A polycarbodiimide represented by the formula (I):

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a polycarbodiimide. More specifically, the present invention relates to a polycarbodiimide and its uses, and a process for preparing the polycarbodiimide.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
An aromatic polycarbodiimide has been used in flameproof films and heat-resistant adhesives since the aromatic polycarbodiimide has excellent heat resistance. As the aromatic polycarbodiimide, those prepared by polymerizing monomers such as diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) and tolylene diisocyanate (TDI) have been known.
A film made of the aromatic polycarbodiimide generally has a characteristic such that a volatile gas or a decomposed monomer is not generated from the film even at high temperatures of not less than 400xc2x0 C.
However, the flexibility of the film is lowered due to self-cross-linking when heat of not less than 200xc2x0 C. is applied to the film for a long period of time, and the film is not suitable for applications requiring bending because its flexural modulus is so high.
In the process for producing a semiconductor device, a semiconductor chip is bonded to a lead frame or an electrode by coating a paste such as silver paste on a die pad of a lead frame, mounting a semiconductor chip thereon, and curing the paste.
However, since the paste cures even at room temperature, the amount of paste coated changes due to the increase of its viscosity and variation in shape of the paste would be caused during coating, so that variation in reliability of the bonding strength of the semiconductor chip would be caused. For instance, when the amount of the paste coated is changed and insufficient, the bonding strength between the semiconductor chip and the electrode is lowered, so that the semiconductor chip can be peeled off during the subsequent wire bonding step. On the other hand, when the amount of the paste: coated is too large, the paste flows onto the semiconductor chip, so that the yield and the reliability can be lowered. Such defects are even more remarkable for large-sized semiconductor chip, and in order to ensure the reliability of the bonding strength, the amount of coating of the paste should be frequently adjusted, so that there often causes hindrance in workability and productivity.
Recently, in order to achieve the improvement in properties of a semiconductor device, there has been employed a process comprising pouring a liquid thermosetting resin so-called xe2x80x9cunderfilling materialxe2x80x9d in a gap between a semiconductor element and a wiring circuit substrate, curing the thermosetting resin to form a resin-cured product, to distribute stress concentrated to an electric connection part into the resin-cured product, thereby improving the reliability of the connection.
However, in order to pour the liquid thermosetting resin between the semiconductor element and the wiring circuit substrate, it is necessary to provide a space for positioning a pouring nozzle near the mounting position of the semiconductor element. With the advancement of miniaturization and thinning of the semiconductor element, it would be difficult to secure the space for positioning a pouring nozzle. Therefore, improvement in the pouring (underfilling) step of the liquid resin has been earnestly desired.
An object of the present invention is to provide a polycarbodiimide which is excellent in flexibility when formed into a film, and maintains low flexural modulus without lowering its flexibility even when the polycarbodiimide is heated at a temperature of not less than 200xc2x0 C. for a long period of time.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an adhesive film for die bonding which gives a stable bonding strength with no variance in the amount of the film during bonding of a semiconductor chip to an electrode and which is excellent in workability and productivity during processing.
In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide an adhesive film for underfilling which is excellent in relaxation of stress caused in the semiconductor element, the wiring circuit substrate and the connecting electrode, and excellent in reliability of electric connection between the semiconductor element and the wiring circuit substrate, and a semiconductor device in which the adhesive film for underfilling is used as a sealing resin.
These and other objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description.
According to the present invention, there are provided:
(1) a polycarbodiimide represented by the formula (I):
xe2x80x83wherein R1 is an alkylene group having 2 to 10 carbon atoms, R2 is a divalent aromatic group, R3 is a monovalent aromatic group, k is 0 or an integer of 1 to 30, m is an integer of 2 to 100, and n is 0 or an integer of 1 to 30;
(2) a film made of the above-mentioned polycarbodiimide;
(3) an adhesive film for die bonding, made of the above-mentioned polycarbodiimide;
(4) a semiconductor device comprising a semiconductor chip and an electrode, wherein the semiconductor chip is bonded to the electrode with the aid of the above-mentioned adhesive film for die bonding;
(5) an adhesive film for underfilling, made of the above-mentioned polycarbodiimide;
(6) a semiconductor device comprising a semiconductor element and a wiring circuit substrate, wherein a gap formed between the semiconductor element and the wiring circuit substrate is sealed with the above-mentioned adhesive film for die bonding; and
(7) a process for preparing a polycarbodiimide represented by the formula (I), comprising the steps of:
reacting a polycarbonate diol represented by the formula (II):
xe2x80x83wherein R1 and m are as defined above, with an aromatic diisocyanate in the ratio of not less than 2 mol of the aromatic diisocyanate per one mol of the polycarbonate diol to give a polyurethane having isocyanate groups at both ends; and
carbodiimidating isocyanate groups existing at both ends of the resulting polyurethane with the residual aromatic diisocyanate in the presence of a catalyst.

Abstract: wherein R1 is an alkylene group having 2 to 10 carbon atoms, R2 is a divalent aromatic group, R3 is a monovalent aromatic group, k is 0 or an integer of 1 to 30, m is an integer of 2 to 100, and n is 0 or an integer of 1 to 30, a process for preparing the same and uses of the polycarbodiimide. The polycarbodiimide is favorably used in the form of films such as adhesive films for die bonding and adhesive films for underfilling, which can be used in semiconductor devices.


A liquid droplet ejection apparatus has a droplet ejecting portion and an energy beam radiating portion. The liquid droplet ejecting portion ejects droplets containing pattern forming material onto an ejection target surface. The energy beam radiating portion radiates an energy beam onto a boundary between the droplets that have been received by the ejection target surface at different timings so as to move boundary areas of the droplets. Accordingly, using the liquid droplet ejection apparatus, a pattern having an accurately defined shape can be formed.

The present invention relates to a liquid droplet ejection apparatus, a method for forming a pattern, and a method for manufacturing an electro-optic device.
A procedure for manufacturing a color filter or an alignment film, which are employed in a liquid crystal display, involves a liquid phase process. In the liquid phase process, liquid containing material for forming thin films is ejected onto a film forming surface, or an ejection target surface. The liquid is then dried on the film forming surface so as to provide the thin films.
Specifically, an inkjet method is employed in the liquid phase process. In the inkjet method, the liquid is ejected onto the film forming surface as droplets and the droplets are dried to form the thin films. The inkjet method reduces the consumption amount of the liquid, compared to other types of liquid phase processes (such as a spin coating method or a dispenser method). Further, the inkjet method adjusts the positions at which the thin films are formed more accurately than the other methods.
Using the inkjet method, a thin film may be formed over a relatively wide range on a film forming surface as in a large-sized liquid crystal substrate. In this case, the substrate is repeatedly scanned with respect to a liquid droplet ejection head, which ejects liquid droplets in multiple cycles. The droplets from one of the cycles dry earlier than those from a following cycle. This creates a boundary (surface unevenness) between the droplets from different cycles, thus lowering the quality of an image displayed by the liquid crystal display.
In order to avoid formation of such boundaries (surface unevenness) between droplets that have been ejected at different timings, various solutions addressed to the inkjet method have been proposed. For example, as described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-347694, a plurality of liquid droplet ejection heads are aligned in a direction (a sub scanning direction) perpendicular to a scanning direction of a substrate. Ejection nozzles, which eject liquid droplets, are spaced at uniform pitches with respect to the sub scanning direction. Thus, in a single cycle of scanning, which is performed in the scanning direction, the liquid droplets are continuously ejected onto an entire ejection target surface, thus avoiding the formation of the boundaries between the droplets.
However, as shown in FIG. 17A, in order to adjust the pitch of the ejection nozzles N to a value equal to a constant nozzle pitch Pn with respect to the sub scanning direction (direction X), the nozzles N of the liquid droplet ejection head FH1 are arranged offset from the nozzles N of the adjacent liquid droplet ejection head FH2 in the main scanning direction (direction Y) by a distance corresponding to the width (the head width Wh) of each liquid droplet ejection head FH1, FH2 in direction Y. Therefore, microdroplets ejected from the liquid droplet ejection head FH1 and microdroplets ejected from the liquid droplet ejection head FH2 are received by the substrate at different timings corresponding to the head width Wh.
Specifically, if a droplet 103 and a droplet 104, which have been received by the substrate at different timings, flow to overlap each other, a projected portion FDT is formed at a boundary between the droplet 103 and the droplet 104 on a film forming surface 102 of the substrate 101, with reference to FIG. 17B. The thickness of the projected portion FDT is several hundreds of nanometers to several micrometers. If the droplet 103 does not overlap the droplet 104, an area having smaller droplet thickness or an empty area may be caused at the boundary between the droplet 103 and the droplet 104.
This varies the thickness of the droplets or the thickness of the thin films at the boundaries between the droplets that have been ejected at different timings, thus lowering the quality of an image displayed by the liquid crystal display.

Liquid droplet ejection apparatus, method for forming pattern, and method for manufacturing electro-optic device


An adaptive-selection method for memory access priority control in MPEG processor. The processor has functional modules that include an input interface, a CPU, an audio decoder, a video decoder, an audio processor, a video processor and a memory controller. Each of the modules gains control over the data bus via arbitration by the memory controller for accessing the memory. The access priority of the CPU to the data bus is maintained at a relatively lower level except when the CPU needs to perform parsing on the MPEG compressed data and implementing the initial decoding of the audio compressed data. The use of data bus bandwidth is therefore balanced among all the system resources thereby increasing the overall system performance.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to the memory access priority control in MPEG (Motion Picture Experts Group) circuitry, and in particular to an adaptive-selection method for memory access priority control in an MPEG processor. More particularly, this invention relates to an adaptive-selection method for dynamic control of memory access priority in an MPEG processor for improving decompression performance by reducing unnecessary takeover of the system resource.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a result of advancements in fields including the digital signal processing technology, material science, as well as laser engineering, storage and retrieval of audio and video signals in digital format have become the selection of nature for high-fidelity sound and motion picture reproduction industry. In the broadcast of entertainment programs, there has been the similar trend of change toward digital format and away from the aging analog format that laid its technological basis several decades ago.
Due to the huge installation base of analog receiver equipment at the consumer end such as television sets and radio receivers, other than the last segment of signal transmission to the subscriber end is still implemented in the analog scheme. There has been the ever popular use of digital format when the program signal is manipulated or processed, either in the process of storage/retrieval or transmission. For example, satellites broadcast digital signals to ground stations, which then convert and relay the program signal in analog to the subscribers' houses via the cable network. There has even been several proposed standards for all-digital broadcast systems such as those incorporated with the widely expected High-Definition TV (HDTV). The above-mentioned trend of switching away from the analog toward the digital processing scheme is, based on what is currently available. The technology of digital storage and retrieval for audio and video signals is better than its analog counterpart and provides much better results. Digital processing provides virtually the only means for superior quality of sound and video reproduction in the cost-effective manner that human physical perception capabilities of both hearing and vision can demand.
Among the various digital signal compression/decompression schemes, MPEG standard, either MPEG-I or MPEG-II, emerges as one of the most promising and widely-accepted in the multimedia industry. At the signal decompression, namely, the reproduction end, like many others, the MPEG scheme relies on the use of digital signal processing (DSP) circuit elements to implement data retrieval for the playback of programs from a source that supplies signals containing compressed audio and video data. The source of compressed data for the MPEG processor circuitry in a playback device may be, for example, the latest members in the popular Compact Disc (CD) family of data storage formats that include the Video CD (VCD) or the Digital Video Disc (DVD). Or, the MPEG processor circuitry may also receive its compressed data signal source from a digital broadcast station.
To implement the audio and video signal reproduction utilizing compressed data fetched from signal sources in a multimedia application that employs the MPEG standard, dedicated digital electronic hardware circuitry known as MPEG processors must be used. These MPEG processors may be constructed utilizing digital circuitry elements built around digital signal processors and microprocessors that execute a firmware scheme for the implementation of the MPEG decompression operation. Memory resources are also used in the process of implementing the MPEG decompression. In fact, MPEG processors rely heavily on the use of memory subsystems as the multimedia data is being decompressed for program playback.
However, conventional hardware modules in the digital electronic circuitry that implements the MPEG standard of audio and video signal decompression employ a fixed memory access priority in a small and self-sustained firmware system. In such conventional MPEG systems, utilization of system resources can not be optimized to take full advantage of the supported bandwidth of the data bus that links the CPU, the DSP (digital signal processor), the memory and the supporting logic circuitry of the system together. As is familiar to persons skilled in the art of digital processing, unbalanced use of resources in a digital system can be translated directly into the waste of overall system power. Increase of the performance capabilities of many of the constituent parts in the system will be necessary. Such performance increase is necessary in order to achieve the same level of system processing capability as that which has well balanced use of resources. In other words, an MPEG system conducting unbalanced usage of resources (including the bus bandwidth) among all the constituent modules would require the use of either more powerful CPU, DSP, or other circuitry when compared to the one that has well-balanced system resource utilization.
In particular, in the case of MPEG decompression operation, if the memory access priority is fixed among all the functional modules in the MPEG processor, there would be a phenomenal wastes of memory bus bandwidth as the CPU is trapped in an endless scanning firmware loop. On the other hand, whenever any module in the MPEG processor requires access to resources over the system bus, it is frequently the situation that the bus is occupied. In this case, the requesting module has in a be put to waiting status. The result is that the system spends considerable time for the controlling CPU to execute its polling, while the DSP section of the system jams along the way trying to gain access to the bus for accessing data in the memory subsystem.

Adaptive-selection method for memory access priority control in MPEG processor


A bandage that facilitates the removal of the bandage from the skin is shown and described. The bandage has a selectively releasable adhesion reducing material contained in structures such as a selectively rupturable reservoir or a selectively deformable synthetic or natural matrix. When the adhesion reducing material is released from the reservoir, it contacts the bandage's skin adhesive and reduces its adhesion to the skin.

Historically, sterile latex free medical strip bandages have incorporated a liquid absorbent pad comprising a non-stick cotton fabric, plastic or polymer fabric and/or silicon fabric covers wounds, a backing comprising paper, vinyl, cloth and/or plastic "sheer" flexible zinc oxide, with a skin adhesive such as a hypoallergenic acrylic adhesive for affixing the bandage to the patient's skin to hold the absorbent pad in proper position over the wound. Moreover, most major strip bandage manufacturers such as Band-Aid® use breathable porous or perforated flexible adhesive materials in their bandage strips. Breathable adhesive bandage strips provide greater comfort to patients by allowing airflow to the skin. Furthermore, conventional strip bandages may be waterproof and offered in a variety of different shapes and sizes depending upon the size and location of the wound on the patient's body. For example, depending upon the size and the location of the wound on the patient's body a strip bandage may be oblong, rectangular, round, triangular, square (etc.) in shape. Bandage sizes typically range from ⅝ in×2¼ in (1.5 cm×5.7 cm), ¾ in×3 in (1.9 cm×7.6 cm), 1 in×3 in (2.5 cm×7.6 cm), ⅝ in×2¼ in (1.5 cm×5.7 cm), ¾ in×3 in (1.9 cm×7.6 cm) for skin lesions and minor skin scraps on the body to 1½ in×3 in (3.8 cm×7.6 cm) and 1½ in×2 3/16 in (3.8 cm×5.5 cm) for skin lesions and minor skin scraps on the knuckles and fingertips. Conventional strip bandages have also been aesthetically improved by superimposing cartoon characters onto the bandages, making bandages glow in the dark, matching bandage colors to patient skin colors and by clear or "see through" bandage strip designs.
Regardless of modern medical strip bandage technology advancements, the problems associated with removing conventional adhesive strip bandages have not been solved and continue to be of paramount importance to the industry. This is because removing adhesive bandage strips is typically painful, particularly for children (pediatric) and the elderly (geriatric), and may cause body effacement by removing the patient's hair, and/or causing skin irritations, skin trauma and even skin lesions. According to one report by 3M, "1.5 million patients in U.S. health care facilities receive skin injuries caused by bandage removal each year." Presently, doctors often advise patients to lay in warm bath water and wait for the water to loosen up strip bandages' adhesive properties prior to removal. Moreover, an entire strip bandage adhesive removal aftermarket product industry has developed around decreasing patient pain, body effacement, and skin damage such as Smith & Nephew's Uni-Solve Adhesive Remover. Nevertheless, such currently available aftermarket products are inconvenient and require the bandage wearer to separately purchase and apply an adhesive remover to a bandage affixed to the skin. One approach has been developed in which bandage backings are provided with rupturable pockets that include an adhesion reducing material. However this approach may preclude the use of breathable or otherwise permeable backings and can cause undesirable leakage.
As a result, a need has developed for a bandage that addresses the foregoing issues.
Like reference numerals refer to like parts in the figures.

Medical bandages with a skin adhesion reducing material


The invention is in the field of using a computer to select corporate stocks for investment. A user is connected to the Internet. The user connects to the portfolio management program (PMP) host computer through the Internet. The user reviews certain strategies and their historic performance. The information is transmitted across the Internet to the user. The information transmitted includes such information as historic performance, sample holdings, modeling how the particular strategy and its holding has performed in the past. The user, after making appropriate reviews, makes a decision to purchase the names of the stocks in that portfolio. The owner of the PMP host computer collects a payment for this service. Now the user sees a list of stocks provided by the PMP host computer. If the user can then make the decision whether to accept or reject any individual stock in the generated list. For example, if the user rejects the tenth stock in a ten stock strategy, the PMP host computer presents the eleventh stock as a substitute which may in turn also be rejected. Once the user has approved the content of the proposed portfolio, the user enters an amount that the user will invest in accordance with the strategy. If the strategy has 10 stocks, for example, and the user invests $100,000, the user will have $99,970.05 to invest in the 10 stocks or $9,997 per issue. The user can set up automatic email notification of rebalance dates or to have the PMP vote the proxy of the shares.

NONE
The invention is in the field of using a computer to select corporate stocks for investment.
Designed as a possible replacement for mutual funds for individual investors, the invention allows individual investors to put together their own diversified fund using low-cost trades. Because the individual buying shares of stocks is buying and owning the stocks directly, there is no chance of some of the xe2x80x98tax hitsxe2x80x99 that one takes with mutual funds.
For example: on day one, investor buys $10,000 of shares in a mutual fund. On day two, the mutual fund liquidates some assets acquired in the past and takes a tax hit. Our day one investor has not enjoyed any of the benefit of increase in price of the liquidated asset but takes the full hit of the tax consequence on the value of the mutual fund""s shares on day two.
The present invention allows the shareholder to avoid that tax hit and offers other benefits as well as will become apparent in the following discussion.
A user is connected to the Internet. The user connects to the portfolio management program (PMP) host computer through the Internet. The user reviews certain strategies and their historic performance. The information is transmitted across the Internet to the user. The information transmitted includes such information as historic performance, sample holdings, modeling how the particular strategy and its holding has performed in the past.
The user, after making appropriate reviews, makes a decision to purchase the names of the stocks in that portfolio. The owner of the PMP host computer collects a payment for this service. This price is preferably $29.95.
Now the user sees a list of stocks provided by the PMP host computer. If the user can then make the decision whether to accept or reject any individual stock in the generated list. For example, if the user rejects the tenth stock in a ten stock strategy, the PMP host computer presents the eleventh stock as a substitute which may in turn also be rejected. Once the user has approved the content of the proposed portfolio, the user enters an amount that the user will invest in accordance with the strategy.
If the strategy has 10 stocks, for example, and the user invests $100,000, the user will have $99,970.05 to invest in the 10 stocks or $9,997 per issue.
If the user already has an account with an online broker, then the owner of the PMP host computer will receive a one-time fee from that online broker when the user purchases the portfolio through the online broker. The one-time fee for referring to an existing account is preferably $30.
If the user does not have an account with an online broker, then PMP host computer provides suggestions to select an online broker. Once the user selects an online broker, then the owner of the PMP host computer will receive a one-time fee from that online broker in the amount of $150. Since online brokerages are currently spending about $400 for each account that opens with them, everyone wins. The present invention attempts to drive mid-tier investors online by providing low cost, tax savings, information, and control of the online portfolio. The present invention wants to make the average Morningstar mutual fund an expensive way to achieve the benefits of a diverse portfolio.
If the user does buy the stocks, the user is presented with a customizable portfolio screen showing all the holdings. This information is optionally stored on the user""s harddrive, on the PMP host computer, or preferably both. The user can then sign up for automatic notification of drop in price in certain stocks, place sell orders, etc. as necessary. In addition, the user can sign up for automatic proxy voting.
The user winds up with a balanced portfolio of stocks for $30. This is much cheaper than even the cheapest online brokerage charges, and much cheaper than those charges made by traditional brokers. The user""s balanced portfolio is akin to their own personal mutual fund, but without some of the disadvantages that plague those mutual funds.
First, the cost of creating and monitoring this diversified individual portfolio is dramatically less expensive than fees associated with other diversified portfolios like mutual funds. Currently, the average fee, called an expense ratio, of all diversified equity funds in the Morningstar database is 1.55%. An investor with a $100,000 investment in the average mutual fund, would face annual expenses of $1,550 before any commissions, sales load, or 12(b)-1 charges. The same investor using the present invention would face substantially lower total expenses, currently contemplated at approximately $60.
The next major advantage of the present invention is the potential for tax managing the diversified portfolio for the individual investor. One of the largest problems of mutual fund investment is the potential for embedded capital gains that will be distributed to all shareholders of record whether or not they enjoyed the gain from the stock being sold.
For example: on day one, investor buys $100,000 of shares in a mutual fund. On day two, the mutual fund liquidates some long-held security (e.g. 1990 Microsoft) and takes a tax hit. Our day one investor has not enjoyed any of the benefit of increase in price of the liquidated asset but takes the full hit of the tax consequence on the value of the mutual fund""s shares on day two.
The third benefit the present invention offers individual is that by creating their own diversified portfolio, they will not be affected by the actions of other shareholders. For example, on day one investor buys $100,000 of shares in a mutual fund. The next day, a sufficient minority of current shareholders of that fund decide, for whatever reason, to liquidate their holdings, the NAB of the fund would be materially affected as the portfolio manager would be forced to liquidate current holdings to meet the redemptions. Users of the present invention will face no such calamity because the diversified portfolio is unique to them.
The invention makes possible for the first time the creation of a diversified portfolio that can be selected, invested in, and monitored continually entirely on the Internet.
Accordingly, then the following are elements of the present invention: the method and apparatus for allowing a user to select strategies and stocks for an inexpensive trade, including: providing a host computer connected to a global computer network; providing said host computer with a portfolio management program; providing said host computer with storage where user account information may be stored; providing at least one user the opportunity to open an account with the portfolio management program owner; providing the user the opportunity to evaluate, select, and modify different methods to choose a recommended portfolio of stocks; providing the use the opportunity to evaluate a strategy""s performance over various periods of time; providing the user the opportunity to model the performance of a selected strategy with simulated data; providing the user the opportunity to model the performance of a selected strategy with historical data when said historical data is available; providing the user the opportunity to view the sample holdings of a selected strategy; providing the user a means for inputting the amount of money said user wishes to invest; providing means for calculating the number of shares of each holding that can be purchased through use of quote data; providing a performance option sheet, wherein the user has the opportunity to reject any or all stocks selected in accordance with a particular strategy; providing the user an opportunity to perform the purchase of the selected portfolio through an existing online broker account; providing the user an opportunity to acquire an account at an online broker; receiving from the broker a first referral fee if the user already has an account at that broker; receiving from the broker a second referral fee if the user does not already have an account at that broker; providing for the purchasing user a customized performance page; providing the purchasing user the opportunity to create alerts in the event that any or all stocks drop by certain percentages; providing the purchasing user the opportunity to elect to have the owner of the portfolio management program vote the proxies of any or all issues; providing the purchasing user the opportunity to receive an email reminding the purchasing user of any rebalance dates; providing the purchasing user a custom benchmark; providing the user the opportunity to customize the custom benchmark through the addition or elimination of certain indices and measures; providing the user the opportunity to accept the default version of the custom benchmark; providing means for storing the user""s custom benchmark on the local machine; providing means for storing the user""s account information on the portfolio management program host machine; providing the user means for adding user enhancements to the custom benchmark page; said enhancements including news, fyi, and alerts on each issue; a newcomer""s entry path with investment quizzes; and an experienced investor""s entry path.

System and method for selecting and purchasing stocks via a global computer network


A micromechanical actuator is suggested, the movable part of which, such as the diaphragm, the bending bar or a similar device, can be moved relative to a stationary part by a combination of electromagnetic and electrostatic forces. The manufacturing techniques and the applications of the actuator are described. The construction is very compact, that is, highly integrated.

The invention relates to actuators made of microstructured substrates, with movable parts (such as bending bars or diaphragms) being driven by outside forces relative to a stationary part.
Micromechanical actuators have been employed, for example, as the ejecting elements of ink jet printers, light valves, light relays and the like, wherein the generation of driving forces is achieved electrostatically. This method can be implemented relatively easily and also offers the possibility of requiring only very low powers. On the other hand, it has the disadvantage that, because of the low driving power, the generated forces, particularly control and adjusting forces, are not very large. This is particularly disadvantageous when, for example, a fluid is to be set into motion or is to be stopped. The switching frequency of mechanical, electric or fluidically driven actuators is low.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a micromechanical actuator which, on the one hand, can be driven with a high switching frequency and, on the other hand, generates or emits reproducible finely apportioned actuating forces.
This object is achieved in a micromechanical actuator according to the invention having a stationary part and a movable part, such as a diaphragm, bending bar or rocker. The movable part can be switched to different positions by means of electromagnetic forces, and held in position by electrostatic forces.
The magnetic control of micromechanical actuators provided according to the invention offers multiple advantages in comparison to known processes. When permanent magnets are used, relatively large forces can be generated which, in contrast to electrostatic forces, are largely independent of the control distance of the movable part of the actuator. In addition, the forces can be generated in both directions and can be operated in the on/off switching mode as well as for switching from one position into another position. The actuators according to the invention may be operated with reasonably low electric voltages while nevertheless particularly high adjusting forces are generated magnetically. The actuator according to the invention may be manufactured relatively easily by means of known micromechanical methods, such as etching techniques or other types of microstructuring, as well as by means of manufacturing techniques for integrated circuits (IC's). An important advantage is the integrated construction of the actuator according to the invention, which includes the control and can be implemented in an extremely small space. This feature of the invention is particularly significant with respect to the combination of an electrostatic and magnetic generating of actuating forces, in the preferred embodiment disclosed hereinafter the latter being capable of being utilized for the deflection, bending-out or similar switchover from an inoperative position into an operative position, whereas the electrostatic force which can be applied almost without any power, is used for holding a movable part in the inoperative position.
The principal applications of the invention of microvalves for pneumatic and hydraulic uses for which the suggested actuator is very advantageous here as the result of its small dimensions and small mass. It is particularly easy to use not only for controlling a gas flow, but also for carrying out other actuating and switching functions. A use, for example, as a pneumatic analog/digital converter is advantageous because a binary switching condition on/off or open/shut can easily be reached. When several actuators are arranged in rows and columns (arrays) over a surface, a geometric assignment can easily by implemented, i.e., a surface-type detector or sensor application or an ultrasonic application or a sonar application and other vibrating applications. Light relays, light valves, diffraction grids, mechanical grids, filters, such as microfilters, opto-electronic, fluidic, mechano-electric line and array arrangements and applications are made possible by the invention because of its simple and effective construction in cases in which actuating and control functions must be carried out in a very small space also at a high frequency, including such actuating and control drives as are used in miniature pumps (diaphragm pumps) and miniature actuating motors (linear pushers). The actuator according to the invention m ay be used for the step-by-step as well as for the continuous actuating-force transmission, and may be used not only in the binary operation but also in a multistage manner continuously or discontinouously and for controlling a total flow or a partial flow of a electric current or of sound waves or light waves. It is suitable for working with or without back pressure, as well as with a vacuum.
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.


An object of the present invention is to provide a resin composition which is capable of manufacturing a high dielectric resin film having high dielectric constant and small dielectric loss tangent. And the present invention provides high dielectric resin composition comprising:                a high dielectric filler; and        resin;        wherein a relative dielectric constant of the high dielectric filler satisfies the following formulae (1) and (2).[(∈T−∈25)/∈25]MAX≦0.03  (1)40≦∈25≦1000  (2)

In recent years, in the field of information communication devices, a resin composition which a high dielectric resin film having high dielectric constant and small dielectric loss tangent can be produced from is desired, since the frequency utilized for a condenser built in a base material, or an antenna becomes a high frequency (100 MHz or more).
Conventionally, a high dielectric resin film having a high dielectric constant (a relative dielectric constant of 5 or more) has been successfully manufactured by using a resin composition in which a high dielectric filler such as barium titanate and strontium titanate is compounded into resin; however, higher dielectric constant brings larger dielectric loss tangent (Electronic Materials 2002, September, page 29 edited by Kogyo Chosakai Publishing Co., Ltd.).


The hydraulic drive system of a machine press comprises at least two independent hydraulic drive units. In each of said hydraulic drive units at least one hydraulic cylinder, which is connected via valves and a main pressure line under supply pressure to a pump driven by a motor, raises and lowers the upper tool carrier. The rotational speed of the motor is adjustable via the numeric machine control, in which a rotational speed profile defined across the work cycle is stored. Furthermore, a pressure-limiting unit limiting the level of the supply pressure is provided, which at least during a part of the work cycle limits the supply pressure to the lower pressure of a pressure profile defined across the work cycle and stored in the numeric machine control and the actual load pressure increased by an extra amount at the at least one hydraulic cylinder.

Machine presses of the aforementioned type are available in the state of the art, in various embodiments. For example (see EP 231735 A1), machine presses are already known in which the hydraulic drive system has two piston/cylinder units, by means of which the upper tool support is moved, and a single motor/pump unit (hydraulic assembly) that jointly supplies the two piston/cylinder units with hydraulic fluid. In this connection, application of fluid to the two piston/cylinder units is controlled by way of valves that can be activated by the machine control.
Furthermore, machine presses having two piston/cylinder units that jointly serve for movement of the upper tool support are known, in which the hydraulic drive system furthermore has two separate motor/pump units, which each supply only one assigned piston/cylinder unit with hydraulic fluid. The speed of raising and lowering the upper tool support is typically dependent on the motor speed of rotation, whereby a. switch between raising and lowering takes place by means of a reversal of the direction of rotation of the pump (reversing pump).
Another machine press having two cylinder/piston units, each supplied by a separate motor/pump unit and jointly serving for movement of the movement of the upper tool support, is known from EP 692327 A1. In the interests of improved efficiency, here an additional pressure storage system is provided. This system comprises two additional pump/motor units, each assigned to a motor/pump unit, which can be mechanically coupled with these, and a pressure storage unit. In phases of low power demand of the cylinder/piston units, the pressure storage unit is merely charged by means of the motor/pump unit operated in pump mode, whereas in phases of great power demand of the cylinder/piston units, i.e. at peak load, the motor/pump units—with fluid applied from the pressure storage unit—are operated in motor mode, in order to support the primary motor/pump units in this way.

Hoerbiger Automatisierungstechnik Holding GmbH


A drumhead tone control device employs an annular configuration of polyester film tightly adhered to the periphery of a drumhead membrane. The annular configuration of the tone control device includes radial and/or circumferential relief. The relieved tone control device disrupts transmission of vibrations reflected from the drumhead membrane/drum shell interface. Disruption of reflected vibrations improves the overall tonal quality of the drumhead while use of a tightly adhered polyester sheet close to the periphery of the drumhead playing surface minimizes undesirable alteration of the attack characteristics and fundamental tone of the drumhead.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of musical drums, and is more particularly directed to an active, stress relieved tone control device for a drumhead.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern drumheads are typically constructed of single or multiple layers of synthetic plastic materials such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester and the like. A drumhead sheet of plastic material is formed to a shape that will fit over the open end of a drum shell. The peripheral edges of the formed drumhead sheet are secured within a rigid drum hoop, typically constructed of metal. Tensioning devices engage the hoop and adjustably tension the drumhead over the drum shell. Generally speaking, higher tension on the drumhead produces higher pitch vibrations when the drumhead is struck. The "attack" is the initial period of a generated tone. When the drumhead is struck a number of frequencies are excited and the nature of the attack characteristics, the clarity and crispness of the fundamental tones, are developed. Frequency control is a key element to shaping the attack characteristics.
Plastic sheet materials have proven to be exceptionally durable, attractive and adaptable to the manufacture of drumheads for musical drums. Synthetic sheet materials, however, also have some undesirable vibration characteristics that have come to the attention of both musicians and sound engineers. Synthetic drumheads have a tendency toward sustained vibration where the peripheral portions of the drumhead emit unwanted ringing and overtones that detract from the sound of the primary fundamental tones of the drum.
One theory of the cause of ringing is that the vibrations of a plastic drumhead, which result when the drum is struck by the drummer, move radially outwardly toward the edge or rim of the drum, reach the periphery thereof, and are reflected back by the rim. As the reflected vibrations are returning toward the center of the drum, if the drum is struck again, the most recently induced vibrations, which, at this point, are traveling outwardly, will meet the returning reflected vibrations from the previous beat. It is the meeting and crossing of vibrations which causes the effect known as ringing. The crossing vibrations, and resultant sound waves, produce a distorted drum tone which varies in pitch; hence, the term ringing. This phenomenon was not as severe a problem when drumheads were made principally of natural products such as calfskin or other "gut" type materials which do not conduct the reflected vibrations as efficiently as do the synthetic drumhead-membranes.
Since the relatively recent advent of the use of plastic and synthetic drumheads, and the accompanying increase in the ringing phenomenon, drummers have searched for methods of reducing or eliminating this problem, in an effort to achieve a more pure percussive tonal quality. The first, crude efforts of musicians involved placing pillows, rugs, or other materials inside the drum shell and in contact with the drumhead, to reduce the amount of return vibration, thereby reducing the ringing phenomenon. Although moderately effective, the use of such materials in the drum shell is inconvenient, unsightly and impractical for drums which are to be carried by marching band members or the like. Large bulky items, such as pillows or rugs, when stuffed in the drum shell, also retard the originating vibrations to a greater degree than is desirable, hence reducing the volume of the desired percussion. With the popularity of clear plastic drumheads, items such as those mentioned, being stuffed into the drum shell, present a totally unacceptable appearance when used in public performance.
More recently, drum and drumhead manufacturers have taken up the search for effective tone control in synthetic drumheads that is less obtrusive, more effective and adaptable to marching and stationary drums. Currently, the known techniques for dampening a drumhead include adding an additional element that is applied to the drumhead, i.e., a screen printed coating, vinyl or foam applique. An example of such an adhesive patch is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,266. Screen printed coatings tend to provide inadequate control over drumhead ringing, while vinyl and foam appliques have a tendency toward negative effects on the attack and fundamental tone of the drumhead. Another method currently used is a dampening or tone control device, formed of a polymer film loosely placed against the drumhead about the peripheral edge of the drumhead. The film is not adhered to the drumhead and therefore vibrates out of phase with the drumhead. This technique is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,159,139. While devices of this type have been successful, further improvements in tone control are believed possible.
An important objective is to control the amount of overtone content without changing, i.e. dulling, the attack characteristics. This is particularly important because the primary sound that humans relate to in musical listening is attack. In fact, it is considered to be an audio phenomena that the listener is tremendously affected by attack characteristics in tone generated by musical instruments. The attack period of a generated tone communicates the emotion and the rhythmic scheme of a musical performance.


A method, apparatus, and system for assigning the execution of a cryptography and/or compression operation on a data segment to either a central processing unit (CPU) or a hardware accelerator is disclosed. In particular, a data segment on which a cryptography and/or compression operation is to be executed is received. Status information relating to a CPU and a hardware accelerator is determined. Whether the operation is to be executed on the CPU or on the hardware accelerator is determined based at least in part on the status information. In response to determining that the operation is to be executed on the CPU, the data segment is forwarded to the CPU for execution of the operation. On the other hand, in response to determining that the operation is to be executed on the hardware accelerator, the data segment is forwarded to the hardware accelerator for execution of the operation.

Intel QuickAssist Technology (QAT) provides security and compression acceleration capabilities to improve performance and efficiency on computing platforms. In particular, a dedicated hardware cryptography/compression accelerator chip, which may be referred to hereinafter as the (Intel) QAT hardware accelerator, is provided. Compute-intensive security and compression operations, such as symmetric cryptography functions, asymmetric cryptography functions, and compression and decompression functions, can be offloaded from the main processor(s) (e.g., the central processing unit "CPU") to the QAT hardware accelerator.
A deduplication storage system can benefit from the Intel QAT because the compression workloads can be offloaded to the QAT accelerator. However, to assign all compression operations to the QAT accelerator is suboptimal.

Smart compressor based on adaptive CPU/QAT scheduling method


An inverter output current detection device is provided which can calculate an output current of an inverter easily by using a low-performance calculating device without lowering a calculation accuracy. A current ic′ equivalent to a capacitor current ic is digitally calculated according to a predetermined expression. This expression isic′=V×ω0×C×[cos Wavedata]×K, where V is an effective value or average value of an output voltage vo, C is a capacitance of a capacitor C, ω0 is an angular frequency of the output voltage, and K is a value obtained by multiplying a detection ratio for detecting the output voltage vo, a conversion ratio for converting an analog value into a digital value, and a conversion ratio for converting the effective value or average value V into a maximum value.

The present invention relates to a method and a device for detecting an output current of an inverter by calculation therefor.
FIG. 2 shows an example of an output circuit in a conventional inverter. Generally, an output of an inverter circuit used in an uninterruptible power supply is filtered by an LC filter made up of a reactor L and a capacitor C before being output. A control of the inverter requires a detection of an output current iL of the inverter circuit. For this purpose a current detector is provided at a position 101 in FIG. 2. When there is a need to detect an output current (load current) io of the inverter, a current detector is provided at a position 102 in FIG. 2.
When both of the output current iL of the inverter circuit and the load current io of the inverter need to be detected, two detectors are required. For a reduction of size and cost, some inverters use the output current iL of the inverter circuit rather than detecting the output current io. It is noted, however, that since a capacitor current ic flows through the capacitor C, io is not equal to iL. Because io=iL−ic, there is an error. If io>>ic, the effect of this error on the phase is small. But as the magnitude of the capacitor current ic becomes closer to that of the output current io, not only the magnitude of this error but also the adverse effect of the error increase.
According to a general theory, the capacitor current ic can be obtained according to the expression (1) as follows.ic=C×dvo/dt  (1)where C is a capacitance of the capacitor and vo is an output voltage (=voltage across the capacitor). As can be seen from this expression, the capacitor current ic can be obtained by differentiating the output voltage vo. Since the output voltage vo is a sinusoidal wave and differentiated to calculate the capacitor current ic, it is seen that the capacitor current ic leads the output voltage vo by 90 degrees in phase. By calculating the expression (1) using a CPU (central processing unit) or a DSP (digital signal processor), the capacitor current ic can be obtained from the output voltage vo. However, differentiating the output voltage vo using a low-performance CPU or DSP is technically difficult.
An object of this invention is to provide a method for detecting inverter output current and a device capable of calculating the output current of an inverter easily using a low-performance calculating device without lowering a calculation accuracy.

Method for detecting output current of inverter and device therefor


An apparatus for detecting a greater number of lines of response (LOR) within a subset of azimuthal angles of a positron emission tomography scanner. In a positron emission tomography (PET) scanner, the detectors are configured to detect a greater number of lateral LORs than the number of anterior/posterior LORs passing through a patient. The increased sensitivity to the lateral LORs compensates for the increased distance that the lateral LORs travel through the patient than the anterior/posterior LORs. In one embodiment, at least one pair of partial rings are positioned adjacent fixed detector rings. In another embodiment, panel detectors with a longer length than the other detectors are positioned to be responsive to the lateral LORs. In still another embodiment, detectors rotated with a variable angular speed, spending more time measuring lateral LORs than measuring anterior/posterior LORs.

1. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to a positron emission tomography (PET) detector assembly configuration, or tomograph, for increasing the sensitivity within a subset of azimuthal angles. More particularly, this invention pertains to a PET scanner with a set of detectors configured to detect a greater number of lines of response (LORs) within a first set of azimuth angles than the number of LORs within a second set of azimuth angles. The LORs within the first set of azimuth angles are subject to a greater amount of attenuation than the other LORs because the LORs within the first set of azimuth angles travel a longer distance through the patient and the increased sensitivity compensates for this attenuation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a nuclear imaging technique used in the medical field to assist in the diagnosis of diseases. PET allows the physician to examine the whole patient at once by producing pictures of many functions of the human body unobtainable by other imaging techniques. In this regard, PET displays images of how the body works (physiology or function) instead of simply how it looks. PET is considered the most sensitive, and exhibits the greatest quantification accuracy, of any nuclear medicine imaging instrument available at the present time. Applications requiring this sensitivity and accuracy include those in the fields of oncology, cardiology, and neurology.
In PET, short-lived positron-emitting isotopes, referred to as radiopharmaceuticals, are injected into a patient. When these radioactive drugs are administered to a patient, they distribute within the body according to the physiologic pathways associated with their stable counterparts. As the radiopharmaceutical isotopes decay in the body, they discharge positively charged particles called positrons. Upon discharge, the positrons encounter electrons, and both are annihilated. As a result of each annihilation event, gamma rays are generated in the form of a pair of diametrically opposed photons approximately 180 degrees (angular) apart. After the PET scanner detects these annihilation "event pairs" over a period of time, the isotope distribution in a cross section of the body is reconstructed. These events are mapped within the patient's body, thus allowing for the quantitative measurement of metabolic, biochemical, and functional activity in living tissue. More specifically, PET images (often in conjunction with an assumed physiologic model) are used to evaluate a variety of physiologic parameters such as glucose metabolic rate, cerebral blood flow, tissue viability, oxygen metabolism, and in-vivo brain neuron activity.
Mechanically, a PET scanner consists of a bed, or gurney, and a gantry supporting the tomograph detectors. In some tomographs, the gantry is inside an enclosure having a tunnel through its center, through which the bed traverses. In other tomographs, the detectors are cantilevered over the front of the gantry. In all types of tomographs, the gantry defines a tunnel through which the patient travels. The patient, who has been treated with a radiopharmaceutical, lies on the bed and is moved longitudinally past the detectors. Modern PET tomographs measure the radiation emerging from the patient along a large number of lines of response (LOR), each of which is characterized by four numbers: a radial coordinate, specifying how far the line is from the tomograph's main axis; an azimuthal angle defining the tilt of the LOR in a plane transverse to that axis; an axial coordinate defining the axial position of the LOR's midpoint; and a co-polar angle defining the LOR's tilt angle with respect to the transverse plane. Tomographs can operate either two dimensionally (2D) or three dimensionally (3D). In the 2D case, septa are used to block radiation at large co-polar angles. In the 3D case, no such septa are used. The scanner's sensitivity, and hence its ability to make a good image, is mainly determined by the amount of time that a given body portion of the patient sits before the scanner, and in the 3D case, by the range of co-polar angles, with a larger range corresponding to greater sensitivity. A tomograph's sensitivity is increased by making it relatively longer in the axial direction, so that each body portion of the patient can be scanned for a larger fraction of the total study time. In the case of 3D imaging, the sensitivity is further increased by increasing the scanner length, since this allows the measurement of a greater range of co-polar angles. The combination of the two effects means that the scanner's sensitivity in whole-body imaging scales with the square of its length.
There are four classes of PET tomographs, based on the arrangement of the detectors. Fixed-ring scanners have numerous small detectors organized in detector blocks, which are grouped into buckets, and arranged in an arc around the circumference of the gantry. A second class of PET tomographs includes fixed polygonal arrangements of panel detectors. A third class includes detectors arranged in an arc around the circumference of the gantry, with the detectors rotating about the axis of the gantry. A fourth class includes polygonal arrangements of panel detectors, with the panel detectors rotating about the axis of the gantry.
In each case, the tomograph samples all directions with nearly the same sensitivity. Although it is a simple symmetry for the scanner, this perfect balance is not optimal for whole-body imaging because cross-sections of the body are not symmetrical. That is, the patient's body typically has a greater lateral dimension than an anterior/posterior dimension, when it is imaged with the patient in a horizontal position in the scanner. Accordingly, radiation directed in horizontal and nearly horizontal (lateral) lines of response (LOR's) is strongly attenuated by the patient's body, whereas the radiation in vertical and nearly vertical (anterior/posterior) LOR's is less strongly attenuated. The asymmetry in the measured radiation, combined with the symmetry of the instrument, leads to an undesirable situation in which the data are measured with unequal statistical accuracy. One consequence of this situation is well known to people who read PET images: horizontal streaks across the image in reconstructions done by the filtered backprojection method. These streaks are a common artifact in whole-body PET imaging.
Various articles have been written documenting the processing of data from both ring detector and panel detector scanners. The following articles are representative of the types of scanners and methods of using and processing the LOR data obtained from the detectors. An early reference to the problem of reconstructing images from multi-ring PET scanners is J. G. Colsher, "Fully three-dimensional positron emission tomography," Phys Med Biol., vol. 25, no. 1, (1980) pp. 103-15. The Colsher paper presents a mathematical algorithm for performing fully three-dimensional positron emission tomography with ring-type scanners. An early description of fully three dimensional (non iterative) reconstruction is by D. Townsend, et al., "Aspects of three dimensional reconstruction for a multi ring positron tomograph," Eur. J. Nucl. Med., vol. 15, (1989), pp. 741-45. Also, another description is by D. Townsend, et al., "Three Dimensional Reconstruction of PET Data from a Multi-Ring Camera," IEEE Transactions on Nucl. Sci., vol. 36, no. 1, (February 1989), pp. 1056-65. An early description of polygonally arranged detectors is of the so-called PENN-PET design at the University of Pennsylvania by J. S. Karp, et al., "Continuous-Slice PENN-PET: a Positron Tomograph with Volume Imaging Capability," J. Nucl. Med., vol. 31, no. 5, (May 1990), pp. 617-27. The Karp paper discusses a scanner with six hexagonally arranged detector panels.

Asymmetrical positron emission tomograph detectors


An electrostatic discharge protection circuit that includes at least two transistors connected in a stacked configuration, a first diffusion region of a first dopant type shared by two adjacent transistors, and a second diffusion region of a second dopant type formed in the first diffusion region. A substrate-triggered site is induced into the device structure of the stacked transistors to improve ESD robustness and turn-on speed. An area-efficient layout to realize the stacked transistors is proposed. The stacked transistors may be implemented in ESD protection circuits with a mixed-voltage I/O interface, or in integrated circuits with multiple power supplies. The stacked transistors are fabricated without using a thick-gate mask.

In deep sub-micron semiconductor technology, it is a trend to shrink device dimensions, include more functions in a device and decrease power consumption. As more functions are integrated into a chip, a chip often has more power pins to supply sufficient current for circuit operations. These power pins may support different voltage levels of a high-state voltage source VCC or VDD of a chip in various applications. For example, in typical 0.35 μm CMOS technology, the VCC for a chip with a gate-oxide thickness of 70 angstroms has been scaled down to 3.3V. However, the VCC for a chip with a gate-oxide thickness of 140 angstroms may be as high as 5V. The environment in which chips have different power supplies with different voltage levels has been called a mixed voltage interface.
In designing an electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit for a mixed voltage interface, two issues are often taken into consideration: gate oxide reliability and direct current (DC) leakage. However, conventional ESD protection designs for a mixed voltage interface, for example, a 3.3V/1.8V interface, may have some disadvantages, as will be explained below.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional ESD protection circuit using a gate-grounded NMOS and a gate-shorted-to-VDD PMOS to clamp an incoming signal at one diode voltage drop above 1.8V, and conduct an excessive DC leakage current from an input pad to the 1.8V VDD line when a 3.3V signal is applied to the input pad. Such a circuit may have a gate oxide reliability problem because the thin-gate oxide of the gate-grounded NMOS has to sustain the overstress as the drain voltage is 3.3V. To solve the problem, a thick-gate NMOS may be used but will increase the manufacturing cost.
FIG. 2 is a reproduction of FIG. 2 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,780,897 (the '897 patent) to Krakauer, entitled "ESD Protection Clamp for Mixed Voltage I/O Stages Using NMOS Transistors." The '897 patent describes an electrostatic discharge protection device including two thin-gate NMOS transistors stacked in a cascode configuration. The top transistor of the stacked NMOS includes a drain terminal coupled to an input/output (I/O) pad, a gate (top gate) coupled to a voltage source VDD, and a source coupled to the drain of the bottom transistor of the stacked. That is, the source of the top transistor and the drain of the bottom transistor share one and the same N+ diffusion region. During an ESD event, a parasitic lateral NPN transistor in the ESD protection device is triggered to conduct an ESD current.
FIG. 3 is a reproduction of FIG. 2 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,956,219 (the '219 patent) to Maloney, entitled "High Voltage Power Supply Clamp Circuitry for Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) Protection." The '219 patent describes an ESD clamp circuit including two thin-gate PMOS transistors without using the thick-gate transistor. In a CMOS process, the thick-gate transistor needs an extra mask in the manufacturing process, which increases the fabrication cost. During normal circuit operating conditions, at least one of the two PMOS transistors is switched off to stop any leakage current. During an ESD event, the two PMOS transistors are switched on to conduct an ESD current. For deep submicron applications, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 of the '219 patent, three or more transistors are employed in the ESD clamp circuit to sustain a high power supply voltage.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between a second breakdown current (It2) and a substrate current (Isub) in a substrate-triggered ESD protection device for different channel widths (W). Referring to FIG. 4, It2 increases as Isub increases. Based on this property, substrate-triggered devices have been developed for ESD protection. To apply the substrate-triggered technique to the thin-gate ESD protection devices, however, the chip layout area would have to be increased to accommodate an additional substrate trigger site. It is desired to use the substrate-triggered technique in a thin-gate ESD protection device without increasing the layout area.

Electrostatic discharge protection device for mixed voltage interface


An electromagnetic flowmeter generates a magnetic filed perpendicular to a ring earth electrode contacting fluid at an end portion of a measuring tube and a point electrode attached to a lower portion of the measuring tube so as to measure a flow rate without depending on a fluid level. The electromagnetic flowmeter comprises magnetic field generation means for generating the magnetic field in the measuring tube to be perpendicular to an axial direction of the measuring tube such that electromotive force generated in fluid is not influenced by the fluid level, flow rate output means for calculating a flow rate of fluid flowing in the measuring tube based on a potential developed in the fluid by said magnetic filed generated by the magnetic field generation means so as to output the calculated flow rate, and display means for displaying the flow rate calculated by the flow rate calculation means.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electromagnetic flowmeter for measuring a flow rate of fluid flowing in a flow tube in a non-filling state.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electromagnetic flowmeter applies a magnetic field which is perpendicular to the axis of a tube. As an electrically conductive fluid flows through the tube, an electromotive force is generated. The electromotive force is detected by two electrodes arranged in the tube. The flow rate of the fluid is calculated from the electromotive force thus detected.
Generally, a position of the electrodes is selected suitably so that the electromotive force thus detected is proportional to the flow rate. More specifically, the electrodes are arranged symmetrically with respect to a line of the axis of the tube. Since the electrodes are so arranged, the influence with respect to the inter-electrode electromotive force (i.e., a combination of electromotive forces generated at various parts of the fluid) is minimized when the tube is filled up with the fluid.
The electromotive force generated when the electrodes are appropriately positioned is given as follows: ##EQU1## where
W: weight function of the influence on the inter-electrode electromotive force,
x, y: coordinates of the surface which is perpendicular to the axis of the tube,
B: magnetic flux density,
v: flow velocity.
The equation (1) shows the weight function W has a good symmetry. This means that magnetic field is distributed uniformly in an ideal laminar flow of the fluid, making no errors in measuring the flow rate.
In practice, the flowing fluid does not always fill up the tube. Even if the fluid flows in a non-filling state, the conventional flowmeter in which the electrodes are immersed in the flowing fluid can measure the flow rate of the fluid. However, the weight function W greatly differs in shape from the weight function detected when the fluid flows in the filling state. The weight function W has but a poor symmetry. The poor symmetry means changes in distribution of flow rate in the tube, which result in errors in measuring the flow rate.
Moreover, the electrodes are arranged at the position corresponding to the height of the center of the flow tube. Due to this, when the level of fluid flowing in the flow tube is 50% or less, the electrodes are exposed from fluid. As a result, electromotive force cannot be measured.
To solve the above problems, the following electromagnetic flowmeter is proposed.
Specifically, in the proposed electromagnetic flowmeter, a magnetic filed is generated to be perpendicular to a ring earth electrode and a point electrode, thereby measuring electromotive force of an electrode tube. In this case, the ring earth electrode contacts fluid at an end portion of the tube, and the point electrode is attached to a lower portion of the tube.
However, in such an electromagnetic flowmeter, electromotive force strongly depended on the fluid level. This was a cause that the flow rate error occurred in measuring the flow rate. Also, measures against dependence on the fluid level in electromotive force were not fully taken.


In a resin pipe joint having a configuration where, by a screw advancement of a union nut caused by screwing an internal thread to an external thread in a state where a tube is externally fitted to an inner cylinder to form a flared portion, a flaring changing region is pressed by a seal pressing portion, a torque varying portion in which projecting portions of a joint body and recess portions of the union nut are fitted to or unfitted from each other by a flexural displacements of the projecting portions in the direction of the axis in accordance with fastening rotation of the union nut from the vicinity of a portion in front of an end of the screw advancement, the screw advancement being caused by pressing of the seal pressing portion against the flaring changing region is configured.

As a resin pipe joint of this kind, a tube joint disclosed in Patent Literature 1 is known. Namely, the tube joint is structured in the following manner. A synthetic resin-made tube (1) is forcedly pressed onto a fitting cylinder (5) of a joint body (4), or, as shown in FIG. 2 of Patent Literature 1, a tube end portion (2) is previously flared and then fitted to the fitting cylinder (5). Then, a union nut (6) which is previously fitted to the tube is screwed with the joint body, and forcedly moved in the axial direction of the joint body (4) by performing a fastening operation, whereby a flaring base portion (2a) of the tube (1) is strongly pressed in the axial direction by an edge portion (6a) to seal between the tube (1) and the fitting cylinder (5).
As a structure similar to the above-described one, also a resin pipe joint disclosed in FIGS. 8 and 9 of Patent Literature 2 is known. As disclosed in FIG. 5 of Patent Literature 2 and Patent Literature 3, also a resin pipe joint having a structure in which an end of a tube that is flared and externally fitted to an inner ring is internally fitted to a fitting cylinder of a joint body, and a portion of the tube that is flared to the inner ring is pressed by fastening a union nut to attain a sealing function is known. Both the joints have the structure where a tube end is flared and a sealing function is attained by fastening a union nut. In the former structure in which the tip end of the tube is externally fitted to the fitting cylinder to fix the nut, there is an advantage that a pipe joint can be economically configured by two components or the joint body and the union nut. In the latter structure using the inner ring, there are advantages that leakage can be surely avoided and a stable performance is obtained, and that the reliability is high.
In actual work on a resin pipe joint having such various excellent advantages, there is an item which is always requested to be improved, i.e., that the timing when the fastening of the union nut is ended cannot be clearly known. In a resin-made joint, originally, the fastening torque in an operation of turning a union nut is gradually increased because of the characteristics of the material, and therefore a sense of fastening up which is caused by a sudden increase of the fastening torque is poor unlike the case where a metal material is used, so that the end of fastening is hardly sensuously known. In the case of insufficient fastening, leakage may occur, and, in the case of excessive fastening, the joint may be broken. Such disadvantages are easily caused because the joint is made of a resin. Therefore, fastening of the union nut must be correctly ended.
In the case where a pipe joint is exposedly disposed in a state where the worker can see the whole joint, for example, the position of the screw advancement due to fastening of a union nut can be checked, so that it is relatively easy to know that the fastening end state is attained, or that such a state is approximately attained. In a place where a pipe joint is disposed, such as a narrow gap between other apparatuses, or a hidden place under the roof, a situation where it is impossible or difficult to see the joint often occurs, and the work of fastening the union nut is often performed in a blind manner. Even when the joint cannot be seen, therefore, it is required that the end or near end of the work of fastening the union nut is informed to the worker by any means.
Therefore, Patent Literature 3 discloses a technique in which, at just before the end of fastening of a union nut (2), a projection piece (15) that is projected in the axial direction from a joint body (1) in a cantilevered state, and a projection (23) that is raisedly formed in an end portion of the union nut (2) in the axial direction approach and interfere with each other in the circumferential direction to butt against each other, and the worker can known the end or near end of the fastening, based on a flapping sound which is generated by the projection piece (15) at this time. Namely, sound generating means for informing the fastening end state to the worker by a sound is disclosed.


A maintenance system for a fleet of aircraft and a method of planning maintenance for a fleet of aircraft that includes identifying a maintenance schedule having at least one routine maintenance action for an aircraft to be maintained, generating a non-routine maintenance task schedule comprising non-routine maintenance tasks, and generating a combined schedule comprising a combination of the maintenance schedule and the non-routine maintenance task schedule.

Operators in an Airline Operations Center (AOC) manage the execution of thousands of flights a day while attempting to minimize costly delays and cancellations and while complying with complex maintenance constraints. A challenge for airlines is to limit inefficiency in the airline and manage information efficiently to alleviate the impact of unforeseen maintenance disruptions.

Maintenance system for aircraft fleet and method for planning maintenance


A plurality of print modes having different drive voltage values are provided for each ink temperature and, in each print mode, the ejection volume control is performed by adjusting the drive pulse. In a high quality mode that gives priority to an image quality, a drive pulse of relatively low voltage and long pulse width is applied. In a high speed mode that gives priority to a print speed, a drive pulse of relatively high voltage and short pulse width is applied. In the high quality mode this control allows the ejection volume to be controlled in a wide temperature range, stabilizing the color reproduction. In the high speed mode this control allows the drive frequency of the print head to be raised, increasing the print speed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet printing apparatus and an ink jet printing method which prints an image on a print medium by ejecting ink onto the print medium and more particularly to a method of controlling voltage pulses applied to electrothermal transducers (heaters) for ejecting ink.
2. Description of the Related Art
The ink jet printing apparatus forms an image by ejecting ink from print elements in response to an image signal to print a plurality of dots on a print medium. Such an ink jet printing system has many advantages over other printing systems, including high speed, high density printing, a color printing capability with a simple construction and a quietness during printing.
A construction that ejects ink from print elements has already been proposed and implemented in some types of printing apparatus, of which a type that uses electrothermal transducers (heaters) in print elements can eject small drops of ink at a high density and at a high frequency and thus has found a wide range of applications. An ink jet print head of this construction has a plurality of print elements arrayed at a density corresponding to a print resolution. Each of the print elements is provided with a liquid path to introduce ink to a nozzle opening and also an electrothermal transducer (heater) in contact with the ink in the liquid path. In ejecting ink from the print elements in response to an image signal, individual heaters are applied a predetermined voltage pulse to be energized to heat the ink. A rapid heating causes the ink in contact with the heater surface to produce a film boiling, in which an expanding bubble expels a predetermined volume of ink from the nozzle opening which flies and lands on a print medium forming a dot.
Further, the ejection volume is influenced by the temperature of the print head or more directly by the temperature of ink near the heater. This is because an ink viscosity changes with an ink temperature and a volume of a bubble and its growth speed during the film boiling depend on the ink viscosity. For example, when the temperature of the print head is low, the ink viscosity increases, making a bubble volume small, with the result that the volume of ink ejected and therefore an area of a printed dot become small. Conversely, when the print head temperature is high, the ink viscosity lowers, making the bubble volume large, with the result that the volume of ink ejected and therefore the printed dot area increase. That is, even if the printing is done based on the same image data, an unstable print head temperature would make the size of dots formed on a print medium unstable, which in turn leads to unstable image density.
Further, when a color image is printed using a plurality of print heads, temperature variations among the different color print heads will likely result in a color produced differing from a desired one. Furthermore, if the temperatures of individual print heads change, the color produced will deviate unstably from target color coordinates.
In the print head manufacturing process, the print heads with a bubble forming heater inevitably have some variations in heater resistance. Considering the print head construction, it is also inevitable that the temperature varies among the print heads depending on the environment in which the printing apparatus is used or the frequencies of use of individual color heads. However, in the ink jet printing apparatus variations in image density and color produced are not desirable. It is therefore one of important tasks with the ink jet printing apparatus to stabilize the ejection volume of the print heads.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-031905 (1993) discloses a technology which applies two voltage pulses for each ink ejection and controls a pulse width stepwise according to the temperature of the print head to stabilize the ejection volume of ink. This ejection volume control is referred to as a double pulse drive control. A control circuit of the ink jet printing apparatus sets the pulse width of the pulse signal for ink ejection according to the temperature.
FIG. 19 is a timing chart showing the double pulse drive control. An abscissa represents time and an ordinate represents a voltage applied to the heater. One ejection is done by two pulses shown in the figure. A control circuit in the ink jet printing apparatus sets a pulse width of a pulse signal shown in the figure according to the temperature to stabilize a volume of ejected ink droplets. In the figure, P1 represents a preheat pulse application time, P3 a main heat pulse application time, and P2 an interval between the preheat pulse and the main heat pulse.
The preheat pulse is applied to warm ink near the heater surface and its application time P1 is set so as to keep the energy applied at a level that will not result in generation of a bubble. The main heat pulse on the other hand is applied to cause a film boiling in the ink warmed by the preheat pulse and thereby execute an ejection. Its application time P3 is set larger than P1 so as to produce enough energy to generate a bubble.
As described above, the ink ejection volume is considered as being dependent on a temperature distribution of ink near the heater. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-031905 (1993) discloses a method which adjusts the pulse width P1 of the preheat pulse according to the detected temperature to realize a stable ejection volume. More specifically, as the detected temperature gradually increases, for example, the necessity of heating the ink near the heater surface decreases progressively. The preheat pulse width P1 is therefore set to decrease progressively. Conversely, when the detected temperature gradually lowers, the necessity of warming the ink near the heater surface progressively increases and the preheat pulse width P1 is set to increase progressively.
The use of this double pulse drive control enables the ejection volume of ink to be kept constant stably for all colors even if the individual print heads have different temperatures at any given time.
In the conventional double pulse drive control such as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-031905 (1993), an energy applied to the heater is adjusted by changing the pulse width while keeping the drive voltage constant. It should be noted, however, that the stabilization of ejection volume can also be achieved with a single pulse by changing the pulse voltage and the pulse width simultaneously. Such ejection volume control methods (hereinafter referred to as single pulse drive controls) are disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2001-180015 and 2004-001435.
In the ink jet printing apparatus with a heater, there is a tendency that the ejection volume is larger when a lower voltage pulse is applied for a longer duration than when a higher voltage pulse is applied for a shorter duration. This is considered due to the fact that the application of a lower voltage pulse for a longer duration causes an ink area that is heated up to a bubble forming temperature to spread more widely by heat conduction, whereas applying a high voltage rapidly heats only an area very close to the heater, causing an instant generation of a bubble, resulting in a smaller ejection volume. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2001-180015 and 2004-001435 describe an ejection control method that takes advantage of such an ejection characteristic and which, when one wishes to increase the ejection volume, reduces the drive voltage and widens (elongates) the pulse width and, when one wishes to reduce the ejection volume, raises the drive voltage and narrows (shortens) the pulse width.
As described above, the ink jet printing apparatus of recent years seek to keep the ejection volume as stable as possible by adopting the double pulse drive control method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-031905 and the single pulse drive control method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2001-180015 and 2004-001435.
The ink temperature in the print head rises as the printing operation continues. So, in the single pulse drive control if one wishes to stabilize the ejection volume in as wide a temperature range as possible, it is preferable to set the drive voltage as low as possible at the start of printing, i.e., at a normal temperature. This is because a lower voltage allows the heat flux to be set lower, reducing the effect a pulse width change has on the ejection volume and thereby making it possible to perform the ejection volume control with precision. It is noted, however, that setting the drive voltage low increases the pulse width required to eject ink, i.e., the time taken by one ejection, resulting in a slower printing speed.
To realize a fast printing, the drive voltage at the lowest temperature at which the print head can print (referred to as a start temperature) needs to be set as high as possible to shorten the time taken by one ejection. This, however, causes the heat flux to be high, rendering the precise control of ejection volume impossible. It also makes the voltage used for the ejection volume control more likely to reach the upper limit of the voltage that the printing apparatus can provide, rendering the ejection volume control itself difficult. Although this problem may be avoided by setting high beforehand the upper limit of the drive voltage that can be supplied to the print head, a circuit that can withstand a higher drive voltage is likely to have an increased circuit area, resulting in an increase in the manufacturing cost. In the ink jet printing apparatus with low cost and small size as one its features, the high voltage drive design is not so practicable.
We have explained the single pulse drive control. The double pulse drive control also has a similar tendency in the relationship between the ejection volume control and the drive voltage. The double pulse drive control keeps the drive voltage at a constant value irrespective of the ink temperature. Depending on whether this constant value is set relatively low or high, the precision of the ejection volume control and the printing speed vary.
The double pulse drive control reduces the preheat pulse width progressively as the temperature rises, to keep the ejection volume within a predetermined range. So, basically the ejection volume control can be performed in a temperature range from the start temperature to a temperature at which the preheat pulse width becomes zero. If the drive voltage is set relatively low, the heat flux from the heater to the ink is small so that a change in the preheat pulse width has little effect on the ejection volume, allowing for a correspondingly more precise ejection volume adjustment. Further, since the preheat pulse width at the start temperature is relatively long, the ejection volume control can be executed in a wide temperature range up to the temperature where the preheat pulse width becomes zero. It should be noted, however, that, as with the single pulse drive control, the longer pulse width results in each ejection taking longer and the printing speed getting slower.
When, on the other hand, the drive voltage is set relatively high, the preheat pulse width at the start temperature can be set short beforehand, allowing for a faster printing speed. However, since the heat flux from the heater to the ink at time of preheat pulse application is high, the effect a change in the preheat pulse width has on the ejection volume increases. This means that the adjustment of the ejection volume becomes that much coarse. Further, since the preheat pulse width at the start temperature is short, even a slight temperature change can result in the preheat pulse width becoming zero, narrowing the temperature range where the ejection volume control can be performed normally.
Recent years have seen the use of the ink jet printing apparatus grow in versatility and there are growing needs for a capability to print a variety of kinds of images on various types of print mediums. One such example is a demand for printing on a sheet of glossy photographic paper a picture image with as stable a color as will match that of a silver salt picture. To meet this demand requires an ejection volume control with high precision and reliability. At the same time, there is also a call for printing monochrome text images on low-cost plain paper at high speed. To meet this demand requires reducing a drive pulse width. Under these circumstances, the conventional ink jet printing apparatus have difficulty meeting the two needs of the users—the image quality and the printing speed—at the same time.

Ink jet printing apparatus and ink jet printing method


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