Embodiments of the present invention include hot-rolled threaded rebar bolts that have a substantially circular core with semi-continuous threads on opposing sides of the rebar bolts. In some embodiments of the invention the shaft is substantially void of longitudinal ribs along at least a portion of the longitudinal area between the first set of threads and the second set of threads of the shaft. The threaded rebar bolt is manufactured in a continuous hot-rolling process to create a threaded rebar shaft with semi-continuous threads and substantially no longitudinal ribs in the longitudinal areas and no additional machining is required to create the threads after the threaded shaft is created from the hot-rolling process.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,481,603 and 7,758,284 granted to William G. Fox (hereinafter the "Fox patents") discloses a tensionable bolt (i.e. spiral and threaded) for use with resin nuts, and related methods, for installation in a borehole in a mine in order to support the mine from collapsing. The disclosure in the Fox patents is designed to provide support in passages of geological structures, such as mines, in an efficient, secure, and cheap way. The apparatus disclosed in the Fox patents provides a structure supporting means that is easy to use and install, does not result in protrusions from the mine support structure, has excellent tensioning/holding characteristics, has minimal tension bleed-off, and has the capability of being re-tensioned by rotation of the spiral bolt after columnar grouting. U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,481,603 and 7,758,284 are hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.
Throughout the initial investigation of the invention disclosed in the Fox patents, manufacturing companies have found that there is not a practical method of producing the desired large quantities of bolts for the system because the bolts had to be made from standard merchant round steel bar run through cut-threading or roll-threading machines (e.g., a Landis threading machine), which produce one thread at a time by rotating the head around a stationary round bar and continuing along the shaft a defined length, usually at least 24 inches. The use of such cold-cutting and/or cold-forming processes is very slow and costly, and as such the manufacturing quantity is restricted and incapable of meeting product demand for the mining bolts at a low cost.
Bolts and screws are typically manufactured through the use of a threading process, such as machined threads, cast threads, or cold-rolled threads. In the machining process, threads are cut in a milling process on conventional or computer numerical control ("CNC") machines. In the casting process the threads are formed by the internal surface of the casting mold. In the cold-rolling process the threads are created by rolling bar stock to form threads of the fastener through sets of two or more dies in a perpendicular orientation to the movement of one or more of the movable dies in a die set. These manufacturing processes can be costly because of the set-up and manufacturing times associated with creating specialized fasteners for various applications.
In some applications, such as the case with utilizing bolts in a mine shaft roof application, or other structural support applications, three-hundred thousand (300,000) to five-hundred thousand (500,000) bolts per month, or other amounts besides this range, may need to be manufactured to supply a single mine. This may translate into around three hundred fifty (350) plus tons of bolt stock for structural support applications in a single mine.
Different types of bolting systems and associated manufacturing processes have been implemented to either utilize standardized bolts or manufacture specialized bolts in cheaper processes that can be used in support structures. However, each invention has its own associated problems. A summary of some prior art bolts systems and processing methods are described briefly below.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,197 illustrates a mechanical anchor including an expansion shell and an expansion plug positioned in the shell and engaged with the end of a bar having helically extending rib segments formed on the outer surface of the bar. This bolt system is designed to employ an expansion shell as the anchoring mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,379 describes a method of hot-rolling full continuous threads around a bar for use in concrete reinforcing. This method is, however complicated by the mandatory employment of two sets of individually synchronized tandem mill rolls rotated at ninety (90) degrees from each other and then synchronized with each other to roll top and bottom threads, and the two side threads, thereby forming a continuous thread for the application of an anchoring or connecting member with a female thread.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,922,681 illustrates a bolt that is specifically designed to not rotate. It comprises a circular core cross-section and two rows lying opposite each other which are arranged along a helical line and form portions of a thread for screwing on an anchoring or connecting body provided with counter thread. The steps serve to improve the bond of the concrete reinforcing bar to the concrete.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,850 depicts particular thread forms to provide a rock bolt for use in a rock bolt system which enables the rock bolt system to have an improved performance when compared with rock bolt systems based on known rock bolts.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,886,384 B2 describes a thread form on opposing sides of a smooth bar but with the threads offset by an amount of half the thread pitch. The ribs which are so formed protrude from the bar and typically form a discontinuous thread around and along the bar. This thread form allows for the application of couplers but prohibits rotation in a set grouting medium.
There is a need for cost-effective and efficient specialized bolts that can be used in support structure applications, such as mining, tunneling, earth stabilization or construction, which can replace bolts manufactured through standard processes, but still have the same or better structural capabilities.


A press roll for forming a controlled press nip with an opposed roll, such as in a papermaking machine, including a rotatable roll shell with a support shaft extending axially through the roll shell and controllable hydrostatic support elements positioned between the roll shell and shaft for applying a controlled radial supporting force to the roll shell with the nip line of the roll shell forming a support plane with the axis of the shaft, and an end guide accommodating relative movement between the shaft and the roll shell in the support plane with the end guide including a V-shaped projection at each end of the shaft and on each side of the shaft, and adjustable blocks carried on the roll shell by self-aligning bearings slidable against the end guide on the shaft.

Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates to improvements in the field of papermaking machines and, more particularly, to an improved controlled deflection roll and an improved structural relationship between the roll shell and the support shaft.
In press rolls in papermaking machines, a rotatable roll shell is mounted and supported on a fixed axis or beam extending through the roll shell. Hydrostatic supporting elements carried on the shaft support the shell and apply a supporting force on the shell, urging it toward a nip formed with a co-acting roll. Many varied forms of hydrostatic and hydrodynamic supports have been provided for supporting the roll shell on the shaft and applying a nip-loading force to the roll shell in the support plane. In this structure, means are provided for positioning the ends of the roll shell relative to the shaft in a lateral direction at right angles to the support plane. In a preferred arrangement, the guide arrangement for the ends of the roll shell holds the roll shell in position laterally but permits movement of the roll shell in the direction of the support plane. Various devices have been employed for this, and one arrangement is to utilize a flat-sliding surface parallel to the roll axis. This structure, which is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,885,283, makes it difficult to provide adjustable mating surfaces. It is also difficult and costly to provide optimum sliding clearance by holding close machining tolerances. If operating clearance is too tight, there can be increased friction and possible binding. If the clearance is too loose, vibration can result with inaccurate guiding. In addition, separate surfaces must be employed to carry axial thrust loads in that the roll shell must be held in a constant axial location on the shaft, and axial forces and thermal expansion create problems to maintain this alignment axially between the roll shell and supporting shaft.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide end guide means between the roll shell and supporting shaft in a controlled deflection roll which avoids disadvantages heretofore present with available structures.
A further object of the invention is to provide an improved end guide means between the ends of a roll shell and a supporting shaft in a controlled deflection roll wherein the end guide means support axial thrust loads and permit free movement of the ends of the shell in a radial direction for opening and closing the nip with an opposing roll.
A still further object of the invention is to provide improved end guide means for the ends of a roll shell in a controlled deflection roll which are simplified in construction and provide a simplified way of adjustment which prevents binding and keeps friction to a minimum.


An electronic component module includes a board having an electronic component mounted on a surface of the board and a shield case mounted on the surface of the board and covering the electronic component. The board includes a projecting part projecting from the surface of the board. The projecting part is formed of plating at a position along a sidewall of the shield case and is soldered to the shield case.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic component modules, boards, and methods of manufacturing an electronic component module.
2. Description of the Related Art
High-frequency modules used for radio communications are often provided with a metal shield case that covers electronic components mounted on a board so as not to be subject to external interference.
The shield case is generally mounted on a surface of the board along with other electronic components in the case of a small module. There is, however, a problem in that the misalignment of the shield case is likely to occur at mounting lands so that the shield case may be short-circuited with adjacent components or be poorly joined to the board (with a gap formed between the shield case and the board surface).
The shield case may be provided with claws and be fixed to the board by inserting the claws into through holes or end-face through holes of the board and soldering the claws. This method, however, has the disadvantage of an increase in the number of assembling steps and reduction in the area for mounting components.
Therefore, in order to prevent the misalignment of the shield case, an electronic component with a case in which metal balls are mounted at two or more points on a component mounting surface of a printed circuit board so as to be adjacent to a sidewall of the case has been proposed. (See, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2005-235806.)

Electronic component module, board, and method of manufacturing electronic component module


A semiconductor device of the present invention has a pn-repeating structure that a structure in which a p-type impurity region (4) and an n-type drift region (3) are aligned side by side is repeated twice or more, and a low concentration region which is either p-type impurity region (4) or n-type drift region (3) located at the outermost portion of this pn-repeating structure has the lowest impurity concentration or has the least generally effective charge amount among all the p-type impurity regions (4) and n-type drift regions (3) forming the pn-repeating structure.

An element using a repeating microscopic structure of p-type and n-type layers wherein an electric field relaxation phenomenon called the RESURF (REduced SURface Field) effect is applied in place of the uniform n-type drift layer of a conventional MOS-FET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor-Field Effect Transistor) has been proposed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,040,600. In this element a low ON resistance is obtained in the ON condition due to the n-type drift layer of which the impurity concentration is higher than the concentration of the uniform n drift layer in the conventional structure by approximately one order while in the OFF condition the entire electric field is relaxed due to a three-dimensional multiple RESURF effect of nip layers. Thereby, a withstand voltage several times as large as the main withstand voltage conventionally obtained by a high concentration single n-type drift layer alone can be implemented and, in principle, an STM (Super Trench power MOS-FET) structure that can obtain a value lower than the Si limitation (Ron, sp=5.93×10−9 BV2.5, wherein specific resistance is proportional to the main withstand voltage to the power of 2.5) wherein the relationship between the main withstand voltage and the specific ON resistance is limited can be obtained.
In an actual element, however, this repeating microscopic structure of p-type and n-type layers cannot be repeated infinitely in an edge portion of the chip and, therefore, there is a problem wherein a drop in the main withstand voltage is great in a "termination" portion of a termination structure where the repetition ends. In the following, a prior art and problem thereof are described from such a point of view.
FIG. 148 is a cross sectional view schematically showing the first configuration of a semiconductor device according to a prior art and shows a configuration that corresponds to a case where a MOS-FET is posited as a concrete active element structure. In reference to FIG. 148, an n− epitaxial layer 102 is formed on the first main surface side of an n+ drain region 101 of the MOS-FET. A pn-repeating structure wherein n-type drift regions  103 and p-type impurity regions 104 are repeated in alternation is formed within this n− epitaxial layer 102.
Here, though the vicinity of the center of this element having the pn-repeating structure is omitted for the purpose of simplification of the description, conventionally a combination of several hundreds to several tens of thousands of repeated pairs of n-type drift regions 103 and p-type impurity regions 104 exists in this portion. The n-type impurity concentration of n-type drift region 103 and the p-type impurity concentration of p-type impurity region 104 in each pair are set at substantially the same level.
A p-type body region 105 is formed on the first main surface side of p-type impurity region 104. This p-type body region 105 is also located on, at least, a portion of n-type drift region 103 on the first main surface side so as to form a main pn junction with n-type drift region 103. An n+ source region 106 of a MOS-FET and a p+ contact region 107 for making a low resistance contact with p-type body region 105 are formed side by side in the first main surface within this p-type body region 105.
A gate electrode 109 is formed above the first main surface so as to face p-type body region 105 located between n-type drift region 103 and n+ source region 106 via a gate insulating film 108. When a positive voltage is applied to this gate electrode 109, p-type body region 105, which faces gate electrode 109, is inverted to an n-type so that a channel region is formed.
A source electrode 110 made of a material including aluminum (Al), for example, is formed on the first main surface so as to be electrically connected to n+ source region 106 and p+ contact region 107.
A drain metal wire 111 is formed on the second main surface so as to contact n+ drain region 101.
Here, in the actual element, the source electrode part is electrically connected to n+ source region 106 and p+ contact region 107 through a contact hole provided in an interlayer insulating film on the first main surface and via a barrier metal. In the present application, however, this portion is not important and, therefore, the source electrode part is simplified and expressed using solid lines throughout all of the drawings.
In addition, though n+ drain region 101 is several times to several tens of times thicker than the effective element portion in the actual element, n+ drain region 101 is expressed as thinner than the effective element portion in the drawings for the purpose of simplification. In addition to the above, scales, ratios of dimensions, and the like, are deformed in order to simplify the expression and, therefore, the respective dimensions in the drawings are not necessarily precise.
A multiple guard ring structure made of p-type impurity regions 115, for example, is provided as a termination structure of the pn-repeating structure.
In this configuration, n-type drift regions 103 and p-type impurity regions 104, respectively, have substantially the same impurity concentration in the center portion and edge portions of the pn-repeating structure.
FIG. 149 is a cross sectional view schematically showing the second configuration of the semiconductor device according to the prior art. In reference to FIG. 149, an n− epitaxial layer 102 has a buried multi-layer epitaxial structure and a p-type impurity region 104 is formed of a plurality of p-type regions 104a that are integrated in the depth direction of the semiconductor substrate in this configuration. In this configuration, p-type impurity regions 104, respectively, have the same impurity concentration in the center portion and edge portions of the pn-repeating structure.
Here, the concentration distribution in the upward and downward directions of each p-type impurity region 104 is an intrinsic structure and this is a concentration distribution due to the manufacturing method, which has no bearing on the concentration gradient in the part in the lateral direction discussed in the present invention. In addition, though in the drawing the concentration gradient in the upward and downward directions is depicted in only two stages for the purpose of simplification, in practice this concentration sequentially changes.
A manufacturing method according to this prior art is characterized in that n− epitaxial layer 102, having a comparatively high concentration to the extent that the concentration thereof is balanced with that of the p-type layers, is used for the purpose of simplifying the process of formation of the buried layers. A heat treatment is carried out after forming p-type buried diffusion layers 104 a within n− epitaxial layer 102 in such a manner and, therefore, p-type impurity region 104 becomes of a form well-known in Japan as "round sweet balls of confectionary on a skewer."
FIG. 150 is a cross sectional view schematically showing the third configuration of the semiconductor device according to the prior art. In reference to FIG. 150, n-type drift regions 103 and p-type impurity regions  104 form pairs and a trench 123 filled in with a filling 124 is arranged between the members of each combined pn pair in this configuration.
FIG. 151 shows the appearance of electrical field concentration in the structure corresponding to this FIG. 150. The dark portion in this figure indicates a portion of high electrical field concentration and it is seen that an electrical field concentrates on portions (regions shown by arrows) wherein the pn-repeating structure ends.
Here, in this FIG. 151, an FP (Field Plate) structure is adopted for the termination structure portions instead of the multiple guard ring called an FLR (Field Limiting Ring) or an FFR (Floating Field Ring).
Here, the other parts of the above described configurations shown in FIGS. 149 and 150 are approximately the same as in the configuration shown in FIG. 148 and, therefore, the same symbols are attached to the same members, of which the descriptions are omitted.
As described above, according to the first to third prior arts there are structures wherein conventional termination structures such as a guard ring, an LFR, a JTE (Junction Termination Extension) and an FP are combined in the portions wherein pn-repeating structures end. By combining such termination structures, however, only a withstand voltage far lower than the high withstand voltage obtained within the cell in the center portion of the pn-repeating structures can be obtained in portions wherein the pn-repeating structure ends. Therefore, though the element operates, there is a problem wherein the trade-off relationship between the main withstand voltage and the ON resistance does not improve.
In addition, the content of the following Prior Art 1 has been announced as a method for preventing the loss of the high withstand voltage of the main cell portion by setting a specific concentration of the p-type layers and of the n-type layers outside of the portions wherein the pn-repeating structures ends. According to this technique, however, there is a problem wherein implementation is difficult due to the reasons described below.
The above described Prior Art 1 is described in "Junction Termination Technique for Super Junction Devices" that was announced in, for example, ISPSD 2000 (International Symposium on Power Semiconductor Devices & ICs) of CPES (Center for Power Electronics Systems), Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
This Prior Art 1 shows improvement of the termination structure itself in the pn-repeating structure.
In addition, the structure shown in FIG. 152 is shown in the above described Prior Art 1. In reference to FIG. 152, a region of which the effective conductive type and concentration can be regarded as those of a low concentration p− region in a fan form of a quarter of a circle having a radius of R of the thickness (depth) of an n layer is formed from a portion wherein the repetition of p layers 204 and n layers 203 ends. However, a p− region cannot actually be formed to have such a concentration distribution. Therefore, it is necessary for the concentration distribution of the effective p− region to have an attenuation curve as shown in FIG. 153.
In order to implement this, a configuration is used wherein the concentration and the width of n-type regions 203 are constant while the concentration of p-type regions 204 is constant and the widths thereof are changed such as in the SJT (Super Junction Termination) structure shown in FIG. 154. Thereby, the same effects as of the changing of the effective concentration can be obtained according to the description of Prior Art 1.
In addition, the only requirements at this time are a form wherein the equipotential surfaces are aligned in fans at equal intervals as shown in FIG. 155 and a zigzag electrical field intensity distribution that is exposed to the surface wherein the peaks and the troughs have the same height and depth, respectively.
In addition, in this Prior Art 1 each of the concentrations of pi regions 204 and ni regions 203 are posited as being uniform within the single diffusion layer in the upward, downward, leftward and rightward directions. There is a problem, however, wherein the original effects of Prior Art 1 cannot easily be exercised when the formula for the relationship of the pn concentration ratio is not fulfilled in the case that the absolute values of the concentration greatly change or when the description of such a relationship becomes extremely complex so that the precision of proximity is reduced.
Concretely, there is a description that "along the SJT surface, . . . in the following calculation." in right column of page 2 to the left column of page 3 in the main body of Prior Art 1. In this description the volume represented by the concentration and the width of each portion may be set so as to satisfy equation (5) in Prior Art 1 so that the electrical field distribution closest to the surface does not reach to the critical breakdown electrical field.
In other words, this Prior Art 1 discloses the design of the entirety of the element in a form that includes the termination structure by literally extending the super junction structure of the repeating cell portions to the termination structure portions in some manner according to SJT, that is to say, "Super Junction Termination structure," wherein a repeating cell portion in the center and a termination structure have a one-to-one correspondence so as to be indivisible having a very limitative structure while "manner of connection" of a repeating cell portion to a general termination structure portion is described in the present invention, which is essentially different from the above.
In the case that the distribution required for the p-type acceptor concentration distribution in the moving radius direction in FIG. 153 is formed according to the repetition of pn layers, the electrical field distribution closest to the surface becomes of a zigzag form and, in the case that the peaks and troughs all have the same value, the maximum withstand voltage can be obtained. Therefore, in the case that the all of the concentrations of n and p regions 203 and 204 are made uniform so that the equipotential surfaces (lines) distribute in fan forms at equal intervals, as shown in FIG. 155, it is necessary to carry out an adjustment of the width of each of the regions 203 and 204.
In addition, SJT is considered to be impractical because it has the following two problems.
First, concentration regulation for forming an SJT structure is too complicated and it is necessary to apply an interval design that agrees with the concentration arrangement of the repeating cell portions that are different from the termination structure portions to the SJT part after examining the arrangement in detail before carrying out the actual design and, in addition, it is physically and mechanically difficult to fabricate a semiconductor chip structure to include terminal edges. On the other hand, the present invention has the advantage that both design and manufacturing method are simple because the relative concentrations in the vicinity of the terminal edges of the repeating cell portions may be adjusted using comparatively simple arithmetic.
Secondly, an SJT structure can only be implemented in the case of manufacture by means of a buried multi-layer epitaxial growth method and lacks versatility in that it cannot be actually manufactured in the case wherein a trench sidewall diffusion is used.
Furthermore, as described in the main body of Prior Art 1, there is a problem wherein this technique lacks versatility in that it is impossible to apply this technique in an element structure wherein a trench system is applied due to restrictions of the manufacturing technology even though the application to a multi-layer epitaxial structure is, in principle, possible.
Next, the technology disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,438,215 is described as prior art 2 in FIG. 156.
In reference to FIG. 156, a vertical-type MOS-FET has inside region  301 that is doped so as to be a low level n-type. A base region 303 of the opposite conductive type (p) is provided in the upper side surface 302 of the semiconductor substrate. A source region 304 of the first conductive type (n) is buried within base region 303. A gate electrode 308 is arranged above surface 302 so as to be insulated from the surface. A drain region  307 that is highly doped so as to be of the same conductive type as inside region 301 is provided in the surface 306 on the opposite side.
Auxiliary semiconductor regions 311 and 312 are arranged in a range of the space-charge region that spreads at the time of reverse voltage application within the inside region 301. At least two regions 211 of a conductive type opposite to that of the inside region are provided. Auxiliary regions 312 having the same the same conductive type (n) as inside region 301 and being more highly doped than the inside region arranged between regions 311. The auxiliary regions are surrounded from all directions by a single region. This single region is of the same conductive type as the inside region, as well as regions 312, and is more highly doped than the inside region.
Though in this configuration a portion, wherein an active cell is formed, is buried in n− region 301, which has a low concentration, the impurity concentration of this outer peripheral portion is not specifically described and only the method of formation of a cell portion is discussed.
In addition, in general the impurity concentration of a portion wherein a pn-repeating structure is not formed in this Prior Art 2 is presumed to be set at the impurity concentration that is reverse calculated from a value obtained by adding a manufacturing margin to the element withstand voltage set for the power MOS-FET of a conventional structure (structure that does not have pn repetition). However, that leads the electrical field distribution in the termination structure portions in the pn-repeating structure to become triangular so as to differ from an electrical field distribution in a trapezoidal form that is implemented in the cell portion. Therefore, in the same manner as in the above described Prior Art 1, the difference in the electrical field distribution between the inside of repeating cells and the termination structure portions becomes greater so that there is a problem wherein a high withstand voltage, which is essentially obtained in a cell portion, cannot be implemented although the relationship between the main withstanding voltage and the ON resistance is improved in comparison with the conventional MOS-FET structure.

Semiconductor device and manufacturing method for the same

Abstract: Thereby, the main withstand voltage of a power semiconductor device to which a three dimensional multi-RESURF principle is applied, wherein the element withstand voltage is specifically in the broad range of 20 to 6000 V, can be improved and the trade-off relationship between the main withstand voltage and the ON resistance can also be improved, so that an inexpensive semiconductor device of which the power loss is small and of which the size of the chip is small can be obtained.

Abstract: In addition, a trench of a dotted line trench (DLT) structure and a manufacturing method corresponding to this can be used, so that a semiconductor device with a good yield can be obtained at low cost.


In some aspects, what is disclosed relates to a processor-based payment method for transferring user-provided payment data through a router that parses the payment data and transfers the parsed data to a plurality of receivers in distinct locations, detecting the parsed data at each of the plurality of receivers, and originating an ACH debit against the user, or an e-check, based on the parsed data.

If an employer/entity is required to withhold child support from employees/obligors and forward the payment(s) to State Disbursement Units (SDUs) around the country, it currently has the following choices:                a) Send a paper check including remittance that provides the payment information for each of the employees;        b) Create an Automated Clearing House (ACH) Financial Electronic Data Interchange (FEDI) credit transaction in the approved CS Banking Convention addenda format embedded within either a cash concentration or disbursement plus addenda (CCD+) or corporate trade exchange (CTX) format using:                    i) its own internally developed software,            ii) commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS), or            iii) bank-provided software;                        d) contract with a third party provider (ADP, Ceridian, Paychex, or ACS via Expert Pay) to act as an accumulator to consolidate the payment information and create a single ACH debit to the employers account and originating multiple ACH FEDI credit transaction credits to each SDU; or        e) Register and interact with each SDU that provides the option, to have the SDU debit the employers account for the payments submitted to the SDU via a web site or telephone Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system.

Router-based remittance systems and methods


An internal combustion engine and control method therefor in which the engine is selectively started by combustion without cranking. The temperature in the combustion chamber of an engine cylinder is stabilized upon starting of the engine, thereby allowing secured staring without cranking. When predetermined idling stop conditions (or engine stop conditions) are established, the temperature in the combustion chamber is estimated based on engine operating conditions read before such establishment, and the period of maintaining a engine rotational speed in a predetermined low range before stopping the engine is calculated or estimated based on the estimated temperature in the combustion chamber. The engine is then stopped after the calculated or estimated period of maintaining the engine rotational speed in the predetermined low range.

Japanese Laid Open Patent Application No. H02-271073, filed Apr. 12, 1989, and published Nov. 6, 1990, relates to the starting of an internal combustion engine. Disclosed is a cylinder-direct injection-type engine in which, when the engine is not running, an engine cylinder is detected in which the piston is past upper dead center and has been stopped before the cylinder exhaust process has begun. The engine is started by igniting combustion in the detected cylinder by fuel injection without using a separate starting means (hereinafter simply referred to as the "starter") such as a cell motor or a recoil starter.
In the above-described engine, however, the temperature of the combustion chamber inside the cylinder at starting (ignition) is not taken into account. The vaporization rate of the injected fuel changes depending on the temperature of the combustion chamber, and therefore, in the above-described engine, the vapor mixing ratio in the combustion chamber differs depending on its internal temperature at starting.

Internal combustion engine and control method therefor


A magnetic head comprises an MR element, and a substrate supporting the MR element from both sides at a center portion, and a magnetic tape is in contact and slide-contact with a slide-contact surface thereof. A curvature in a thickness direction of the slide-contact surface is set to be larger at a center portion than at both sides thereof. In this way, it is possible to protect the slide-contact surface of the magnetic head from eccentric wear and avoid deterioration of the magnetic head performance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic head used for reproducing information from a tape magnetic recording medium employed in a VTR (video tape recorder), a digital VTR or the like, a method of manufacturing the magnetic head, and a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus employing the magnetic head.
2. Description of the Related Art
In later years, with the progress in digitalization of image signals and computer-related technology, the amount of information increases exponentially. In a digital VTR or a tape streamer device for accumulating, storing an reproducing such a large amount of information, in order to improve performance of a magnetic recording/reproducing system therein so as to deal the large amount of information at high speed and promptly, research and development for providing the magnetic recording/reproducing system with a multi-head, a high-speed rotating drum, a narrow track, and a short wavelength have been made.
However, as for the inductive-type magnetic head which has been used widely, since the magnetic resistance of the head cannot be unlimitedly reduced due to the limit of the capability of the head itself, for example, physical limit of the permeability of a magnetic material, it is quite difficult to largely improve a real density thereof.
Therefore, attempts have been made to utilize a magnetic head employing an MR element utilizing the magnetoresistive effect, in place of the conventional inductive head, in a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus using a magnetic tape, such as a helical scan system.
By the way, as shown in FIG. 10, in a case of using a magnetic head 102 employing a shield-type MR element on a rotary head drum 101 in a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus, a slide-contact surface 102a of the magnetic head 102 is exposed toward a magnetic tape 103, and the magnetic tape 103 is in slide-contact with the slide contact surface 102a. Herein, an exposed amount δ of the slide-contact surface 102a of the magnetic head 102 from an outer peripheral of the rotary head drum 101 is called "head projection amount". On the other hand, since output intensity of the magnetic head 102 is substantially inversely proportional to an MR head height h (refer to FIG. 6), the MR head height is preferably as small as possible. Usually, the MR head height is set in a range of 0.5–3 μm.
As shown in FIG. 11A, a curvature in a width direction of the slide-contact surface 102a of the magnetic head 102 is formed to be Rx, while, as shown in FIG. 11B, a curvature in a thickness direction of the slide-contact surface 102a of the magnetic head 102 is formed to be Ry.

Magnetic head and magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus for a video tape recorder, and a method of manufacturing the same


A moving image coder has an arithmetic unit for calculating an average value of a coding object block; an arithmetic unit for obtaining an alternating current component by subtracting the average value from each of pixel values of the coding object block; an arithmetic unit for obtaining a intra frame activity amount by making a calculation of the same kind as an error calculation in a motion prediction with respect to the obtained alternating current component; and a comparator for comparing the intra frame activity amount with a predicting error amount calculated when the motion prediction is made. The inter frame coding mode or the intra frame coding mode is judged by large and small relations of the predicting error amount and the intra frame activity amount. In this moving image coder, codings of a intra frame block and a inter frame differential block are adaptively switched in a small hardware scale.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a moving image coder for adaptively switching intra frame coding and inter frame coding.
2. Description of the Related Art
An adaptive inter frame image coding method is known when moving image information is digitally transmitted or recorded. In this coding method, intra frame coding and inter frame coding are adaptively switched and used. A differential signal between an input signal and a predicting signal is normally inputted to a coder as it is in a inter frame coding mode. However, in the case of a scene change, etc., an input signal is directly inputted to a coder as it is in a intra frame coding mode.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a general adaptive inter frame image coder.
A intra frame block X as a coding object block is inputted to an image input terminal 61. A difference between the intra frame block X and a predicting block P is calculated by a subtracter 62. The predicting block P is calculated by making a motion prediction from a reference image held in a predicting section 71. Thus, an inter frame differential block E is obtained by an output of the subtracter 62.
A control section 64 compares the intra frame block X and the inter frame differential block E with each other and judges whether the intra frame block X or the inter frame differential block E is coded. The control section 64 then controls the operation of a switch 63 in accordance with this judgment. In the following description, an intra frame coding mode is called when the intra frame block X is selected. An inter frame coding mode is called when the inter frame differential block E is selected.
A block D selected by the switch 63 is inputted to a coding section 65 and is coded by this coding section 65 so that code data Y are outputted from this coding section 65.
Coding mode information C relates to selection of one of the intra frame block X and the inter frame block E. The coding mode information C and a motion vector MV in the motion prediction are multiplexed to the code data Y by a multiplexer 66. A coding output Z of the multiplexer 66 at a multiplexing output terminal 67 thereof is transmitted or recorded.
A decoding operation is simultaneously performed on a coding side by using the code data Y and the coding mode information C.
The code data Y are inputted to a decoding section 68 and are decoded by this decoding section 68 so that a block D' is obtained. The block D' and the predicting block P are inputted to two input terminals of an adder 69 so that a sum of these blocks is calculated by this adder 69. A block E' as results of this additional calculation is obtained as an output of the adder 69.
Each of the blocks E' and D' is selected by a switch 70 controlled by the coding mode information C. At this time, the block D' is selected when the intra frame block X is inputted to the coding section 65 in the intra frame coding mode. The block E' is selected when the inter frame differential block E is inputted to the coding section 65 in the inter frame coding mode. The selected block is set to a decoding block X' and is inputted to the predicting section 71.
A complete decoding image is obtained when processings of one picture (one frame) are terminated. This decoding image is set to a reference image for generating a predicting block with respect to a subsequent coding object and is held in the predicting section 71.
In general, each of images located before and after a coding image in time is used as the reference image. When the motion prediction is used, a generating coding amount in the inter frame coding mode is smaller than that in the intra frame coding mode in a case in which an object is moved in parallel, etc. so that a portion corresponding to a coding image block exists within the reference image. Accordingly, it is preferable to select the inter frame coding mode in this case. In contrast to this, when an object appears from a screen end or a place behind something and scenes are changed, etc., no portion corresponding to the intra frame block exists within the reference image. In this case, the generating coding amount in the intra frame coding mode tends to be smaller than that in the inter frame coding mode. Accordingly, it is preferable to select the intra frame coding mode in this case.
The intra frame coding mode and the inter frame coding mode in the control section 64 are ideally switched in accordance with large and small coding amounts generated in codings of images if distortional degrees of these images caused by the codings are equal to each other. Namely, a smaller one of the generated coding amounts is selected in this case. In contrast to this, if the coding amounts generated by the codings are approximately equal to each other, the intra frame coding mode and the inter frame coding mode in the control section 64 are ideally switched in accordance with large and small distortions caused by the codings. Namely, a smaller one of the distortions generated by the codings is selected in this case. However, no coding amounts generated in the intra frame coding mode and the inter frame coding mode can be known in advance before the codings are performed. Further, no distortions caused by the codings can be accurately known before the codings are performed.
Therefore, for example, a mean square error of the intra frame block and the predicting block is compared with variance of the intra frame block in the literature of "A predicting system between MPEG2 frames" described in Television Society Technical Report, vol. 16, No. 61, pp. 37-42. This mean square error of the intra frame block and the predicting block and this variance of the intra frame block are respectively simply called the mean square error and the variance in the following description. If the variance <64 is formed, the between-frame coding mode is used. In contrast to this, if the variance >64 is formed, a mode providing min the mean square error, the variance! is selected. In this case, min x, y! means that a smaller one of x and y is used.
Here, variance of the inter frame differential block instead of the mean square error should be originally compared with the variance of the intra frame block. However, it can be supposed that an average value of pixel values in the inter frame differential block is equal to zero. Further, the variance of the inter frame differential block is obtained by subtracting the average value of pixel values in the inter frame differential block from the mean square error. Accordingly, the mean square error is used in the above literature. The average value of pixel values in the inter frame differential block can be supposed to be zero since it is known that a distribution of differential values between pixels having a high correlation with respect to an image is generally equal to a Laplace distribution having an average value of zero.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a calculating section for calculating the variance of the intra frame block.
Pixel value data in the intra frame block are stored to a cache memory 75 and are read from this cache memory 75 in accordance with an address generated by a controller 87. When a pixel value in the intra frame block is set to x(n), the variance of the intra frame block is represented by the following formula (1). ##EQU1##
In this formula, n shows an address of the cache memory 75 and N shows the number of pixels within the intra frame block. "-" shows an average calculated in an average calculation within the intra frame block.
In FIG. 9, a constructional portion 76 surrounded by a dotted line calculates the following value ##EQU2## as a mean square value of pixel values in the intra frame block.
An output of pixel value data of the cache memory 75 is inputted to two input terminals of a multiplier 77. Accordingly, a square value of the pixel value data is outputted from the multiplier 77 to one input terminal of an adder 78. An output of the adder 78 is inputted to an input terminal of a register 79. An output of the register 79 is inputted to another input terminal of the adder 78.
The adder 78 and the register 79 constitute an accumulative adding section. The output of the register 79 is also inputted to a latch 80. The latch 80 is used to hold calculated results and an operation of this latch 80 is controlled such that only results of the accumulative addition in a block unit are transmitted to a subsequent circuit portion. When these results are held, contents of the register 79 are reset on the basis of a control output of the controller 87 to calculate an accumulative adding value in the next block. When the number N of pixels is written as N=2.sup.a by power of 2, a calculation divided by this number N can be made by performing only a bit shifting operation in which a dividend is rightward shifted by a-bits. Accordingly, a divider is omitted in FIG. 9. In a case except for this case, it is necessary to arrange a divider after the latch 80. An output of the latch 80 shows a mean square value of pixel values in the intra frame block.
In FIG. 9, a constructional portion 82 surrounded by a dotted line calculates the following value ##EQU3## as a square value of the average value of pixel values in the intra frame block.
The output of pixel value data of the cache memory 75 is inputted to one input terminal of the adder 83. An output of the adder 83 is inputted to an input terminal of a register 84. An output of the register 84 is inputted to another input terminal of the adder 83. The adder 83 and the register 84 constitute an accumulative adding section. The output of the register 84 is also inputted to a latch 85. The latch 85 is used to hold calculated results and an operation of this latch 85 is controlled such that only results of the accumulative addition in a block unit are transmitted to a subsequent circuit portion. When these results are held, contents of the register 84 are reset on the basis of a control output of the controller 87 to calculate an accumulative adding value in the next block. As mentioned above, a calculation divided by the number N of pixels can be made by performing only a bit shifting operation in which a dividend is rightward shifted by a-bits. Accordingly, a divisor device is omitted in FIG. 9. In a case except for this case, it is necessary to arrange a divider after the latch 85.
An output of the latch 85 is inputted to two input terminals of a multiplier 86. Accordingly, the multiplier 86 outputs a square value of an average value of pixel values in the intra frame block.
Finally, the output of the latch 80 is inputted to a minuend input terminal of a subtracter 81. The output of the multiplier 86 is inputted to a subtrahend input terminal of the subtracter 81. The subtracter 81 outputs a value of the variance of the intra frame block.
In the following description, a pixel value of the intra frame block is set to x(n) and a pixel value of the predicting block is set to y(n) when n is set to an address of the cache memory. In this case, a mean square error of the inter frame differential block is represented by the following formula (2). ##EQU4##
This mean square error corresponds to a case in which x(n) is set to a pixel value of the inter frame differential block in the formula (1) for calculating the variance and the following equality condition is satisfied. ##EQU5##
Accordingly, x(n)-y(n) as a difference between the pixel value x(n) of the intra frame block and the pixel value y(n) of the predicting block is read from the cache memory. The read difference x(n)-y(n) is inputted to a mean square value calculating circuit composed of a multiplier, an adder, a register and a latch equal to those in the constructional portion 76 shown by a dotted line in FIG. 9 so that this mean square error can be calculated.
FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a coding mode judging section when the above mean square error is used. This coding mode judging section is arranged in the control section 64 in FIG. 8.
A mean square value calculating section 76 and a section 82 for calculating a square of an average value in FIG. 10 respectively correspond to the constructional portions 76 and 82 in FIG. 9. The mean square error and the variance respectively calculated with respect to the inter frame differential block E and the intra frame block X are inputted to a comparator 89. Coding mode information C is determined and outputted by large and small relations of the mean square error and the variance.
As can be seen from FIG. 9, a product sum calculation and a sum product calculation are required to calculate the variance. It is necessary to arrange at least two multipliers and three adders-subtracters. In particular, each of the multipliers is a factor causing a great increase in hardware scale of the moving image coder. The product sum calculation is also required to calculate the mean square error. In this case, it is necessary to arrange at least one multiplier and one adder. Accordingly, three product sum arithmetic units and three sum product arithmetic units are required to judge the inter frame coding mode and the intra frame coding mode so that a circuit scale of the moving image coder is very large.


A tissue clip application fitting set or retrofitting set includes a cap attachment for placement on the distal head of a medical endoscope, which has a placement section and a tissue clip holding section. The cap attachment is notched at least at two angular positions forming at least two notches/slots/grooves. A working channel leads into the hollow chamber and exits the hollow chamber radially in a region distal to the placement section and proximal to the radially supported tissue clip. A first guiding or leading element is arranged after the working channel belonging to the retrofitting set, as seen in the distal direction. A corresponding second guiding or leading element is arranged within the hollow chamber at an angular distance from the first guiding or leading element so as to be oriented in extension to a working channel belonging to the endoscope.

Endoscopes are in general medical working appliances for the visual exploration and the possible manipulation of hollow chambers in a patient's body. They basically comprise optical devices at the distal end of the endoscope which faces the patient (also called endoscope head) and optionally one or a plurality of working channels extending from a proximal endoscope section (facing away from the patient) (which usually projects outwardly from the patient's hollow chamber) or from an extracorporeal endoscope grip through an (adjacent) flexible or rigid endoscope shaft to the endoscope head and enabling the extracorporeal introducing and supplying of one or a plurality of medical instruments, such as e.g. forceps, anchor, scissors, needle, loop, knife, and the like.
Such endoscopes may optionally be provided with additional capabilities, for instance, by attaching radially externally, at the distal endoscope end/endoscope head, a cap or sleeve on the endoscope head which accommodates/comprises at least the optics, said cap or sleeve being provided or equipped with particular functions/functional elements. Thus, the endoscope cannot only be used for the originally intended exploration and/or as an access for minimally invasive (medical) instruments, but can also be used itself as a (minimally invasive) instrument for performing an interventional or surgical process.
From the state of the art, for instance, of the applicant itself (e.g. DE 20 2008 007 774 U1), such a cap attachment is known which can optionally be placed radially externally on the head (distal end section in which at least one optics is placed) of a possibly generally known endoscope of the shaft type, and which carries, at a radial (outer) periphery, a tissue clip in the clamped state which can be introduced in the body hollow chamber of a patient. A clip pull-off means, for instance, a pulling thread (it may also be a pressure line, a push wire or a similar force transmission means) which cooperates with the tissue clip directly or indirectly, for instance, via a pusher or a piston and which can be operated from outside of the body hollow chamber, preferably on the grip of the endoscope so as to pull off the tissue clip from the cap attachment in a distal direction, is guided radially outside of the endoscope shaft or inside a working channel (if available) formed in the endoscope shaft.
This technology enables the fitting/retrofitting of a (standard) endoscope so as to turn it into a tissue clip application instrument.
Due to space restrictions and due to the hygienic necessity of designing such a cap attachment for an endoscope as a disposable product, the pulling thread or the push wire/pressure rod has prevailed over other, optionally usable actuation means (hydraulic, pneumatic, electromotive) as a force transmission means for pulling off the tissue clip. It is inexpensive, easy to guide and to handle, and reliable for pulling off/disengaging a tissue clip mounted in a clamped state on the jacket surface of the cap attachment. Normally, the pulling thread is, for instance, guided through the working channel within the endoscope shaft or through an additional channel mounted/mountable externally at the endoscope shaft to the proximal endoscope end section, reaches at the distal end of the endoscope through a radial bore spaced apart from the distal front edge of the cap attachment in an outward direction and is then guided back in the proximal direction to the tissue clip or to a pusher and/or pull off ring mounted directly behind the tissue clip.
In this place it is pointed out that the (known) cap attachment is, at least in the distal end section thereof, designed to be hollow inside such that tissue to be clamped can be pulled (partially) into the cap attachment, for instance, by the build-up of negative pressure (intake pressure) or by means of an instrument (gripping forceps/hook/anchor) guided through the working channel. Subsequently, only the thread has to be pulled to displace the tissue clip in a distal direction and to detach it from the cap attachment. The spreading energy stored in the clip is then released and the clip cramps the tissue section pulled into the cap attachment.
Since the cap attachment (adaptive placement cap) has to be conceived as a disposable product for hygienic reasons, the manufacturing costs have to be kept as low as possible. Therefore, the state of the art provides a simple cap shape with as few processing steps as possible for its manufacturing and as few movable components as possible, which may possibly restrict the usability of the known cap attachment.                Specifically, it has turned out difficult to seize and manipulate the patient's tissue to be treated in a correct and safe manner.        In the past, another problem turned out to be the normally circular cross-sectional shape of the cap attachment. If, in the case of a circular cross-sectional shape of the cap attachment and in particular in the case of a circular cross-sectional shape of its inner cavity which is open in the distal direction, patient's tissue to be clamped is sucked/pulled into the cap attachment/its cavity, the sucked patient's tissue is deformed (compressed) substantially circular-symmetrically. Especially in the case of a surgical incision by means of a scalpel or in electro surgery such a circular-symmetrical/circular deformation of the patient's tissue around the tissue cut is little meaningful since normally too much patient's tissue (alongside the tissue cut) has to be pulled into the cavity to clamp the surgical cut in its entire cutting length.        An oval cap shape would possibly be more favorable in this place, but this is more difficult to manufacture and cannot be coupled beneficially with an endoscope having a circular cross-section. Moreover, an oval shape is less suited for unproblematic (atraumatic) introduction into the patient's hollow chamber.        Finally, the applying of a tissue clip clamped/mounted at a circumferential outer side of a cap attachment is particularly difficult in the case of narrow hollow chambers of patients.        Modern medical endoscopes usually have a crooking section at the distal end section of their respective endoscope shaft. This is a bending-flexible shaft section of the endoscope which can optionally be cranked/bent actively (comparable to the finger of a human hand) by means of suitable force transmission means (Bowden cables, hydraulic means, etc.) from outside of the patient's hollow chamber via the endoscope shaft (passively bending-flexible or rigid) projecting at the end from the patient so as to turn, for instance, the endoscope head which is connected distally thereto in the proximal direction. Since the endoscope head is provided with optical means, the optics may in this manner be oriented actively laterally or even backward in the proximal direction.        If the crooking section is thus crooked actively with respect to the shaft longitudinal axis, the distal front side of the endoscope head may, for instance, be turned toward a hollow chamber wall (intestinal wall, esophagus wall, stomach wall, etc.) of the patient. If, however, a cap attachment in accordance with the foregoing description is attached additionally on the endoscope head, its axial length is quasi extended artificially in the distal direction, so that especially in narrow hollow chambers an active crooking of the crooking section belonging to the shaft may become problematic. In this respect, it would be of advantage to construct the cap attachment as short as possible, but it must be observed that the cavity formed in the cap attachment can still receive sufficient patient's tissue to ensure the safe applying of the tissue clip.

Tissue clip application fitting/retrofitting set


An organic EL display device comprises a first TFT (30), which is a switching TFT, an organic EL element driving TFT, and an organic EL element (60) having an anode (61), a cathode (66), and an emissive element layer (65) interposed between both electrodes. The EL element driving TFT comprises a second and third TFTs (35, 40) connected in parallel. Because electrical current to the organic EL element (60) is supplied from a plurality of TFTs (35, 40), variation in the total current value can be suppressed to therefore reduce the variation in luminance, even when characteristics vary among the TFTs driving the organic EL element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electroluminescence display device comprising an electroluminescence element and thin film transistors.
2. Description of Related Art
An electroluminescence (EL) display devices using an electroluminescence element have recently attracted interest as potential replacements for devices such as CRT or LCD displays. For example, an EL display device having a thin film transistor (TFT) as a switching element for driving the EL element has been studied and developed.
FIG. 1 shows an equivalent circuit diagram of an organic EL display device comprising an EL element and TFTs according to a related art. The organic EL display device is shown in a plan view in FIG. 2 and in cross sections taken along line Axe2x80x94A in FIG. 3A and along line Bxe2x80x94B in FIG. 3B, respectively.
The circuit in FIG. 1 comprises a first TFT 130, a second TFT 140, and an organic EL element 160. Shown in the figure is a region around where a gate signal line Gn in the n-th row is orthogonal to a drain signal line Dm in the m-th column, and in the vicinity of the cross section of both signal lines are provided the organic EL element 160, and the TFTs 130, 140 for driving the organic EL element 160.
The first TFT 130, which is a switching TFT, comprises gate electrodes 131 connected to the gate signal line Gn and having a gate signal supplied thereto, a drain electrode 132 connected to the drain signal line Dm and having a drain signal supplied thereto, and a source electrode 133 connected to a gate electrode 141 of the second TFT 140.
The second TFT 140, which is an organic EL element driving TFT, comprises a gate electrode 141 connected to the source electrode 133 of the first TFT 130, a source electrode 142 connected to an anode 161 of the organic EL element 160, and a drain electrode 143 connected to a power supply 150 for the organic EL element 160.
The organic EL element 160 comprises the anode 161 connected to the source electrode 142 of the second TFT 140, a cathode 162 connected to a common electrode 164, and an emissive element layer 163 interposed between the anode 161 and the cathode 162.
A capacitor 170 is further provided with one electrode 171 being connected between the source electrode 133 of the first TFT 130 and the gate electrode 141 of the second TFT 140 while the other electrode 172 being connected to the common power supply 150.
When a gate signal is applied to the gates 131 of the first TFT 130, a drain signal is applied from the drain 132 to the source 133 and is further applied to the storage capacitor 170 and the gate 141 of the second TFT 140.
When a voltage is applied to the gate 141, an electrical current in accordance with the voltage is supplied from the power supply 150 to the organic EL element 160 which then emits light.
In the conventional EL display device as described above, the characteristics of the TFT 140 for supplying a current to drive the organic EL element 160 vary in each display pixel. For example, if the second TFT 140 has an active layer comprising a polycrystalline semiconductor layer formed by irradiating a laser to an amorphous semiconductor layer, the laser light is not uniformly irradiated in the channel region of each semiconductor layer. As a result, the grain size of is crystal in the semiconductor layers becomes non-uniform, and the characteristics, such as on-state current, vary.
If the characteristics vary in the second TFT comprising a single TFT as described above, the current values to be supplied to the organic EL element 160 also vary in each display pixel, which in turn leads to non-uniform luminance of the display pixels.
The present invention is made in view of the aforementioned problems of the related art and aims to provide an EL display device which can achieve display with uniform luminance in each display pixel, even if the characteristics of TFTs vary in the display pixels for driving the EL element.
In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electroluminescence (EL) display device comprising an EL element having an anode, a cathode, and an emissive layer interposed between the anode and the cathode; a first transistor formed by a thin film transistor in which a drain of an active layer using a non-single crystal semiconductor film is connected to a drain signal line and gate electrodes provided above or under channels of said active layer are connected to a gate signal line; and a second transistor formed by a plurality of thin film transistors in each of which a drain of an active layer using a non-single crystal semiconductor film is connected to a drive souse of said EL element and gate electrodes are respectively connected in parallel with the source of the first thin film transistor.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electroluminescence device comprising an EL element having first and second electrodes and an emissive layer provided between the first and second electrodes; a switching thin film transistor which operates when a gate thereof receives a gate signal and captures a data signal; and an element driving thin film transistor provided between a power supply and the EL element for controlling power supplied from the power supply to the EL element according to the data signal supplied from the switching thin film transistor, said element driving thin film transistor being constituted by a plurality of thin film transistors connected in parallel to each other.
As described above, a plurality of thin film transistors are connected in parallel for supplying power from the power source to drive the EL element, such that the effects of variance in the characteristics of each of the thin film transistors upon the entire characteristics for the set of thin film transistors can be reduced, even when the characteristics vary in individual transistors. Thus, electrical power can be stably supplied by the plurality of thin film transistors to the EL element which generates luminance depending on the power amount (current amount) supplied from the power source, thereby suppressing the variance in luminance of the EL element.
When said EL element, and said switching (first) and element driving (second) thin film transistors constitute one pixel, and a display device is comprised of a plurality of pixels arranged in matrix on a substrate, the present invention can effectively prevent the luminance from varying in each pixel to achieve uniform display.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the active layer of each thin film transistor of the first and second transistors or the active layer in each of the switching thin film transistor and the element driving thin film transistor comprises a non-single crystal semiconductor layer.
The non-single crystal semiconductor layer may be, for example, a polysilicon layer.
Further, in accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, the active layers in respective thin film transistors of the first and second transistors or the active layers in the switching thin film transistor and the element driving thin film transistor are non-single crystal semiconductor layers formed in the same process step.
By forming the active layers of these transistors in the same process, no extra process steps are required, even if a structure is adopted in which a plurality of thin film transistors constituting the element driving thin film transistor are connected in parallel.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a storage capacitor is further provided between the source of the switching thin film transistor and each gate of a plurality of thin film transistors constituting the element driving one thin film transistor.
The storage capacitor simplifies the holding of data obtained when the switching thin film transistor, which is selected every predetermined period, is selected, until next time the switching thin film transistor is selected, thereby improving the display quality of the display device.
In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, the electroluminescence element is an organic electroluminescence element having an emissive layer which uses an organic compound.
An emissive layer using an organic compound is very advantageous in a color display device due to the variation of emissive colors and a wide selection of possible materials.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the switching and element driving thin film transistors have a top gate or bottom gate structure in which the gate electrodes are disposed above or under the active layer of each transistor.
In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, the switching thin film transistor has a Lightly Doped Drain structure and/or multigate structure. Such a structure will allow improved rapid response and reduced leak current at the off mode.

Electroluminescence display device with improved driving transistor structure


The processor typically uses address registers having a particular bit width to access lines within an address space. The bit width limits the address space to a particular size. Techniques are provided for expanding the allowed address bit width and the corresponding address space size by using immediate addressing. Mechanisms allow the run time generation of instructions that can access an array of addresses of varying size, providing a way of implementing address spaces that are not limited by the bit width of address registers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to processors and associated address spaces. More specifically, the present invention relates to methods and apparatus for a processor to access address spaces of varying size.
2. Description of Related Art
Processors use address registers to access lines in an associated address space. The address registers can be configured with particular bit widths. Using smaller address registers and a corresponding smaller address space allows for the implementation of a smaller and less expensive processor. However, using larger address registers and a corresponding larger address space allows for a processor that can potential handle more data simultaneously. Where processor core size can be critical, such as on programmable chips, smaller address registers are often used.
Furthermore, data and functions are often stored in different memories or in different parts of the same memory. The sizes of these memories may vary. In conventional processors, program and data memories are often implemented on a single device. However, in digital signal processing (DSP) processors, program and data memories are frequently implemented on separate devices with separate buses. The program and data buses may have differing bit widths. Accordingly, the registers accessible by the processor core may have different bit widths.
Some processors (e.g., embedded processors) have restrictions on address register width in order to improve speed and resource utilization. Typically, the restriction imposed on address register width is used as a general restriction on address width accessible by the processor. However, the instruction set may offer a greater address range using immediate addressing. It is therefore desirable to provide improved methods and devices for generating code (e.g., instructions) that can take advantage of the larger address space even when the address space is limited by address register bit widths.

Using run-time generated instructions in processors supporting wider immediate addressing than register addressing


The electronic device is for at least one of transmitting and receiving signals, has a housing 500 and at least a GPS (Global Positioning System) antenna 510 that is operatively connected to the housing 500. A control system 708 automatically moves the GPS antenna 510 from a docked position relative to the housing 500 to a deployed position relative to the housing 500 in response to an occurrence of at least one predetermined event.

Handheld two-way radio transceivers (also known as cell phones) are well known in the art. Recent designs for such transceivers do not require a manually extendable antenna for cellular operation. It is also known to provide cellular phones with the feature of receiving a GPS signal from a GPS satellite for determining location of the cell phone. GPS refers generically to satellite positioning systems comprising a system or constellation of navigation satellites orbiting a celestial body. Exemplary earth-orbiting satellite positioning system constellations include NAVSTAR GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo. Cell phones receive GPS signals so that operators in a public safety answering center are able to determine the location of the cell phone by receiving a GPS signal via the cell phone. This feature assists in locating cell phones and their users during emergency situations. In the Global Positioning System each GPS satellite transmits its own position, its time, and a long pseudo random noise code. The noise code is used by the receiver to calculate range. Satellite position and time are derived from on-board celestial navigation equipment and atomic clocks accurate to one second in 300,000 years. But the ranging is the heart of GPS. Both in the receiver, and in the satellite, a very long sequence of apparently random bits are generated. By comparing internal stream of bits in the receiver to the precisely duplicate received bits from the satellite, and "aligning" the two streams, a shift error or displacement can be calculated representing the precise travel time from satellite to receiver. Since the receiver also knows the precise position of the satellite, and its range from the receiver, a simple triangulation calculation can give two dimensional position (lat/long) from three satellites and additional elevation information from a fourth.
In many situations a blocked environment such as inside a building or a parking garage, GPS does not work well because of the limited visibility the GPS antenna has to the positioning satellites. In such cases, the transceiver may receive inadequate signal power to effectively determine a position of the transceiver. A further factor for inadequate signal power is that the presence of the user in close proximity to the GPS antenna reduces the signal power. Field testing with server assisted GPS technology has shown that the sensitivity of transceivers is approximately −150 dBm. Testing has also shown that the signal strength of the satellites is approximately −155 dBm to −160 dBm in blocked environments. This means that an increase in sensitivity of between 5 dB and 10 dB is required for improved performance. In the prior art this level of improvement is achieved using larger antennas that are held away from the body of the user and that are manually deployed. However, the design of modern day cell phones does not provide the option of an antenna which can be manually deployed by the user.
Thus, there is a need in the prior art for an automatically deployable antenna for receiving GPS signals, especially in emergency situations.


An apparatus and method for conditioning a moving porous web on a papermaking machine is disclosed. The web has a first and a second surface and a high temperature gaseous boundary layer adjacent at least the second surface. The apparatus contains means for conveying the first surface of the porous web adjacent a support surface in a direction of travel, means for applying a cooling gas against the second surface of the web in a direction substantially normal to the second surface of the web to exert a gas pressure adjacent the second surface, means for stripping at least a portion of the boundary layer away from the second surface of the web prior to contacting the web with the cooling gas, and means for exerting a vacuum force adjacent the first surface of the web associated with the support means and substantially opposite the location at which the pressure force is exerted adjacent the second surface of the web in order to promote, by a combination of the pressure and vacuum forces, a flow of gas through the web from the second surface to the first surface. The apparatus may also include means for moisturizing the web subsequent to cooling the web. The apparatus and method provide a novel combination of stripping and gas pressure/vacuum force effects for more rapid and efficient removal of the boundary layer at the speeds of modern papermaking machines to improve the condition of the web for further on-line treatments, such as calendaring.

In processes for manufacturing paper and paperboard (referred to hereinafter as "paper"), it is often desirable to condition a moving paper web between stages of the process, especially between the later stages of drying and subsequent calendering. The conventional process of drying paper involves urging water out of the web by a combination of mechanical and thermal means, i.e., use of vacuum and squeeze rolls along with a dryer unit in which the paper web is carried in serpentine fashion through a series of co-rotating steam-filled cylinders where opposite surfaces of the web are placed in contact with the hot surfaces of the cylinders in rapid alternating succession until the web is dried. As the paper is being dried, boundary layers of hot air tend to develop adjacent the opposite surfaces of the web and within pores of the web, all of which have been found to significantly hinder efforts to cool the web as it proceeds to subsequent calendering or other treatments where a cooled web is desirable.
The difficulties in cooling a paper web proceeding from a dryer unit are becoming more pronounced with the ever-increasing speeds of modern papermaking machines. Accordingly, a significant amount of cooling gas is now often required to not only penetrate the boundary layers of hot gases adjacent the web surface, but also to penetrate into the web pores to displace hot gases therein and thereby effectively and efficiently cool the web.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and associated method for conditioning a fibrous web.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method for cooling a moving fibrous web.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method for efficiently removing at least a portion of an air boundary layer carried adjacent a fibrous web.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method for cooling and moisturizing a moving fibrous web.
A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method for efficiently cooling a fibrous web.
An additional object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method of the character described which is relatively simple and is readily adaptable for use with conventional papermaking machines and processes.

Apparatus and method for conditioning a web on a papermaking machine


An activated carbon/metal oxide filter element is disclosed. The filter element may be prepared by blending an activated carbon, a metal oxide, and a binder to form a filter media mixture, shaping the filter media mixture into a filter body. The filter body may be calcined to form a filter element. The activated carbon/metal oxide filter element may be used to remove odorous compounds, acidic gases, and volatile organic compounds from a gas.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an activated carbon for odor control and methods for making same and, more particularly, to an activated carbon, metal oxide filter element to control odor in a gaseous stream and methods of making same.
2. Description of Related Art
Activated carbons have long been known for their capacity to sorb odors. Activated carbons capture substances generally through physical sorption, chemical sorption and catalytic reaction. It is well known that the presence of metals in activated carbon can enhance the efficiency and selectivity of the activated carbon in sorptive or filtering applications. Methods for producing porous structural materials containing adsorbent particles of activated carbon and metals or metal oxides are conventionally known.
Activated carbon impregnated with metals are typically formed by dispersing activated carbon powders in a solution of a metal salt. The powder is filtered out, dried, and heated to decompose the salt to the desired metal or metal oxide catalyst. Multiple impregnations are usually required to obtain the desired quantity of catalyst on the activated carbon.
Other methods of forming activated carbons are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,242,226, to Siren; U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,189 to Tachibana; in U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,023, to Gadkaree et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,829 to Sekine et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,482,641 to Wennerberg; U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,003 to Lang et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,948,398 to Hanamoto et al.

Activated carbon for odor control and method for making same


A system and method for optimizing toner usage on an output device capable of rendering in five or more colorants includes receiving a print job for rendering a print job. The method includes generating at least one candidate colorant combination using multiple colorants. The method includes determining at least one factor including (i) a toner usage, (ii) a toner cost, and (iii) an accuracy of the at least one candidate colorant combination for rendering a select object of the print job. The method further includes selecting an ideal candidate colorant combination based on a comparison of the at least one factor with one of a second candidate colorant combination and an original CMYK colorant combination.

The present disclosure relates to a system for optimizing toner usage on a printer device capable of rendering output using a fifth colorant housing. The disclosure is also capable of determining a colorant combination considering five colorants and can be adapted to generate modified colorant separation information.
Conventional printer devices support four colorant housings: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black ("CMYK"). Conventional devices utilize these four particular colorants because, traditionally, different CMYK combinations can produce the greatest number of colors using the least amount of toner. This benefit caused the CMYK printing process, using subtractive color mixing, to become the standard in the printing industry.
Recent printer devices are configured to support a fifth colorant housing. The extra housing (cartridge) can contain a toner for a fifth color different from CMYK, such as, for example, 'red', or a magnetic ink used in Magnetic Ink Character Recognition ("MICR") printing. Certain ones of these printer devices can support any made-to-order colorant.
Page Description Language ("PDL") files can provide the printer devices with color separation information. Color separation is the act of decomposing a digital image into single color layers (s.a., in four basic CMYK toner colors) for rendering the image in an offset printing process. Each single color layer is printed separately, one on top of the other, to collectively give the impression of a desired color.
For the recently developed printer devices capable of utilizing five colorant housings (herein referred to as "CMYKX"), a desired color previously rendered using a select combination of CMYK colorants may also be achieved using different combinations of two, three, or four CMYKX colorants, each including the fifth colorant X. The ideal combination of the five colorants CMYKX, however, is not known. The ideal combination, in one embodiment, can be the combination of colorants that consumes the least amount of toner. In another embodiment, the ideal combination can be the one that renders the closest matching color in appearance. In yet another embodiment, the ideal combination can be the one that is associated with the least expensive toner costs. The color separation included in the PDL file does not consider the toner usage, toner cost or accuracy (hereinafter referred to as "factors"). Nor does the color separation information define a separation for a fifth colorant housing.
A method and a system is desired for reducing toner usage by rendering a print job using a colorant combination that requires the least amount of toner. A desired method and system determines a combination of CMYKX colorants that consumes the least toner. Furthermore, the desired method and system can determine the best combination for rendering each object within the file by considering combinations including at least the fifth colorant X. In this manner, certain objects can be rendered with less toner or less expensive toner than using standard CMYK colorant combinations. By lowering the toner usage or the combination of colorants, the selected colorant combination can also translate to lower costs, absorbed by the user (printer and/or the customer), for rendering the document.

System for optimizing ink usage on a 5 colorant capable printer


A semiconductor device includes a pair of select gate structures which are opposed to each other and which are formed in a select transistor formation area, each of the select gate structures including a gate insulating film formed on a semiconductor substrate and a gate electrode formed on the gate insulating film, and a pair of memory cell gate structure groups which are formed in a pair of memory cell formation areas between which the select transistor formation area is interposed and each of which has a plurality of memory cell gate structures arranged at the same pitch, the pair of select gate structures having sides which are opposed to each other, and at least the upper portion of each of the opposed sides of the select gate structures being inclined.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method of manufacture thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, NAND type flash memories have been widely used as electrically erasable nonvolatile semiconductor memories. The NAND type flash memory contains a large number of NAND cell units, each of which is configured such that multiple memory cells are connected in series between select transistors. Each of the memory cells has its gate connected to a control gate line (word line) and each of the select transistors has its gate connected to a select gate line.
In the NAND type flash memory, the select gate lines are usually set greater in width than the control gate lines. That is, the control gate lines are arranged at the same pitch, while the select gate lines are arranged at a pitch different from the pitch of the control gate lines. Thus, the select gate lines disturbs the periodicity of line arrangement. As a result, when the dimensions of semiconductor devices are scaled down, the exposure margin in lithographic processes lowers, making it difficult to form patterns for control gate lines and select gate lines with great accuracy. That is, it becomes difficult to form patterns for the gate structures of memory cells and select transistors with great accuracy.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-51557 discloses a structure in which one select gate line large in width is replaced with two select gate lines each of which is equal in width to the control gate line. This structure allows the select gate lines to be arranged at the same pitch as the control gate lines. However, since two select gate lines (two select transistors) are used in place of one select gate line (select transistor), there arises a problem of time displacement in operation between the two select transistors.
In the NAND type flash memory, a bit line contact is usually formed in an interlayer insulating film formed between adjacent select transistors. However, when the dimensions of semiconductor devices are scaled down, it becomes difficult to reliably form the interlayer insulating film between the gate structures of adjacent select transistors. That is, voids are easily formed in the interlayer insulating film, making it difficult to perfectly fill the space between the gate structures of adjacent select transistors with the interlayer insulating film.
Thus, conventional problems are that difficulties are involved in forming patterns for the gate structures of memory cells and select transistors with great accuracy and in forming an interlayer insulating film between the gate structures of adjacent select transistors with certainty.

Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same


A downhole fluid flow control system is operable to be positioned in a wellbore in a fluid flow path between a formation and an internal passageway of a tubular. The system includes a flow control component positioned in the fluid flow path that is operable to control fluid flow therethrough. The system also includes a pressure sensitive valve positioned in the fluid flow path in parallel with the flow control component. The valve autonomously shifts from a first position to a second position responsive to a change in a pressure signal received by the valve, thereby enabling fluid flow therethrough.

Without limiting the scope of the present invention, its background will be described with reference to producing fluid from a hydrocarbon bearing subterranean formation, as an example. During the completion of a well that traverses a hydrocarbon bearing subterranean formation, production tubing and various completion equipment are installed in the well to enable safe and efficient production of the formation fluids. For example, to prevent the production of particulate material from an unconsolidated or loosely consolidated subterranean formation, certain completions include one or more sand control screen assemblies positioned proximate the desired production interval or intervals. In other completions, to control the flowrate of production fluids into the production tubing, it is common practice to install one or more flow control devices within the tubing string.
Attempts have been made to utilize fluid flow control devices within completions requiring sand control. For example, in certain sand control screen assemblies, after production fluids flow through the filter medium, the fluids are directed into a flow control section. The flow control section may include one or more flow control components such as flow tubes, nozzles, labyrinths or the like. Typically, the production flow resistance through these flow control screens is fixed prior to installation by the number and design of the flow control components.
It has been found, however, that due to changes in formation pressure and changes in formation fluid composition over the life of the well, it may be desirable to adjust the flow control characteristics of the flow control sections. In addition, for certain completions, it would be desirable to adjust the flow control characteristics of the flow control sections without the requirement for well intervention.
Accordingly, a need has arisen for a downhole fluid flow control system that is operable to control the inflow of formation fluids. In addition, a need has arisen for such a downhole fluid flow control system that may be incorporated into a flow control screen. Further, a need has arisen for such downhole fluid flow control system that is operable to adjust its flow control characteristics without the requirement for well intervention as the production profile of the well changes over time.

Downhole fluid flow control system having pressure sensitive autonomous operation


An in-wheel motor includes a motor, a shaft, an oil pump and oil paths. The oil pump is provided on one end of the shaft. The motor includes a stator core, stator coils and a rotor. The oil pump pumps up an oil from an oil reservoir via an oil path to supply the pumped-up oil to another oil path. The another oil path supplies the oil from the oil pump to the outer periphery of the stator core of the motor from an opening end.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to in-wheel motors, and particularly to in-wheel motors capable of efficiently cooling their motors.
2. Description of the Background Art
Conventional in-wheel motors include a motor, an oil pump, a case and a wheel disc. The case is comprised of a motor chamber and a pump chamber. The motor is housed in the motor chamber of the case and the oil pump is housed in the pump chamber of the case.
The case containing the motor and the oil pump is placed to face the wheel disc. The oil pump circulates an oil stored in an oil reservoir to cool stator coils of the motor (Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 5-338446).
In this way, the conventional in-wheel motor cools the motor with the circulating oil.
The cooling method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 5-338446, however, encounters a problem of insufficient cooling of the motor since it is only the oil pump that circulates the oil.
In order to satisfactorily circulate the oil, the oil circulation structure has to be increased in size, which is an additional problem of the conventional cooling method.
Moreover, the cooling method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 5-338446 encounters a further problem of insufficient cooling of one of the longitudinal ends of each of stator coils that is located relatively further from the oil pump.

In-wheel motor capable of efficiently cooling motor