A radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and a method and system for communicating with the RFID tag. The RFID tag includes a first and second structure respectively holding first data and second data that is complementary to the first data. The RFID tag does not include a microchip. An electromagnetic radio frequency signal is transmitted from an interrogator to the RFID tag. The interrogator receives, from the RFID tag, a response signal including third data being the first data or a combination of the first data and the second data. The interrogator extracts the third data from the response signal. A default value equal to the combination of the first data and the second data is stored in the interrogator. If the interrogator determines that the third data is unequal/equal to the default value, then a screen of the interrogator displays that the RFID tag is enabled/not enabled.

Modern technology has produced a number of useful electronic identification methods and devices. Most familiar are the ubiquitous barcodes and magnetic strips that, together with their readers, are widely employed by businesses and others to perform several identification functions. The main reason barcodes and magnetic strips are so widely used is that they are very cheap.
Barcodes and magnetic strips are limited, however, by the relatively small amount of data they can encode and the effective range at which they can be read, which is quite short. Magnetic strips, for example, generally have such a limited range that the reader must be in direct contact with the strip in order to decode the data thereon. In the very few cases that a magnetic strip is read with a device other than a direct contact reader, the effective reading range is still only a few centimeters at best. Similarly, the effective range at which barcodes can be reliably read is typically not better than a few centimeters.
In addition to range limitations, both barcodes and magnetic strips are impossible to read if there is any obstruction between the reading device and the barcode or magnetic strip. When reading a magnetic strip or barcode, the orientation of the reading device relative to the barcode or magnetic strip also presents a problem. If the reading device is not properly aligned or is held at an incorrect angle, the encoded information cannot be read. As a result of these problems, each individual read operation requires manual scanning by a human operator if high read accuracy is needed. The attractive feature of barcodes and magnetic strips is that they are inexpensive. However, their inherent limitations have prevented their use in a wide range of applications for machine readable text where highly reliable and totally automated reading is required for read ranges of up to several meters.
The radio frequency identification (RFID) tag is another prior art type of identification device. When interrogated by a reading device which is also denoted as interrogator, RFID tags reflect or retransmit a radio frequency signal to return an encoded identification number to the interrogator. A good example of RFID tags is their usage in the collection of highway and bridge tolls. A RFID tag is positioned on a user's vehicle to respond to an interrogation signal when the vehicle passes through a toll collection point. A reading device connected to a computer processes the tag identification number and uses the decoded information to charge a toll to the user by deducting the amount due from the user's credit card or other account.
Prior art RFID tag devices are of two basic types; those that contain a microchip and those that do not. There is a radical difference in cost and performance between these two types; to such an extent, in fact, that they rarely compete with one another as to the appropriate type of use. As a general rule, chipped tags cost more but have a larger data capacity than chipless tags. Chipped tags, for example, are usually not available below a unit cost of about $1 each when ordered in a quantity of less than 1 million; whereas many chipless tags are projected to cost less than 20 cents each, even when manufactured in quantities of 100,000.
Most RFID tags will have a longer reliable range than magnetic strips and barcodes. As a rule, RFID tags can be interrogated without having a significant line of sight and orientation problems as are evidenced by barcodes and magnetic strips. Although chipped tags do have a longer range than magnetic strip and barcode systems, the range at which they can be reliably used is still a limiting factor.
Chipped tags are by far the most popular. A chipped tag consists of four elements or features: a computer microchip, circuits for converting radio signals to computer data signals and back to radio signals, an antenna, and a means for providing DC power to the chip circuitry. In low cost RFID chip tags, the first two features are often partially or totally integrated into a single microchip, which integration requires certain compromises in tag performance (read range, number of bits, etc). This combination of features also leads to certain integrated circuit (IC) cost and/or design compromises to accommodate both digital and radio frequency circuitry on a single IC. The impact of these design compromises can be partially compensated for by use of low radio frequency (RF) operating frequencies that, in turn, lead to rather large and expensive antennas.
The most daunting problem with chipped tags is the need for DC power for the chip circuitry. The combination of environmental issues coupled with severe constraints on costs, size and weight usually requires that the tag not have a battery or other onboard power source. The only generally useable solution is to obtain DC power by converting RF power received from the tag reader signal into DC power within the tag. Those skilled in the pertinent art term tags without a battery or other power source as passive tags, while those that contain a battery or other source are termed as active tags. The passive method of providing DC power to a chipped tag requires a more efficient tag antenna and higher transmitted power levels from the reader. It also requires added components which will either add to the cost of the microchip or to the cost of the tag for the required extra electrical components in the tag, which will also result in an increased tag size. The most important limitation of passive powered chip tags, however, is the severe restriction on the read range of the tag because a signal that is sufficiently strong to power the tag only extends a short distance from the tag reader antenna. Thus, while chipped tags have the dominant share of the RFID market, the high cost and limited read range combine to prevent chipped tags from replacing either barcodes or magnetic strips in any significant manner.
Chipless RFID tags do not contain a microchip but instead, rely on magnetic materials or transistorless thin film circuits to store data. A major advantage of chipless RFID tags is their relatively low cost.
Chipless RFID tags have the disadvantage that they can be read out by any interrogator that uses the appropriate RF-signals. There is therefore a need for a RFID tag which takes account of secrecy and privacy aspects.

Chipless RFID tag and method for communicating with the RFID tag


An ultra low k dielectric film, including a silicon film containing porosity deriving from a porogen, as formed from a precursor silane and a porogen, wherein the precursor silane has a water content below 10 ppm, based on total weight of the precursor silane, and/or the porogen has a water content below 10 ppm, based on total weight of the porogen. In one implementation, the precursor silane is diethoxymethylsilane, and the porogen is bicyclo[2.2.1]-hepta-2,5-diene having a trace water content below 10 ppm, based on total weight of said bicyclo[2.2.1]-hepta-2,5-diene. These super-dry reagents are unexpectedly polymerization-resistant during their delivery and deposition in the formation of ultra low k films, and are advantageously employed to produce ultra low k films of superior character.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to formation of ultra low k films and to reagents suitable for such use.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wide variety of reagents are actively being investigated for use in forming ultra low dielectric constant (k) films on substrates, in connection with development of next generation microelectronic devices. As used herein, the term "ultra low dielectric constant" refers to a dielectric constant below 2.
In continuing efforts to reduce k values of thin films in microelectronic device fabrication, various compositions involving porosity-forming reagents, i.e., porogens, have been developed. By generating porosity in the dielectric film, the void volume (having a dielectric constant of ˜1) contributes to an overall lowering of the dielectric constant of the film containing such porosity.
Many organics have been considered for use as pore generators. Among them, bicyclo[2.2.1]-hepta-2,5-diene (BCHD) is a promising candidate, however, its use for forming dielectric constant films requires that the material be of very high purity. High purity BCHD, however, can be unstable, and readily polymerizes. This in turn creates the possibility of clogging of reagent delivery lines in the semiconductor process system, and of unwanted polymerization deposits in the deposition chamber.
Diethoxymethylsilane (DMS) is used as a precursor for plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) of ultra low k films. However, DMS is susceptible to polymerization and resultant clogging behavior in the delivery lines of the process system.
The art has a continuing need for improved porogen and precursor materials for forming ultra low k dielectric films.

Super-dry reagent compositions for formation of ultra low k films


Apparatus and a concomitant method for electrostatically depositing select doses of medicament powder at select locations on a substrate. Specifically, the apparatus contains a charged particle emitter for generating charged particles that charge a predefined region of a substrate and a charge accumulation control circuit for computing the amount of charge accumulated upon the substrate and deactivating the emitter when a selected quantity of charge has accumulated. Additionally, a triboelectric charging apparatus charges the medicament powder and forms a charged medicament cloud proximate the charged region of the substrate. The medicament particles within the medicament cloud electrostatically adhere to the charged region. The quantity of charge accumulated on the substrate at the predefined region and the charge-to-mass ratio of the medicament powder in the cloud control the amount (dose) of medicament deposited and retained by the substrate. Consequently, this apparatus accurately controls both medicament dosage and deposition location. Furthermore, since the substrate can be of any dielectric material that retains an electrostatic charge, the apparatus can be used to deposit medicament on substrates that are presently used in oral medicament consumption, e.g., substrates that are used to fabricate suppositories, inhalants, tablets, capsules and the like.

Powdered medication is typically administered orally to a person as a tablet or capsule, or as an inhalant. The prior art discloses a number of techniques for administering doses of inhalable dry powders to the lungs of a patient. Generally, inhalers are mechanical systems that generate a metered cloud of medicament powder for inhalation by a patient. Many of these prior art inhaler devices use chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gas to facilitate generating a metered cloud of medicament for inhalation. However, since CFCs are no longer used in consumer products, other techniques for generating the medicament cloud have been explored.
One example of a non-CFC, prior art inhaler is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,731 issued Mar. 14, 1989 (the "'731 patent"). This patent discloses an inhaler that contains a plurality of measured doses of medicament stored in a blisterpack. Upon use, one of the blisters in the blisterpack is punctured and a patient inhales the medicament from the punctured blister via a mouthpiece of the inhaler. In the '731 patent, the medicament dosage is measured and deposited in each blister of the blisterpack using conventional, mechanical measuring and depositing techniques. Detrimentally, such mechanical deposition techniques do not apply repeatable doses of medication into each blister of the blisterpack. Typically, some of the medicament adheres to the mechanical deposition system and, as such, reduces the amount of medication deposited into a given blister. The degree of adhesion depends upon the environment in which the deposition is conducted, e.g., the ambient humidity, temperature and the like. Since a mechanical deposition process is used to apply medicament to other orally administrable platforms, the same dose variation evident in inhaler doses occurs for other platforms as well. As such, a more accurate technique is needed in the art for depositing medication into any orally administrable platform including inhalers, tablets, capsules, suppositories, and the like.
An example of a technique for producing orally administered medication tablet or capsule form is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,289 issued Apr. 8, 1980. This technique utilizes an electrostatic deposition process for depositing a medicament upon an edible substrate that is referred to in the '289 patent as a "web". Using a conventional corona charging technique, this process continuously charges the web as the web moves past the charging element. Thereafter, the web passes though a compartment containing a medicament cloud. The medicament in the cloud is attracted to the charged web and becomes deposited thereupon, i.e., the web becomes "loaded". A spectroscopic monitoring system determines the amount of medication that has been deposited on the web and generates a control signal that regulates the amount of medicament within the cloud chamber. As such, the '289 deposition technique uses an active feedback system to regulate the deposition process. To complete the process, the loaded web is cut into individual units that can be combined with one another to define a medicament dose, e.g., a particular number of individual web units defines a single dose of the medication. The combined units are then encapsulated to form individual, orally administrable doses of medication.
A disadvantage of the '289 technique is the requirement for an active feedback system to control the deposition process. Such systems are typically complex and require an integrated medicament measuring system to generate the control signals, e.g., such as the spectroscopic monitoring system of the '289 patent. In using a feedback system, the '289 technique attempts to uniformly deposit the medicament across the entire web. Dosage control is therefore accomplished not by changing the deposition quantity upon the web, but rather by combining a number of web units to form a dose. As such, the dosage control process is unduly complicated. For example, to generate a uniform deposit of medicament, the electrostatic charge on the web must be uniform, the rate at which the web passes the charging element and the cloud compartment must be constant, and the feedback system must accurately measure the amount of drug on the web and accurately control the amount of medication in the cloud compartment. Thereafter, assuming the medication was uniformly deposited on the web, the web must be accurately cut into units that can be combined and encapsulated to form doses of the medication. Each of the encapsulated doses is supposed to contain the same amount of medication as all other doses. However, such a complicated process is prone to error.
Therefore, a need exists in the art for a medicament deposition process that electrostatically deposits specific quantities of dry powder medication at particular locations on a dielectric substrate. Additionally, a need exists in the art for a technique for quantifying an amount of electrostatic charge accumulated on the substrate and to use the quantified charge value to regulate the quantity of medicament deposited on the substrate.

Method and apparatus for electrostatically depositing a medicament powder upon predefined regions of a substrate


Group 4 metal constrained geometry complexes comprising a fused ring indenyl derivative ligand, catalytic derivatives thereof, processes for preparing the same and their use as components of olefin polymerization catalysts are disclosed.

Constrained geometry metal complexes and methods for their preparation are disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 545,403, filed Jul. 3, 1990 (EP-A-416,815). This publication also teaches the preparation of certain novel copolymers of ethylene and a hindered vinyl monomer, including monovinyl aromatic monomers, having a pseudo-random incorporation of the hindered vinyl monomer therein. Additional teachings of constrained geometry catalysts may be found in U.S. application Ser. No. 547,718, filed Jul. 3, 1990 (EP-A-468,651); U.S. application Ser. No. 702,475, filed May 20, 1991 (EP-A-514,828); U.S. application Ser. No. 876,268, filed May 1, 1992, (EP-A-520,732) and U.S. application Ser. No. 8,003, filed Jan. 21, 1993 (WO93/19104), as well as U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,055,438, 5,057,475, 5,096,867, 5,064,802, 5,132,380, 5,470,993, WO95-00526, and U.S. Provisional Application 60-005913. Variously substituted indenyl containing metal complexes have been taught in U.S. Ser. No. 592,756, filed Jan. 26, 1996, as well as WO95/14024. The teachings of all of the foregoing patents or the corresponding U.S. patent applications are hereby incorporated by reference.

Fused ring substituted indenyl metal complexes and polymerization process


A signal processing circuit for a disk apparatus with an optical head, which causes photodiodes to detect light acquired by irradiating light from a laser diode on a disk that has an address portion and data portion recorded thereon, and performs photoelectric conversion of the light. A level converter alters the level of the signal detected by each photodiode and provides an output signal. A detector detects a level of the output signal by switching time constants between the address portion and data portion. Using a bias corresponding to the detected level, the levels of signals detected by the photodiodes are changed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a signal processing circuit for, for example, an optical disk apparatus which records information on an optical disk or reproduces information therefrom.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various optical disk apparatuses have been developed which cause a semiconductor laser oscillator (light source) in an optical head to irradiate a laser beam on an optical disk to form pits thereon, thereby recording data on the optical disk, or to convert data recorded on the optical disk into an electric signal by means of a detector (photodiode) provided in the optical head and then convert the signal a video signal (data signal) before reading it out.
In such an optical disk apparatus, an operational amplifier converts a data signal (current signal) picked up by a photodiode into a voltage signal. The voltage signal from this operational amplifier is processed by a signal processing circuit.
The amplitude of the data signal may become smaller relative to that of a large-amplitude signal originated from minute dust deposited on the disk and/or scratches thereon, thus greatly altering the level of a signal at a pit's edge portion. To digitize such a signal with high accuracy, the signal processing circuit performs the following operation.
The signal processing circuit detects the peak of the signal at the pit's edge portion, and feeds the detected peak back to the input side to adjust the pit edge level of the data signal output from the signal processing circuit. At this time an automatic bias controller is used to make the level of the output signal uniform. The data signal from the signal processing circuit is digitized to be demodulated for reproduction of the recorded data.
There is, however, a gap of several bits between the header portion (address portion) and the data portion in the signal read out from the disk. Unless the automatic bias controller of the above signal processing circuit has as quick a response as possible in the header portion, the head of the data (or the leading edge of the data stream) may not be read out due to an improper bias response.

Signal processing circuit for optical disk apparatus


The invention relates to an articulated pipe connection for two conducting arts of a motor vehicle which comprises spherical connecting pieces for joining the two conducting parts and has at least on one connecting piece a flange-shaped connecting piece abuttable axially against the latter, said connecting piece being connected with spring tension by spring means with the other connecting piece, with the connecting pieces being held together by the spring means with a pretensioning force. In order to design a device for linking two tubular connecting parts in such fashion that, with constant reliability of the pipe connection, much improved mountability of the pipe connection and a simultaneous considerable reduction in their manufacturing costs can be achieved, it is proposed according to the invention that the spring means comprise a curved washer, by which the connecting piece is simultaneously formed, and the spring means also have at least one clamp that is in an active relationship with the other connecting piece and engages the curved washer or is permanently connected therewith.

The invention relates to an articulated pipe connection for two conducting parts of a motor vehicle, said connection comprising spherical connecting pieces for linking the two conducting parts and having on at least one connecting piece a flange-shaped connecting piece axially abuttable against the latter, said connecting piece being spring-connected by a spring assembly with the other connecting piece, with the connecting pieces being held together with a pretensioning force by the spring assembly.
German Patent Document DE 1 973 737 U teaches a device of the general type for articulated connection of two tubular conducting parts, especially exhaust pipes for an exhaust line system of an internal combustion engine. The conducting parts are connected together by spherical connecting pieces, with a flange-shaped connecting piece mountable on both connecting pieces which is connected under spring tension by coil springs with the other connecting piece. The connecting pieces are held together by the spring means with a pretensioning force.
As general technical background, reference is made to the following publications: German Patent Documents DE-OS 28 10 584 and DE-PS 914 334; U.S. Pat. No. 3,727,951 and French Patent Document FR 23 60 028.
An object of the invention is to design an articulated tubular connection for linking two conducting parts in such fashion that, with constant reliability of the tubular connection with respect to the prior art, a considerably improved installation ability and at the same time a considerable reduction in manufacturing cost can be achieved.
This object is achieved according to preferred embodiments of the invention by providing an arrangement wherein the spring assembly comprises a curved washer engageable with one connecting piece and at least one clamp actively connected with the other connecting piece and engaging the curved washer.
One advantage of the pipe connection according to the invention consists in the fact that the latter can be fitted together very simply and quickly by means of the curved washers and clamps and at the same time a reliable connection can be provided for the two tubular conducting parts. Rapid assembly in the construction of exhaust systems, especially in the volumes encountered in mass production, results in a considerable reduction in manufacturing costs. In addition, the material costs of the pipe connection according to the invention are much lower than for the prior art.
In the maintenance and repair of exhaust systems with the pipe connection according to the invention it is advantageous that this connection can also be disassembled considerably more quickly than the screw connection according to the prior art.
Another important advantage of the pipe connection according to the invention is that an acoustic decoupling from the engine vibrations that are fed into the body by the suspension of the exhaust system can be accomplished in a simple fashion. This results in a reduction in vehicle noise, among other things.
Another advantage of the pipe connection according to the invention lies in the weight savings over pipe connections according to the prior art.
According to certain preferred embodiments of the invention, the simplicity of the individual components of the pipe connection is of particular advantage, since the same parts with a very simple design can be used both for the at least two clamps as well as for the two curved washers.
The design of the invention according to certain preferred embodiments provides in simple fashion an articulated pipe connection like that required for example in the exhaust systems of motor vehicles.
The design of the invention according to certain preferred embodiments makes the spring characteristic of the pipe connection adjustable.
The design of the invention according to certain preferred embodiments firstly optimally utilizes the space available beneath the floor of the motor vehicle and secondly permits a secure grip of the clamps on the curved washers.
Another advantageous structural design of the invention is achieved by using an annular body according to certain preferred embodiments. The annular body (made of graphite f or example) serves as a closure and sealing surface for the joint as well as a decoupling element and can be easily replaced if necessary. During operation of the motor vehicle, the annular body fitted to the flange makes angular movement easier.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Device for connecting two tubular conducting parts

K.A.T. Entwicklungsgesellschaft fuer Abgasreinigung und Thermographie mbH


A well plate holding a specimen to be observed is placed on a fixed stage, and the specimen is observed through an objective lens disposed below the well plate. A well set on the optical axis is illuminated through transmitted illumination provided by a transmitted illumination device. The transmitted illumination device includes a plurality of LEDs disposed to form a ring shape, and a through hole is formed further inward relative to the LEDs. When injecting a reagent into the well being observed, the reagent is drawn by using a head at a pipette device, and then the head is moved to a point above the well being observed through the hole formed at the transmitted illumination device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microscope and more specifically relates to a microscope having a pipette.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication No. 2001-117009 discloses an inverted microscope having an objective lens disposed under a specimen stage, in which the specimen is observed from below through the bottom surface of a well plate placed on the stage. In this type of inverted microscope, epi-illumination, whereby the illuminating light is radiated from the objective lens onto the specimen, is adopted in fluorescence observation and transmitted illumination is adopted in bright field observation, phase contrast observation and the like.
When observing an biological specimen with a microscope, a reagent or the like may be individually injected onto the specimen placed inside wells during the observation. In such a situation, an automatic pipette is often utilized to inject the reagent into numerous wells accurately and efficiently.
However, when the specimen is illuminated through transmitted illumination, as in bright field observation or phase contrast observation, the well plate is illuminated from a position above the specimen, and as a result, the pipette used to inject the reagent onto the specimen and the transmitted illumination device will interfere with each other. Accordingly, the illumination device is moved off the optical axis when injecting the reagent into the individual wells, and once the injection is completed, the illumination device is reset above the specimen. Since the specimen cannot be illuminated during the injection, a problem arises in that any change occurring in the specimen while the reagent is being injected onto the specimen cannot be observed.


A lightpipe includes at least first and second projections extending outwardly from the body of the lightpipe, where the first projection is opposite the second projection.

This invention is generally directed to the display of a visual signal and is more specifically directed to the display of the visual signal using a lightpipe with multiple projections.
Visual signals are utilized on various types of electronic equipment to convey information to the user about a status or condition associated with the electronic equipment. For example, a light emitting diode (LED) disposed in an aperture in a panel or case of an electronic device can be selectively activated to provide a light indicative of a condition. A small incandescent bulb disposed behind a colored lens in an aperture of a panel of an electronic device has also been utilized to provide a visual signal to the user. Further comments on the prior art contrasted to implementations of the present invention are in the beginning of the Detailed Description section.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An escalator, having a pair of balustrades disposed on both sides of traveling steps, includes a balustrade end, a skirt end portion, and an indicator. The balustrade end is configured to turn back a handrail belt wound around each of the balustrades. The skirt end portion has a belt entrance port configured to receive the handrail belt, and an outer edge of the skirt end portion furthest away from the traveling steps extends further in an axial direction of the traveling steps than an inner edge of the skirt end portion closest to the traveling steps to guide items towards the traveling steps. The indicator is configured to indicate operating conditions of the escalator. A front face of the skirt end portion includes an inclined surface at a predetermined angle with a vertical plane. A display face of the indicator conforms to the inclination of the inclined surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an escalator, and more particularly to an escalator with a concentrated arrangement of instruments, such as an indicator, in a skirt end portion of an escalator balustrade end and to a skirt end structure.
2. Background Art
FIG. 5 shows a balustrade end of a conventional escalator. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 1 denotes a balustrade end, and 2 denotes a handrail belt moving in the direction of the arrow. A skirt end portion 3 is positioned at the bottom of the balustrade end 1.
In the conventional escalator, a handrail belt entrance port 4 is provided in the front face of the skirt end portion 3. Further, in general, an indicator 5 for indicating the operating conditions, such as the traveling direction of steps, is provided in the front face of the skirt end portion 3.
According to the conventional escalator, the balustrade end 1 protrudes from the skirt end portion 3 toward the entrance. Accordingly, the indicator 5 provided in the skirt end portion 3 is hardly visible to a passenger, who is about to ride the escalator from the entrance, depending on the height of the passenger's eyes because of blocking by the balustrade end 1. Especially in the case where the indicator 5 is provided in only one of the balustrade ends 1, the indicator 5 can get completely out of a passenger's sight depending upon the passenger's position at the entrance.
Further, in the skirt end portion 3 of the conventional escalator, the space between the handrail belt 2, entering the handrail belt entrance port 4, and the floor is so narrow that there is a risk that passenger's baggage or the like could get caught in the space.
The conventional escalator also involves the problem that when a passenger, upon riding the escalator, lets a shopping cart hit against the front face of the skirt end portion in an attempt to pull the shopping cart in, the shopping cart can be bound not toward the steps, but toward the floor depending upon how the shopping cart is hit, whereby the shopping cart can be left behind on the floor and, in some situations, the passenger could fall down.


A system and method to breakout and splice into optical circuits in a ribbon cable trunkline extending throughout an aircraft with optical minimal loss. Breakout boxes are positioned at strategic locations along the aircraft's fiber optic trunkline. Within each box, optical fibers in a loose bundle are permanently connected in ribbon cable form to the inner sides of cable connector physically connected to the box, each extending through a wall of the box. The ribbon cable forms are transitioned into the fibers in the bundle, which are longer than the spacing between the cable connectors. When an optical fiber circuit needs to be broken out at the location of a particular box, the proper fiber in the bundle is cut and one or both ends that result are permanently connected to a breakout connector, also positioned through the box, so that the optical circuit appears on the breakout connector outside the box where a mating connector can be used to further route the optical circuit being broken out.

During the development, production and modification of aircraft, it is often required that additional connections must be made to the communication busses that extend throughout the aircraft. When an electrical buss is used, techniques to splice into or reroute the wire of a communication channel of the buss are well developed. Aircraft are now being designed using a fiber optic trunkline usually formed using multi-fiber optical ribbon cable. Unfortunately, after the ribbon cable has been constructed, splicing into or breaking out a fiber from the middle thereof is difficult and labor intensive.
Various solutions that allow after manufacture changes to the configuration of fiber optic cables are shown in the prior art. For example, Brown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,902,786 discloses an optical access coupler. Nolf, et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,168 disclose a technique for protecting an optical fiber breakout one fiber at a time. Hogan, et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,467 disclose a cabinet in which optical fibers can be interconnected. Below, et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,082 disclose a fiber optic patch panel. Bullock, et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,338 show a low profile cable having component breakouts there along. Caron in U.S. Pat. No. 5,394,502 shows a harness to support breakouts in a fiber optic cable. Dietz, Jr., et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,394,503 disclose an optical patch panel wherein the connection between optical fibers can be switched. Korkowski, et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,432,875 show a fiber optic connector module, which has beam splitters incorporated therein.
Renichi Wuguchi, et al. in Japanese application 61-283669 published Oct. 20, 1988 disclose a fiber optic breakout box with a pair of optical line connectors and a breakout connector mounted thereto for connection to external optical cables. Optical patch cords having connectors on the opposite ends thereof, are used inside the box to make or break connections between the line connectors and the breakout connector to establish the desired optical circuits and to allow the connections to be modified in the field.

Fiber optic trunkline for an aircraft with breakout boxes therealong


An electronic device includes: a display panel configured to display an image; an input sensor comprising transmission electrodes on the display panel and reception electrodes that insulately cross the transmission electrodes; and a sensor controller configured to operate in a first mode or a second mode different from the first mode, wherein, in the first mode, the sensor controller is configured to transmit an uplink signal to an input device through the input sensor and to receive a downlink signal from the input device through the input sensor, wherein an input sensing frame, in which the sensor controller operates in the first mode, comprises an uplink period for which the uplink signal is provided to the input sensor, and the sensor controller is configured to not apply the uplink signal to at least a portion of the transmission electrodes during the uplink period.

Aspects of some embodiments of the present disclosure herein relate to an electronic device.
Multimedia electronic devices such as televisions, mobile phones, tablet computers, navigators, game consoles, and the like include a display device for displaying images. Such an electronic device may include an input sensor, which is capable of providing a touch-based input mechanism that allows a user to relatively easily input information or commands intuitively and conveniently in addition to usual input mechanisms such as a button, a keyboard, a mouse, and the like.
The input sensor may sense a touch or pressure using a user's body. There is an increasing demand for using an electronic pen for fine touch input for a user who is familiar with information input using a writing instrument or a specific application program (for example, application program for sketching or drawing).
Accordingly, the input sensor adopted for the electronic device may be utilized to sense various inputs such as an electronic pen input as well as the input by the touch or pressure through the user's body.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background and therefore the information discussed in this Background section does not necessarily constitute prior art.


A process of determining an imminent-collision between a vehicle and an object, said vehicle having a sensing system for obtaining one or more images representing at least one observed object within a field of detection, said process comprising: (a) obtaining one or more images representing an observed object within said field of detection; and (b) determining that a collision between said vehicle and said observed object is imminent when the ratio of the probability that said observed object is actually within a collision zone to the probability that said observed object is actually within a safe zone is greater than a certain value.

In the year 2000, more than 36,000 people were killed in automobile collisions in the United States. (Traffic Safety Facts 2000, U.S. Department of Transportation, December 2001.) Automobile manufacturers are investigating methods to reduce both the number of fatalities and the severity of injuries resulting from such collisions. Among the more promising solutions are reversible restraints and pre-triggered airbags.
Reversible restraints are activated immediately before a crash to reduce the severity of occupant injury. As the name suggests, these restraints are also capable of being reset or reinstalled quickly and inexpensively compared to, for example, air bags. Examples of reversible restraints include pre-tensioning seatbelts, drop-down knee padding, active headrests, extendable bumpers, and vehicle-structure reinforcement. Pre-triggered airbags use collision velocity data to supplement information from acceleration sensors in vehicle to estimate the kinetic energy involved in the collision. With this information, the airbags may be deployed at the optimum inflation rate and pressure, thereby enhancing their effectiveness and safety. Airbags deployed under such conditions tend to be less dangerous to children and smaller adults. As used herein, reversible restraint systems and pre-triggered air bags are referred to collectively as "collision-mitigation measures."
Although most agree that collision-mitigation measures would have a profound effect on minimizing the severity of collisions, such measures have been difficult to implement with reliability. Specifically, due to inaccuracies of commercially-available sensing systems, such as short-range radars (SRR), it is often difficult to adequately estimate the true location of an observed object, especially with respect its bearing value. It may require many observations over time in order to prepare an adequate estimate of the object's true location and velocity vector. Accordingly, there is great interest in developing a system which minimizes the number of available observations needed to make a deployment decision, while still satisfying certain quality-of-decision requirements. In particular, an imminent collision situation should be detected reliably and at the earliest possible time. Likewise, when an imminent collision situation does not exist, then the probability of falsely predicting an imminent collision should be very small. It is critical that such false positive indications are minimized since deploying collision mitigation measures mistakenly is not only inconvenient and may involve a cost to remediate, but also is distracting and thus potentially dangerous.
Therefore, there is a need for a detection system that indicates an imminent-collision not only with a high degree of accuracy with little or no chance of a false positive indication, but also quickly to provide sufficient time to effectively deploy the collision mitigation measures. The present invention fulfills this need among others.

Imminent-collision detection system and process


An apparatus and method for ultrasonically forming a surgical suture tip from a length of unfinished surgical suture material. The apparatus includes a first tipping die having a first face for contacting a portion of the length of unfinished surgical suture material. A second tipping die having a second face is also provided. At least one mechanical actuator is provided for moving the first face of the first tipping die toward the second face of the second tipping die. A second actuator vibrates at least one of the first and second tipping dies at an ultrasonic frequency of about 15 KHz to 70 KHz. The method of ultrasonically forming a suture tip comprises the positioning a surgical suture between the first face of the tipping die and the second face of the tipping die then vibrating the dies at an appropriate frequency.

Various automated systems for forming and cutting surgical suture tips exist or are known in the art. In one such machine, means for simultaneously advancing in parallel at least six separate strands of suture material, and six independent tensioners for maintaining respective parallel portions of each of the six strands at a preset tension are provided. Once a predetermined length of suture material has been advanced by the advancing means, a horizontal heater bar (positioned perpendicular to the six suture strands) is actuated by an electronically controlled solenoid which moves a planar heater bar into contact with one side of the suture strands for a predetermined dwell time. Once the predetermined dwell time has elapsed, the solenoid retracts the heater bar to its original position, and the heat exposed (or heat-stiffened) section of suture material is advanced to a cutting station. At the cutting station, the heat-stiffened section of suture material is cut at its midpoint, thereby producing a suture with two stiffened ends. Other mechanisms for forming and cutting surgical suture tips are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,832,025, 4,806,737 and 5,226,336 to Coates. The system described in the Coates patents uses convective or non-contact heating to form suture tips.
Known systems for forming and cutting surgical suture tips suffer from several drawbacks. First, such systems typically use heat to stiffen the surgical suture tips. Since the unfinished surgical suture material used by such systems is often coated, the heat applied during the tipping process may melt the coating. Once it has melted, the coating from the unfinished surgical suture material often adheres to the tipping machine, thereby compromising the machine's performance. Another drawback of known systems for forming and cutting surgical suture tips is that such systems typically produce a suture tip which lacks a substantially uniform cross-section. In addition, such systems are undesirable in that they typically cut the suture tip in an imprecise manner, thereby leaving a cut end which may be irregular or distorted in shape. From a manufacturing standpoint, suture tips having non-uniform cross-sections and/or irregular or distorted cut ends are undesirable because, among other things, such sutures are difficult to insert into needles. Finally, known systems which use heat to stiffen surgical suture tips are undesirable because such systems cannot be used with sutures formed from silk.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system for forming surgical suture tips which system does not use heat in forming the suture tips and which may be used to fuse silk.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a surgical suture having a welded core which facilitates the easy insertion of the suture tip into a needle.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an automated system and method for manufacturing surgical sutures having tips with welded cores.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an automated system and method for making surgical sutures with tips having precisely cut ends.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more fully apparent from the description and claims which follow or may be learned by the practice of the invention.

Surgical suture having an ultrasonically formed tip, and apparatus and method for making same


The invention relates to a milling tool (1) for opening laser welded connections between thin metal sheets. The milling tool includes a rotary drive (2), which is used to operate a milling cutter (9). The head of the milling cutter (9) protrudes through an opening (28) in a base plate (4) that forms an even contact surface (25) for defining the penetration depth of the milling cutter head in the material. In addition, the base plate (4) is provided with a lateral contact surface or contact edge (27) that introduces the reaction force, which originates from the cutting force, directly and rapidly into a contact surface of the bodywork section that is to be treated.

In view of the foregoing, a general object of the invention is to provide a hand-operated, self-powered tool with which laser-welded joints between thin sheets can be opened without the risk of a large amount of contamination.
With hand-operated, self-powered tool according to the invention, a milling cutter is used as the active part engaging the thin sheet, instead of a grinding tool. The milling cutter runs at low rotational speed and generates relatively large scrap shavings, which do not fly very far and which can be removed easily. There is little risk that the produced shavings will burn into the cushioning or the inner lining of the vehicle. The milling tool sits in the casing of a rotary drive that rotates the tool.
To uniquely guide of the milling cutter when it is engaged with the sheet, a foot plate is provided that features a contact surface and a guide edge. The contact surface and the guide edge are located in the immediate vicinity of the milling cutter. The reaction forces that are produced, which can fluctuate very widely under some circumstances, can be introduced into the car body directly from the foot plate. In this case, the penetration depth of the tool is regulated with the help of the contact surface, while the worker has the ability to guide the milling cutter via the edge along the course of the laser-welded seam. The guide edge can be supported either in the lock seam or on the free edge of the car-body part or flange according to the construction of the footplate.
Because the reaction force produced by the cutting force is introduced close to the milling cutter itself, small lever arms are defined, which can be compensated without additional measures by the worker when he holds the rotary drive in his hands. Abrupt changes in the reaction forces are also dampened for these lever ratios, in which even the center of gravity of the rotary drive has a large lever arm compared with the lever arm of the guide edge. This unburdens the worker in that he does not have to react to abrupt changes to the reaction force. The quality of the milled weld seam is accordingly high. In particular, large amounts of material are not removed unnecessarily.
With the guide edge, the worker can guide the milling cutter arbitrarily in terms of the path to be milled. In this respect, the tool needs no additional guide devices for controlling the movement along the weld seam.
Because the rotational axis of the rotary drive is inclined relative to the contact surface defined by the guide plate, the rotary drive itself can be used as a handle for the tool. Additionally, the free space necessary to be able to work the inventive tool into areas of a car-body cutout with small radii of curvature, as is the case, for example, for the corner areas of window cutouts, is created.
The contact surface is preferably a flat surface, which eliminates the risk of tipping that could cause varying penetration depth into the sheet by the milling cutter. The guide edge can define the contact surface on one side and can extend from the contact surface in the direction towards the side of the footplate adjacent to the rotary drive. With such an embodiment of the footplate, the guide edge is guided in the area of the internal corner or channel of a lock seam. In this way, the guide edge can also be rounded when it merges into the contact surface, so that the contact point of the guide edge with the car-body sheet is displaced outwards from the area of the curvature of the lock seam. It is also possible for the guide edge to have a certain spatial separation from the contact surface in the vertical direction, although it is connected directly to the footplate. Such a solution should also be possible using a configuration in which the guide edge defines the contact surface on one side.
Weld seams located in the corner area of a car-body cutout can present problems when the guide edge lies on the side of the rotary drive. The guide edge is also not to be used on the side of the rotary drive when work must be performed at a position of the car body that does not have an internal corner. In such cases, a footplate is preferably used in which the guide edge is lifted from the plane defined by the guide surfaces in a direction pointing away from the drive source. In other words, the rotary drive can be located on one side of the footplate and the guide edge can be arranged on the other side of the footplate. Such a guide edge stops, for example, at a simple bolt that projects from the contact surface.
The guide edge can be a curved edge, for example, with a changing radius of curvature. In this way, the position of the milling cutter can be regulated relative to the reference edge without additional measures by rotation about axes at a right angle to the contact surface. In each case, the reaction force is introduced directly into the car body via the guide edge.
Very favorable work conditions are produced when the rotational axis is inclined by a generally acute angle relative to the plane defined by the contact surface. The intersection point between the rotational axis and the contact surface plane lies on the other side as compared to the rotary drive relative to the holder.
Preferably, a spherical cutter, i.e., a milling cutter with a cylindrical shaft and a spherical cutting head is used as a milling cutter for the hand-operated tool of the invention. This cutting head tends to not get caught in the thin sheet metal even when turned in the plane of the footplate in order to change the distance of the milling cutter from the outer edge or the internal corner of the car-body part.
A compressed-air motor or an electric motor can be used as the rotary drive. In this case, compressed air motors are preferred over electric motors in that they are lighter; however they require a somewhat more expensive energy source.
To generate sufficient cutting speed, the milling cutter is preferably coupled directly to the armature shaft or the rotor of the compressed air motor. In addition, this arrangement has the advantage of saving a lot of space in the area of the milling cutter, so that work can be performed with short clamping lengths. This, in turn, increases the stiffness or vibration resistance of the entire arrangement.
A particularly advantageous and stable connection of the rotary drive to the footplate can be achieved when the rotary drive has an attachment neck coaxial to the casing. The attachment neck can be provided with a cylindrically smooth surface or with an external thread.
The milling depth can be regulated by either shifting the rotary drive along the rotational axis or changing the angle of the rotational axis relative to the footplate.
Advantageously, the footplate sits on a holder, which connects the footplate to the rotary drive. This holder can have an articulated joint for regulating the milling depth.
In the case of a neck provided with threads, the holder has a threaded bore so that the milling depth can be adjusted by screwing the holder back and forth on the neck of the rotary drive. The set screw depth can be fixed with the help of an optional clamping device.
By reading the description of the figures, it will become clear to someone skilled in the art that a series of modifications is possible, which do not have to be described explicitly.


Reaction products of sulfur-containing diacyl halides with phosphorodithioic acids and phenols or thiazoles are effective EP/antiwear and antioxidant additives for lubricants.

This application is directed to novel reaction products of sulfur-containing diacyl generating halides, e.g., diacyl halides with phosphorodithioic acids and phenols or thiazoles which function as multifaceted additives when incorporated into lubricants and to lubricant compositions containing same.
Lubricants, scch as lubricating oils and greases, are subject to oxidative deterioration at elevated temperatures or upon prolonged exposure to the elements. Such deterioration is evidenced, in many instances, by an increase in acidity and in viscosity, and when the deterioration is severe enough, it can cause metal parts to corrode. Additionally, severe oxidation leads to a loss of lubrication properties, and in especially severe cases this may cause complete breakdown of the device being lubricated. Many additives have been tried, however, many of them are only marginally effective except at high concentrations. Improved antioxidants are clearly needed.
Antioxidants or oxidation inhibitors are used to minimize the effect of oil deterioration that occurs when hot oil is contacted with air. The degree and rate of oxidation will depend on temperature, air and oil flow rates and, of particular importance, on the presence of metals that may catalytically promote oxidation. Antioxidants generally function by prevention of chain peroxide reaction and/or metal catalyst deactivation. They prevent the formation of acid sludges, darkening of the oil and increases in viscosity due to the formation of polymeric materials. Additionally lubricants are under heavy stress that can affect their extreme pressure/ antiwear and load carrying ability particularly between steel on steel moving surfaces.
The use of phosphorus compound per se as load-carrying or EP additives in lubricant compositions is well known. Also, the use of sulfur-containing compounds in lubricant compositions is well known. However the instant combination of sulfur, phosphorus and phenol or thiazole containing additives to the best of applicants' knowledge was heretofore unknown.
It is an object of this application to provide lubricant compositions having enhanced oxidative stability, reduced wear, increased load carrying/EP capabilities and improved lubricity.

Reaction products of sulfur-containing diacyl halides with phosphorodithioic acid and phenols or thiazoles as multifunctional lubricant additives


A voltage-controlled oscillator, with high noise rejection of the supply voltage, includes a plurality of delay cells in an odd number N.gtoreq.3, which are connected to form a first ring oscillator and powered by the difference between a supply voltage Vcc and a variable regulating voltage VR. The VCO comprises at least one second ring oscillator formed by a plurality of delay cells in an odd number M.gtoreq.3, at least one of which is also a delay cell of the first oscillator and at least two of which do not belong to the first oscillator. At least one of these two cells is powered by a constant voltage (Vcc), in such a manner that the two oscillators operate at the same frequency and the interaction between the two oscillators introduces a high-frequency negative feedback which has the effect of effectively reducing the noise of the supply voltage Vcc.

It is known that phase lock circuits or PLL (an acronym for Phase Lock Loop), are being increasingly used for the generation of high-frequency clock signals for electronic apparatuses, especially electronic processors and transmission systems, by means of comparison with a periodic reference signal which is generally of lower frequency. In the field of magnetic recording and of telecommunications, PLL circuits furthermore permit the recognition of the fundamental frequency of a signal which is modulated (in phase or frequency) and the generation of an unmodulated signal which has the same frequency and which serves as a basis for the discrimination and the recognition of the modulation impressed on the comparison signal.
In phase lock circuits, an element which is critical for the purposes of achieving the desired benefits of a very short lock time and of uniformity of the clock signal generated (i.e. of low jitter) is constituted by the voltage-controlled oscillator (which is known by the acronym VCO). In the embodiment which is most common, on account of the possibility of construction in integrated circuit form, a VCO consists of an odd number N of inversion logic elements, or delay cells, which elements are ring-connected in such a manner as to generate a square wave with a period equal to 29N.multidot..DELTA. where A is the propagation delay of each cell. The variable delay of each cell is controlled by the supply voltage of the cells, which is constituted by the difference between a constant supply voltage Vcc and a variable regulating voltage.
On account of its structure, this type of VCO is influenced by the variations of the supply voltage which, in the absence of appropriate measures, modify the operating frequency of the oscillator to the same extent as variations of the regulating voltage. If the variations of the supply voltage are very slow with a transient duration greater than the time constant of the phase lock circuit in which the oscillator is connected, the PLL is able to intervene, modifying the control voltage, in such a manner that the frequency of the oscillator does not vary. This can be done with the introduction of a temporary and negligible phase variation between the reference signal and the feedback signal generated by the oscillator (possibly frequency-divided). If, however, the voltage variation is very abrupt, the oscillator modifies the output frequency, which, in the course of a plurality of signal cycles, results in an unacceptable dephasing or skew between the reference signal on the input side at the PLL, and the output signal from the oscillator.
Normally, the skew is expressed as a time delay relative to the reference signal, that is to say with a time unit of measurement (for example nsec).
The skew may also be expressed as a phase delay relative to the reference signal, that is to say in radians or as a percentage of the period of the reference signal. As the voltage variations may have opposite signs and thus give rise to angular shifts in the sense of a lead or a delay, the maximum algebraic difference of the skews in the sense of a lead or a delay which are caused by the voltage variations is defined as jitter.
To limit this disadvantage (skew and jitter) it is typically necessary to introduce measures which permit the rejection of the noise from the supply voltage of the VCO. The noise rejection is conventionally expressed as the ratio between the skew caused by an unexpected variation of the supply voltage and the amplitude of the voltage variation. This is accordingly measured in sec/V or, if expressed as a phase delay in relation to the reference signal, in radians/V or the percentage of the period %/V. The rejection is therefore higher, the smaller the numerical value which expresses it.
The solutions proposed by the prior art for the purpose of achieving a noise rejection are essentially of three types:
A) A dedicated supply for the VCO, which supply is inherently free from noise. Unfortunately, this approach is costly and does not lend itself to the construction of PLLs which are integrated with other circuits in a single electronic component, such as, for example, a microprocessor. PA1 B) Construction of VCOs with delay stages having a differential structure. This approach permits the attainment of high noise rejection from the supply voltage, at the expense of a high degree of circuit complexity . PA1 C) Construction of VCOs with high-frequency negative feedback.
By way of example, in this last approach, a capacitive coupling between the terminal at voltage Vcc and the terminal at the regulating voltage VR permits the transfer to some extent of the noise of the voltage Vcc to the regulating terminal, and, thus, to the regulating voltage. However, the output impedance of this terminal, which is not negligible, limits this effect.
Another way of implementing a high-frequency negative feedback includes using the output signal of the VCO to periodically charge and discharge a capacitor with the frequency of the output signal of the VCO. The mean value of the charging voltage of which, which is a function of the frequency of the output signal of the VCO, and is added to the regulation voltage VR.
Recently, as described in the publication:
IEEE JOURNAL OF SOLID STATE CIRCUITS, Vol. 30 No. 4, APR 1995, in the article by Jose Alvarez et al. entitled "A wide-bandwidth Low-voltage PLL for Power PC.TM. Microprocessor", pages 383-391, it was proposed, for the purpose of achieving a high noise rejection from the supply voltage, to construct the VCO with a pair of ring oscillators identical to one another and both being voltage-controlled and mutually synchronous by a cross-coupling of the output delay cells of the two rings, in such a manner that the two oscillators operate in phase opposition.
The output signals from the two ring oscillators, which are mutually dephased by 180.degree., are applied on the input side to a differential stage which restores the full excursion of the output signal from the supply voltage Vcc to earth. Even though no explanation is given in the cited document, it is deduced from an analytical study of the circuit that the noise rejection is due to the cross-synchronization of the two rings which, as explained further on, forces the synchronization cells to operate with a propagation and synchronization delay. This delay is approximately constant or which increases as the supply voltage Vcc-VR of the cells increases, that is to say in the sense opposite to that in which the delay of the other cells varies.
Furthermore, during the synchronization time interval, the conflict between signals applied on the input side to the synchronization cells causes an increase in load on the reference voltage generator and a corresponding variation of the mean value of the regulation voltage VR. This accordingly introduces a high-frequency negative feedback with a modest gain which, nevertheless, cannot be increased without causing an unacceptable reduction of the voltage/frequency conversion gain of the oscillator circuit.

VCO composed of plural ring oscillators and phase lock loop incorporating the VCO


A method of fabricating an amusement park ride track utilizing stock, planar materials, namely comprising of creating elongated, curved structures from planar materials. A roller coaster track capable of being fabricated from multiple planar pieces without heating or bending. Other embodiments are described which utilize elongated, curved structures such as ski lifts, people movers, staircases and architectural structures. A jig is disclosed for providing for ease of manufacture of the elongated, curved structures.

Roller coasters, other amusement park rides, ski lifts and other rolling vehicle people moving devices frequently have a need for complicated tracks to either provide a dynamic experience or follow rugged terrain. As such, many of these tracks for such rolling vehicles are fabricated from steel pipe, which is traditionally heated and bent to acquire its desired shape.
Unfortunately, heating and manipulating steel rod or steel pipe in such a way, and permanently bending such material, causes significant fatigue in the material. This fatigue is then existent in the resultant structure before a stress or load is applied to such apparatus, such as inherent stresses in the installation of the track (static loads) and dynamic loads applied to the track (e.g. a passing roller coaster carriage). Over time, the culmination of the manufacturing stresses, static stresses and dynamic stresses require that the traditional pipe track be replaced frequently over time.
Further, when steel rod or steel pipe is heated and bent into complex designs, the rod or pipe does not necessarily bend as desired. Metal will typically seek to bend at its weakest point or where the most force is applied over a span. As such, the end result of a fabricated steel structure may not exactly match the desired design, which either results in repeated attempts of fabrication or settling for a less than optimal result. In particular, structural and material efficient designs such as triangular tubing, square or rectangular tubing, or other metal tubing that has airspace within the cross section of the steel structure can be vulnerable to both deformation and cracking.
At the present time, metal (namely steel) roller coasters are fabricated from round, straight steel rod or steel pipe which are bent into desired formations for the necessary roller coaster application.
Based on our knowledge of the industry, there are no roller coasters in existence where the tracks are fabricated from stock planar metal material that has been cut and welded together to form the desired curve track. Such an invention, if possible, would be a highly desirable benefit as the newly developed track, which has not been bent, deformed or heated, would retain its original strength without unnecessary fatigue placed on the material by traditional bending methods. With such superior material fitness in light of the absence of fatigue during manufacture, the resulting structure or roller coaster track would be far stronger and last longer than traditional approaches. Such strength and durability, therefore, can effectively result in roller coasters and other structures being built on a larger scale or more efficient budget as compared to earlier traditional approaches.
Therefore, what is needed in the art of amusement park rides and other complex curved structures is a new approach to the fabrication and manufacture of an elongated, curved structure such as a roller coaster track. Preferably, such an improved track minimizes manufacturing stresses, creates a desired result, and further preferably reduces the costs of materials and manufacture when compared to traditional roller coaster, amusement ride, ski lift, staircase or other elongated structures.


A spinning reel adapted to be mounted on a fishing rod includes a reel body; a handle; a master gear; a pinion gear engaged with the master gear and rotated by the handle; a rotor that rotates integrally with the pinion gear; a spool; and a spool shaft. The spool shaft includes a shaft portion that is fixed to the spool and extends rearward from the spool through the pinion gear, the shaft portion having a rear end and a diameter, and a sliding portion that is connected to the rear end of the shaft portion and has a diameter that is larger than the diameter of the shaft portion. The reel further includes a rear drag mechanism including a bushing that is rotatably supported relative to the reel body and that supports the sliding portion such that the sliding portion cannot undergo rotation relative to the bushing but can move in the axial direction, and frictional engagement mechanism for preventing the bushing from rotating relative to the reel body by frictional engagement.

A spinning reel generally comes with a reel assembly, a rotor that is rotatably supported by this reel assembly, and a spool around which the fishing line is wound. A spinning reel is further equipped with a drag mechanism that fixes the spool such that it cannot rotate relative to the reel assembly, but at the same time does permit the spool to rotate when at least a certain force is applied. With a rear drag type of spinning reel in which the drag mechanism is provided to the rear portion of the reel assembly, a spool shaft that is fixed to the spool extends toward the rear, goes through a pinion gear, and the rear end thereof extends into the drag mechanism, where it is supported by the bushing of the drag mechanism such that relative rotation is impossible but it is free to move in the axial direction. The bushing of the drag mechanism is designed so that it can be frictionally engaged with the reel assembly.
A specific gap between the spool shaft and the bushing is generally required with a spinning reel in order for the spool shaft to move back and forth during reeling of the line. This gap tends to result in chatter of the spool shaft in its direction of rotation with respect to the bushing. When the spool chatters, the feel of the product suffers during handle operation and so on.
An object of the present invention is to reduce chatter in the spool rotation direction.

Spinning reel with bushing for supporting spool shaft


A semiconductor chip, which includes an n-type substrate, over which an n-type epitaxial layer having trenches introduced into the epitaxial layer and filled with p-type semiconductor is situated, the trenches each having a heavily doped p-type region on their upper side, the n+-type substrate being situated in such a manner, that an alternating sequence of n-type regions having a first width and p-type regions having a second width is present; a first metallic layer, which is provided on the front side of the semiconductor chip, forms an ohmic contact with the heavily doped p-type regions and is used as an anode electrode; a second metallic layer, which is provided on the back side of the semiconductor chip, constitutes an ohmic contact and is used as a cathode electrode; a dielectric layer provided, in each instance, between an n-type region and an adjacent p-type region, as well as p-type layers provided between the n-type regions and the first metallic layer.

Within the scope of the topic of CO2, increasingly efficient current converters are needed. Examples include inverters for photovoltaic or automotive applications. High-level blocking, low-loss and rapidly-switching power semiconductors are necessary for this. Apart from active semiconductor switches, such as IGBT's or CoolMOS transistors, free-wheeling diodes are also necessary. Generally, PIN diodes made of silicon are used for high-voltage applications. PIN diodes exhibit low forward voltages and low reverse currents and, consequently, low forward and reverse losses. However, high switching losses, which occur as switching-off losses during the commutation of the current, are disadvantageous.
High-voltage PIN diodes are PN diodes, in which an undoped (intrinsic) and, in practice, mostly lightly doped layer i is situated between p-type and n-type regions. The reverse voltage is chiefly received by lightly doped region i. The space charge region extends mainly in the lightly doped region. The dopant concentration and the thickness of this lightly doped region are determined by the specified breakdown voltage. A high breakdown voltage means a low dopant concentration and high thickness of this lightly doped region. For a 600 V diode, the dopant concentration of the i-layer is approximately 3·1014 cm−3, and the layer thickness is approximately 50 micrometers.
During conducting-state operation at a high current density, high-level injection occurs in PIN diodes. In this context, electrons and holes are injected into the lightly doped region. In the process, the concentration of the injected minority carriers exceeds the dopant concentration of the lightly doped region. This markedly increases the conductivity of the lightly doped region. Consequently, the voltage drop at the lightly doped center region remains small. The forward voltage at high currents remains low. In contrast to that, no increase in the charge carrier density takes place in majority carrier components, such as Schottky diodes. The lightly doped region constitutes a large ohmic resistor, at which a correspondingly high voltage decreases in the forward direction.
During switching-off, the charge carriers (electrons and holes), which are injected in the forward direction into the lightly doped region during the operation of PIN diodes, must first be depleted before the diode can take on reverse voltage. Thus, in response to abrupt commutation of the current, the current initially continues to flow in the reverse direction, until the stored charge carriers are removed or depleted. This current is also referred to as depletion current or reverse recovery current. The magnitude and duration of the depletion current is determined, first and foremost, by the amount of charge carriers stored in the lightly doped region. The more charge carriers present, the higher the depletion current. A higher depletion current means a higher switching-off power loss. By integrating the switching-off current with respect to time, one obtains stored charge Qrr (reverse recovery charge), which is an important variable for describing the switching-off power loss and should be as low as possible. In the case of PIN diodes, switching times and switching losses are high.
Schottky diodes (metal-semiconductor contacts or silicide-semiconductor contacts) provide an improvement in the switching performance. In the case of Schottky diodes, high-level injection does not take place during conducting-state operation. Therefore, the need for sweeping out the minority carriers is eliminated. Schottky diodes switch rapidly and with nearly no loss. However, thick and lightly doped semiconductor layers are again necessary for high reverse voltages, which, in the case of high currents, results in unacceptable, high forward voltages. Therefore, in spite of good switching performance, power Schottky diodes manufactured using silicon technology are not suitable for reverse voltages over approximately 100 V.
A semiconductor component, which is referred to in the following as a cool SED diode, is described in German Patent Application No. DE 197 40 195 C2. In this diode, the introduction of doped, alternatingly positioned p-type and n-type conducting columns under a Schottky contact allows the resistance to be lowered almost as much as desired. If the column width is reduced, the column dopings may be increased. In this context, the doping of the p-type and n-type columns is selected, such that all of the dopant atoms are ionized in response to the application of a reverse voltage. This principle is also referred to as the super-junction principle (SJ). Since a certain minority carrier injection takes place via the p-type doped columns, the ideal switching performance of a pure Schottky diode is not attained, but it is markedly improved over a PIN diode. However, the low forward voltage of the PIN diode is not obtained at high currents. The super-junction principle is described, for example, in the magazine, Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 36, pages 6254-6262.
A super-junction Schottky oxide PIN diode is described in German Patent Application No. DE 10 2011 080 258.4. This has a trench structure including parallelly connected Schottky and PIN diodes, in which the Schottky and the PIN regions are galvanically separated and have charge carrier compensation (super-junction structure). The galvanic separation of the Schottky and PIN structure allows high-level injection to take place in the PIN regions. At nearly comparable switching-off losses, the forward voltage is less than in the case of the conventional cool SBD diode.
A cross section of a detail of an example of a super-junction Schottky oxide PIN diode (SJSOP) is illustrated in FIG. 1. A SJSOP is made up of an n+-type substrate 10, on which an n-type epitaxial layer 20 of thickness D_epi and dopant concentration ND is situated. The n-type epitaxial layer 20 includes etched-in trenches 30, which are filled with p-type silicon of dopant concentration NA and are filled with p+-type silicon 40 on the upper side. The width of n-type regions 20 is Wn, and that of the p-type and p+-type regions 30 and 40 is Wp. The dopant concentrations and widths are selected so that all of the regions 20 and 30 are depleted upon application of the full reverse voltage (super-junction principle). This is approximately the case when NA·Wp=ND·Wn=1012 cm−2. Dielectric layers 70, which are preferably SiO2 layers having a thickness D_ox, are situated between the p/p+-type and n-type regions. In this manner, the p-type and n-type regions are not directly connected electrically. On the front side of the chip, n-type regions 20 and p+-type regions 40 are covered by a continuous metallic layer 50, which forms a Schottky contact with n-type regions 20 and an ohmic contact with p+-type regions 40. Metallic layer 50 constitutes the anode contact of the diode. The barrier height of Schottky diode 50-20 may be set by selecting an appropriate metal 50. For example, nickel or NiSi may be used as a metallic layer 50. In some instances, other metallic layers not drawn in may be situated over functional layer 50, in order to render the top surface solderable or bondable. A metallic layer or metal system 60, which constitutes the ohmic contact to heavily doped n+-type substrate 10, is situated on the back side. This layer or layer sequence is usually suitable for assembly by soldering or in another manner. It may be made up of a sequence of Cr, NiV and Ag. Metal system 60 forms the cathode terminal.
One may view the set-up as parallelly connected Schottky and PIN diodes. In this context, metallic contacts 50 form, together with n-type columns 20, Schottky diodes. The PIN structure is formed by the layer sequence made up of p+-type region 40, p-type region 30 and substrate 10 as a p+/p/n+structure.
When the reverse voltage is applied, the p-type and n-type columns become depleted of carriers. The doping may be increased with decreasing width Wp and Wn, at least up to a certain limit that results from the fact that the space charge regions already collide at a low voltage. This reduces the bulk resistance of Schottky diodes 50-20-10 in the forward direction. Therefore, the forward voltages are lower than in the case of a simple Schottky diode, which has a lower degree of doping at the same reverse voltage. In addition, a small current still flows through the PIN diodes in the forward direction. This further reduces the forward voltage. However, upon de-energization, the minority carriers must also be swept out again with detrimental effects on the switching time.

Super-junction schottky oxide pin diode having thin P-type layers under the schottky contact


A camera support apparatus includes a telescopically collapsible monopod, a pad sized and shaped to be set on by a user, especially a user in a wheelchair and a center mount assembly having a magnet that is selectively interconnectably joined between the pad and the monopod. When used with a wheelchair, the wheelchair preferably includes a magnetically attachable side mount to secure the monopod to the side when not in use.

The present invention is broadly concerned with improvements in photographic equipment and, more particularly, to improvements in monopod support devices for cameras.
While satisfactory images are often recorded using handheld cameras, the quality of still and moving images is often improved by steady support of the camera recording the images. Handheld image capture devices such as smart phones, cameras, camcorders, and the like are prone to shake, shudder, and vibration. This negative effect is magnified when zooming in on a subject, as is often done in photography for sports, action news events, art, nature, and the like. Disabled persons, especially those in wheel chairs, often encounter camera stability problems.
Historically, cameras have been supported by structures having multiple legs, such as tripods. The widely spaced points of ground contact of a tripod provide a stable platform for a camera against vertical and lateral forces. However, tripods tend to be relatively heavy, take up a considerable ground or floor area, and can be trip hazards to persons not aware of their presence. The use of tripods can be awkward in tiered type seating structures such as bleachers, stadiums, and the like. Tripods normally fail to provide enough space at ground level for approach and use by a person in a wheelchair. For these reasons, tripods are sometimes restricted at many public events and venues, such as sporting events and the like.
In order to overcome some of the problems associated with tripods, other types of camera support structures have been developed, such as monopods, also known as unipods. As the name implies, a monopod is a single legged structure. Typical monopods are telescopically collapsible and have means to releasably attach a camera thereto, such as a pan and tilt head which enables pivoting the attached camera about vertical and horizontal axes. Monopods tend to be lighter in weight and more compact than tripods and take up less space when deployed. While a monopod supports the weight of a camera and, thus, steadies it vertically, undesired movement and shaking of the camera in lateral directions is still possible. Stability is especially problematic among the disabled or infirm. While wheelchairs and the like often make it possible for disabled to move about, they are often unable to hold a camera or other device stable, even while in a wheelchair.

Articulated stabilizer frame with magnetic attachment for monopod


Embodiments are directed to detecting motion of a building housing a multi-deck elevator system, determining, by a processing device, that the detected motion of the building is greater than a threshold, and controlling access to at least one deck of the elevator system based on determining that the detected motion of the building is greater than the threshold such that the at least one deck still is enabled to traverse a hoist-way of the elevator system.

In a given elevator system or environment, lateral motion may be induced in one or more ropes of the elevator (e.g., compensation ropes or hoist ropes). The lateral motion may at least partially result from a swaying or movement of a building in which the elevator system is located. For example, a large wind gust, an earthquake, etc., may cause a high-rise building to sway, which in turn may cause the elevator and its associated ropes to sway.
It may be desirable to limit or minimize these elevator rope sway conditions. For example, rope sway may cause a rope to impact a wall of a hoist-way which may cause a degradation of the rope. A rope that sways may create a loud sound when contacting an object, which can frighten elevator passengers. Rope vibrations can couple into an elevator car. In some instances, rope sway may cause an entanglement of the ropes that could lead to subsequent damage of the elevator and its associated components.

Rope sway mitigation through control of access to elevators


By incorporating carbon by means of ion implantation and a subsequent flash-based or laser-based anneal process, strained silicon/carbon material with tensile strain may be positioned in close proximity to the channel region, thereby enhancing the strain-inducing mechanism. The carbon implantation may be preceded by a pre-amorphization implantation, for instance on the basis of silicon. Moreover, by removing a spacer structure used for forming deep drain and source regions, the degree of lateral offset of the strained silicon/carbon material with respect to the gate electrode may be determined substantially independently from other process requirements. Moreover, an additional sidewall spacer used for forming metal silicide regions may be provided with reduced permittivity, thereby additionally contributing to an overall performance enhancement.

1. Field of the Invention
Generally, the present invention relates to the formation of integrated circuits, and, more particularly, to the formation of transistors having strained channel regions by using an embedded strained layer in the drain and source regions to enhance charge carrier mobility in the channel region of a MOS transistor.
2. Description of the Related Art
The fabrication of integrated circuits requires the formation of a large number of circuit elements on a given chip area according to a specified circuit layout. Generally, a plurality of process technologies are currently practiced, wherein, for complex circuitry, such as microprocessors, storage chips and the like, CMOS technology is currently one of the most promising approaches, due to the superior characteristics in view of operating speed and/or power consumption and/or cost efficiency. During the fabrication of complex integrated circuits using CMOS technology, millions of transistors, i.e., N-channel transistors and P-channel transistors, are formed on a substrate including a crystalline semiconductor layer. A MOS transistor, irrespective of whether an N-channel transistor or a P-channel transistor is considered, comprises so-called PN junctions that are formed by an interface of highly doped drain and source regions with an inversely doped channel region disposed between the drain region and the source region.
The conductivity of the channel region, i.e., the drive current capability of the conductive channel, is controlled by a gate electrode formed near the channel region and separated therefrom by a thin insulating layer. The conductivity of the channel region, upon formation of a conductive channel, due to the application of an appropriate control voltage to the gate electrode, depends on the dopant concentration, the mobility of the majority charge carriers, and, for a given extension of the channel region in the transistor width direction, on the distance between the source and drain regions, which is also referred to as channel length. Hence, in combination with the capability of rapidly creating a conductive channel below the insulating layer upon application of the control voltage to the gate electrode, the overall conductivity of the channel region substantially determines the performance of the MOS transistors. Thus, the reduction of the channel length, and associated therewith the reduction of the channel resistivity, renders the channel length a dominant design criterion for accomplishing an increase in the operating speed of the integrated circuits.
The continuing shrinkage of the transistor dimensions, however, involves a plurality of issues associated therewith, such as reduced controllability of the channel, also referred to as short channel effects, and the like, that have to be addressed so as to not unduly offset the advantages obtained by steadily decreasing the channel length of MOS transistors. Since the continuous size reduction of the critical dimensions, i.e., the gate length of the transistors, necessitates the adaptation and possibly the new development of highly complex process techniques, for example, for compensating for short channel effects, it has been proposed to also enhance the channel conductivity of the transistor elements by increasing the charge carrier mobility in the channel region for a given channel length, thereby offering the potential for achieving a performance improvement that is comparable with the advance to a future technology node while avoiding or at least postponing many of the problems encountered with the process adaptations associated with device scaling.
One efficient mechanism for increasing the charge carrier mobility is the modification of the lattice structure in the channel region, for instance by creating tensile or compressive stress in the vicinity of the channel region so as to produce a corresponding strain in the channel region, which results in a modified mobility for electrons and holes, respectively. For example, compressive strain in the channel region may increase the mobility of holes, thereby providing the potential for enhancing the performance of P-type transistors. On the other hand, the creation of tensile strain in the channel region of an N-channel transistor may increase electron mobility. The introduction of stress or strain engineering into integrated circuit fabrication is an extremely promising approach for further device generations, since, for example, strained silicon may be considered as a "new" type of semiconductor material, which may enable the fabrication of fast powerful semiconductor devices without requiring expensive semiconductor materials, while many of the well-established manufacturing techniques may still be used.
Therefore, in some approaches, the hole mobility of PMOS transistors is enhanced by forming a strained silicon/germanium layer in the drain and source regions of the transistors, wherein the compressively strained drain and source regions create uniaxial strain in the adjacent silicon channel region. To this end, the drain and source extension regions of the PMOS transistors are formed on the basis of ion implantation. Thereafter, respective sidewall spacers are formed at the gate electrode as required for the definition of the deep drain and source junctions and the metal silicide in a later manufacturing stage. Prior to the formation of the deep drain and source junctions, these regions are selectively recessed based on the sidewall spacers, while the NMOS transistors are masked. Subsequently, a highly in situ doped silicon/germanium layer is selectively formed in the PMOS transistor by epitaxial growth techniques. Since the natural lattice spacing of silicon/germanium is greater than that of silicon, the epitaxially grown silicon/germanium layer, adopting the lattice spacing of the silicon, is grown under compressive strain, which is efficiently transferred to the channel region, thereby compressively straining the silicon therein. This integration scenario results in a significant performance gain of the P-channel transistors. Hence, a similar concept has been proposed for N-channel transistors by using a silicon/carbon material that has a smaller lattice spacing compared to silicon. In contrast to the former approach, the integration of an embedded silicon/carbon layer in the drain and source regions is difficult, due to the fact that currently established epitaxial growth processes for silicon/carbon may exhibit a poor selectivity, thereby resulting in a significant material deposition in unwanted device areas. Furthermore, the solubility of carbon in silicon during the epitaxial process is low. Consequently, based on conventional techniques, a concentration of 2-3% carbon in silicon, as is required for obtaining a desired gain in electron mobility, may be difficult to achieve.
The present invention is directed to various methods and systems that may solve, or at least reduce, some or all of the aforementioned problems.

Transistor having an embedded tensile strain layer with reduced offset to the gate electrode and a method for forming the same