, and when yellow couplers are used in combination with these compounds, fastness to light is indeed improved. However, the improved effect is still not at the satisfactory level, and it is found that, for example, the stability of the emulsion is deteriorated.
The deterioration of the stability of the emulsion results in serious problems in photographic performance; that is, (1) after a lapse of time the coupler dissolved in the oil droplets deposits, thereby causing coating trouble or a drop in the color density, or (2) after a lapse of time the diameter of the oil droplets increases, thereby causing a decrease called haze and lowering of the apparent color density.
Thus, no technique that can satisfy all of the above performances has yet been developed.

Silver halide color photographic material


A method for preparing beverages, includes supplying water from a water source to a tapping point, supplying powder for beverages from a container to the tapping point, characterized in that the supplying of powder for beverages is performed without the influence of gravitational force. The invention also relates to a device for carrying out the method.

Today's society with increased mobility of goods and people has led to the transport sector becoming a large and important factor. The transport sector comprises long-distance trucks shipping cargo both internationally and nationally, lorries for medium distance and regional transports, long-distance busses as well as trains and ships, to mention some.
Within this sector, as with so many other, the demands for fast and flexible transports, together with many competitors in the sector pressing the prizes, has led to a high pressure on keeping the vehicles moving as much as possible.
This in turn means that the drivers are forced to minimum lunch and coffee breaks as stated by the law. In order to have a cup of coffee or the like whenever they want to, many transporting vehicles are equipped with coffee makers placed in the driver cabin.
The coffee makers for vehicles on the market today have a design very similar to a household coffee maker with a water container, a heating plate on which a glass jug is placed and a filter holder on top of the jug. Usually the only difference is that they are adapted to a much lower voltage so that they can be connected to the vehicle's electrical system.
Since these coffee makers are not adapted to a moving vehicle, they are quite a safety risk. In order to operate the maker the driver has to take his eyes off the road for quite some time, even to fill a cup. Further since the coffee jug is only supported on the heating plate by a low ledge, there is a great risk that the jug falls off should the vehicle make a sudden turn or break, whereby coffee will be spilled all over the cabin and on the driver. Further, hot steam from the coffee maker could condense on the windshield if the coffee maker is placed on the dashboard. There is thus a need for a coffee maker adapted to moving vehicles and which does not constitute a safety risk for the driver or the traffic.
Other types of makers of beverages use freeze-dried powder for beverages, such as instant coffee, cocoa, or beverages based on fruit or berries. The powder is placed in a container arranged above the tapping point of the maker. A water supply is also arranged to the tapping point. When the beverage is to be prepared the bottom of the container is opened to allow a certain amount of powder to fall down, either into an intermediate mixing chamber or a mug or the like. An amount of water is also supplied whereby they mix and produce a beverage.
For vehicles and the like with limited space available this type of maker is not optimal because it tends to be rather high and generally bulky, even though the use of freeze-dried powder is an advantage since it is easy to handle and produces beverages very fast.

Method and device for producing beverages


A cable retraction speed limiter has a body which is designed to be mounted on the housing of a hoist and a spool which is rotatably supported by the body. A flexible extension member is disposed about the spool so that it can be extended from and retracted onto the spool by rotation of the spool. The end of the flexible extension member is designed to be attached to an air pressure responsive member inside of the air balancing hoist. The cable retraction speed limiter also includes a spool lock that stops rotation of the spool when the rotational speed of the spool exceeds the rotational speed limit, thereby limiting the hoist cable retraction speed.

Manufacturing and assembly plants, as well as machine shops and garages, often require heavy objects to be lifted, moved to a new location, and released. Many types of hoists have been developed to facilitate the lifting of objects too heavy for humans to lift safely or comfortably without assistance. One particularly useful type of hoist is known as an air balancing hoist. Several versions of air balancing hoists are available. All use air pressure to operate the hoist. Typically, an air balancing hoist includes a housing with an air pressure responsive member movable therein. A cable is connected to the air pressure responsive member such that movement of the air pressure responsive member causes extension or retraction of the cable from the housing. The end of the cable extending from the housing is connected to an object to be lifted and then pressurized air is introduced into the hoist housing. When the air pressure inside the housing reaches a certain level, the air pressure responsive member begins to move and retract the cable toward the housing so that the object connected to the cable is lifted. By controlling the amount of pressure inside the housing, the weight of the object to be lifted can be "balanced" so that the object can be easily moved to another location. When the object to be moved has been positioned at its destination, air pressure in the hoist housing is bled off causing the air pressure responsive member to move and extend the cable, releasing the load.
Under some circumstances, the object to be moved may be released suddenly from the end of the hoist cable without pressure first being removed from the housing. In these circumstances, the weight of the load is no longer available to balance with the air pressure inside of the hoist housing. Therefore, the air pressure responsive member moves very rapidly causing the cable to be retracted very quickly into the housing. This sudden, rapid retraction of the cable is undesirable for several reasons. Rapid retraction of the cable may cause the cable end to whip around in a dangerous manner. Also, the hoist operator may not want the end of the cable to retract entirely into the housing. The operator may wish to lift another object at a similar height to which the first object was released. If the end of the cable is retracted rapidly, the operator must re-extend the cable before the hoist is in a position to be used again. Also, rapid, lengthy travel of the cable and the air responsive member leads to additional wear and tear on the hoist.
There have been numerous attempts to provide cable retraction speed limiters to solve the problem of sudden rapid cable retraction. However, these prior approaches typically rely on some type of brake and are large and complicated. This makes it difficult to package the devices and also increases their costs. There remains a need for a simple and compact cable retraction speed limiter which may be incorporated into new air balancing hoists or retrofitted onto existing air balancing hoists.

Cable retraction speed limiter for air balancing hoist


A cabinet is used for potty training. The cabinet is comprised of several doors behind which are compartments. The compartments are made to contain candy. A recorded message congratulates a child when a button is pushed, and directs the child to open one door to receive a piece of candy. The potty-training cabinet is colorfully decorated as to be appealing to a toddler.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally a method and device for child training. More particularly the present invention relates to a cabinet providing rewards for a potty training toddler.
2. Background Art
Positive reinforcement may be used to help a toddler through the transition period from diapers to being potty trained.
A battery-powered toilet training device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,162,490. This invention uses a non-contact device to detect the presence of urine and stool in a receptacle. The invention produces an auditory signal and mechanical motion as a reward to the toddler.
A similar device is revealed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,749. Light from light emitting diodes is provided to determine when urine or stools cross the path of the light. Different sounds are emitted depending on whether urine, stool or both are detected. A moving part may also be used as an additional reward.
A potty training chair is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,781,939. The potty chair provides restraint for the toddler. Two audible rewards are given: one when the potty seat is raised, another when the child sits on the potty seat.
A potty training tool providing an audible reward is revealed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,242. The audible rewarding system is activated when a child hits, with a urine stream, a rotatable target.
All the above inventions provide positive reinforcement to a toddler going through potty training. They all include audible rewards, and some visual rewards. None, however, are made for a child to approach after finishing on the stool, and none provide a gustatorial reward.
There is, therefore, a need for a method and device for rewarding a child in potty training after the child has left the stool. There is also a need for a device that provides auditory, visual, and gustatorial reward for a toddler in potty training.