A method of operating a self-service checkout terminal located in a checkout area of a retail store includes the step of generating a payment-tendered control signal when a user of the self-service checkout terminal tenders payment for a number of items for purchase. The method also includes the step of detecting movement of the user on a movement detection floor mat and generating a walk-away control signal if the user exits the checkout area of the retail store. Moreover, the method includes the step of generating a personnel-request control signal if the walk-away control signal is generated prior to generation of the payment-tendered control signal. A self-service checkout terminal is also disclosed.

In the retail industry, the largest expenditures are typically the cost of the goods sold followed closely by the cost of labor expended. With particular regard to the retail grocery or supermarket industry, the impetus to reduce labor costs has focused on reducing or eliminating the amount of time required to handle and/or process the items or goods to be purchased by a customer. To this end, there have been a number of self-service checkout terminal concepts developed which attempt to substantially eliminate the need for a checkout clerk.
A self-service checkout terminal is a system which is operated by a customer without the aid of a checkout clerk. In such a system, the customer scans individual items for purchase across a scanner and then places the scanned item into a grocery bag, if desired. The customer then pays for his or her purchase either at the self-service checkout terminal if equipped, or at a central payment area which is staffed by a store employee. Thus, a self-service checkout terminal permits a customer to select, itemize, and in some cases pay for his or her purchase without the assistance of the retailer's personnel.
A customer typically has little or no training in the operation of a self-service checkout terminal prior to his or her initial use of the checkout terminal. One concern that retailers have when evaluating a self-service checkout terminal is the level of supervision provided to inexperienced customers. Moreover, it is also known that some customers may have improper intentions when using a self-service checkout terminal. In traditional checkout systems, the clerk employed by the retailer to operate the checkout terminal provides a level of security against theft or other improprieties. However, in the case of a self-service checkout terminal, the terminal itself must provide the necessary security.
One security concern which is particularly important to retailers is the situation in which a customer attempts to walk away from the self-service checkout terminal (presumably with a number of items) prior to tendering payment for his or her items for purchase. In traditional checkout systems, the clerk employed by the retailer to operate the checkout terminal monitors or otherwise ensures that the customer pays for his or her items for purchase prior to walking away from the checkout terminal. However, in the case of a self-service checkout terminal, the terminal itself must provide security against such "walk away" improprieties by the customer.
It should also be appreciated that in certain circumstances the customer is not attempting to commit an impropriety such as theft merely because he or she walked away from the checkout terminal prior to tendering payment for his or her items for purchase. For example, prior to tendering payment, the customer may realize that he or she forgot an item that he or she desired to purchase and may therefore return to the shopping area of the store to retrieve the item before completing the transaction. Moreover, during operation of the checkout terminal, the customer may walk away from the checkout terminal to have a conversation with a store employee, friend, or the like with the intent to return to the checkout terminal to complete his or her checkout transaction.
What is needed therefore is an apparatus and method for operating a self-service checkout terminal which overcomes one or more of the above-mentioned drawbacks. What is particularly needed is a method and apparatus for determining if a user walks away from a self-service checkout terminal during operation thereof with an intent to commit an impropriety such as theft.

Method and apparatus for determining if a user walks away from a self-service checkout terminal during operation thereof


A filter element (28) having planar (48) or cavity (30) geometry having applied thereto a coating (38, 39, 50, 53) of temperature super conducting (HTS) material in which the filter element (28) or coating of HTS material is provided with a porous structure (49A) or has associated therewith a plurality of cooling passages (29, 40, 42, 55) for passage of refrigerant when the filter element (28) is connected to a refrigeration circuit. A refrigeration circuit includes a compressor (18) connected to a heat exchanger assembly (19) located in an evacuated housing (20), wherein the heat exchanger assembly (19) includes an influent line (22), a first heat exchanger unit (21) in communication with the influent line (22), a throttle valve (23) which is in communication with the filter (28), a second heat exchanger unit (25) in communication with the filter (28) and a return line (26) to the compressor (18).

A cryogenic filter assembly is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,404. This reference broadly refers to a wireless communication system comprising a tower having one or more antennas coupled to a module which includes a bandpass wave guide cavity filter and a low noise amplifier, which module is connected to receiver circuitry via one or more co-axial cables. The cavity filter is shown coupled to cryogenic cooling apparatus comprising a heat exchange unit and a cooling generation unit. U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,404 also discloses retro-fitting of conventional rural antenna configurations comprising a tower having one or more antennas and connected to an RX filter and low noise amplifier as well as a TX filter wherein cryogenic cooling apparatus is fitted to the RX filter and/or the low noise amplifier. The use of the cryogenic cooling apparatus is stated to substantially increase the sensitivity of the wireless communication system and to substantially decrease the noise factor. The cryogenic cooling system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,404 comprises a compressor coupled to a heat exchange unit for continuous circulation of a gaseous refrigerant fluid between the compressor and the heat exchange unit. Thus, cooled and compressed fluid is passed into the heat exchange unit through a high pressure line and warm expanded fluid is returned to the compressor from the heat exchange unit through a low pressure line. The heat exchange unit is located in an evacuated chamber which also houses the wave guide cavity filter which is in direct contact with a cooling finger of the heat exchange unit. Thus, in this arrangement, the wave guide cavity filter is in direct contact with the cold head of the cryogenic cooling apparatus and this has resultant disadvantages of providing an unduly complicated refrigeration circuit insofar as structure is concerned with a subsequent loss of operating efficiency.
It is noted, however, that U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,404 only discloses a wave guide cavity filter such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,936,490 and it disclaims the use of filters formed from high temperature super conducting (HTS) materials. Such HTS materials provide an advantage of constructing resonators with very large unloaded Q factor.

Micorwave and Materials Designs IP Pty Ltd.


A scamp and scamp housing comprising a base with casters and a telescoping column attached to the base with a locking mechanism, and wherein an additional locking mechanism secures a podium to the column at a predetermined attitude, and wherein the housing includes two "U" shaped frames with a desktop attached to the top ends of the "U" frames, a shelf attached near the base of the "U" frames, and a slot provided in the shelf to accommodate the column of the scamp, such that the base of the scamp fits underneath the shelf, and the podium of the scamp fits underneath the desktop.

For over one hundred years, since the invention of the typewriter, office furniture design remained relatively static. Typewriters were provided either with their own desks, or specially made attachments to existing desks. Now, however, with the proliferation of personal computers in the office, new elements are required in the standard suite of office equipment The typewriter is gone. It has been replaced with a personal computer and its attendant peripherals. While this is a great advance in office automation, the ubiquitous personal computer has its drawbacks. Specifically, the personal computer requires attention to a monitor and input via a keyboard and mouse. The positioning of the keyboard vis-a-vis the monitor has become a major ergonomic concern within modern industry. The substantial increase in repetitive stress disorder and other office-related ailments has put a premium on proper positioning of the office equipment with respect to their users, who themselves come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes.
There is, therefor, a need in the art for office equipment that can be repositioned to conform to the ergonomic requirements of equipment users. It is an object of the present invention to solve the problem in the art by providing an office system that can accommodate a personal computer and its peripherals. It is a further object of the invention to provide an office system whereby the computer peripherals can be repositioned independently of each other to better fit the ergonomic needs of the user. It is a further object of the invention to provide an office system that does not require more office space than a standard desk.


An efficient exhausting and cooling structure in a disk array apparatus is provided. A HDD module mounted in a HDD box of the disk array apparatus includes, around a HDD, a thermoelectric device which converts heat of HDD into electric power by using temperature difference, a cooling fan automatically operated by power supply of the thermoelectric device, and an air duct which directs air flowing and exhausted from the cooling fan to a rear face side of the HDD module. The entire apparatus is cooled and air therein is exhausted by the operation of exhaust fan operated by main power supply of the apparatus provided in an upper part of the chassis and the automatic operation of the cooling fan of each HDD module.

In a recent large-scale disk array apparatus, the density growth and the performance improvement associated with the space-saving have been developing. Accordingly, in order to solve the problem of the lifetime of a magnetic disk or the like due to the heat generated by the components themselves, the cooling system with a high-power exhaust fan mounted in an upper part of the disk array apparatus is employed.
The cooling structure primarily used in the conventional disk array apparatus will be described below. Air is taken through front and rear faces of a chassis, and the air is exhausted by an exhaust fan and through air holes provided in an upper part of the chassis via a central duct of the chassis, thereby air-cooling each part in the chassis. In this cooling structure, the heat generated from HDD is forcibly released by the high-power exhaust fan operated by the main power supply of the apparatus and provided in an upper part of the chassis.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-178557 describes an example of a cooling structure in a disk array apparatus.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-76584 describes the cooling utilizing a thermoelectric device in an automobile. In this technology, voltage transformation and the like are required for utilizing a thermoelectric device.


A system which manages the wiring and cabling needed by individual workstations (12) within an environment (10) having numerous workstations (12) is disclosed. Collective connectivity is utilized to couple a multi-commodity expansion cabinet, MCEC, (14) to building services (26, 28). The MCEC (14) transforms the collective connectivity into individual connectivity. Workstations (12) are grouped together into workstation clusters (30). A single MCEC (14) is assigned to each cluster (30). Individual connectivity is utilized to couple the MCEC (14) to the workstations (12) in the MCECs (14) cluster (30). The MCEC (14) is configured for use in and around high traffic areas in a building. The MCEC (14) is dimensioned for minimal size and compatibility with modern building practices. Individual raceways (68, 70) are provided for routing communication and power wiring. Various equipment bays (88, 94) are provided between the raceways (68, 70). The equipment bays are configured so that running room for cables (122, 130, 132) and power whips (32) exists within the interior of the MCEC (14).

The modern office requires a wide assortment of connectivity or wiring circuits for individual employee work areas, called workstations herein. AC electrical power, telephone voice communication, low speed data communication between computer terminals and central computers, and high speed local area network (LAN) data communication represent a few of the most common connectivity needs of employee work areas. In addition, many work areas use multiple voice circuits to support multiple phone lines, facsimile machines, modems, and the like. Often, multiple data lines communicate computer data to printers, plotters, remote input devices, and the like. Increasingly, work areas access fiber optic, broadband LAN, and video communication links.
Conventionally, the management of all these connectivity needs has been performed in an extremely make-shift, haphazard, and inefficient manner. As a result, work area connectivity has become extremely expensive, for both original wiring installation and later-occurring changes. For example, buildings often use independent systems to distribute power, voice, data, LAN, and video. This leads to a costly duplication in materials and labor. In addition, it leads to a costly lack of organization in overall building connectivity.
In addition, buildings often utilize connectivity systems which rely heavily upon on-site, hard-wired connections. Hard-wired connections require each end of a wire to be prepared. Such preparations typically involve removing insulation, dressing wire ends, identifying individual wires, applying terminators, attaching wires, applying strain reliefs, and the like. The attaching of a wire may be to another wire, a connection block, terminal, or the like. Accordingly, such hard-wired connections must be patiently and painstakingly performed by highly skilled, and expensive, personnel. Moreover, after wiring preparations, such highly skilled personnel must test and occasionally trouble-shoot a network of such wires. As a result, costs associated with the installation of conventional connectivity systems often reach astronomical proportions.
The physical environment of the modern office also changes at an increasing pace. These changes in the physical environment impose frequent changes in work area connectivity. However, conventional connectivity systems are extremely inflexible. Hard-wired connections again require the services of highly skilled personnel to make necessary changes. Often times such personnel are not available when needed, and entire schedules suffer as a result. When buildings employ separate connectivity systems for power, voice communication, data communication, LAN communication, video communication, and the like, the overall connectivity structure becomes extremely unorganized. False floors, ceilings, and wiring raceways, often resemble a "rat's nest" of cabling. Accordingly, minor connectivity changes often turn into extremely complicated and time consuming procedures due to this disorganization. Often, connectivity system changes are more efficiently implemented by entirely scrapping a prior system and installing an entirely new connectivity system when only moderate changes are imposed in a physical environment.
The prior art describes a few devices which address connectivity problems in the modern office. However, most of such devices address minor portions of the overall problem, and therefore fail to significantly reduce connectivity costs or to increase connectivity flexibility. For example, various manufacturers supply breakout boxes, connectors, raceways, ducts, and the like which serve as modular components that a designer may couple together to implement a connectivity system. However, such modular components fail to address the integration of various connectivity systems and the overall end-to-end connectivity problem. The use of such components provides little help in significantly reducing installation costs or in improving flexibility.
The above-referenced patent discloses a system which makes significant improvements in the conventional haphazard techniques utilized in providing connectivity. Still, this system relies upon undesirably numerous hard-wired connections in conveying electrical power from a building's power distribution center to individual workstations. Likewise, the system disclosed therein relies upon undesirably long runs of individual cabling for both electrical power and various types of communication. Generally speaking, individual cabling costs more and is more difficult to install and revise than collective cabling which conveys the same capacity. Thus, a need exists for a system which supports increased use of collective cabling and less use of individual cabling.


Expandable dilators, dilation assemblies, and kits are disclosed, along with methods for using same.

Conventional dilators are typically employed to gain surgical access to a target surgical site. For instance, an incision is made in the patient's skin, and the dilator is inserted through the incision and the soft tissue so that the distal end of the dilator is positioned adjacent the target surgical site. The dilator thus defines a channel through the soft tissue through which the surgical instruments can be driven to the target surgical site. Conventional dilators can include blades that at least partially define the channel. The blades can be actuated from a first position to a dilated position so as to expand the distal end and widen the channel at the distal end, thereby increasing the surgeon's working area at the target surgical site.


A golf club head comprising of a front plate integral with a primary body having a top, a sole, a rear portion, and a general periphery wherein the primary body and the front plate define a hollow interior and where the rear portion carries a weighting element that protrudes behind the general periphery.

This invention relates to a golf club head and more particularly to an improvement of a utility iron.
Long irons, low lofted irons, often provide a challenge to some golfers because the low loft of the club causes the golf club head to be in a more upright position. This upright position raises the center of gravity of the golf club head making it more difficult to elevate a golf shot because more weight of the golf club head is located above the center of gravity of the golf ball. To address this problem, many high handicap golfers will chose to use fairway woods instead of long irons. Fairway woods generally have a lower center of gravity to make elevating the golf ball easier. However, fairway woods are also usually longer and the design of the club head makes controlling the rotation of the club head more difficult. Therefore, fairway woods are generally less accurate than long irons.
To address the problems of both long irons and fairway woods, two types of golf clubs have been designed, utility woods and utility irons. Utility woods typically have a hollow interior and the same general shape as a fairway wood (toe of the club is roughly the same height as the heel of the club), but the head of a utility wood is generally smaller than that of a typical fairway wood. The smaller head helps lower the center of gravity; however, utility woods still retain the same characteristics that make them less accurate than long irons.
Utility irons also have a hollow interior, but they retain the general shape of an iron (the toe of the club is generally higher than heel of the club). The advantage to this head design is that it reduces club face rotation for golf shots that are hit either on the toe and the heel of the golf club and therefore generally makes utility irons more accurate than utility woods.
There are two deficiencies with the utility irons that are currently manufactured. First, utility irons fail to utilize a face design in which the face of the golf club head has different thicknesses. A spring-like or trampoline effect occurs when the face flexes inward upon initial contact with the golf ball and flexes outward as the ball loses contact with the face generating a higher initial velocity of a golf ball than if the face did not flex. The amount that the face of a golf club flexes is measured by the Coefficient of Restitution (COR). The higher the COR, the more flex the face will have and therefore the greater the initial ball velocity will be. To increase the COR in irons, some manufactures have developed a variable face thickness in which the back side of the face is dome shaped so that the face is thicker in the middle. However, this design is inefficient because it reinforces areas unnecessarily, which both decreases the COR and prevents that weight from being distributed to either increase the moment of inertia or to lower the center of gravity. The second deficiency of current utility irons is that the center of gravity of most utility irons is still too high for some golfers to effectively use these clubs. Because it is necessary to maintain an effective swing weight of a golf club, it is impractical to simply attach a large weight across the entire sole of the golf club. This invention provides an innovative solution to both of these problems.

Utility iron golf club with weighting element


A combined dish rack for feeding pets includes a main body and legs. The main body has two dish setting openings for positioning dishes. The main body and legs are detachably attached to each other. The main body on a bottom thereof has a plurality of protruding members. The legs have slots configured to receive the protruding members if the legs are attached to the main body. The legs are configured to be placed in a housing defined by a top wall and a side wall of the main body.

Pets are more and more important in people's lives; and the requirement for the pet's life quality is also more and more higher. When people feed the pets, for example, dogs and cats, food is usually placed in dishes, which are directly put on the floor. Due to the fact that pets usually stand while eating, there would be a certain distance between the pets and the food. Therefore, during the feeding process, the food may spill out of the dishes onto the floor, which increases people's workload of cleaning. Therefore, there are some improvements to the design of pet's feeding devices. Although certain progresses have been made, they all so far do not solve this problem.

Jiangsu Zhongheng Pet Supplies Co., Ltd.


Salient electrodes on a semiconductor chip and leads on a film substrate are to be connected together with a high accuracy. A change in lead pitch which occurs at the time of connecting salient electrodes on a semiconductor chip and inner leads on a film substrate with each other is taken into account and a correction is made beforehand to the pitch of the inner leads. Likewise, a change in lead pitch which occurs at the time of connecting electrodes on a liquid crystal substrate and outer leads on the film substrate with each other is taken into account and a correction is made beforehand to the pitch of the outer leads.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device manufacturing technique and more particularly to a technique applicable effectively to a semiconductor device wherein a semiconductor chip having salient electrodes is facedown-mounted to a flexible-film substrate.
In association with semiconductor devices wherein a semiconductor chip having salient electrodes such as Au bumps is facedown-mounted to a flexible film substrate there are known TAB (Tape Automated Bonding) and TCP (Tape Carrier Package).
The flexible substrate used in the aforesaid TAB or TCP generally comprises an insulating film formed by a polyimide resin for example and plural Cu leads formed on the surface of the insulating film. Therefore, it is known that there occur expansion and contraction of the insulating film due to moisture contained in the atmosphere and that an error of lead pitch results.
For example, in Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2001-144144 it is pointed out that maintaining the humidity at 60% or so is important for preventing a change in lead pitch caused by expansion or contraction of an insulating film which is attributable to a change in humidity.
Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2000-124255 discloses a technique of narrowing the lead pitch beforehand by the amount of an increase in lead pitch caused by expansion of an insulating film as a measure against the occurrence of an error in lead pitch which error results from expansion of the insulating film in the presence of moisture or heat contained in the atmosphere.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method of manufacturing a semiconductor device


The invention relates to new reactive mesogenic azulene derivatives, their use as semiconductors or charge transport materials, in optical, electro-optical or electronic devices like for example liquid crystal displays, optical films, organic field effect transistors (FET or OFET) for thin film transistor liquid crystal displays and integrated circuit devices such as RFID tags, electroluminescent devices in flat panel displays, and in photovoltaic and sensor devices, and to a field effect transistor, light emitting device or ID tag comprising the reactive mesogenic azulenes.

Organic materials have recently shown promise as the active layer in organic based thin film transistors and organic field effect transistors [see H. E. Katz, Z. Bao and S. L. Gilat, Acc. Chem. Res., 2001, 34, 5, 359]. Such devices have potential applications in smart cards, security tags and the switching element in flat panel displays. Organic materials are envisaged to have substantial cost advantages over their silicon analogues if they can be deposited from solution, as this enables a fast, large-area fabrication route.
The performance of the device is principally based upon the charge carrier mobility of the semi-conducting material and the current on/off ratio, so the ideal semiconductor should have a low conductivity in the off state, combined with a high charge carrier mobility (>1×10−3 cm2V−1s−1). In addition, it is important that the semi-conducting material is relatively stable to oxidation, i.e. it has a high ionization potential, as oxidation leads to reduced device performance.
A known compound which has been shown to be an effective p-type semiconductor for OFETs is pentacene [see S. F. Nelson, Y. Y. Lin, D. J. Gundlach and T. N. Jackson, Appl. Phys. Lett., 1998, 72, 1854]. When deposited as a thin film by vacuum deposition, it was shown to have carrier mobilities in excess of 1 cm2 V−1 s−1 with very high current on/off ratios greater than 106. However, vacuum deposition is an expensive processing technique that is unsuitable for the fabrication of large-area films.
Regular poly(3-hexylthiophene) has been reported with charge carrier mobility between 1×10−5 and 4.5×10−2 cm2 V−1 s−1, but with a rather low current on/off ratio between 10 and 103 [see Z. Bao et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 1997, 78, 2184]. In general, poly(3-alkylthiophenes) show improved solubility and are able to be solution processed to fabricate large area films. However, poly(3-alkylthiophenes) have relatively low ionisation potentials and are susceptible to doping in air [see H. Sirringhaus et al., Adv. Solid State Phys. 1999, 39, 101].


A machine-learning mechanism of a disaster-avoidance system trains a knowledgebase to associate characteristics of a data-center component with corresponding degrees of vulnerability to failure and with remedial steps that may be undertaken to avoid failure or to reduce adverse effects of a failure. This training is performed as a function of inferences derived from historical records and from extrinsic information sources. The historical records identify past failures of similar components, component characteristics associated with past failures, and results of remedial procedures undertaken in response to past failures or to previous occurrences of the characteristics. The extrinsic sources identify the current existence of external conditions known to be associated with past failures. When a component's total degree of vulnerability exceeds a predefined threshold value, the system assembles a subset of that component's remedial steps into a remedial procedure and directs downstream modules or administrators to implement the procedure.

The present invention relates in general to information technology (IT) and in particular to preemptive disaster-avoidance and disaster-recovery technologies that predict and attempt to mitigate catastrophic failures before those failures occur.
One goal of disaster-avoidance and recovery technologies is to reduce downtime resulting from the occurrence of a catastrophic event. This goal can be expedited when it is possible to predict which devices and infrastructure components are most likely to fail.
Real-world systems and networks, however, may suffer from enormous numbers of vulnerabilities that vary continuously as devices, network connections, and infrastructure components undergo software and hardware updates, and as network topologies, business practices, component dependencies, and configuration settings evolve during daily operations.
In such cases, known disaster-avoidance and recovery technologies cannot reliably identify vulnerabilities or predict points of failure by merely automating or scaling up human methods of system maintenance.

Self-learning disaster-avoidance and recovery

International Business Machines Corporation


A removable pellicle for a lithographic mask that provides active and robust particle protection, and which utilizes a traditional pellicle and two deployments of thermophoretic protection to keep particles off the mask. The removable pellicle is removably attached via a retaining structure to the mask substrate by magnetic attraction with either contacting or non-contacting magnetic capture mechanisms. The pellicle retaining structural is composed of an anchor piece secured to the mask substrate and a frame member containing a pellicle. The anchor piece and the frame member are in removable contact or non-contact by the magnetic capture or latching mechanism. In one embodiment, the frame member is retained in a floating (non-contact) relation to the anchor piece by magnetic levitation. The frame member and the anchor piece are provided with thermophoretic fins which are interdigitated to prevent particles from reaching the patterned area of the mask. Also, the anchor piece and mask are maintained at a higher temperature than the frame member and pellicle which also prevents particles from reaching the patterned mask area by thermophoresis. The pellicle can be positioned over the mask to provide particle protection during mask handling, inspection, and pumpdown, but which can be removed manually or robotically for lithographic use of the mask.

The present invention is directed to the protection of lithographic masks from particle contamination, particularly to a removable pellicle for lithographic mask protection, and more particularly to a removable pellicle for a lithographic mask utilizing magnetic coupling and thermophoretic protection.
Patterned lithographic masks are utilized in semiconductor chip fabrication, and such lithographic masks need to be protected from particle contamination since foreign matter on a mask will produce a printed defect in the electronic circuit being created on a silicon wafer. For current lithographic manufacture of semiconductor chips, masks are enclosed in a xe2x80x9cpelliclexe2x80x9d to protect them from particles. The mask consists of a rigid substrate with a patterned absorbing film on one surface. A pellicle is a thin membrane (typically organic-based but can be inorganic-based as well), stretched over a frame mounted to the mask substrate, which prevents particles from striking the patterned areas of the mask. The pellicle is offset from the mask in an xe2x80x9cout of focusxe2x80x9d image plane, producing a gap between the mask surface (requiring protection) and the pellicle. This offset ensures that particles intercepted by the pellicle do not produce image defects. For the photon wavelengths currently used in chip manufacture (365 nm, 248 nm), the pellicle is highly transparent and allows the lithographic radiation to be transmitted to the mask with high efficiency. Pellicles stay affixed to the mask mounting hardware throughout the life of the mask and allow the mask to be handled and inspected free from defect producing particle contamination.
The next generation of lithographic techniques, 157 nm optical projection lithography, extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL), ion projection lithography (IPL), and electron projection lithography (EPL), utilize ionizing radiation (photons, ions and electrons, respectively) to perform lithographic imaging. Thus, the masks used in these next generation lithographic (NGL) techniques are irradiated with ionizing radiation during the lithographic exposure. A traditional pellicle cannot be used with NGL lithography because the pellicle would absorb too much of the ionizing radiation. A membrane might also degrade in the ionizing beam, eventually failing and contaminating the mask. Furthermore, a traditional pellicle would not survive transfer from atmospheric pressure into the vacuum environment (xcx9c10xe2x88x926 Torr) needed for the NGL techniques. A sealed pellicle/mask assembly would have a trapped air space, which would burst through the thin membrane when the mask was placed in a vacuum environment.
Since the prior known pellicle is incompatible with NGL techniques only during the lithographic exposure, it is desirable to use a pellicle during the inspection and handling steps of mask manufacture at atmospheric pressure but to remove the pellicle before lithographic exposure. This raises a challenge to remove the pellicle without contaminating the mask with particles created by removal of the pellicle.
The present invention enables removal of a pellicle from an NGL mask without particle contamination of the mask. The removable pellicle of this invention enables its use in storage, handling and loading into NGL apparatus, but removal prior to lithographic exposure of the mask. The removable pellicle of the invention allows handling and inspection of the mask at atmospheric pressure, incorporates thermophoresis to prevent particle contamination, and is vacuum compatible so that it can be inserted into the vacuum environment of NGL exposure tools without bursting the pellicle membrane. After lithographic use, the removable pellicle may be placed back on the mask without particle contamination and transferred again from vacuum to atmospheric pressure without bursting of the pellicle or particle contamination of the mask.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a removable pellicle for a lithographic mask. A further object of the invention is to provide a lithographic mask pellicle which is removable prior to exposure to ionizing radiation.
A further object of the invention is to provide a removable pellicle for masks utilized in EUV, IP, EP, and 157 nm optical projection lithography.
A further object of the invention is to provide a removable pellicle containing a thin membrane that is usable during the inspection and handling of a lithographic mask at atmospheric pressure but can withstand vacuum applications and is removed before lithographic exposure of the mask.
Another object of the invention is to provide a removable pellicle for a lithographic mask which utilizes mechanical latching or magnetic attraction to removably retain the pellicle over the mask.
Another object of the invention is to provide a removable pellicle for a lithographic mask which utilizes thermophoresis to prevent particles from contaminating the mask.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings. The present invention is directed to removable pellicles for lithographic masks. The invention utilizes mechanically latched or magnetically attracted members to retain the pellicle over the mask and which allows the pellicle to be removed from the mask without particle contamination of the mask. This invention enables the use of conventional thin membranes for use as pellicles for masks utilized in lithographic techniques that utilize ionizing radiation (photons, ions, and electrons) such as 157 nm, EUVL, EPL, and IPL. The removable pellicle of the invention is particularly applicable for extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) and can be utilized in storage, handling, and loading into lithographic machines and which is removed prior to lithographic exposure of the mask and replaced following exposure of the mask. The removable pellicle is vacuum compatible and thus can be inserted into the vacuum environment of lithographic tools without bursting the pellicle membrane. Particle protection of the mask is also provided by thermophoresis in combination with a labyrinthine array to prevent particles from contaminating the mask during removal and replacement of the removable pellicle. The magnetic means for retaining the pellicle over the mask may be of a contacting or non-contacting arrangement. Thus, the removable pellicle of this invention utilizes a traditional pellicle and two deployments of thermophoretic protection to keep particles off the masks.

Removable pellicle for lithographic mask protection and handling


A paintball loader which feeds paintballs to a paintball marker has a rotor body and a drive motor for rotating the rotor body. The paintball loader can include a latch member for selectively securing an upper shell member to a lower shell member. The paintball loader can include a ramp member inside the upper and lower shell members. The ramp member moves between a first or flattened position and a second or raised position to facilitate operation of the loader. The components of the loader are designed so that assembly/disassembly is performed with few, if any, tools to facilitate cleaning and/or maintenance.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a paintball loader, and more specifically to a paintball loader which rapidly and forcibly feeds paintballs to a paintball marker.
2. Background of the Disclosure
This disclosure relates to loaders for pneumatic paintball markers. Markers are typically used for target practice and in mock war games. The markers can use a compressed gas, such as air or nitrogen, to propel spherical projectiles called paintballs out of the barrel of the device. Paintballs are typically comprised of a colored liquid enclosed in a fragile gelatin casing. The paintballs can be designed to rupture upon impact to mark the target.
Typically, conventional loaders include a housing which is placed on an upper portion of the marker. The housing can be shaped to hold a large amount of paintballs. An outlet tube is typically located at the bottom of the housing through which the paintballs drop either by the force of gravity or by the force of a paintball feeding mechanism. The outlet tube can lead to the marker, where the paintballs are propelled outwardly from the marker by compressed air.
The main reason to provide a feeding mechanism is that the feeding of paintballs only by force of gravity does not always work satisfactorily. Firstly a high rate of fire, which is essential for the player, can not be achieved merely by force of gravity. Secondly the force of gravity only works when the marker is held in an upright or close to upright position, and consequently there is no feeding at all when the marker is tilted in certain angles since the paintballs then do not fall into the outlet tube. This problem can be avoided by providing a paintball loader mechanism which by force inputs the paintballs into the outlet tube and into the marker.


A method if provided for forming a diamond etch stop layer across a transistor to protect the source and drain junctions and the gate conductor of the transistor from being etched. The diamond may be CVD deposited from a hydrocarbon-bearing gas across the transistor. An interlevel dielectric comprising oxide is formed across the diamond etch stop layer. Contact openings may be etched through the oxide interlevel dielectric to the source and drain junctions and the gate conductor using a fluorine-bearing plasma. Advantageously, a high etch rate selectivity of oxide to diamond may be achieved using the fluorine-bearing plasma. As such, the plasma etch may be terminated well before significant portions of the diamond can be removed. Ti atoms may be implanted into regions of the diamond exposed by the contact openings and subsequently heated to render those regions of the diamond conductive. Contacts may be formed within the contact openings upon the conductive diamond which are electrically linked to the source and drain junctions and the gate conductor.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to integrated circuit fabrication and, more particularly, to using diamond as an etch stop layer during contact formation. The diamond is rendered conductive by incorporating titanium dopants within the diamond using gas cluster ion beam implantation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fabrication of an integrated circuit involves numerous processing steps. After impurity regions have been placed within a silicon-based substrate and gate areas defined upon the substrate, an interlevel dielectric is formed across the topography to isolate the gate areas and the impurity regions. Interconnect routing is then placed across the semiconductor topography and connected to the impurity regions and/or the gate areas by ohmic contacts formed through the interlevel dielectric. The entire process of making ohmic contacts to the impurity regions and/or the gate areas and routing interconnect material between the ohmic contacts is described generally as "metallization". As the complexity of integrated circuits has increased, the complexity of the metallization composition has also increased. Conductive materials other than metal are commonly used for metallization. As such, the term metallization is generic in its application.
Integrated circuits typically employ active devices known as transistors. A transistor includes a pair of impurity regions, i.e., junctions, laterally separated by a gate conductor which is dielectrically spaced above the substrate within which the junctions reside. The junctions contain a dopant species opposite in type to that of a channel region residing underneath the gate conductor. Formation of an ohmic contact through an interlevel dielectric to a junction involves patterning a protective mask upon areas of the interlevel dielectric exclusive of where the ohmic contact is to be formed. The area of the interlevel dielectric left uncovered by the mask is then etched to form an opening or window directly above the junction to which contact is to be made. The contact window is then filled with a conductive material to form a contact or plug electrically coupled to the junction. Unfortunately, the mask, and hence the contact, may be misaligned with the junction, resulting in increased resistance at the interface between the contact and the junction.
Typically, contact windows are etched through the interlevel dielectric using a dry, plasma etch technique. Unfortunately, it may be difficult to achieve a high etch selectivity ratio of the interlevel dielectric material, e.g., silicon dioxide, relative to the silicon-based junctions. For example, the plasma etch conditions of silicon dioxide ("oxide") must be strictly controlled to ensure that silicon underlying the oxide (SiO.sub.2) is not significantly removed. Otherwise, the depth of the silicon-based junctions may be reduced to the extent that metal subsequently deposited into the contact windows can "spike" entirely through the shallow junctions. As a result of the metal penetrating below the depth of the junctions into the bulk substrate, the junctions may experience large current leakage or even become electrically shorted. These problems may become paramount as junction depth continues to decrease to below 500 .ANG..
A plasma provided with a fluorocarbon, e.g., CF.sub.4, and O.sub.2 may be used to etch oxide, however, Si is etched more rapidly than oxide in a CF.sub.4 --O.sub.2 plasma. While adding H.sub.2 to the CF.sub.4 --O.sub.2 plasma has been found to increase the SiO.sub.2 -to-Si etch rate selectivity, the exact process conditions required to achieve the maximum selectivity ratio varies for different etch reactors. Accordingly, several experimental etch trials must be performed to determine the optimum process conditions necessary to etch oxide at a much faster rate than silicon. Not only are the experimental trials time consuming, they are also costly, and thus add to the costs of an integrated circuit manufacturer.
Incorporating self-aligned, low resistivity silicide structures between the contact windows and the junctions have grown in popularity due to the problems associated with aligning contact windows to the junctions. The presence of the self-aligned suicides, i.e., "salicides" upon the junctions ensures that contact is made to the entire area of each junction. A salicide process involves depositing a refractory metal across the semiconductor topography, and then reacting the metal only in regions where a high concentration of silicon atoms are present. In this manner, salicides (e.g., TiSi.sub.2) may be formed exclusively upon the silicon-based junctions and the upper surface of a polycrystalline silicon ("polysilicon") gate conductor interposed between the junctions. Salicide formed upon polysilicon is generally referred to as "polycide". Regions between the junctions and the sidewall surfaces of the gate conductor may be pre-disposed with dielectric sidewall spacers generally formed from oxide. The sidewall spacers serve to prevent the metal deposited across the semiconductor topography from contacting, and hence reacting with, the polysilicon at the sidewall surfaces of the gate conductor. Absent the sidewall spacers, silicide could form upon the sidewall surfaces of the gate conductor, undesirably shorting the gate conductor to the adjacent junctions.
After salicides have been formed upon the junctions and the gate conductor of a transistor, an interlevel dielectric is deposited across the semiconductor topography. Contact windows are then etched through the interlevel dielectric and filled with a conductive material to form contacts to the salicides. Unfortunately, a high etch selectivity ratio of the interlevel dielectric material, e.g., oxide, relative to salicide may also be extremely difficult to accomplish. Therefore, substantial portions of the salicides may be removed during the overetch time allotted for plasma etching the contact windows. As a result, the resistance to the flow of current between the contacts and the junctions is increased. In the worst case, the entire thickness of the salicides may be etched, completely eliminating the benefits provided by the salicides. Tungsten (W) plugs are often formed within the contact windows using chemical-vapor deposition ("CVD"). The W is typically CVD deposited from a gas comprising SiH.sub.4 and WF.sub.6 or WF.sub.4 at a temperature of 300 to 350.degree. C. W deposition upon TiSi.sub.2 structures may lead to the formation of an interfacial TiF.sub.3 layer between the W and the TiSi.sub.2. The TiF.sub.3 layer undesirably increases the contact resistance between the W and the underlying salicides.
It would therefore be beneficial to devise a process for forming an ohmic contact to a junction of a transistor without being concerned with misalignment and overetch, resulting in undesirably high contact resistance at the junction. It would be beneficial to protect the junction from being etched during the formation of a contact opening through an overlying interlevel dielectric. Otherwise, the junction could become so shallow that conductive material deposited into the contact opening could penetrate entirely through the junction, causing current leakage from the junction. Further, if a salicide resides upon the junction, removal of the salicide must be prevented to ensure that the contact resistance remains as low as possible. Moreover, the W source (i.e., WF.sub.6 or WF.sub.4) used for the CVD deposition of W into the contact opening should be inhibited from contacting TiSi.sub.2 -type salicide, and thus forming TiF.sub.3.

Diamond etch stop rendered conductive by a gas cluster ion beam implant of titanium


A tie for securing a handgrip to a handle bar has a series of short rods formed along the outer surface which project radially outwardly when fastened about a handgrip to provide a handlebar handgrip assembly with an improved frictional surface for the hand of an operator and improved frictional contact between handlebar and handgrip. The ties may be made in multiple colors and textures for different styling effects.

In todays sophisticated sports vehicles handgrips for handlebars used to operated the vehicle have become important safety, comfort and style components. Functionally handgrips must be capable of providing positive, non-slip gripping of the handlebar and yet be comfortable for extended periods of use. Also handgrips have become somewhat of a style setting item on these vehicles with a wide variety of colors and designs appearing on the market.
Examples of previous proposed solutions to the safety and comfort problems are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,125,286 to Wilson and 5,280,735 to Kulpers et al. The latter shows screw actuated clamps to secure the grips to the handlebar and the former twisted safety wires to secure the grips to the handlebar. The twisted wires are unsightly and can cause injury if not applied carefully. Clamps are expensive and tend to be bulky. Neither offer designers much to work with from a style standpoint.
Further the frictional surfaces disclosed by the prior art leave much to be desired. Kulpers' rigid outer sleeve is at best uncomfortable and Wilson's grip looses much of its frictional ability when wet and dirty.


A semiconductor device includes: first and second metallic plates, each of which includes a heat radiation surface and an inner surface; a semiconductor element between the metallic plates; a block between the second metallic plate and the semiconductor element; a solder member between the second metallic plate and the block; and a resin mold. The heat radiation surface is exposed from the resin mold. The second metallic plate includes a groove for preventing the solder member from expanding outside of the block. The groove is disposed on the inner surface and disposed on an outer periphery of the block. The second metallic plate further includes an inner surface member on an inner surface of the groove. The inner surface member has a solder wettability, which is larger than a solder wettability of the block.

A semiconductor device includes a metallic plate and a semiconductor element. The semiconductor element is bonded to the metallic plate with a solder so that a heat generated in the semiconductor element is radiated from the metallic plate. The device is disclosed in JP-2005-123233. The device further includes another metallic plate so that the semiconductor element is sandwiched between a pair of the metallic plates. A block is inserted between one of the metallic plates and the semiconductor element. The one of the metallic plates is bonded to the block with a solder. A pair of the metallic plates, the semiconductor element and the block are molded with a resin mold. A heat radiation surface of each metallic plate is exposed from the resin mold so that the metallic pate radiates heat generated in the semiconductor element. Accordingly, the heat in the semiconductor element is radiated from both sides of the element. Thus, the device provides a both-side heat radiation type semiconductor device.
The block between the metallic plate and the element is used for adjusting a clearance between the metallic plates in order to secure a space when multiple semiconductor elements are sandwiched between the metallic plates or when the semiconductor element is connected to a lead terminal with a wire.
In the device, one of the metallic plates, the semiconductor element, the block and the other one of the metallic plates are stacked together. In this case, the semiconductor element and the block are stacked on the one metallic plate in this order, and then the stacked plate, the element and the block are assembled. After that, an assembly turns over so that the block is disposed downward. Then, the assembly is mounted on the other metallic plate. Thus, the assembly with the metallic plate is bonded to the other one metallic plate with a solder.
At this time, a clearance between the metallic plates, i.e., a height of each element in the assembly in a stacking direction may be varied. To increase the tolerance of variation of the height of the element, a large amount of solder is inserted between the block and the metallic plate.
It is necessary to prevent the solder from spreading outside the block. Conventionally, a solder groove for preventing the solder from spreading is formed on a surface of a member, on which the solder is mounted. Specifically, the solder groove is disposed around a part of the member, the part on which an element is mounted with the solder. This is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-2004-335776.
However, in the both-side heat radiation type semiconductor device having the solder groove disposed around the solder, excess solder in the groove may spread through a side of the block, so that the excess solder reaches the semiconductor element. Thus, short-circuit in the element may be occurred.
Further, in another semiconductor device having a semiconductor element bonded to a metallic plate with a solder, excess solder in a solder groove of the device may cause short-circuit. Specifically, the solder is mounted on a part of the metallic plate so that the semiconductor element is bonded to the part of the metallic plate. The solder groove is formed around the part of the metallic plate. In this case, the excess solder in the groove may spread through a side of the semiconductor element, so that the excess solder reaches the surface of the semiconductor element, or the excess solder may overflow from the groove. Thus, the short-circuit is occurred.

Semiconductor device having metallic plate with groove


A sheet discharging apparatus includes a conveyor provided at one side of the body of the apparatus, and sorter trays and a large capacity tray provided on the opposing side. Wings are provided each rotatable about a rotation axis, on a discharging side of the conveyor, and a projection is formed in the front side in the sheet conveying direction of each wing. The projection is brought into contact with an urging member provided at a frame of the container which is movable in upward/downward directions. When sorter trays are used, the urging member is separate from the projection, so that upper surface of the wing is below a conveying surface. When the frame and urging member are elevated to use the large capacity tray, the urging member presses the projection upward, and hence wings are elevated to be positioned upper than the conveying surface. When a thick sheet is to be discharged, an operation lever is operated so as to retract the projection, preventing contact between the urging member and a projection. Therefore, the wings are not elevated. Accordingly, the wings can be raised/lowered without any electric mechanism, and a sheet discharging apparatus is provided which enables sure discharge and stacking of sheets on the large capacity tray, regardless of the thickness of the sheets.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet discharging apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to a sheet discharging apparatus mounted on a discharging side of an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a copying machine, which apparatus including wings for curving opposing sides of a sheet upward to increase stiffness, when a sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus is discharged to a large capacity tray. This operation of curving opposing sides of the sheet to increase stiffness will be hereinafter referred to as upward curving.
2. Description of the Background Art
On a sheet discharging side of an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a copying machine, a tray (also referred to as a "bin") for receiving the discharged sheet is mounted. Besides an ordinary tray on which several to several tens of sheets (relatively small number of sheets) are stacked, there is a large capacity tray which is capable of stacking and containing a large number of sheets of more than one hundred at one time. Some image forming apparatuses are provided with sorting function, by preparing a plurality of ordinary trays mentioned above on which a small number of sheets can be stacked at one time, moving upward/downward the trays in accordance with the timing of discharge of the sheets, and sorting the discharged sheets to prescribed trays. The sheet discharging apparatus includes one type or a plurality of types of such trays.
FIG. 9A shows an example of a conventional sheet discharging apparatus. The conventional sheet discharging apparatus includes a large capacity tray, and a tray group including a number of stages of trays for sorting. As shown in the figure, a conveyor 2 is provided at a central portion in height direction on one side of an approximately rectangular body 1 of the apparatus. On a side of body 1 opposing to conveyor 2, a container 3 for receiving the discharged sheet is provided. The image forming apparatus (not shown) is arranged on the side of conveyor 2.
Conveyor 2 receives a sheet on which an image is formed by the image forming apparatus, conveys the sheet over a conveying surface 4 and discharges the sheet to container 3. The sheet conveying force is applied, in a copying machine, for example, by pinching the sheet from above and below by a pair of upper and lower discharge rollers provided near a discharge outlet and by rotating the rollers, so that the sheet is conveyed forward in the conveying direction. In a printer, it is possible that printing ink on the sheet is not yet dried. Therefore, a vacuum conveyor (suction belt) is used, whereby the sheet is conveyed with the conveyor touching only the non-printed surface of the sheet.
FIG. 9B is a front view of conveyor 2 viewed from the direction of the arrow IXB in FIG. 9A. Referring to FIG. 9B, a pair of wings 5 are provided at opposing edges near a discharging outlet of conveyor 2. Wings 5 are reciprocal between a first position where each wing protrudes upward from conveying surface 4 as represented by the solid line in FIG. 9B, and a second position where each wing is positioned below conveying surface 4 as represented by two-dotted chain in FIG. 9B. Specifically, wings 5 are arranged parallel to each other along the conveying direction, and adapted to be movable between the two positions mentioned above with opposing edges of the wings serving as rotation axes 5a for forward/rearward rotation. A solenoid 6 is provided as a driving source for the movement.
Solenoid 6 is coupled near an outer side at a bottom surface of wing 5 (an edge opposing to the center of rotation), and solenoid 6 is conducted, so that the outer side of wing 5 is urged upward and rotated about rotation axis 5a to be placed at the first position. By stopping conduction to solenoid 6, wing 5 is rotated in the opposite direction and placed at the second position.
When wing 5 is at the first position, an upper surface 5b of wing 5 provides an inclined surface which gradually rises in the outer and forward direction of conveying. When it is at the second position, the upper surface is horizontal and approximately flush with conveying surface 4. Upper surface 5b of wing 5 is adapted to be in contact with lower side surface of the sheet moving on conveying surface 4.
Accordingly, when wings 5 are at the first position, opposing edges of the sheet in the proceeding direction are lifted along the upper surfaces 5b of wings 5, that is, subjected to the upward curving, and the sheet is maintained in a state extending straight along the proceeding direction. In other words, the discharged sheet would never be bent at an intermediate portion in the proceeding direction with the front portion hanging loose downward. Further, since the sheet is discharged diagonally upward, the sheet can fly over a relatively long distance. When wings 5 are at the second position, the sheet is kept flat and not subjected to upward curving, and is discharged in horizontal direction.
Container 3 includes trays (bins) 7 allowing stacking of a small number of sheets arranged in multiple stages, and a large capacity tray 8 containing a large number of sheets. Trays 7 are provided inclined with the front side in sheet conveying direction raised upward, and the trays 7 are arranged aligned in vertical direction spaced by a prescribed distance from each other. Trays 7 can be elevated/lowered collectively by an elevating apparatus in body 1.
Large capacity tray 8 is made relatively deep so as to increase capacity, and has sidewalls 8a on opposing edges and a stop wall 8b erected in front. When large capacity tray 8 is used, the actual position of receiving the sheet is lower by a prescribed distance from the sheet discharging position. Therefore, the discharged sheet drops by this distance and stacked. Therefore, wings 5 are set at the first position so that the sheet is curved upward and discharged diagonally upward. Thus the discharged sheet never has its forward portion bent and discharged downward, but the sheet flies over a relatively long distance in a straight extended state. The sheet abuts stop wall 8b and guided by sidewalls 8a, so that the number of sheets are successively stack in large capacity tray 8.
When sheets are to be stacked on tray 7 of small capacity and wings 5 are kept at the first position, it becomes necessary to ensure large space between upper and lower trays 7, as the sheet is discharged with opposing edges raised, which results in the apparatus of larger size, or smaller number of mountable trays. Further, the sheet tends to fly relatively farther, and hence it is possible that the sheet goes out from the front side of tray 7. Therefore, wings 5 are set to the second position so that the sheet is discharged flat. This enables reduction in space between the trays. Since only a small number of sheets are stacked in tray 7, the distance from the sheet discharging outlet to the receiving surface of tray 7 is short. Therefore, even when the sheet is discharged in the horizontal direction without upward curving, sheets can be stacked neatly on tray 7. In this manner, conduction to solenoid 6 is controlled in accordance with the tray used, and wings 5 are set to the desired state.
FIGS. 10A and 10B show another example of the conventional sheet discharging apparatus in which a large capacity tray 8' has a function of wings. More specifically, large capacity tray 8' has wings 5' attached integrally on the side of sheet discharging outlet. Similar to wings 5 set at the first position shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, each of the wings 5' provides an inclined surface gradually rising forward and outward along the conveying direction. When a sheet is conveyed, it is subjected to upward curving by upper ends of wings 5', and is contained in large capacity tray 8'. In such a structure, it is not necessary to elevate/lower wings 5' dependent on the tray used, so that the apparatus can be simplified and control is facilitated.
However, the conventional sheet discharging apparatus described above suffers from the following problem. When large capacity tray 8' is used, wings 5' are always used raised at the first position. As a result, if a sheet itself is sturdy as in the case of a thick sheet and opposing edges are raised, the central portion of the sheet tends to rise. When a vacuum conveyor is used as conveyor 2 and the rising force of the central portion of the sheet exceeds the vacuum attraction, the sheet would be away from the surface of the conveyor belt, and thus conveying force cannot be applied. When the sheet is pinched by a pair of upper and lower rolls, unnatural force may be applied to the sheet, resulting in undesirable bending.
In the structure shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, control for conducting/shutting power to solenoid 6 dependent on the state of use is necessary, which control is complicated. Further, upward/downward movement of wings 5 is realized by an electric mechanism including solenoid 6 and conducting apparatus therefor. Accordingly, a space for the electric mechanism is necessary and cost increases. Further, there is a possibility of malfunction in the control system, which may lead to a failure.
In the structure shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, large capacity tray 8' must be mounted protruding in the direction of sheet discharge by the thickness of wings 5' (thickness of the wings in the discharging direction), which results in increased size of the whole apparatus.

Sheet discharging apparatus having mechanically driven wings


A device, particularly a missile, includes a body having an appendage, e.g., a wing, normally folded in an inoperative position and to be unfolded to an operative position when the body is accelerated in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the body. The appendage is pivotally mounted about a first pivot axis extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the body, and also about a second pivot axis extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the body. The center of gravity of the appendage is outwardly of the first pivot axis in the folded condition of the appendage such that the acceleration of the body produces a moment pivotting the appendage about the first pivot axis.

The present invention relates to a device including a body having a folded appendage which is to be deployed upon acceleration of the body. The invention is particularly useful with respect to missiles or other forms of aircraft or seacraft having one or more wings, fins, vanes or the like, which are normally folded on the body but which are to be unfolded to a deployed condition upon acceleration of the body. The invention is therefore described below with respect to such an application, but it will be appreciated that the invention could also advantageously be used in other applications as well, e.g., for deploying antenna systems, solar collector panels, etc., in spacecraft.
Missiles are conventionally housed in canisters and frequently include foldable wings which are folded in order to accommodate the missile within the canister. In the conventional foldable wing construction, the wing is pivotally mounted from a folded, non-operative, position while the missile is in the canister, to an extended or operative position after the missile leaves the canister. Such a construction permits the use of wings having relatively large wing spans to be accommodated in relatively small canisters.

Device including a body having folded appendage to be deployed upon acceleration

State of Israel - Ministry of Defense Rafael-Armament Development Authority


A frame for tying a shoelace comprises one or more protrusions and one or more apertures. At least one of the one or more apertures of the frame comprises a diameter operable to receive a first end of the shoelace. The one or more protrusions of the frame are positioned about the at least one of the one or more apertures of the frame and the one or more protrusions of the frame are operable to engage the shoelace and resist movement of the shoelace within the at least one aperture of the frame.

Tying shoelaces can be prohibitively difficult for some individuals. For example, tying shoelaces may be difficult for those who are young and learning, those who suffer from a disability, those who suffer from arthritis, or those who otherwise lack the necessary finger dexterity. To many individuals, the most difficult part of tying a shoelace is holding a shoelace in one or more loops as they complete a knot. Specifically, an individual may struggle with holding one or more loops together as they complete subsequent steps of tying a knot for a shoe.
There are many types of knots that are operable to tie a shoe. For example, two popular methods for tying a shoelace are known as (1) the "bunny ears" method (the "BE Method"); and (2) the "loop, swoop, and pull" method (the "LSP Method"). Both of these methods involve the formation of a half-hitch knot and at least one shoelace loop. As used herein, a "half-hitch knot" is formed by crossing two ends (or loops) of a shoelace, bringing one end under the crossed pair, and pulling both ends taut. Generally, performance of the LSP Method involves creating a half-hitch knot and then forming a first loop from one end of the shoelace. After the first loop has been formed, the LSP method is completed by circumscribing the first loop with the other end of the shoelace (the second end) thereby creating a ring about the first loop, and threading the second end of the shoelace through the ring. Threading the second end of the shoelace through the ring constricts the ring, thereby forming a bow. In other words, the LSP method is performed by first creating a loop, performing a swoop about the loop, and pulling the shoelace through the swoop.
Comparatively, the BE Method requires the formation of two loops. Generally, this method involves creating a half-hitch knot and then forming a loop from each end of the shoelace, thereby creating two loops that resemble two ears of a bunny. While holding both ends of the shoelace in loops, a half-hitch knot is then formed from the two loops. This method requires not one, but both ends, of the shoelace to be held in a loop while completing the bow.
Because many persons struggle with tying shoelaces, solutions have been devised for individuals unable or unwilling to tie shoelaces. For example, hook-and-loop (i.e., Velcro™) straps or slip-on shoelaces provide alternatives to shoelaces entirely. These solutions are insufficient in that they limit available shoes to hook-and-loop or slip-on shoes. Further, in many situations, an individual may prefer to have laced shoes instead of hook-and-loop or slip-on shoes (e.g., due to personal preference or etiquette). These solutions are further insufficient in that they do not aid an individual in improving their shoe tying ability (e.g., children learning to tie shoes). Further, these solutions, however, do not help an individual in the shoelace tying process.
At least one solution has been created to assist in tying a shoelace. This solution is marketed and sold by EZLeaps, LLC ("EZLeeps"). Generally, EZLeaps sells a product similar in size to a playing card and includes a plurality of holes through which a shoelace is threaded and ultimately tied in a bow. The plurality of holes on the EZLeaps product are connected by cut-outs which permit removal of the EZLeaps product upon completion of the shoelace-tying process. Although the EZLeaps product aids an individual in the shoelace tying process, the design of the product has various drawbacks. For example, an individual requiring the EZLeaps product to tie a shoelace must carry around the EZLeaps product at all times in order to retie a shoelace that has come undone. This is highly inconvenient for individuals, especially for children who may forget to carry (or may not be permitted to carry) the EZLeaps product with them at all times (e.g., in school or day care settings).


A pixel circuit 110 includes a driving transistor, a light-emitting element, and a voltage limiter circuit. The transistor and the light-emitting element are connected in series between power supply. The transistor allows an electric current that is dependent on a voltage between its gate and source to flow through the light-emitting element. The light-emitting element emits light at a luminance that is dependent on an electric current that flows between two terminals. The voltage limiter circuit performs voltage limiting in such a way as to ensure that a voltage between the drain of the transistor and the source thereof does not exceed a predetermined value.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an electro-optical device that can prevent a transistor from being damaged, a power supply method that is to be used by the electro-optical device, and an electronic apparatus.
2. Related Art
Recently, various kinds of electro-optical devices in which light-emitting elements such as organic light-emitting diode (hereinafter referred to as "OLED") elements are built have been proposed in the art. Such an electro-optical device typically has the following structure. A plurality of scanning lines and a plurality of data lines are formed over a glass substrate. A pixel circuit is provided at a position corresponding to each of the intersections of the scanning lines and the data lines. The pixel circuit includes, in addition to the light-emitting element, a driving transistor that allows an electric current to flow through the light-emitting element. Therefore, the driving transistor is formed as a thin film transistor.
Such an electro-optical device is required to be small in size and offer high definition. To meet strict requirements for a small size and high definition, a technique of forming pixel circuits not over a glass substrate but over a silicon substrate has been proposed in the art. An example of such a technique is disclosed in JP-A-2009-152113.
In a structure in which pixel circuits are formed over a silicon substrate, though it is easier to reduce the size of each transistor, the withstand voltage of the transistor is lower. Therefore, depending on an electric current that flows through the light-emitting element, there is a risk that a voltage that is higher than the withstand voltage might be applied to the driving transistor, resulting in the breakdown of the driving transistor.

Display device having a voltage limiting circuit to ensure that the voltage between the drain and source of a pixel's driving transistor does not exceed a predetermined value


There is provided an image display system that can display images recorded by a plurality of image recording apparatuses in such a manner that the images are associated with each other. The image display system is comprised of a TV apparatus that captures and reproduces images recorded by the plurality of image recording apparatuses and additional information added thereto and then displays each of the reproduced images. The TV apparatus detects the presence or absence of relevancy between the images recorded by the plurality of image recording apparatuses based on the additional information captured and reproduced from the plurality of image recording apparatuses, and then displays, on a display, a related image display screen that allows a viewer to recognize the detected related images.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image display system, an image reproducing apparatus, an image display method that display each of images recorded by a plurality of image recording apparatuses, and a storage medium storing a program that executes this image display method.
The present invention also relates to a digital television apparatus and an image display method that can display images from a plurality of image sources, and a storage medium storing a program that executes this image display method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recent photographing apparatuses such as digital cameras and video camera recording apparatuses (hereinafter referred to as "DVCs") have reduced sizes and prices and have become so popular that they are easily available. These photographing apparatuses can be used for photographing. Further, it has become more commonplace to photograph an identical scene using a plurality of photographing apparatuses.
Under these circumstances, a large number of users request that images of an identical scene photographed by several photographing apparatuses can be viewed and enjoyed on a single television receiver (hereinafter referred to as "the TV") to which these photographing apparatuses are connected. It is convenient and pleasant to be able to thus simultaneously view images of an identical scene photographed by different photographing apparatuses.
However, few systems exist that allow a plurality of apparatuses or media which are not limited to DVCs and digital cameras to be connected to a single TV so that images photographed by these apparatuses can be viewed on this TV. Further, even if there are any such systems, they only enable independent screens to be displayed, handled, and viewed.
On the other hand, there is a method in which, to detect the contents recorded in a DVC and display what are recorded in the DVC in order to assist viewers, the first frame of each recorded scene is displayed as a representative thumbnail image of the scene. However, the first frame of the recorded scene does not necessarily represent the scene.
Further, some animated image searching tools exist that search a recorded image to obtain several images as representative ones based on changes in the image. However, these tools are intended for use with computers, the use thereof may lead to increased costs, and they are not used for general applications.
Furthermore, these tools are effective in simply detecting what are recorded in the DVC, but do not allow images of an identical scene to be viewed so that the images of all the apparatuses that have photographed the identical scene can be associated with one another.
Moreover, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2001-222417 describes a system that indicates that a plurality of contents are associated with one another. However, this system imparts an originally photographed animated image in an animated image window with an icon display indicating whether or not there are any postrecorded sounds or whether or not any still images have been saved in connection with the animated image, thereby allowing viewers to realize whether or not there is any related information, but the system does not allow images of an identical scene to be viewed so that the images of all the apparatuses that have photographed the identical scene can be associated with one another.
Further, a digital television apparatus (hereinafter referred to as "DTV") can receive television broadcasting such as ordinary program broadcasting and digital broadcasting and can connect to a telephone line, a domestic intercom, an entrance intercom, the Internet, a home server, or various electric appliances via a network. The DTV is constructed to display and reproduce still and animated images and sounds on each of the apparatus using independent screens or multiscreens.
For example, image information obtained by a domestic digital video camera is recorded in various recording media such as a magnetic tape, memory card, and removable hard disk housed in the digital video camera. When the image information recorded in one of these recording media is displayed on the DTV, if the DTV has a reproducing apparatus attached thereto which can read data directly from the recording medium, then by setting this recording medium in the reproducing apparatus, a reproducing application for this recording medium can be actuated to reproduce the image information recorded therein to display it on a display screen of the DTV.
Further, if the DTV does not have the above reproducing apparatus attached thereto, the digital video camera used for recording the image information or another separate reproducing apparatus can be connected to the DTV via a wiring device such as a cable or a wireless device using as a radio communication medium electromagnetic waves, infrared rays, or the like so that image information reproduced by the digital video camera or the separate reproducing apparatus can be transmitted to the DTV as identifiable and enterable image and sound information form and then displayed on the display screen of the DTV.
In either case, operations on the reproducing application on the DTV or operations on the individual reproducing apparatuses can be preformed using remote control devices attached to the DTV or exclusively used for these reproducing apparatuses. Furthermore, if the digital video camera used for recording the image information or the separate reproducing apparatus is connected to a DTV that can transmit various command signals to the digital video camera used for recording the image information or the separate reproducing apparatus, the connected camera or apparatus can also be controlled by operating a graphical user interface (hereinafter referred to as "the GUI") displayed on the display screen of the DTV.
Such a DTV will be described below with reference to FIGS. 43 and 44. FIG. 43 schematically shows the construction of a system comprised of a conventional DTV and peripheral apparatuses connected thereto. FIG. 44 is a view showing the arrangement of buttons of a remote control device shown in FIG. 43.
A DTV 1101 is provided therein with a drive 1102 that reads data from a recording medium such as a video disk 1104, and a memory card slot 1103 that reads data from a recording medium such as a memory card 1105. The DTV 1101 allows peripheral apparatuses such as a portable digital video camera (hereinafter referred to as "the DVC") 1106, a digital camera 1107, an installed video deck 1108, or a video disk player 1109 to be connected thereto, as shown in FIG. 43. Further, the DTV 1101 can be operated from a remote control device 1110.
The remote control device 1110 has cursor buttons 1502 to 1505 for upward, leftward, downward, and rightward directions, respectively, an execution button 1506, a menu button 1507, and a channel selecting button 1508, which are all provided on a top surface of the remote control device 1110, as shown in FIG. 44.
Next, with reference to FIGS. 45 to 51, a description will be given of an example of a display screen for a still or animated image obtained when the DTV 1101 reproduces the image from the recording medium or via the peripheral apparatuses connected thereto. FIG. 45 is a view showing an example of a display screen provided when the memory card is inserted into the DTV in FIG. 43. FIG. 46 is a view showing an example of a display screen for an image recorded in the memory card, inserted into the DTV in FIG. 43. FIG. 47 is a view showing an example in which a menu screen is displayed on the display screen in FIG. 46. FIG. 48 is a view showing an example of an enlarged display of the recorded image on the display screen in FIG. 46. FIG. 49 is a view showing an example of a display screen provided when a DVC is connected to the DTV in FIG. 43. FIG. 50 is a view showing an example in which a DVC operating panel is displayed on the display screen in FIG. 49. FIG. 51 is a view showing an example of a multiscreen including an animated image from the DVC and a still image from the memory card and which is displayed on the DTV.
When the memory card 1105, storing still image data obtained by the digital camera 1107, is inserted into the memory card slot 1103 in the DTV 1101, the DTV 1101 detects the insertion of the memory card 1105 into the memory card slot 1103, and actuates an application for simultaneously displaying the still images recorded in the memory card, as thumbnail images. Thus, the DTV 1101 displays a list display screen 1301 that simultaneously displays the still images recorded in the memory card, as thumbnail images, as shown in FIG. 45. The list display screen 1301 for thumbnail images displays a digital camera icon 1302 indicating that the simultaneously displayed thumbnail images have been photographed by a digital camera. Further, any of the thumbnail images can be selected or moved on the list display screen 1301 by using the four-way cursor buttons 1502 to 1505, execution button 1506, and menu button 1507 of the remote control device 1110.
Here, a focus can be moved to, for example, a thumbnail image 1303, 1304, or 1305 on the screen shown in FIG. 45, by operating the corresponding cursor buttons 1502 to 1505 of the remote control device 1110. When the focus is moved to the thumbnail image 1305, it is enclosed by a thick frame to indicate that it is being focused on. When the execution button 1506 is operated with the thumbnail image 1305 focused on, the screen is switched to a screen 1401 displaying a still image 1403 corresponding to the thumbnail image 1305, as shown in FIG. 46. The digital camera icon 1402 is also displayed on the screen 1401.
With the screen 1401 displayed, if the menu button 1507 on the remote control device 1110 is depressed, an operation menu 1501 is displayed as shown in FIG. 47. While the operation menu 1501 is being displayed, the movements of the cursor buttons 1502 to 1506 on the remote control device 1110 are limited to those between the items in the operation menu 1501. Further, when the menu button 1507 is then depressed again, the operation menu 1501 disappears. Then, if an "enlarging" operation is selected from the operation menu 1501 and the execution button 1506 of the remote control device 1110 is depressed, an "enlarging" operation is performed. Thus, as shown in FIG. 48, an enlarged display screen 1601 of the still image 1403 in the screen 1401 is displayed. At this time, the position of the enlarged portion is indicated by vertical and horizontal scroll bars 1602 and 1603, and the displayed position is moved by operating the scroll bars 1602 and 1603 using the cursor buttons 1502 to 1505 on the remote control device 1110. Further, this enlarged display is cleared by depressing the execution button 1506 on the remote control device 1110, and then returns to the screen shown in FIG. 46.
Now, if a DVC (digital video camera) is connected to the DTV 1101, the DTV 1101 and the DVC 1106 are connected together via a serial bus such as the IEEE1394, via which the DTV 1101 and the DVC 1106 transfer and receive animated image data and various commands therebetween. Further, the DTV 1101 and the DVC 1106 can be connected together with power thereto ON, so that images from the DVC 1106 can be viewed by simply connecting the DVC 1106 and the DTV 1101 together via a single cable if it is set such that immediately after the DVC 1106 has been connected to the DTV 1101, the DTV 1101 is switched to a reproduced image screen and the DTV 1101 then transmits a reproduction executing signal to the DVC 1106. For example, when the DVC 1106 and the DTV 1101 are connected together, a reproduced image screen 1701, 1801 from the DVC 1106 is displayed on the DTV 1101 and a digital video camera icon 1702, 1802 a reproduced image 1703, 1803 (a still image), and an operation panel 1704, 1803 are displayed, as shown in FIGS. 49 and 50. FIG. 50 illustrates the play button of the operating panel displayed on the display screen in FIG. 49 being operational.
Then, when the reproduction button on the operation panel 1704 is selected to execute reproduction using the cursor buttons 1502 to 1505 and execution button 1506 on the remote control device 1110, reproduction of images from the DVC 1106 is started.
Further, as shown in FIG. 51, it is possible to display a multiscreen 1901 using a multiscreen function of the DTV 1101 and simultaneously display images from different image sources on the multiscreen 1901. For example, it is possible to display, on one screen, a still image 1906 from the memory card 1105, inserted into the slot 1103 in the DTV 1101, while displaying, on the other screen, a reproduced image 1903 from the DVC 1106, connected to the DTV 1101. In this case, a digital camera icon 1905 and a thumbnail image selection bar 1907 that allows a still image to be selected from the memory card 1105 are displayed on the side of the screen 1906, which displays the still image from the memory card 1105. On the other hand, a digital video camera icon 1902 and an operation panel 1904 are displayed on the side of the reproduced image display screen 1903 of the DVC 1106.
As described above, if a travel or an event is photographed using both a digital camera that photographs still images and a digital video camera that photographs animated images, image information recorded by the respective apparatuses can be simultaneously viewed. However, it is impossible to view these images in a predetermined or desired time sequence or in a manner associating the vide information with various information recorded as photographing information such as photographing areas or locations.
Further, if different media are stored at different locations and one of the media is to be reproduced, the user may forget even the presence of the other medium, which is associated with the one medium.

Image display system, image reproducing apparatus, digital television apparatus, image display method, and storage medium for controlling image display based on additional information read from multiple image recording apparatuses