A no-loss, multi-band, adaptable Yagi style antenna employs a multi-element driven cell having a center element and one or more adjacent elements on each side of the center element. The adjacent elements of the driven cell are electrically shorter than the center element, thereby permitting the driven cell to be tuned to two or more frequency bands. The antenna is fed by a feedline connected to a common feed point at the center of the center element in the driven cell. Parasitic director elements are positioned in front of the driven cell and are tuned to the highest band of the driven cell. Parasitic reflector elements for one or more frequency bands are positioned behind the driven cell, with these elements tuned to actual operating frequencies of the antenna. The invention also provides a multi-band dipole antenna array covering three or more frequency bands comprising a set of dipole elements having a center element and one or more adjacent elements and one or more adjacent elements on each side of the center element. The adjacent elements are electrically shorter than the center element and are of unequal lengths. The antenna is fed by a feedline connected to a common feedpoint at the center of the center element of the set of dipole elements. Parasitic director elements are positioned in front of the set of dipole elements and parasitic reflector elements are positioned behind the set of dipole elements.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of radio antennas, and in particular to a no-loss, multi-band antenna structure.
2. Background of the Invention
The use of directional antennas for radio communications is well-known in the prior art. Of particular relational interest to this invention is the Yagi-Uda directional design. This type of antenna consists of two or more antenna elements arranged either horizontally or vertically, with all elements in the same plane and parallel to each other. A typical Yagi-Uda antenna is shown in FIG. 1, in which there are four (4) total elements, with the second element 1 from the "Reflector" end 2 (the far right) being the fed (active) element, or "Driver". The elements forward (to the left) of the driver are known as directors, reference numerals 3 and 4 (i.e., Director 1 and 2). The elements not driven directly are known as parasitic elements. This type of antenna can be tuned in various ways to accomplish specific design goals, such as forward gain, front-to-back ratio and operating VSWR (voltage standing wave ratio). Elements can be added, or deleted in the same process. For further information on Yagi-Uda antennas, see, for example, J. L. Lawson, Yagi Antenna Design (American Radio Relay League 1986). Multiples of these antennas can also be fed simultaneously in a variety of phase relationships between the individual antennas. The operating frequency of a Yagi-Uda antenna is limited to a few percent of the center design frequency. To enable wider frequency coverage, two methods have been classically employed.
One common method is the use of traps placed in specific locations of the elements. One such antenna is shown in FIG. 2 and is known as a "tri-band" antenna, since it can operate in portions of three distinctive frequency bands (14.0-14.35,21.0-21.45 and 28.0-29.7 MHz). This type of antenna can be a single element (single dipole), or parasitic elements added in a Yagi-Uda style design. Another common method is the log periodic antenna, in which every element is active, that is, driven directly and not parasitic in nature. It is shown in FIG. 3. This type of antenna can operate over a wide frequency range, limited by the number of elements utilized and the boom length. A range of several megahertz (MHz), such as 14-30 MHz is not uncommon. A hybrid of the log periodic and Yagi-Uda designs is the so-called "log-yag", in which there is a log periodic type driven cell and one or more parasitic elements, as in FIG. 4. Parasitic elements can also be located in various locations within a classic log periodic antenna to augment particular frequency segments within the normal operating range of the log periodic antenna. FIG. 5 is a hybrid multi-band antenna utilizing a two-element log driven cell as well as trapped and non-trapped elements to cover five (5) frequency bands.
The prior art designs described above operate on multiple, as opposed to single, frequency bands only by making substantial sacrifices in performance. Although the multi-element trapped antenna can use fewer elements to cover more frequency ranges, the elements are not spaced optimally, they are not optimally tuned and there are losses associated with the traps. A single trapped dipole also has losses in the traps. Consequently, a Yagi-Uda design with trapped elements represents a compromise design for gain, front-to-back ratio and overall efficiency.
The log-periodic antenna compromises forward gain for wide operating bandwidth. It is believed to exhibit about the same forward gain as a moderately tuned three element Yagi-Uda of short boom length in terms of wavelength, or about 6 dBd. Compared to the usual 3-4% operating bandwidth of a Yagi-Uda, this type can be 25% of the center design frequency.
Another method of realizing wider frequency coverage with an acceptable operating VSWR is the open-sleeve antenna. This is lesser known, although it was invented by Dr. J. T. Bollijahn, of Stanford Research Institute, in about 1946. The typical implementation is shown in FIG. 6, which is the first page from a comprehensive article on the open-sleeve antenna. The antenna consists of three (3) elements: a center element and two "sleeve" elements of equal length and tuned to a higher frequency than the center element, usually at half the frequency. The primary purpose of the open-sleeve antenna is to obtain wider VSWR bandwidth and also operate on two frequencies with a single feedline, as stated in the article.
A commercial utilization of the open-sleeve is contained back in FIG. 2. Here, the open-sleeve is combined with traps to make a three-band driven cell. The center element contains traps and operates on 14 and 21 MHz, whereas the sleeve elements are tuned to 28 MHz. The common driver is the trapped element and the system is fed with a single feedline. The wider bandwidth is achieved when the frequencies of the central and sleeve elements are closely related.


A first group of individuals, including a first health care provider, is provided access to a first type of data concerning the patient under control of the access rules determined by the patient. A second group of individuals, including a second health care provider, is provided access to a second type of data concerning the patient under control of the access rules determined by the patient, the second type of data not identical to the first type of data. An indication of a threshold event relating to data about the patient is received, the threshold event determined by the patient. Occurrence of the threshold event is identified by comparing a numerical value, within a numerical range, indicative of degree of health with a threshold value indicative of the threshold event.

Health care providers perform myriad services in the treatment of the ill. The performance of such services is often documented in varying degrees of detail to serve various purposes. The condition and response of patients who receive health care services are also documented. For example, records are often kept in regard to each instance that service is rendered so that the course of treatment for the patient can be readily accessible if and when needed to, for example, assess the history and effectiveness of the treatment. As another example, health care professionals will periodically document the health condition of patients to gauge their progress under medical supervision or to simply assess their overall general health. As still another example, records are kept for legal purposes so that the health care provider can document that patients in their care have received proper care. There are other motivations for documenting the treatment of patients by health care providers.
The precise method of documenting rendered health care services and condition of patients during the course of treatment of patients is similar in many respects from one health care industry to the next. However, considerations of convention and necessity particular to each industry cause differences in the creation and maintenance of medical records. The home health care industry is an example.
The home health care industry plays a vital role in the treatment of persons who receive care at home or some other non-institutional setting. Typically, a nurse or other qualified health care professional will visit a patient in her home to provide some degree of care and assessment. Each visit will prompt the nurse to enter a description of services rendered for the patient, a description of the condition of the patient, and any other observations or determinations that, if documented, would potentially benefit the patient's welfare or serve some other constructive purpose. Descriptions or determinations of this kind can often serve as medical or health records of the patient.
Conventionally, access to health records has been traditionally limited. For example, too often the health care professional who renders care for the patient creates a record and retains the record without sharing the record with the home health care agency for whom the professional works. Such exclusive retention can cause administrative and accounting difficulties for an agency. Furthermore, such exclusive retention may preclude the patient, or other interested individual, from obtaining a comprehensive account of the patient's health history. Such preclusion may result in various drawbacks, varying from inconvenience to the patient, or home health care agency, to harm to the patient's welfare. It will be appreciated that an innovative technique to allow ready, yet secure, access to a patient's care history is needed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Systems and methods for health care records access and notification


A magnetic powder contains a magnetic metal particle comprising iron (Fe) and an insulating coating layer disposed on a surface of the magnetic metal particle and comprising tin (Sn), phosphorous (P) and oxygen (O), and a coil component contains such a magnetic powder.

Among passive elements, a coil component may include a coil portion and a body surrounding the coil portion, where the body may be formed to contain magnetic powder particles.
In this case, when the magnetic powder particles contain magnetic metal particles, there is an advantage of a high saturation magnetization value. In order to decrease an eddy current loss in a high frequency band, however, insulation between magnetic metal particles contained in the body should be secured.
Meanwhile, to secure such insulation, an insulating coating layer may be formed on a surface of the magnetic metal particle. In this case, permeability and a packing rate of the body needs to be improved by forming the insulating coating layer to be thin and even, even with low shear.

Magnetic powder and coil component comprising the same


An integrated circuit is operable to execute boot loader code and a boot code from external memory. To provide security so that the CPU does not execute malicious codes, the circuit resets in a restricted mode in which only certain functional units may be connected. In the restricted mode the CPU is only able to fetch boot code from an external memory for transfer to an internal memory. A hash function operates on the fetched boot code to determine whether it is authentic and, if it is determined that the code is authentic the circuit is reset to an unrestricted mode to continue executing from the boot code now stored in the internal memory. Further security is provided by a watchdog timer function which resets the circuit if the boot code is not determined to be authentic within a threshold period of time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to semiconductor integrated circuits, and in particular to integrated circuits used in devices providing multiple purposes to end users, such as television, audio, Internet access, telephone service and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Increasingly, consumer products are being developed as multiple purpose devices. Examples include using mobile telephones to function as MP3 players, cameras & radios, using portable storage devices as media players and using television "set top boxes" as devices to access the Internet and provide telephone services. In such devices, the different purposes can be provided by different integrated circuits, or increasingly by multiple purpose integrated circuits.
Integrated circuits (computer chips) that support digital television often have extensive mechanisms for protecting encrypted data against viewing or distribution by or to devices that are not entitled to do so. These "conditional access" systems employ a significant amount of hardware to protect these systems against attack by persons wanting to view, distribute or sell systems that can circumvent security for third parties.
There are two conventional approaches to providing security in the boot phase of integrated circuits. In a first, simple approach, the integrated circuit itself stores all the boot code in internal memory. This on chip code is trusted and is then used to load and authenticate further code in external memory. The disadvantage of this approach is the need to store the boot code in internal memory which uses space on the circuit. In a second approach, the boot loader code is stored in the circuit as part of a cryptocore. The cryptocore is arranged to verify code stored in external memory before it is executed. The disadvantage of this approach is the need for significant hardware.

STMicroelectronics (Research & Development) Limited


A method for data communications includes receiving a time-division-multiplexed (TDM) input signal on a first circuit, the signal including an input sequence of frames of data, each such frame divided into sections for carrying respective sub-rate payloads. After determining which of the sections are active, such that the data in the sub-rate payloads of the active sections include user data, and which of the sections are inactive, the user data in the active sections are encapsulated into data packets for transmission over a packet network, while omitting from the packets at least some of the data from the inactive sections.

The Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) is a set of standards that define a hierarchical set of transmission rates and transmission formats for carrying high-speed, time-domain-multiplexed (TDM) digital signals. SONET lines commonly serve as trunks for carrying traffic between circuits of the plesiochronous digital hierarchy (PDH) used in circuit-switched communication networks. SONET standards of relevance to the present patent application are described, for example, in Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) Transport Systems: Common Generic Criteria (Telcordia Technologies, Piscataway, N.J., publication GR-253-CORE, September, 2000), which is incorporated herein by reference. While the SONET standards have been adopted in North America, a parallel set of standards, known as Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH), has been promulgated by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), and is widely used in Europe. From the point of view of the present invention, however, these alternative standards are functionally interchangeable.
The lowest-rate link in the SONET hierarchy is the OC-1 level, which is capable of carrying 8000 STS-1 frames per second, at a line rate of 51.840 Mbps. An STS-1 frame contains 810 bytes of data, which are conventionally organized as a block of nine rows by 90 columns. The first three columns hold transport overhead (TOH), while the remaining 87 columns carry the information payload, referred to as the synchronous payload envelope (SPE). The SPE contains one column of payload overhead (POH) information, followed by 86 columns of user data. The POH can begin at any byte position within the SPE capacity of the payload portion of the STS-1 frame. As a result, the SPE typically overlaps from one frame to the next. The TOH of each frame contains three pointer bytes (H1, H2, H3), which are used to indicate where in each frame the POH begins and to compensate for timing variations between the user input lines and the SONET line on which the STS-1 frames are transmitted.
STS-1 frames can efficiently transport the DS-3 level of the PDH, which operates at 44.736 Mbps. The STS-1 frames themselves are not too much larger than DS-3 frames. When PDH signals at rates below DS-3 are to be carried over SONET, the SPE of the STS-1 frame is divided into sections, known as virtual tributaries (VTs), each carrying its own sub-rate payload. The component low-rate signals are mapped to respective VTs, so that each STS-1 frame can aggregate sub-rate payloads from multiple low-rate links. Multiple STS-1 frames can be multiplexed (together with STS-Mc frames) into STS-N frames, for transmission on OC-N links at rates that are multiples of the basic 51.840 Mbps STS-1 rate.
For the purpose of VT mapping, each STS-1 frame is divided into seven virtual tributary groups (VTGs), each occupying 12 columns of the SPE. Within each VTG, four VT sizes are possible:                VT1.5—occupies three columns, each with sufficient bandwidth to transport a DS-1 signal at 1.544 Mbps (i.e., the signal carried on a T-1 line). One VTG can contain four VT1.5 sections.        VT2—four columns, bandwidth sufficient for an E-1 line.        VT3—six columns, bandwidth sufficient for DS-1C.        VT6—twelve columns, bandwidth sufficient for DS-2.Mapping of the VTs to the columns of the SPE is specified in detail in the above-mentioned Telcordia publication GR-253-CORE, section 3.2.4. It is not necessary that all of the VTs in a STS-1 frame be used to carry lower-rate signals. Unequipped VT sections, i.e. sections that have no service to carry, in the SPE are simply filled with default data. These unequipped sections are assigned a special indication in the VT POH byte V5, bits 5 to 7, known as the "signal label." In SDH systems, STM-1 frames are similarly divided into sub-rate payload sections of different sizes, referred to as TU-11, TU-12 and TU-2.
Circuit emulation services (CES) is a developing technology for transporting SONET and legacy PDH signals over packet networks, such as Internet Protocol (IP) networks. CES allows the network operator to maintain existing TDM service interfaces in a manner transparent to network users, even when the data traffic travels through a core packet network. For example, the CES operator could continue to offer subscribers DS-1 point-to-point service, while within the core network, the DS-1 signals are carried as packets.
One of the most promising methods for use in CES is Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS). MPLS is described in detail by Rosen et al., in Request for Comments (RFC) 3031 of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), entitled "Multiprotocol Label Switching Architecture" (January, 2001), which is incorporated herein by reference. This RFC is available at www.ietf.org/rfc.html. In conventional IP routing, each router along the path of a packet sent through the network analyzes the packet header and independently chooses the next hop for the packet by running a routing algorithm. In MPLS, however, each packet is assigned to a Forwarding Equivalence Class (FEC) when it enters the network, depending on its destination address. The packet receives a short, fixed-length label identifying the FEC to which it belongs. All packets in a given FEC are passed through the network over the same path by label-switching routers (LSRs). Unlike IP routers, LSRs simply use the packet label as an index to a look-up table, which specifies the next hop on the path for each FEC and the label that the LSR should attach to the packet for the next hop.
Since the flow of packets along a label-switched path (LSP) under MPLS is completely specified by the label applied at the ingress node of the path, a LSP can be treated as a tunnel through the network. Such tunnels are particularly useful in network traffic engineering, as well as communication security. MPLS tunnels are established by "binding" a particular label, assigned at the ingress node to the network, to a particular FEC. Multiple tunnels may belong to the same FEC, but each tunnel will have its own label binding.
When IP packets are passed through a MPLS tunnel, the routing label is removed at the egress node, which then simply routes the packet over its next hop using the packet's IP header. There is no need for the label to tell the egress node what to do with the packet, since the existing IP header, which was applied to the packet before it entered the tunnel, provides all of the necessary information. When layer 2 packets, such as Ethernet frames or ATM cells, are sent through a MPLS tunnel, however, the standard layer 2 media access control (MAC) header that brought the packet to the ingress node does not contain all the information that the egress node requires for delivering the packet to its destination. There is thus a need for a label that tells the egress node how to treat the received packet.
In response to this problem, Martini et al. have proposed to add a "virtual connection" label (or VC label) to the stack of labels used in transporting layer 2 packets through MPLS tunnels. This proposal is described in detail in an IETF draft entitled "Encapsulation Methods for Transport of Layer 2 Frames over MPLS" (May, 2001), which is incorporated herein by reference. The same authors also specify label distribution procedures for binding the VC label to the desired tunnel in a further draft entitled "Transport of Layer 2 Frames over MPLS" (May, 2001), which is likewise incorporated herein by reference. The above documents are available on the IETF Web site.
In accordance with the protocol proposed by Martini et al., before initiating the layer 2 service, the MPLS tunnel is established between the ingress and egress nodes. To set up the required VC label binding for the layer 2 service, the ingress node sends a signaling packet to the egress node carrying a group ID and a VC ID. The group ID represents an administrative group of VCs, and is used for administrative operations on the group. The VC ID is used by the layer 2 service endpoints to associate the locally-configured service with the tunnel.
Malis et al. describe the use of MPLS to carry SONET frames, in an IETF draft entitled, "SONET/SDH Circuit Emulation Service Over MPLS (CEM) Encapsulation" (April, 2001), which is incorporated herein by reference. This document is available at search.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-malis-sonet-ces-mpls-05.txt. A SONET OC-N signal is terminated at the packet network ingress node, and the SPE is broken into fragments of fixed length. A CEM header is prepended to each fragment, and a MPLS label stack is then pushed on top of the CEM packet. The MPLS label stack includes the VC label as the last label prior to the CEM header, preceded by an optional tunnel label and additional MPLS labels, depending on how the CEM packets are to be transported through the packet network. At the egress node from the packet network, the CEM packet stream is buffered to absorb delay variations, and the data payload is converted back into a SONET TDM signal using the VC label and CEM header information.
The CEM header defined by Malis et al. contains a number of fields that are used at the egress node to reconstruct the SONET frames. A structure pointer in the CEM header indicates the beginning of the STS-1 POH within the CEM packet payload (or a default value if the fragment does not contain the beginning of the POH). The CEM header also contains N and P bits indicating negative and positive adjustments of the TOH pointer in the STS-1 input frames received at the ingress node. These bits are used to advance or delay the SPE at the egress node in order to preserve the SPE timing between the two circuit emulation endpoints, and thus to reduce the chance of buffer underflow or overflow at the receiving side. In addition, the CEM header includes a sequence number (used to correct packet misordering), an optional error correction code (ECC-6) and a D bit that is used to invoke a dynamic bandwidth allocation (DBA) mode. The DBA mode is used optionally to conserve bandwidth on the packet network by avoiding transmission of trivial SPEs during SONET circuit outages and other abnormal conditions.
Other SONET signals and system features, such as VT sub-rate mapping, are not discussed by Malis et al. in the IETF draft. The authors note that the draft can be extended in the future to support VT and lower-speed non-SONET/SDH services.

SONET circuit emulation with VT compression


A method, system, and apparatus to encapsulate one or more file systems in a union of file systems without modifying or copying information in each file directory entry in each file system are presented. In one embodiment, this is accomplished in part by linking an inode list file from the file system to be encapsulated with an inode list file of the union of file systems, and merging a free extent map of the to-be-encapsulated file system with the free extent map file of the union file system.

The ever-increasing reliance on information and the computing systems that produce, process, distribute, and maintain such information in its myriad forms continues to put great demands on techniques for data storage and data protection. As demands and expectations from an information network change over the lifetime of the information network, initial decisions made with regard to where and how data is stored in the information network may need to be altered. Modifying file systems in an information network can implicate not only a change of storage resources, but also personnel resources to implement such changes.
For example, should a storage administrator determine that information stored in multiple file systems would be more effectively accessed in a single file system, implementing such a modification could take many hours of equipment and personnel time. Such a modification could be implemented by backing up the file systems to be united, clearing storage objects storing the data of those file systems, uniting all the storage objects into a single set of volumes, and then restoring all the data of the various file systems onto the single set of volumes of storage objects.
Alternatively, a storage administrator could choose to provide various file systems through directory structure access points that disguise the distinction between the separate file systems. A disadvantage of such a system can be that free memory, or extent, space between the various file systems is not shared among the file systems, thereby potentially resulting in an inefficient distribution of resources.
It is therefore desirable to have a low cost method of encapsulating one or more file systems into a union of file systems. Low cost can be realized by having a method that does not involve a lengthy and resource intensive backup/restore. In other words, a method in which each directory entry for each file in a file system does not need to be modified or copied. Further, it is desired that such a method of encapsulating file systems results in the free space for each encapsulated file system being useable by all file systems in the union of file systems.


A system and method for allowing a user to segment and partition a database based upon attributes associated with the data in the database. Also, a system and method for generating a report for a user which allows the user to make decisions, without requiring the user to understand or interpret data itself. A database computer includes a database containing the data. The data includes a collection of information about an enterprise of the user. A server computer is coupled to the database computer and executes a database management program. A client computer is coupled to the server and executes an application program. The application program allows a user to define predetermined data types, to define relationships between the data types, to define parameters for the report, to define a method of analysis for the report, and to create the report. The report summarizes the data in terms of the data types, the data relationships, and the method of analysis.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to expert systems and reporting systems, and more specifically to a system and method for generating reports from a computer database.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Storing large amounts of transaction-level data for later analysis (data warehousing) is becoming recognized as an enabler for businesses that are seeking a competitive advantage. Tightening competitive environments and global economic trends are forcing businesses and entire industries to search for a means to gain an advantage. This advantage can be realized through the use of strategic data relating to their business--allowing better and more timely decisions, leading to a better understanding of their business and support for their customers, that ultimately leads to growth. To make use of data warehouses, the data must be retrieved, organized and then presented in an understandable format.
Discovery tools are used to retrieve, analyze and present data from data warehouses. These tools can range from very complex modeling tools to relatively simple end user query tools designed to do no more than mask the complexity of the SQL database programming language from the user. Automated tools that search the data for trends or relationships are also considered discovery tools.
The marketplace is comprised of various tool vendors whose products provide solutions for a portion of the entire knowledge discovery process. Therefore, to effectively utilize their data, the user community is forced to pick multiple, disjointed tools. In addition, these tools are targeted toward the expert user who has an in-depth knowledge of the data and database formats or the various analytic methods that are implemented in the tool. Existing products also do not let the business user explicitly and iteratively represent business knowledge. Finally, the output of existing tools consists of tables of numbers that users have to analyze and interpret.
Data warehouses, and databases in general, typically have complex structure organized for efficiency of data retrieval, not ease-of-use by the end user. Users, especially business users, desire reports in their vocabulary, not the vocabulary of the database. While some tools in the marketplace allow a user to define new terms and map those terms to the database, the management of related sets of new terms is not supported. That is, the relationship of a new term to existing terms is not automatically detected for the user.
In addition to these difficulties, it is common for the contents of a report to cause a user to desire another, similar report. Saving and re-using sets of related reports (re-generating the reports over a new set of data) is also desired. The generation of related reports and the re-generation of reports over new data is a capability not adequately available in the marketplace.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a system and method for generating reports from a computer database which allow a user to retrieve and analyze data with one tool without requiring the user to have knowledge of underlying data structures or of the SQL database programming language, which allow a user to define new terms and detect and manage relationships between terms, which allow a user to easily generate related reports, and which allow a user to re-run sets of related reports over new data. It would also be desirable to provide a system and method for allowing the a user to segment and partition a database based upon attributes associated with the data in the database.

System and method for segmenting a database based upon data attributes


Systems and methods for wireless communication are provided. In a particular embodiment, a base station device is disclosed that includes an interface coupled to a network to communicate with a central controller and a wireless transceiver adapted to communicate wirelessly with one or more portable devices via a local area network. The base station device also includes logic coupled to the interface and to the wireless transceiver. The logic communicates with the remote central controller device via the network to receive an authorization to communicate wirelessly. The logic selectively activates the wireless transceiver after receiving the authorization.

In general, in the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates wireless transmission frequency bands. For years, broadcasters have been licensed by the FCC for analog television channel transmission via licensed frequency bands within a frequency range from approximately 54 MHz to approximately 700 MHz. Generally, within a range of approximately 100 kilometers from a broadcast tower, unlicensed television transmissions are prohibited.
Recognizing that the UHF TV band (roughly 500 to 700 MHz) may be useful for consumer-oriented applications, the FCC is seeking to allow unlicensed users (such as individual consumers) to use these frequencies in 'whitespace' areas, that is, areas where individual TV channels are unused by licensed operators such as TV broadcasters or areas that do not receive UHF TV band signals.
However, there are potential problems presented by unlicensed UH whitespace applications. For example, the long propagation range of UHF frequencies opens the possibility that an unlicensed user, operating outside the nominal coverage area of a TV station, could nonetheless cause interference to a TV watcher within the station's coverage area many miles away by transmitting data in the same frequency band as a channel being viewed by the TV watcher. This may be a particular problem for mobile devices (i.e. portable devices, such as laptop-type portable local area network (LAN) devices) since users may take their mobile devices into locations within or near a station's coverage area.

Systems and methods of wireless communication


A stitch-bonded fabric construction in which broadly spaced parallel linear stitch lines are applied through a very low weight fibrous substrate to stabilize the substrate in the machine direction. Texture is imparted by applying significant overfeed conditions to the stitching substrate thereby causing a substantial bunching of the substrate at the stitching position. The resulting product has an arrangement of alternating ridges and valleys running predominantly in the cross-machine direction. The stabilizing linear stitch lines lock in the puckered texture.

Hand wipe products have recently gained popularity as a mechanism for cleaning and disinfecting surfaces. Such wipe products typically incorporate a nonwoven sheet which is saturated with a cleaning and sanitizing solution. By way of example only, such wipe products are available at many grocery stores for use by customers to clean the surfaces of grocery carts and baskets before use. Such wipe products are also sold for home use.
In existing wipe products the sheet material acts primarily as a carrier for the cleaning or disinfecting solution and must have sufficient thickness to avoid tearing during use. Flat or textured non-woven sheets have been used successfully, but such nonwoven sheets must have a relatively substantial weight to avoid falling apart during use. Thus, relatively substantial quantities of fiber are required to form such sheets. The use of additional fiber has the undesired consequence of making the sheets relatively bulky thereby making packaging more difficult. Additional fiber also increases the cost of the final wipe product. Pre-existing wipe products also tend to lack significant surface texture. Thus, scouring ability is relatively limited.
Diapers are well known for use in containing urine and bowel discharge. Modern diapers typically have a layered structure in which a user contact surface layer characterized by low moisture retention is disposed in overlying relation to a highly absorbent fiber layer which acts to lock expelled fluid in place. One or more intermediate wicking layers may be disposed between the user contact surface layer and the fluid absorption layer. In general, it is desirable to move fluid away from the user's skin as quickly as possible. However, there may be some delay in achieving full absorption of fluid into the absorbent layer. This may slow down the rate of fluid removal from the user's skin surface.
In light of the above, there is a continuing need for an improved wipe product which may act as a carrier for disinfecting solution and which has a scouring surface adapted to promote aggressive cleaning without failure. There is also a continuing need for an improved diaper construction which facilitates efficient removal of fluid from a user's skin surface.

Stitch bonded creped fabric construction


A heat generator for reducing emissions includes a permanently magnetized, disc-shaped rotor; a stator axially separated from the rotor and in which the rotor induces electric currents as it rotates to generate heat in the stator; and an adjoining cooling duct through which a cooling liquid flows to dissipate heat generated in the stator. The rotor and stator are axially movable in relation to one another to adjust the heat generated in the stator. Heat output is controlled by a member acting axially on the rotor in the direction of the stator with a variable force against the action of a repelling force, and includes a soft magnetic material forming part of the stator. The permanently magnetized rotor and the stator are magnetically attracted to one another, and it is possible to strengthen/weaken their to achieve a predetermined output/speed profile.

The present invention relates generally to a heat generator for motor vehicles and primarily to one for reducing emissions from the internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,484,049 discloses a water-cooled heat generator for the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle. The heat generator comprises a shaft driven by the vehicle engine, which shaft is common to the rotor in an electric generator and a rotor in the heat generator itself. Alternating current drawn from the stator winding of the electric generator is rectified and fed as magnetising current to the rotor in the heat generator. The latter also has a laminated stator with armature bars connected between two short-circuit rings, the bars like the short-circuit rings being hollow. The armature bars, in which the rotor of the heat generator generates induction currents as it rotates, are, like the short-circuit rings, cooled by water that circulates through them. The water thus heated is in turn used for heating the vehicle passenger compartment.
The said heat generator is bulky, complicated and also has poor efficiency.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,184 discloses a heat generator based on friction heating. This heat generator, too, is bulky owing to a high volume/output ratio, a relatively high-viscosity operating liquid moreover being required.
PCT/SE99/00283 describes a heat generator with a permanently magnetised, disc-shaped rotor, a stator, which is axially separated from the rotor and in which the rotor induces electric currents as it rotates, which generate heat in the stator, and adjoining the stator a cooling duct for a flowing liquid in order to dissipate the heat generated in the stator.
This heat generator is compact and provides very efficient heating of the cooling liquid, which is intended for use in heating the coolant in an internal combustion engine in an initial phase after starting the internal combustion engine.
Because of the highly efficient conversion from mechanical work, which drives the heat generator, to generated heat in the cooling liquid, it may be necessary in many applications to control the generated heat output according to a varying demand. This might obviously be done by corresponding variation of the mechanical power delivery, which drives the heat generator, by adjusting the speed of rotation of the rotor of the heat generator. Such a speed variation is not possible in all applications, however, since other requirements may be crucial for the magnitude of the mechanical power output, for example the power needed to propel a vehicle. In such a case the desired heat output can nevertheless be produced by connecting the heat generator intermittently in such a way that the mean value of the generated heat output corresponds to the desired heat output. This intermittent connection, however, presupposes a connecting arrangement, which requires space and may mean that the heat generator becomes complicated and/or undesirably expensive.
An object of the present invention is to provide a heat generator for motor vehicles, which is compact but still permits easy adjustment of the heat generated.
A heat generator according to the invention has a permanently magnetised, disc-shaped rotor; a stator, which is axially separated from the rotor and in which the rotor induces electric currents as it rotates, which generate heat in the stator; and adjoining the stator a cooling duct for a flowing cooling liquid in order to dissipate the heat generated in the stator. The rotor and the stator are furthermore axially moveable in relation to one another, in order to adjust the distance between them and thereby to adjust the heat generated in the stator or the heat output. This makes use of the fact that an adjustment of the distance between the rotor and the stator affects the magnitude of the currents. that the rotor induces in the stator and hence the magnitude of the heat generated by the said currents. Finally, means are arranged for determining the heat output generated in the stator by acting axially on the rotor in the direction of the stator with a variable force against the action of a repelling force, generated by the currents induced in the stator. The rotor can thereby be set to an axial position in relation to the stator depending on the heat output to be generated in the stator.
The stator preferably comprises two metallic layers, which define a narrow, substantially radial gap, which constitutes a part of the cooling duct designed for radial flow. In this way the distance over which the liquid in the cooling duct is heated is rendered relatively short, which is a pre-requisite for rapid heating utilising a high output.
In addition, the cooling duct suitably comprises two annular spaces, which adjoin the radial gap on that side thereof remote from the rotor and are designed for a circumferential flow of the cooling liquid. This design means that the cooling liquid follows intersecting paths on both sides of one of the two metallic layers, represented by the layer furthest from the rotor. Because of these intersecting flows of cooling liquid, such phenomena as evaporation and film boiling, which might otherwise occur as a result of the rapid heating and lead to cavitation and overheating, can be prevented.
The means for acting axially on the rotor in the direction of the stator, that is to say for adjusting the distance between the rotor and the stator depending, for example, on the desired heating of the flowing liquid, may be designed in many different ways, but they suitably comprise a soft magnetic material, which constitutes part of the stator, so that the magnetic field of the rotor is closed and a magnetic attraction force acts between the permanently magnetised rotor and the stator.
Of the two metallic layers, one nearest the rotor may comprise an electrically conductive, preferably non-magnetic material, and one furthest away from the rotor may comprise the soft magnetic material.
The force generated in the stator, which has a repelling action on the rotor, may be dimensioned so that at a predetermined speed of rotation it moves the rotor away from the stator against the action of the magnetic attraction force between the permanently magnetised rotor and the stator. This is achieved, for example, through the choice of stator magnetic material and through the choice of its volume and distance from the rotor.
The means for acting axially on the rotor may comprise spring means, pneumatic or hydraulic piston and cylinder units and/or electrically operated units. The said means may strengthen and/or weaken the magnetic attraction force or the repelling force in order to permit the achievement of a predetermined output/speed profile.
The means for acting axially on the rotor may furthermore comprise an override means for positively shifting the rotor to a desired output position or locking the rotor in a lower output position, for example when the entire output of the car engine is required for acceleration.
The means acting axially on the rotor may furthermore be controlled by an override signal from control electronics, which control the internal combustion engine, for limiting the heat output generated in the stator by positively shifting the rotor in relation to the stator, and achieving a position with limited output. Such an override signal might be generated by the control electronics in connection with acceleration, for example from stationary or in excess of a predetermined limit, the rotor being shifted to and locked in a lower output position.
By giving the means for applying force to the rotor in the direction of the stator a suitable force/distance profile, the heat output generated in the stator can thus take on a predetermined output/speed profile.
The currents that the rotor induces in the stator increase normally with increasing speed. In order to take account of this increased current, the distance of the rotor from the stator can also be suitably increased as the speed of the rotor increases. This increase may be used, for example, to achieve the desired heat output/speed profile for an adjusted rotor speed. In particular, the increase in the distance between the rotor and the stator may be initiated only in excess of a predetermined speed, in order thereby to limit the maximum output.
In another embodiment, the means for applying force to the rotor in the direction of the stator comprise a pneumatic piston, the force of which may be produced by negative pressure or excess pressure. If produced by negative pressure, the pneumatic piston may advantageously be combined with spring means, which likewise exert force on the rotor, and more specifically a diminishing force as the distance between the rotor and the stator increases. It is especially advantageous if the force characteristic of the said spring means is designed so that, at a constant rotor speed, an increasing negative pressure in the pneumatic piston moves the rotor closer to the stator.
As a safeguard against excessive heating of the cooling liquid, adjusting means may be provided alongside the cooling duct, which means are sensitive to the temperature of the cooling liquid and have the ability, when a predetermined temperature is reached, to act largely instantaneously on the rotor and to increase its distance from the stator to a value at which the heat generated in the stator is negligible. In this way, heating of the liquid flowing in the cooling duct in excess of a predetermined temperature value can be prevented, for example, where water is used as cooling medium, heating in excess of 100xc2x0 C. can be prevented, thereby preventing evaporation at normal pressure.
The design of the cooling duct is critical with regard to the high output (with an order of magnitude of tens of kilowatts) that a heat generator according to the invention can develop. According to the invention, short flow paths are produced in the most active heating zone closest to the rotor by designing the stator with a first disc extending radially along the disc-shaped rotor and with a second disc situated along the said first disc and on the opposite side to the rotor, in order to form a radial gap between them. The cooling liquid can be made to flow radially through the said gap in that it is connected to openings around its outer and its inner circumference.
In a further embodiment of the heat generator, the rotor comprises two axially separated rotor discs and the stator two stator discs, which are arranged between the two rotor discs and adjacent to a respective one of these. In this case distance adjustments are produced in that the rotor discs are axially moveable away from one another and from the respective stator disc, which is fixed in relation to the axial movement.
On each rotor disc the permanently magnetised, disc-shaped rotor may have a plurality of permanent magnets, and may for the rest consist of a soft magnetic material, and each stator disc may consist of an electrically conductive material. As the rotor rotates, the magnetic field generated by the permanent magnets gives rise to currents in the stator discs, which currents in addition to generating heat in the stator discs in turn also give rise to magnetic fields that endeavour to counteract the magnetic field generated by the rotor magnets. The magnetic fields counteracting one another give rise to repelling forces, which act axially between the stator and the rotor, especially each pair of stator discs and each pair of rotor discs. These repelling forcing increase as the rotor speed increases and decrease as the distance between rotor and stator increases.
In the case with the two stator discs and two rotor discs, the cooling duct comprises two radial gaps, which are formed between each stator disc and a disc of magnetic material fixed alongside this. The said fixed disc of magnetic material is annular and closes the flux path for the magnetic field from the rotor through the stator. An attraction force thereby also occurs between. each rotor disc and the associated fixed disc, which force endeavours to move the rotor discs towards the respective stator disc. This attraction force is largely dependent only on the distance.

Heat generator for a motor vehicle using induction heating


A method of applying a test load to a landing gear mounted on an aircraft, the method comprising parking the aircraft with at least one tire of the landing gear on a platform; and moving the platform so as to apply the test load to the landing gear via the tire. An array of six platforms is mounted on a sliding chassis in a recessed oil bath. The platforms can be independently rotated to apply torque. The spacing between the platforms can be adjusted to adapt for different landing gear configurations.

Conventional methods of applying a test load to a landing gear of an aircraft involve placing the whole landing gear, or a component thereof, in a test rig.
Such test rigs can be complex and can fail to accurately re-create the conditions of a landing gear in service on an aircraft.


The present invention provides a plating method and a plating apparatus which can securely form a metal film (protective film) by electroless plating on the exposed surfaces of a base metal, such as interconnects without the formation of voids in the base metal. The plating method including providing a semiconductor device having an embedded interconnect structure, carrying out pretreatment of interconnects with a pre-treatment liquid containing a surface activating agent for the interconnects, carrying out catalytic treatment of the interconnects with a catalytic treatment liquid containing catalyst metal ions and an excessive etching inhibitor for the interconnects, and forming a protective film by electroless plating selectively on the surfaces of the interconnects.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plating method and a plating apparatus, and more particularly to a plating method and a plating apparatus which are useful for forming a protective film by electroless plating selectively on the exposed surfaces of embedded interconnects of an interconnect material, such as copper or silver, embedded in interconnect recesses provided in the surface of a substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer, so as to cover and protect the interconnects with the protective film.
The present invention also relates to an interconnects-forming method useful for forming embedded interconnects by embedding an interconnect material, such as copper or silver, in interconnect recesses provided in a surface of a substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer, and covering the surfaces of the embedded interconnects with a protective film to make a multi-level structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a process for forming interconnects in a semiconductor substrate, a so-called "damascene process", which comprises embedding an interconnect material (metal) into trenches and via holes, is coming into practical use. According to this process, aluminum, or more recently an interconnect material (metal) such as silver or copper, is embedded into interconnect recesses, such as trenches and via holes, previously formed in an interlevel dielectric layer. Thereafter, an extra metal is removed by performing chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) so as to flatten a surface of the substrate.
In a case of interconnects formed by such a process, for example, copper interconnects formed by using copper as an interconnect material, embedded interconnects of copper have exposed surfaces after the flattening processing. In order to prevent thermal diffusion of such interconnects (copper), or to prevent oxidation of such interconnects (copper) e.g. during forming thereon an insulating film (oxide film) under an oxidizing atmosphere to produce a semiconductor substrate having a multi-layer interconnect structure, it is now under study to selectively cover the exposed surfaces of interconnects with an protective film (cap material) composed of a Co alloy, a Ni alloy or the like so as to prevent thermal diffusion and oxidation of the interconnects. Such an protective film of a Co alloy, a Ni alloy or the like can be produced e.g. by performing electroless plating.
FIGS. 1A through 1D illustrate, in sequence of process steps, an example of forming copper interconnects in a semiconductor device. As shown in FIG. 1A, an insulating film (interlevel dielectric layer) 2, such as an oxide film of SiO2 or a film of low-k material, is deposited on a conductive layer 1a formed on a semiconductor base 1 having formed semiconductor devices. Via holes 3 and trenches 4 are formed in the insulating film 2 by performing a lithography/etching technique so as to provide interconnect recesses. Thereafter, a barrier layer 5 of TaN or the like is formed on the insulating film 2, and a seed layer 6 as a feeding layer for electroplating is formed on the barrier layer 5 by sputtering or the like.
Then, as shown in FIG. 1B, copper plating is performed on a surface of a substrate W to fill the via holes 3 and the trenches 4 of the substrate W with copper and, at the same time, deposit a copper film 7 on the insulating film 2. Thereafter, the barrier layer 5, the seed layer 6 and the copper film 7 on the insulating film 2 are removed by chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) or the like so as to leave copper filled in the via holes 3 and the trenches 4, and have a surface of the insulating film 2 lie substantially on the same plane as this copper. Interconnects (copper interconnects) 8 composed of the seed layer 6 and the copper film 7 are thus formed in the insulating film 2, as shown in FIG. 1C.
Then, as shown in FIG. 1D, electroless plating is performed on a surface of the substrate W to selectively form a protective film 9 of a Co alloy, a Ni alloy or the like on surfaces of the interconnects 8, thereby covering and protecting the surfaces of the interconnects 8 with the protective film 9.
There will be described a process of forming a protective film (cap material) 9 of, for example, a CoWP alloy film selectively on surfaces of interconnects 8 by using a general electroless plating method. First, a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer after CMP processing is immersed in e.g. an aqueous H2SO4 solution to etch away e.g. copper oxide on interconnects 8, thereby activating surfaces of interconnects 8. After the surface of the substrate W is cleaned with a cleaning liquid such as pure water, if necessary, the substrate W is immersed, for example, in a PdCl2/HCl mixed solution to adhere Pd as a catalyst to the surfaces of the interconnects 8. After the surface of the substrate W is cleaned (rinsed) with pure water or the like, the substrate W is immersed, for example, in a CoWP plating solution to carry out electroless plating selectively on surfaces of the Pd adhered interconnects 8. Thereafter, the surface of the substrate W is cleaned with a cleaning liquid such as pure water. Thus, a protective film 9 made of a CoWP alloy film is formed selectively on the exposed surfaces of interconnects 8 so as to protect interconnects 8.
The application of a catalyst such as Pd, in principle, is effected through a displacement reaction caused by electrons (e−) that are emitted from interconnects (base metal) upon etching thereof, i.e. through the so-called "displacement plating". The catalyst application involves the problem that interconnects as a base metal can be etched excessively especially at weak crystal grain boundaries. The excessive etching in interconnects may result in the formation of voids in the interconnects, which would lower the reliability of the interconnects and increase the resistance of the interconnects. This has led to difficulty in establishing a practical process.
This problem will be explained taking as an example the case of forming a copper film 502, constituting interconnects 8 (see FIG. 1C), on the surface of a barrier layer 500 of TaN, and forming a protective film 504 of a CoWP alloy on the surface of the copper film 502 by electroless plating, as schematically shown in FIGS. 2A through 2D.
The copper film 502 is a polycrystalline film having a plurality of crystalline orientations and comprising a large number of copper crystal grains 502a which are considered to be linked planewise to each other at crystal grain boundaries 502b, as shown in FIG. 2A. The surface of the copper film 502 is immersed in e.g. an aqueous H2SO4 solution to etch away copper oxide (CuO) present in the surface of the copper film 502 with H2SO4, thereby activating the surface, as shown by the following formula (1). Upon the etching, as shown in FIG. 2B, the copper film 502 is etched and removed excessively at the upper portions of the crystal grain boundaries 502b between adjacent copper crystal grains 502a, resulting in the formation of recesses 506.CuO+H2SO4→CuSO4+H2O  (1)
When the surface of the copper film 502 is subsequently immersed in e.g. a PdSO4/H2SO4 mixed solution to form a Pd catalyst layer 508, comprising Pd as a catalyst, on the surface of the copper film 502, copper is etched excessively along the weak crystal grain boundaries 502 especially and electrons are emitted from the copper, as shown by the following formula (2). At the surfaces of the copper crystal grains 502a, Pd2+ ions receive the electrons whereby the Pd catalyst layer is formed, as shown by the following formula (3). The additional excessive etching of copper along the crystal grain boundaries 502b results in the formation of voids 510, as shown in FIG. 2C.Cu→Cu2++2e−  (2)Pd2++2e−→Pd  (3)
When a protective film 504 of a CoWP alloy is subsequently formed by electroless plating on the surface of the copper film 502, the voids 510 remain within the copper film (interconnects) 502 covered with the protective film 504. Further, in principle, a liquid remains in the voids 510. Upon a heat treatment which is necessary for the production of interconnects, the liquid remaining in the voids 510 will expand, leading to the growth of the voids 510.
The application of a catalyst such as Pd to a copper surface is requisite for forming a CoWP alloy film on the copper surface by electroless plating. A CoWP alloy film is in no case deposited directly on a copper surface by electroless plating.
There is a case where upon the formation of a protective film by electroless plating onto interconnects of a substrate after removal of an extra metal on the substrate and flattening of the substrate surface by CMP, the pattern dependency of the interconnects and the protective film associated with the rate limitation of the supply of reaction species, becomes marked whereby the thickness of the protective film formed selectively on the surfaces of the interconnects by electroless plating becomes uneven. This may lead to a failure in obtaining a stable interconnects-forming process and a lowering of the throughput.
In particular, upon the selective formation of a protective film on interconnects by electroless plating, a thickness of the protective film is likely to vary due to a variation in the density of the interconnects. Such an uneven film cannot fully function as a protective film. Further, especially for an isolated narrow interconnect pattern, there may exist a transition time until the initiation of plating reaction, whereby the plating cannot be deposited with ease.
Consider now a case where a first interconnect pattern, for example, comprising isolated interconnects (narrow interconnects) 8 having a width of 0.25 μm arranged at intervals of 10 μm as shown in FIG. 3A, a second interconnect pattern, for example, comprising interconnects (narrow interconnects) 8 having a width of 0.25 μm density arranged at intervals of 0.25 μm as shown in FIG. 3B, and a third interconnect pattern, for example, comprising isolated interconnects (broad interconnects) 8 having a width of 10 μm arranged at intervals of 1 μm as shown in FIG. 3C, are co-present in a surface of a substrate.
Polishing and removal of copper by CMP is generally carried out by oxidizing the copper and polishing away the copper oxide. Accordingly, when the above substrate having a variety of interconnect patterns is subjected to the above-described process comprising embedding of copper as an interconnect material, followed by CMP to remove an unnecessary metal on an insulating film and flatten the surface, oxide films 8a are formed in the upper portions of the interconnects 8 which are formed in trenches 4, covered with a barrier layer 5, provided in an insulating film 2, as shown in FIGS. 3A through 3C. The thickness of the respective oxides 8a of the various interconnect patterns differ from one another due to a difference in reaction produced by the rate limitation of the supply of reaction species. In particular, a relatively thick oxide film 8a having a thickness of e.g. about 10 nm is formed in the first interconnect pattern, as shown in FIG. 3A. An oxide film 8a having an intermediate thickness of e.g. about 6 nm is formed in the second interconnect pattern, as shown in FIG. 3B. And in the third interconnect pattern, a relatively thin oxide film 8a having a thickness of e.g. about 4 nm is formed, as shown in FIG. 3C.
When the substrate is subjected to a pre-electroless plating treatment to remove the oxide films 8a formed in the upper portions of interconnects 8, spaces 10 having heights equal to the thicknesses of the corresponding oxide films 8a removed are formed in the trenches 4, as shown in FIGS. 4A through 4C. Thus, a space 10 having a height of e.g. about 10 nm is formed in the first interconnect pattern, as shown in FIG. 4A. A space 10 having a height of e.g. about 6 nm is formed in the second interconnect pattern, as shown in FIG. 4B. And in the third interconnect pattern, a space 10 having a height of e.g. 4 nm is formed, as shown in FIG. 4C.
When the substrate is subsequently subjected to electroless plating to form a protective film 9 of e.g. a NiB alloy selectively on the surfaces of the interconnects 8, the thickness of the protective film 9 varies depending on the interconnect pattern configuration, due to a difference in reaction produced by the rate limitation of the supply of reaction species, as shown in FIGS. 5A through 5C. In particular, a protective film 9 having a thickness of e.g. about 10 nm (FIG. 5A) is formed in the first interconnect pattern. A protective film 9 having a thickness of e.g. about 6 nm (FIG. 5B) is formed in the second interconnect pattern. And in the third interconnect pattern, a protective film 9 having a thickness of e.g. about 4 nm (FIG. 5C) is formed. As in this case, the narrower and the more isolated interconnects are, a protective film formed on the exposed surfaces of interconnects tends to be thicker.
The interconnect pattern dependency of the thickness of a protective film is due to a difference in reaction produced by the rate limitation of the supply of reaction species. In particular, for an interconnect pattern comprising a single interconnect (reaction region) 8 having a surface area of 2×10 in a region (surface area) of 10×10, as shown in FIG. 6A, the ratio of the reaction region to the whole region is 0.2 (20/100). For an interconnect pattern comprising two interconnects (reaction regions) each having a surface area of 2×10 in a region of 10×10, as shown in FIG. 6B, the ratio of the reaction regions to the whole region is 0.4 (2×20/100). Further, for an interconnect pattern comprising a single interconnect (reaction region) 8 having a surface area of 5.2×10 in a region of 10×10, as shown in FIG. 6C, the ratio of the reaction region to the whole region is 0.52 (52/100). Thus, the larger the ratio of the reaction region (area) to the whole region (area) is, the thinner oxide film 8a is formed in the upper portions of interconnects 8 upon CMP, resulting in the formation of a thinner protective film 9.
Further, an insulating film (interlevel dielectric layer), for example composed of SiO2, surrounding embedded interconnects generally has a poor thermal conductivity. In addition, the plating rate in electroless plating is influenced largely by a temperature factor. FIG. 7 shows the relationship between the plating rate and the liquid temperature of plating solution in electroless CoWB plating. As can be seen from FIG. 7, the plating deposition is impossible at the liquid temperature of 52° C. or lower and, in the liquid temperature range of 55-70° C., the temperature difference of 1° C. produces a difference of about 1.3 nm/min in the plating rate.
Accordingly, when a substrate, after carrying out the pre-plating treatment shown in FIGS. 4A through 4C, is subjected to electroless plating, for example, using an electroless CoWB plating solution at a liquid temperature of 60° C. to form a protective film 9 of a CoWB alloy on the surfaces of interconnects 8, a relatively thin protective film 9 is formed in the first interconnect pattern, as shown in FIG. 8A. A relatively thick protective film 9 is formed in the second interconnect pattern, as shown in FIG. 8B. And in the third interconnect pattern, a protective film 9 having an intermediate thickness is formed, as shown in FIG. 8C. Thus, the narrower and the more isolated interconnects are, a protective film formed on the exposed surfaces of interconnects tends to be thinner due to a shortage of heat capacity.

Plating method including pretreatment of a surface of a base metal


A copyholder holds a sheet of paper in a predetermined position at a convenient work angle for viewing by a user and is easily attachable to and removable from a variety of work surfaces. The copyholder comprises front and rear elongated members, a base, fastening elements for supporting the elongated members upon the base, and several different mechanisms for providing movement to the copyholder in six different degrees of freedom for adjusting its position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a copyholder, and, in particular, to a copyholder that is universally adjustable so that a sheet of paper may be oriented at a comfortable viewing angle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Copyholders are used on a daily basis by secretaries and other professionals involved in data entry and word processing to hold a sheet of paper in a substantially vertical position so that the information on the paper may be typed on a typewriter or stored in a computer. Normally, secretaries place the copyholder on their desk immediately beside their typewriter or computer while they work. Thus, they must sit with their body oriented toward the machine and with their head turned away from the machine and toward the copyholder to read the information on the paper.
Over time, sitting in this position becomes uncomfortable and causes severe neck and back aches. Further, secretaries must constantly focus and re-focus their eyes to compensate for the difference in distance between the copyholder and the computer screen. This constant re-focusing further exasperates the secretaries' discomfort because it causes eye strain and headaches.
These copyholders are also relatively large and occupy a great deal of space on a secretary's desk. Since most secretaries work on several different projects simultaneously, desk space is at a premium and they cannot afford to waste any of it with an unnecessarily large copyholder.
Thus, it would be advantageous if these copyholders were smaller and could be positioned closer to the machine. Prior art attempts at resolving this problem may be found, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,836,489 to Chu ("the Chu Copyholder") and 4,934,646 to Yueh ("the Yueh copyholder").
However, merely positioning the copyholder closer to the machine does not solve the neck and back aches and eye strain experienced by the secretaries. During the day, secretaries need to change their seating position to remain comfortable, and changing lighting conditions require that the angle of the paper be adjusted to reduce glare. The Chu and Yueh copyholders, however, are deficient because the degrees of freedom available for adjusting the orientation of the copyholder is limited.
Further, the number of positions available in a work area to initially set up the copyholder is often very limited. Thus, flexibility in initially positioning the copyholder is required. However, the prior art copyholders do not adequately provide this flexibility.
Accordingly, there is a need for a copyholder that will occupy very little space in a work area, that may be mounted on horizontal, vertical or any other work surface, and that is universally adjustable so that a sheet of paper may be held at a comfortable viewing angle for a user.


A thermally processable imaging element which comprises a support bearing an imaging layer containing in reactive association an image-forming combination comprising an organic silver salt oxidizing agent with a reducing agent for the organic silver salt oxidizing agent, wherein the imaging layer comprises a binder and a chlorinated hydrocarbon.

Thermally processable imaging elements typically comprise a support bearing an imaging layer and various other layers such as backing, subbing and overcoat layers. The imaging element in a thermally processable imaging element typically is comprised of a mixture of a polymeric binder (such as poly(vinylbutyral)) with a variety of imaging components such as silver behenate, reducing agents and developers.
It is known to add various additives to the layers of thermally processable imaging elements. Such additives include plasticizers as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,893,860 5,468,603 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,527,758.
The use of plasticizers in polyvinyl butyral is known. For example Encyclopedia of Polymer Science and Engineering, H. Mark et al, eds, Vol 17, p. 156, J. Wiley and Sons, New York, 1989, teaches that a "wide variety of plasticizers is suitable for polyvinyl(butyral)," suggesting specific materials such as phthalates, phosphates, fatty acid esters, and polyester based materials as useful plasticizers.
It is also known to add plasticizers to other imaging elements. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,705,736 describes the use of plasticizers in a thermally developable diazotype film. The incorporation of the plasticizer increases development speeds during thermal processing.

Thermally processable imaging element having improved physical properties


An improved method and apparatus for removing grit from sewage comprising passing sewage containing grit along a channel, the sewage passing initially through a straight elongate portion of constant width and of length sufficient to stablize the flow and subsequently passing the sewage around a bend portion having an angle of at least 10 degrees from the straight portion and, downstream of the bend, removing the grit from the flow via a port situated at the inside of the bend at the base of the channel via a grit hopper coupled to the port and coupled to a draw-off point to remove the grit for disposal.

Sewage entering a treatment works can be described as a mixture of four pollution forms, which are rags and paper, grit from soil and roads, organic sludge and dissolved material. The rags and paper suspended in the flow are usually removed by passing the flow through mechanically raked screens. The organic sludge is removed by settlement in large sedimentation tanks in which the flow conditions are quiescent. This material has almost the same specific gravity as water and settles slowly. In turbulent flow conditions, it remains effectively in suspension in the water. The dissolvable material in the water has to be treated. The grit from soil and roads has a specific gravity considerably greater than water. There are a number of methods available for removal of the grit and it is this field of treatment of sewage to which this invention is directed.
Sewage therefore has to be treated in four phases which are usually carried out in the following sequence. Firstly, screenings removal, then grit settlement/removal, then primary sedimentation and then bio-oxidation. Final settlement or other final processes may be added. Occasionally, a further fine screening stage is introduced after the grit removal. The screenings would clog up pipes and plant if allowed to remain in the flow until the settlement stage. Grit could be left in the flow to the primary settlement stage, but may settle out of the connecting pipes and channels causing a maintenance problem. The main reason for removing as much of the grit as possible is to ease the removal and treatment of the settled sludge. The heavier material of the grit renders the sludge more solid and can lead to blockage. During treatment of the sludge, the grit often causes an action similar to concrete setting and has to be dug out of the plant. This binding and setting of grit is known as accretion.
The grit is transported in water by means of several mechanisms. If the flow is fast and turbulent, the majority of the grit will be transported in suspension. At more normal levels of flow, speed and turbulence, the grit particles bounce along the bottom of the channel often colliding with each other in an action know as saltation. At lower flow speeds, the grit forms dunes which are moved slowly along by detaching from their downstream faces in regions of turbulence and moving by saltation to the front of the next dune downstream. If the flow speed is even lower than this, then the dunes build up and the saltation transport between the dunes stops. In correctly designed sewers and channels in treatment works, a velocity of 0.8 to 1.2 meters per second is aimed at so that grit transport is either in suspension or by saltation.

Method and apparatus for removing grit from sewage


Initiator-treated pigment particles for use in making polymer coated pigment particles, are made up of a plurality of pigment particles. Each of the pigment particles has an outer surface that is covered with a coating of initiator material. The initiator material operates as a nucleus for initiating polymerization on the surface of the particle. The initiator-treated pigment particles are made by providing a plurality of pigment particles and applying a coating of initiator material to the outer surface of each pigment particle.

The electrophoretic effect is well known in the art as evidenced by the many patents and articles which describe the effect. As one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize, the electrophoretic effect operates on the principle that certain particles suspended in a medium can be electrically charged and thereby caused to migrate through the medium to an electrode of opposite charge. Electrostatic printing and electrophoretic image displays (EPID) use the electrophoretic effect to produce desired images. For an example of devices using the electrophoretic effect, reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,830, issued to Frank J. DiSanto et al., on Mar. 22, 1988, entitled ELECTROPHORETIC DISPLAY PANELS AND ASSOCIATED METHODS, and assigned to Copytele, Inc., the assignee herein.
In typical EPIDs, dielectric particles are suspended in a fluid medium that is either clear or of an optically-contrasting color as compared with the dielectric particles. To effect the greatest optical contrast between the particles and the suspension medium, it is desirable to have either light-colored particles suspended in a dark medium or dark-colored particles, preferably black, suspended in a backlighted clear medium. A variety of pigment particle and dispersion medium compositions are known in the art. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,298,444, issued to K. Muller, et al., on Nov. 3, 1981, entitled ELECTROPHORETIC DISPLAY.
It has been found difficult to produce black and other very dark colored electrophoretic particles that are dielectric, of uniform size, and have a density matching that of a common suspension medium. As a result, EPIDs commonly use readily-manufactured light colored electrophoretic pigment particles suspended in media which contain dark color dyes. Such EPIDs are exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,655,897 to DiSanto et al.; 4,093,534 to Carter et al.; 4,298,448 to Muller et al.; and 4,285,801 to Chiang. The use of a yellow pigment particle is disclosed in the following patents, all of which issued to Frederic E. Schubert and are assigned to Copytele, Inc., the assignee herein: U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,362, issued Jan. 10, 1995, entitled SUSPENSION FOR USE IN ELECTROPHORETIC IMAGE DISPLAY SYSTEMS; U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,518, issued Apr. 4, 1995, entitled FORMULATIONS FOR IMPROVED ELECTROPHORETIC DISPLAY SUSPENSIONS AND RELATED METHODS; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,656, issued May 2, 1995, entitled GAS ABSORPTION ADDITIVES FOR ELECTROPHORETIC SUSPENSIONS. These three patents are incorporated herein by reference.
The selection of the electrophoretic particles used in the EPID is very important in determining performance of the EPID and the quality of the image produced. Ideally, electrophoretic particles should have an optimum charge-to-mass ratio, which is dependent upon the particle size and surface charge; the optimum charge-to-mass ratio is desirable to obtain good electrostatic deposition at high velocity as well as rapid reversal of particle motion when voltages change.
There are advantages to polymerically coating electrophoretic particles for use in the EPID or other electrophoretic devices. A polymer coating applied to the particles can have the effect of enhancing the ability of the particles to scatter light. When polymer-coated particles impinge upon a transparent screen electrode (thereby displacing the fluid medium from the screen), a brighter color and sharper image is produced (as compared with when uncoated particles are used). Additionally, it naturally is desirable to use electrophoretic particles that are stable and resistant to interaction with the suspension medium to improve the efficiency and life-time of the EPID; the suspension medium may comprise, for example, aromatic or aliphatic solvents, including benzenes, toluenes, hydrocarbon oil, nonane, decane, or the like, which may interact over time with some typical uncoated pigment particles used in EPIDs. Polymer-coated pigment particles produce a harder and more solvent-resistant composite when compared to uncoated particles.
Furthermore, polymer-coated electrophoretic particles can be less apt to adhere to surfaces within the electrophoretic cell. Over recent years, attention has been directed to dispersion stabilization by adsorbed polymers on particle surfaces. See, for example, an article by P. Murau and B Singer, appearing in Vol 49, No. 9, of the Journal of Applied Physics (1978), entitled "The Understanding and Elimination of Some Suspension Instabilities in an Electrophoretic Display." See also U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,518, issued to Schubert, referenced above, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,801, issued to Anne A. Chiang on August 25, 1981, entitled ELECTROPHORETIC DISPLAY COMPOSITION.
It has been discovered that fluoro-polymers are advantageous for use as pigment particle coatings, as they have low critical surface tensions which tend to produce anti-stick properties. See, for example, an article by M. Hudlicry and A. E. Pavlath, appearing in Vol. 187, page 983, of ACS Monograph (1995), entitled "Properties of Fluorinated Compounds II." The lower surface tensions of perfluorinated polymers, when used as a pigment particle coatings, leads to less interaction between the pigment particle surfaces and the solvents comprising the suspension medium in which the particles are dispersed. The stabilizing polymer molecule hydrocarbon chains are more apt to extend out into the solvent and not sit on the particle surface because of its anti-stick character. This enhances the efficiency of the stabilizing mechanism.
There are, however, manufacturing problems associated with coating pigment particles. These problems involve the inability to coat all the pigment particles in a batch with a polymer and the formation of a percentage of polymer particles that have no pigment core.
Accordingly, a need exists for a method which enables all the pigment particles in a batch to be polymer coated while preventing the formation of polymer particles having no pigment core.

Initiator-treated pigment particles and method for preparing same


Audible noise emission from a solenoid-operated fuel injector is reduced by providing a groove around the armature spaced from the end of the armature that impacts the end to the pole piece/fuel inlet tube so as to leave a radial flange at the end of the armature. In one form of the invention, the groove extends around the outside diameter of the armature. In another form, the groove extends around the inside diameter of the armature. The groove is located and sized to optimize energy absorption during impact of the armature against the pole fuel inlet tube piece.

Typically, a solenoid valve comprises an armature movable between a first and second position. The extremes of these first and second positions are often defined by mechanical stops. Armatures can be moved in one direction by an electro-magnetic force generated by a coil of wire and moved in the opposite direction by a return spring. When the armature impacts a stop, it bounces. Each bounce of the armature, or valving element, meters a small uncontrolled amount of fuel into the engine, to the detriment of emissions. As can be appreciated, the leakage of fuel into the engine will result in very unfavorable fuel economy. Furthermore, the bounce of the armature affects the operation of a fuel injector by prolonging or shortening the duration of injection, causing excessive wear in the valve seat area.
The armature is typically a solid structure with "fuel holes" that allow fuel to pass through to the valve and orifice. The energy from the impact of the armature against the pole piece causes resonances in the parts and assemblies of the injector, such as the housing, housing-inlet connector, connector, and armature needle.
Certain fuel-injected automobile engines operate sufficiently quietly that certain audible noise from the operating fuel injectors may be distinguished by some persons in the vicinity. The detection of such noise may be deemed objectionable by the manufacturer, and/or it may be mistakenly perceived by the customer as a defect in the product, despite the fact that it is operating properly.
It is seen then that it would be desirable to have operating fuel injectors which achieve a meaningful noise reduction in an effective manner, without requiring major revisions to component parts of existing fuel injectors.

Modified armature for low noise injector


A donor element for transferring organic material to form an OLED device includes a transparent support, a first metallic layer responsive to radiation which passes through the transparent support to produce heat, a second metallic layer that is reactive to moisture or oxygen or both provided over the first metallic layer, and an organic layer having transferable organic material disposed over the second metallic layer which, in response to radiation absorbed by the first metallic layer, will cause the organic material to be transferred to an OLED device.

In color or full-color organic electroluminescent (EL) displays (also known as organic light-emitting diode devices, or OLED devices) having an array of colored pixels such as red, green, and blue color pixels (commonly referred to as RGB pixels), precision patterning of the color-producing organic EL media are required to produce the RGB pixels. The basic OLED device has in common an anode, a cathode, and an organic EL medium sandwiched between the anode and the cathode. The organic EL medium can include one or more layers of organic thin films, where one of the layers is primarily responsible for light generation or electroluminescence. This particular layer is generally referred to as the emissive layer of the organic EL medium. Other organic layers present in the organic EL medium can provide electronic transport functions primarily and are referred to as either the hole transport layer (for hole transport) or electron transport layer (for electron transport). In forming the RGB pixels in a full-color OLED display panel, it is necessary to devise a method to precisely pattern the emissive layer of the organic EL medium or the entire organic EL medium.
A suitable method for patterning high resolution OLED displays has been disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,851,709 by Grande et al. This method is comprised of the following sequences of steps: 1) providing a substrate having opposing first and second surfaces; 2) forming a light-transmissive heat-insulating layer over the first surface of the substrate; 3) forming a light-absorbing layer over the heat-insulating layer; 4) providing the substrate with an array of openings extending from the second surface to the heat-insulating layer; 5) providing a transferable color-forming organic donor layer formed on the light-absorbing layer; 6) precision aligning the donor substrate with the display substrate in an oriented relationship between the openings in the substrate and the corresponding color pixels on the device; and 7) employing a source of radiation for producing sufficient heat at the light-absorbing layer over the openings to cause the transfer of the organic layer on the donor substrate to the display substrate. A problem with the Grande et al. approach is that patterning of an array of openings on the donor substrate is required. Another problem is the requirement for precision mechanical alignment between the donor substrate and the display substrate. A further problem is that the donor pattern is fixed and cannot be changed readily.
Littman and Tang, in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,551, teach the patternwise transfer of organic EL material from an unpatterned donor sheet to an EL substrate. A series of patents by Wolk et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,114,088, 6,140,009, 6,214,520, and 6,221,553, teach a method that can transfer the luminescent layer of an EL device from a donor element to a substrate by heating selected portions of the donor with a laser beam. Each layer is an operational or nonoperational layer that is utilized in the function of the device.
In these processes a donor containing the electroluminescent materials is heated by radiation and transferred to a receiver, which can already contain a portion of the active device. The device can then be finished by the application of further layers. There is a continuing need for improved lifetime from such devices.


Provided is a display device including a p-type thin film transistor formed on a substrate, in which the p-type thin film transistor includes: a gate electrode; a drain electrode; a source electrode; an insulating film; a semiconductor layer formed on a top surface of the gate electrode through the insulating film; and diffusion layers of p-type impurities formed at each of an interface between the drain electrode and the semiconductor layer and an interface between the source electrode and the semiconductor layer, the drain electrode and the source electrode being formed so as to be opposed to each other with a clearance formed therebetween on a top surface of the semiconductor layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device and a manufacturing method thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to a display device including a thin film transistor formed on a substrate thereof, and to a manufacturing method for the display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an active matrix type display device, a plurality of pixels are arranged in matrix. In addition, gate signal lines are provided so as to be common to the respective pixels arranged in a row direction, and the gate signal lines are selected in an order in which the gate signal lines are provided in a column direction, whereby scanning signals are supplied thereto. Further, at timing at which the gate signal line is selected, a video signal is supplied via a drain signal line common to the respective pixels arranged in the column direction.
For this reason, each pixel includes a thin film transistor provided for feeding the video signal supplied via the drain signal line to a pixel electrode provided on the pixel through the supply of the scanning signal.
Further, a drive circuit for supplying the gate signal line with the scanning signal and supplying the drain signal line with the video signal is provided on the same substrate on which the pixels are formed. The drive circuit is formed of a circuit including a plurality of thin film transistors.
As the thin film transistor included in the drive circuit, there is known a thin film transistor including an n-type thin film transistor and a p-type thin film transistor, in which semiconductor layers of the n-type thin film transistor and the p-type thin film transistor are made of a polycrystalline silicon (low temperature poly-Si) obtained by crystallizing an amorphous silicon. The thin film transistor in which the semiconductor layer is made of the above-mentioned polycrystalline silicon has high field effect mobility, and can drive the drive circuit at high speed.
For example, JP 05-63196 A discloses the thin film transistor as described above.
However, in the case where the n-type thin film transistor and the p-type thin film transistor are each formed of the semiconductor layer made of a polycrystalline silicon, it is necessary to form, between the semiconductor layer made of a polycrystalline silicon and a drain electrode and between the semiconductor layer made of a polycrystalline silicon and a source electrode, an amorphous silicon in which n-type impurities are doped in the case of the n-type thin film transistor, and an amorphous silicon in which p-type impurities are doped in the case of the p-type thin film transistor.
Therefore, the formation of the amorphous silicon in which n-type impurities are doped and the formation of the amorphous silicon in which p-type impurities are doped need to be performed in different mask processes, which leads to an increase in the number of manufacturing steps.

Display device and manufacturing method thereof


Systems and methods for processing glycerol into one or more products and uses thereof are provided. In one or more embodiments, a method for treating soil can include applying a partially oxidized reaction product to a soil. The partially oxidized reaction product can be prepared by decreasing a pH of a mixture that includes glycerol and fatty acids to produce a mixture that includes a glycerol-rich portion and a fatty acids-rich portion. The glycerol-rich portion can be reacted with at least one of an oxidant and a catalyst at conditions sufficient to produce the partially oxidized reaction product.

1. Field
Embodiments described herein generally relate to systems and methods for processing glycerol and uses thereof. More particularly, such embodiments relate to reaction products produced by reacting a glycerol-containing feed with one or more acids, one or more oxidants, one or more catalysts, or any combination thereof and methods for making and using same.
2. Description of the Related Art
The level of biodiesel production, an alternative fuel source, has increased significantly in recent years. A byproduct derived from the biodiesel manufacturing process is glycerol, often referred to as "waste glycerol," "crude glycerol," or "raw glycerol." For every tonne (metric ton) of biodiesel made from vegetable oil, 100 kg of thick viscous glycerol is produced as a byproduct. Europe alone produces around 6.8 billion liters of biodiesel, which generates around 680,000 tonnes of waste glycerol every year. And the recent and rapid expansion in biodiesel production has resulted in a global oversupply of waste glycerol.
Although some of the waste glycerol is purified for pharmaceutical or food applications, the majority ends up as waste. Waste glycerol is typically incinerated, which is a less than optimal use for a low cost and readily available byproduct.
There is a need, therefore, for new methods for processing glycerol into one or more products and uses thereof.


A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a support stage; a liquid ejecting unit that ejects an ink; an ultraviolet irradiation unit that has an intake port, an exhaust port and a filter; a guide axis that supports the liquid ejecting unit and the ultraviolet irradiation unit; an X-axis driving mechanism that moves the liquid ejecting unit and the ultraviolet irradiation unit; a liquid ejecting portion that has the guide axis and the X-axis driving mechanism; and a ventilation fan that causes a gas to flow between the liquid ejecting portion and the support surface. The ultraviolet irradiation unit is supported by the X-axis driving mechanism on a rear side. The exhaust port is arranged on a front side, and the intake port is arranged thereabove.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects a liquid.
2. Related Art
In the related art, there is a known liquid ejecting apparatus in this type provided with a table on which media are mounted, a recording head which ejects an ink to the media, a Y-bar which holds the recording head to be movable in a scanning direction, and an air flow generation mechanism which generates an air flow (in a gap) between the recording head and the media (refer to JP-A-2011-143657). This air flow generation mechanism removes an ink mist and the like scattered on the media by generating the air flow between the recording head and the media.
However, in a recording apparatus in the related art, since an ink mist is removed by generating the air flow around only the gap between the recording head and the media in the configuration, the ink mist scattered above the media can be removed, but there is a problem that the ink mist scattered more upper cannot be removed effectively. In other words, the air flow is not generated by the air flow generation mechanism in a space other than the surroundings of the gap, and thus, an atmosphere including the ink mist stays. As a result, the ink mist adheres to a mechanism (for example, control linear scale provided in Y-bar) positioned in the space, thereby causing a problem of occurrence of inconvenience in a recording control and the like.