A snap fastener having a stud with a pear-shaped head has a grommet assembly for removable mounting on the stud with the grommet assembly comprising a metal tooth cap and an annular plastic retainer with the fabric squeezed therebetween and prongs of the cap extending through the fabric and clinched over the retainer, and with the head of the stud disposed between the cap and retainer and with the fabric extending uninterruptedly over the head of the stud. Tooling is shown for quickly assembling the tooth cap and retainer to the fabric.

This is a further development of the snap fasteners shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,409,706, 4,577,376, 4,646,399 and U.S. application Ser. No. 07/382,666, filed Jun. 29, 1989, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,279, all of which are incorporated herein by reference. While the stud design disclosed in application Ser. No. 382,666 represents a satisfactory, operable design, field testing showed that variation in the inside diameter of the grommet aperture resulted in fasteners where the grommet and stud could not be readily snapped together or disconnected to fasteners where the grommet and stud were so loosely joined that they might easily and inadvertently separate. The variations in aperture diameter in the grommet were traced to two major causes: (1) the manner in which the artisan assembled the grommets to the fabric and (2) in use the grommets were being distorted beyond their elastic limit.
Various design changes were experimented with in an effort to provide a grommet with a reliable inside diameter and as shown in application Ser. No. 382,666 grommets with an internal ring incorporated therein were proposed. The following U.S. and foreign references were known and considered:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. Nos.: Foregin Patents: ______________________________________ 506,110 French Patent No. 450,924 681,086 British Patent No. 872,204 717,333 German Patent No. 98,040 991,156 Austrian Patent No. 91,282 1,096,897 Swiss Patent No. 80,821 1,204,173 1,302,918 1,652,139 2,099,979 2,328,016 2,709,290 2,807,069 2,895,199 ______________________________________
I finally determined that the portion of the fastener to be snapped on the stud (hereinafter the retainer) had to have an aperture whose diameter was independent of the manner in which the fastener was attached to the fabric, and would not be distorted beyond its elastic limit when applied to or removed from the stud. I further determined that both the stud and the retainer should be made of plastic which could not corrode when exposed to corrosive environments and whose tolerances could be closely held.
Consideration was given to methods of attaching the retainer to the fabric including heat sealing as in U.S. Pat. No. 2,895,199, or gluing, or where the fabric was mechanically held as in U.S. Pat. No. 2,807,069. Each of these approaches held a variety of disadvantages.
An important consideration was ease of attachment of the fastener to the fabric material. Ideally the retainer should be attachable in a quick and simple fashion either manually using conventional tools or with setting tools usable in existing presses.
Similarly, the studs should be attachable to the fabric using conventional fasteners--where a fabric to fabric connection was desired, without the need for special adapters or modifications of the stud.
I determined the fastener should be so constructed that when assembled the plastic parts would be protected from the weather. While plastic materials might be selected containing ultraviolet inhibitors and good resistance to moisture, if the design was such that the plastic parts were substantially covered or shielded from the weather, the parts should function reliably and be aesthetically pleasing for a greater period of time.
Finally, I decided no hole should be required through the fabric for reception of the stud, as is required in the case of other commercially available fasteners such as the LIFT A DOT.RTM. fastener manufactured by TRW or the twist type fastener manufactured by RAU Fasteners, Inc. of Providence, R.I. so that the fabric would not be weakened at the connection and would maintain maximum tear strength and integrity.


A telecommunications system includes a plurality of network clients including electronic or multimedia messaging clients. The electronic messaging clients are adapted to provide presence information and to display such presence information in association with received messages. The display of messages may then be sorted according to the presence information.

Electronic mail, or electronic messaging, is rapidly becoming an essential business tool and preferred method for communicating. An electronic messaging message typically includes a "body" such as a text or HTML message with one or more attachments and is typically accompanied by displayable header information. Such header information can include parameters such as "From," "To," "Subject," "Date and Time Received," "Size," "Priority," and the like, and allows the user to sort the messages in his mailbox.
Electronic mail can be disadvantageous when a recipient wishes to respond to a sender and when instantaneous feedback of a sender's presence is desired. For example, a recipient may receive an urgent electronic messaging from a sender and wish to reply. However, if the recipient replies, there is no way to ensure that the original sender is available to receive the message. While systems are known in which the sender is notified when a recipient opens the mail, these provide only after-the-fact recipient status.
As such, there is a need for a more efficient way to process electronic mail. There is a still further need for an electronic mail system that advises a recipient of an electronic messaging of a sender's presence status.

System and method for presence enabled electronic mail folders


A lid which is to be heat-sealed on a container, including a laminated sheet composed of a base layer, an adhesive layer, a metallic layer, and a heat-sealable resin layer, in which the base layer includes a single layer of a stretched resin film having many microvoids or a laminate containing at least the stretched resin film, the lid having an indication of the direction of stripping, including a lug provided at the periphery thereof or a print thereon, in such a manner that the indicated direction of stripping should be set within a range of .+-.45.degree. with respect to the direction of greatest thermal expansion coefficient of the base layer when heated from 30.degree. C. up to 80.degree. C. at a rate of temperature rise of 10.degree. C./min for 5 minutes. When hot water is poured into a container with the lid partly stripped, the lid is heated by the steam to close the container without assistance.

So-called instant foods, such as instant noodles, can be made edible simply by pouring hot water into the container and allowing it to stand for a while, for example, 1 to 5 minutes. Because of this easy cooking process, they are very popular among unmarried persons, persons on night duty, persons living alone, young people, etc.
These instant foods, for example, noodles in a cup, are cooked according to the following steps. After removing a transparent shrink-wrapping film, a lug of the lid heat-sealed to the fringe of the cup is pulled up with the fingers to strip back the lid by about 1/3 or 1/2 thereof. Ingredients other than noodles, such as dry vegetables and powdered soup, taken from separate bags if so packaged, are placed on the noodles, and hot water is poured into the cup. Then, the stripped portion of the lid is again returned to its original position on the fringe, and the thus closed cup is allowed to stand for a prescribed time, e.g., 1 to 5 minutes, during which time the contents of the cup are cooked. During the cooking, a weight is put on the lid, or the end of the lid is fixed with adhesive tape so as to prevent the lid from curling upward thereby preventing heat dissipation and assuring thermal efficiency. After completion of the cooking, the lid is completely stripped off the cup for serving.
Containers to be used for instant foods of this type include cups made of resins having satisfactory heat retaining properties, such as those prepared by plug-assist vacuum forming or pressure forming of polystyrene paper (extruded expanded polystyrene sheet), high-impact polystyrene sheet, and nylon/polyethylene laminated sheet; those obtained by in-mold expansion of expandable polystyrene beads; and those obtained by injection molding of polypropylene.
Conventional lids for these containers are made from four-layered laminated sheet having heat-sealability as shown in FIG. 5, composed of fine paper having provided thereon a print 14 as base layer 2, adhesive layer 3 formed by extrusion coating of a molten resin film of low-density polyethylene, an ethylene-acrylic acid copolymer, etc. or by coating a urethane type or polyester type liquid adhesive (so-called anchoring agent), aluminum foil layer 4 having a thickness of from 6 to 15 .mu.m, and heat-sealing layer 5 formed by extrusion laminating a low-melting resin (melting point: 80.degree. to 135.degree. C.), e.g., low-density polyethylene and an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, or by coating a solvent solution of such a resin.
However, when hot water is poured into the half-opened container, the fine paper is heated by hot steam through the aluminum layer to release its water content and shrinks, causing upward curling of the lid as illustrated in FIG. 6. In order to keep the lid in the right shape, it has been necessary to put a weight on the lid after adding the hot water.
JP-A-U-58-133574 (the term "JP-A-U" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese utility model application") discloses a lid comprising a paper or aluminum base having laminated thereon a transparent biaxially stretched polyethylene film or a biaxially stretched nylon film, which closes the half-opened container by itself through a bimetal effect caused by the steam.
However, the proposed lid proved to undergo inward curling due to excessively high thermal shrinkage of the biaxially stretched film as illustrated in FIG. 7, resulting in failure to tightly close the container.

Lid of container and container for instant foods using the same


Machine vision methods for determining a characteristic (such as position, orientation, size, center of mass, and boundary) of an object in an image include finding points in the image on the boundary of the object; identifying bounding boxes, or regions, in the image that correspond to edges of the object; and labeling boundary points to denote which respective edges, if any, to which they belong based on (i) the locations and orientations of those points, and (ii) locations of the plural bounding boxes. Points apparently lying on a boundary of the object, but outside a bounding box, can be ignored--and, more particularly, are denoted as not corresponding to an edge. Likewise, apparent boundary points lying within a bounding box, but at an angle not associated with the corresponding to the respective edge of the object, can also be ignored. Characteristics of the imaged object are determined as a function of those boundary points found to correspond to an edge of the object (e.g., points lying within a bounding box, at the expected angle, and not too far from a line connecting similarly situated points). Characteristics of the object, such as position, orientation, size, center of mass, and boundary points, can be determined in the image reference frame.

The invention pertains to machine vision and, more particularly, to methods for determining characteristics of an object represented in an image. The invention has application inter alia in the machine inspection of back-lit objects, such as semiconductor chip surface mounted devices.
Machine vision refers to the automated analysis of an image to determine characteristics of objects and other features shown therein. It is often employed in automated manufacturing lines, where images of components are analyzed to determine placement and alignment prior to assembly. Machine vision is also used for quality assurance. For example, in the pharmaceutical and food packing industries, images of packages are analyzed to insure that product labels, lot numbers, "freshness" dates, and the like, are properly positioned and legible.
In many machine vision applications, it is often essential to identify the boundaries of objects in images. In the semiconductor industry, for example, semiconductor chip surface mounted devices (SMDs) must be precisely positioned and oriented before they can be soldered into place on a printed circuit board. Typically, those components are "back-lit," i.e., illuminated from behind such that images of only their silhouettes are presented for machine vision analysis.
The machine vision analysis of back-lit SMDs can be difficult because the visual features (e.g., edge points) presented in their images must be matched to internal models of the components. This is necessary to permit determination of accurate transformations from model to physical coordinates (i.e., the physical position of the SMD). The process must be fast, moreover, so that an automated surface mounter can inspect and place each device on the board quickly. It must also be accurate enough to insure that chip leads substantialy contact pads on the board.
This problem may be complicated further by extraneous structures in the images. Like other delicate electronic components, SMDs are typically manipulated during assembly by suction nozzles. These small vacuum tips are used to pick the chips out of bins, present them for inspection to the machine vision camera, and place them on boards. Although the nozzles are usually arranged to pick up the SMDs from behind, they sometimes cast shadows or protrude beyond the edges of the chips, resulting in silhouettes that interfere with determination of chip location, orientation and other characteristics.
Other complications arise from the lighting conditions. Often, back-lighting will cause the otherwise rectangular chips to appear as if they have rounded comers. Image features extracted around these comer points do not accurately reflect the physical structure of the chip and, hence, also confound inspection.
Still further, as with other manufactured devices, each SMD has a slightly different size and shape than the others. Although each chip must satisfy a set of manufacturing specifications, e.g., width and length tolerances, there is no guarantee that chip corners will be sharp, nor that edges be completely straight.
An object of this invention is to provide improved machine vision methods and, particularly, improved methods for determining characteristics of an object in an image.
A further object is to provide such methods as permit the rapid determination of characteristics, such as dimensions, position, and orientation, of rectilinear and other polygonal objects.
Still another object is to provide such methods as can be adapted for use in analyzing images of back-lit objects.
Yet still another object is to provide such methods as can be readily implemented on conventional digital data processors or other conventional machine vision analysis equipment.
Yet still another object of the invention is to provide such methods that can rapidly analyze images without undue consumption of computational resources.

Machine vision methods for determining characteristics of an object using boundary points and bounding regions


A method for manufacturing a semiconductor package is proposed. A circuit board with a circuit layer on at least one surface thereof is provided. The circuit board has at least one free area, and the circuit layer has a plurality of electrically connecting pads distributed on the periphery of the free area. A metal protecting layer is plated on the electrically connecting pads by non-plating line. The free area is removed, to form a cavity penetrating the circuit board. The present invention prevents burrs which may otherwise form on the periphery of a cavity, to increase the yield and throughput.

Effective in reducing volume of BGA package products, a window ball grid array (window BGA) package is in line with the electronic product trend toward miniaturization. A window BGA package has the following characteristics: first, installed in a substrate for carrying a semiconductor chip is at least one cavity penetrating the substrate, and as a result, not only is the semiconductor chip mounted on the upper substrate surface in a face down manner, but one end of the cavity is closed; second, solder wires made from a certain material, for example, gold, are inserted into the cavity to electrically connect the semiconductor chip and electrically connecting pads beneath the substrate; thirdly, the semiconductor chip is electrically connected to an external printed circuit board by means of solder balls installed on the lower substrate surface and functioning as input and output leads; fourthly, the electrically connecting pads, installed on the lower surface of the substrate and connected to the semiconductor chip by the solder wires, are distributed on the periphery of the cavity; fifthly, a nickel/gold layer is formed on the surfaces of the electrically connecting pads such that during a wire bonding operation electrical coupling of the gold wires and the electrically connecting pads is achieved because both of them are fabricated from the same metal, i.e. gold; lastly, given the aforesaid technology, extrinsically induced oxidation of the body of the electrically connecting pads, typically oxidation of copper, is prevented.
Manufacturers nowadays usually form a nickel/gold metal protecting layer on the aforesaid electrically connecting pads, using an electroplating process. Correspondingly, it is necessary to lay a plurality of plating wires in a substrate, wherein the plating wires are connected to the electrically connecting pads such that during the electroplating process the plating wires function as electrical conduction paths, to lay a nickel/gold metal protecting layer on the electrically connecting pads by electroplating. Afterward, the substrate on which the nickel/gold process is performed and finalized proceeds to a router process whereby, not only is the electrical connection between the plating wires and the electrically connecting pads severed, but a cavity is formed in the circuit board.
Referring to FIGS. 1A through 1C, which are flow diagrams showing a window BGA package circuit board undergoing a nickel/gold process and an opening process successively according to the conventional technology.
Referring to FIGS. 1A, 1B, wherein a circuit board 1 with a circuit layer 11 formed on at least one surface thereof is prepared. The circuit board 1 has already finished undergoing a pre-process. At least one selected zone S (as shown in FIG. 1B) intended for subsequent formation of an opening is defined on the circuit board 1. The circuit layer 11 comprises a plurality of electrically connecting pads 110 and plating wires 111 connected to the electrically connecting pads 110. A metal protecting layer 112 is formed to coat both the electrically connecting pads 110 and the plating wires 111. A solder mask layer 113 is further formed on the surfaces of the circuit board 1; formed in the solder mask layer 113 is an opening 113a to expose the electrically connecting pads 110 and the plating wires 111, both covered in the metal protecting layer 112.
Referring to FIG. 1C, a router process is carried out, using a milling cutter, wherein the periphery of the selected zone S is cut with the milling cutter to achieve two purposes. First, the electrical connection between the plating wires 111 and the electrically connecting pads 110 is severed, to build an open circuit. Second, the selected zone S is removed, and a thru-hole-like cavity 12 is formed in the circuit board, to fabricate a window BGA package circuit board 1′.
Since both the plating wires 111 and the metal protecting layer 112 are made from ductile, malleable materials, burrs (symbol b) appear on the periphery of the cavity 12 in the window BGA package circuit board (as shown in FIG. 1C) when the ductile, malleable metal protecting layer material is pulled out with a milling cutter in the course of cavity 12 cutting and forming.
Although some manufacturers attempted to solve the aforesaid problem with burrs by cutting them, using milling cutters exclusively used in a router process, their endeavors prove ineffective, as the burrs survive the cutting process. Furthermore, as regards the fabrication process, its yield and throughput are low, due to the ineffective router process which, in turn, occurs because window slot pitches remain wide.
Accordingly, an issue that currently needs urgent solution involves overcoming the drawbacks of the aforementioned prior art for manufacturing semiconductor package circuit boards, that is, low yield and low throughput attributable to the burrs produced in the course of the cutting of plating wires with milling cutters.

Method for manufacturing semiconductor package substrate

Phoenix Precision Technology Corporation


High-speed silicon CMOS circuits and high-power AlGaN/GaN amplifiers are integrated on the same wafer. A thin layer of high resistivity silicon is bonded on a substrate. Following the bonding, an AlGaN/GaN structure is grown over the bonded silicon layer. A silicon nitride or a silicon oxide layer is then deposited over the AlGaN/GaN structure. Following this, a thin layer of silicon is bonded to the silicon nitride/silicon oxide layer. An area for the fabrication of AlGaN/GaN devices is defined, and the silicon is etched away from those areas. Following this, CMOS devices are fabricated on the silicon layer and AlGaN/GaN devices fabricated on the AlGaN/GaN surface.

1. Field of the Invention
A CMOS transistor and an AlGaN/GaN amplifier are formed on the same substrate, where the substrate has high thermal efficiency.
2. Description of the Related Art
Gallium nitride (GaN) is a wide-bandgap semiconductor material that has potential applications in high-speed, high power transistor devices. One of the main drawbacks to the production of these devices is the limited availability of suitable substrates for epitaxial growth. A high-quality bulk single crystal substrate at low cost that has a large area is desirable for the growth of gallium nitride epitaxial layers for device fabrication. In one example of the related art technology, the GaN epitaxial layer would be grown homoepitaxially on a single crystal GaN substrate. However, the cost and availability of these wafers are prohibitive.
Currently, GaN films are produced by heteroepitaxial growth on either single crystal silicon carbide (SiC) or sapphire. Due to the lattice mismatch between GaN (4.8 Å) and sapphire (4.763 Å) or 4H-silicon carbide (3.0730 Å), a significant number of threading dislocations on the order of 108 are formed during the growth process.
Another substrate of interest is single crystal silicon, which is readily available in sizes up to 12 inches in diameter. However, silicon does not have the thermal dissipation properties that are necessary for high power, high-speed devices. In addition, Si and GaN have a significant thermal expansion mismatch. One potential method to reduce the cost and improve the properties of the substrates is to manufacture the devices on a polycrystalline substrate utilizing three-dimensional integration through wafer bonding.
Wafer bonding allows heterogeneous substrates to be bonded together at temperatures as low as 200° C. Low temperature bonding is important to minimize chemical reactions of the metals and stresses that arise due to thermal coefficient of expansion mismatches. Wafer bonding occurs when wafers with atomically smooth surfaces are brought into contact and initially adhere due to hydrogen bonding, which is a result of the reaction between water molecules and hydroxyl groups present on the wafer surfaces. Subsequent anneals either transport the water away from the interface or cause the water to react and produce a siloxane bond across the interface.
The siloxane bond, Si—O—Si, is a covalent bond. In the case of silicon-to-silicon bonding, where no siloxane bond is desired, high temperature anneals will cause the oxygen to diffuse away from the interface, resulting in Si—Si covalent bonding.
A conventional approach to forming a multi-layered substrate is typified by the work F. J. Kub et al. (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,328,796 and 6,497,763). This related art technology forms a composite substrate that includes polycrystalline layers, amorphous layers and single crystal layers. However, the conventional technology requires an oxide bonding layer in order to have monocrystalline silicon bond to polycrystalline substrate structure. Alternately, the conventional art used carbonization (which can produce impurities) to promote adhesion.
Also, related art technology necessitates that when forming devices that combine high speed silicon switching circuits with high power AlGaN/GaN amplifier circuits, these two different types of circuits be formed on different chips. Then the chips are formed into a circuit using such techniques as wire bonding. However, this approach is inefficient and results in yield loss arising from the extra manufacturing steps required to manufacture two chips and wire them together.
Accordingly, the development of high power semiconductor devices requires new and low cost substrates having both good thermal conductivity and superior electrical properties. Additionally, new engineered substrates are needed that can accommodate circuit technologies based on different material types such as Si and ALGaN/GaN.

Method for integrating silicon CMOS and AlGaN/GaN wideband amplifiers on engineered substrates


A portable radio apparatus includes an antenna, a transceiver body having a receiver on an upper portion thereof and a transmitter on a lower portion thereof, and a mechanism for drawing out the receiver from the body to a side close to an ear of an operator. Also, in a portable radio apparatus including a transceiver body, a receiver provided in the body and an antenna provided on the body, the transceiver body is divided into a first unit including at least one receiver and a second unit coupled with the first unit, and the antenna is projected from the second unit.

The present invention relates to a portable radio communication apparatus, and more particularly to an antenna arrangement for a portable radio communication apparatus.
In a conventional typical portable radio apparatus, an antenna and a receiver are disposed on an upper portion of the portable radio apparatus body. In particular, the receiver is fixed to the portable radio apparatus body, and a transmitter is provided in a lower portion of the body. In such a conventional portable radio apparatus, since the receiver is brought in close contact with the ear when calling, the antenna inevitably approaches the human head.
Thus, during calls made with the antenna close to the human head, the radio waves transmitted from or received by the antenna are adversely affected by the head, as a result of which there arise such problems that the radiation pattern of the transmitted radio waves gets warped, radio waves transmitted from certain directions are difficult to receive, and the reception sensitivity is liable to deteriorate.
Conventionally, as a portable radio apparatus in which such problems are solved, there has been known a structure in which an antenna is disposed on a side portion or on a lower portion of the apparatus body, as shown in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application Nos. Sho 63-67032 and Hei 4-127723. Further, as a different type, there has been proposed a portable radio apparatus having a structure in which radio waves are not radiated in the vicinity of the head, as disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application No. Sho 59-92629.

Portable radio apparatus capable of keeping antenna away from user when calling


This invention relates to a herbicidal foam composition comprising, on the basis of the total weight of the composition, (a) a herbicide selected from the group consisting of Bialaphos, Glufosinate, Glyphosate and a mixture thereof, (b) an anionic and/or nonionic surfactant(s), (c) a solvent, (d) a foam controlling agent selected from the group consisting of silicone oil, a C.sub.1 -C.sub.10 alcohol and a mixture thereof, (e) water as a diluent and (f) liquefied petroleum gas as a propellant, the pH of said composition being adjusted to within about 3-11.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a herbicidal foam composition, particularly an emulsion foam composition, having fine bubbles and fluidity.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional herbicides may be classified into solid-and liquid-formulations. Each type has both advantages and disadvantages. Granules, powders, plates, and sticks are applied as solids. Water soluble powders, emulsifiable concentrates, wettable powders, concentrated solutions, flowable formulations and AL-agents (already diluted to a concentration suitable for use) are applied in liquid-formulations. Aerosol herbicidal compositions have also been developed. For example, a liquid herbicidal composition comprising a certain organic herbicide and a propellant is described in Japanese Patent Public Disclosure No. 49-101539.
As mentioned above, all conventional solid and liquid herbicidal compositions such as granules, powders, plates, sticks, aqueous solutions, emulsions, hydrates, solutions, flowable agents and AL-agents, have both advantages and disadvantages, as will be explained below.
Solid herbicidal compositions, which can be applied without dilution or other preparation, are easy to use. Dosage, however, is not always clear because of the difficulty in providing exact measurements in small-scale operations such as domestic use. It is also difficult to scatter a solid herbicide uniformly.
Most liquid herbicides have the advantage that they can be sprinkled uniformly with a watering can. They are prepared in concentrated form and must be diluted before use. This dilution sometimes causes the dosage to be unexact and prevents proper application in small-scale operations such as domestic use. Also, it is necessary to rinse out the apparatus or containers after use. Liquid herbicides used for the treatment of stems and leaves have another disadvantage in that a large portion of the sprinkled solution flows down to the ground resulting in a great waste of the active agent.
Aerosols are very convenient and require no dilution or rinsing. A large portion of sprayed aerosol, however, also flows down to the ground resulting in a great waste of the active agent. This fact also causes difficulty in visually determining which areas have been treated. Since sprayed particles are small and easily scattered, valuable plants may be damaged and humans and animals, especially the user, may be exposed to harmful inhalation of the active ingredients of the herbicide.
Thus a proper form of administration of herbicides has been desired for small-scale operations such as domestic use.
Herbicidal foam compositions are known. However, conventional foam herbicides have problems, both in volatility, viscosity, fluidity, compatibility and water-solubility of the liquid before being confined in an aerosol-container equipped with a propelling apparatus (hereinafter referred to as "the original liquid"), and in retention time of the foam, leaf depositing properties and herbicidal effects after forming a foam.


A recording material, particularly a resin film as a recording material, used in an image forming apparatus in which a toner image is formed on the recording material and then fixed thereto by applying at least pressure to the toner image using a fixing rotatable member coated with a releasing agent is disclosed. The recording material has a base layer, a first resin layer having compatibility with the toner used greater than with the base layer, and a second resin layer absorbing a releasing agent. Alternately, a resin layer provided on the base layer, the resin layer having compatibility with the toner greater than with the base layer and containing a releasing agent absorbing substance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording material for an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer or the like, particularly an image forming apparatus having a fixing roller which is coated with a releasing agent.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fixing devices widely used for image forming apparatuses include devices of a roller fixing type, particularly a heat roller fixing type, in which a toner image on a recording material is fixed by conveying the recording material between two rollers.
Typical recording materials include paper. However, resin films such as transparency films and the like are increasingly being used as recording materials.
Further, a heated roller type of fixing device is coated with a releasing agent such as silicone oil or the like in order to prevent offset of the toner used.
In a full-color image forming apparatus in which toner is applied in layers, a large amount of silicone oil is coated on a fixing device because the toner easily offsets.
When a toner image on a resin film is fixed by such a fixing roller which is coated with silicone oil, there is the problem that the oil wets the resin film which then has a sticky feeling after fixing.
The sticky feeling is caused by oil which is not absorbed by the resin film and thus remains on the film surface. However, when a recording material is made of paper, the paper material does not have the above sticky feeling because the coated oil is absorbed by the paper due to the oil absorptivity of paper.
In addition, when a full-color image is formed on such a resin film and is used as a projected image by an OHP apparatus, the projected image contains components showing an overall gray tone in spite of the satisfactory color development shown by the image on the film, and the range of color reproduction is significantly narrowed. This is caused by the phenomenon that since the toner formed on the smooth transparent film is caused to insufficiently flow to form grains by heating during fixing, the incident light is scattered and thus forms shadow on a screen during projection of the image. Particularly, in a portion having a low image density and an intermediate tone, since a decrease in number of toner grains causes the absorption level of the dye or pigment contained in the toner to be decreased to the same level as that of black absorption caused by the light scattered by the toner grains, a color tone to be reproduced is grayed.
In addition, when an image is formed on paper, since a difference occurs between the non-glossiness of the paper surface and the glossiness of the portion where the toner image is formed, uniform glossiness within the paper, which is desirable for a color image, disappears. This causes the problem that a desirable image having good colors is not formed.

Recording material for use in an image forming apparatus in which a powder toner image is formed on the recording material and then fixed by the application of heat and pressure


An ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) having an average grain size between 3 and 5 nanometers (nm) with not more than about 8% by volume diamond having an average grain size larger than 10 nm.

The overarching goal of diamond thin film research is to develop techniques and practices that allow the deposition of films on a variety of substrates that retain most if not all of the outstanding properties of natural diamond (hardness, electron mobility, thermal conductivity, etc.). This work has been going on for many years and has resulted in a number of thin film deposition technologies for growing diamond (>95% crystalline sp3 bonded carbon) films. The two major techniques are plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD, using either RF or microwave frequencies) and hot-filament CVD reactors, although other forms of CVD also exist as well for diamond deposition (i.e. arc-jet and oxyacetylene flame growth.
The previous technology is based on the use of plasma chemistries that grow diamond films with micrometer size gains and low-energy grain boundaries, using a typical gas mixture of 1% CH4. These films are commonly referred to as microcrystalline diamond (MCD), and have a distinct columnar structure where the grain size (and roughness) increase with increasing film thickness. Diamond growth in these films proceeds via chemical reactions at the growing surface wherein a methyl radical adsorbs unto a site following the abstraction of hydrogen from this site. The presence of atomic hydrogen in the plasma is critically needed in order to abstract hydrogen from the surface as well as to etch the non-diamond carbon during growth. These films consist of >99% diamond bonded carbon but are imperfect renderings of diamond as a thin film, suffering from many drawbacks that ultimately limit their commercialization. Many companies setup to commercialize MCD in the early 90's failed as a consequence of these limitations.
Nanocrystalline diamond films (NCD) can be grown by increasing the content of CH4 in the CH4/H2 plasma to about 4–5%. NCD films, which consist of nanometer-sized grains of diamond (sp3) bonded carbon, have shown some promise as commercially viable carbon coatings, but a key challenge in these films is the control of their nanoscale morphology and uniformity of the bonding structure, so as to retain the properties of natural diamond. These films are often, but not always two-phase materials, with nanometer sized (>50 nm) grains of diamond-bonded carbon imbedded in an amorphous, sp2-bonded carbon matrix. They are consequently not as hard as natural diamond. Additionally, even in the best of cases (phase-pure nanocrystalline diamond films) these films require a very high initial nucleation density in order to form nanometer grains, and the grain size of these films increases with film thickness, limiting the thickness of the NCD films.
Over the past several years work at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) has lead to the invention of an alternative diamond film technology: Ultrananocrystalline Diamond (UNCD) as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,989,511, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference, which is based on a fundamentally different chemistry. UNCD films are typically grown using gas mixtures consisting of 99% Ar with 1% CH4 (a 99/1 plasma) that claims C2 dimers as the species that play a key role in the nucleation of the UNCD films and might contribute to the growth process as well. The C2 dimers are produced by plasma assisted breakdown and reaction of the parent molecules. The so called UNCD films were thought to consist entirely of diamond grains 3–5 nm in size (with crystalline sp3 coordinated carbon atoms) with high-energy, high angle twist grain boundaries (with disordered sp2 coordinated carbon atoms). It is the nanoscale structure of these films that give them a unique combination of material properties, including exceptional hardness, 20 nm rms as deposited roughness, low film stress, low as-deposited friction coefficient, high electronic conductivity when doped with nitrogen or boron, and many other properties.
Recent work, however, has shown that for the 99/1 plasma chemistry most typically used about 10% of the carbon in a UNCD film does not have the UNCD nanoscale bonding structure, but instead consists of large inclusions (˜100 nm) of heavily twinned- dendritic inclusions of crystalline sp3-bonded carbon. In short, carbons films grown using 99/1 plasmas are not pure UNCD, but consist of a mixture of UNCD and MCD, with the MCD portion greater than 8% by volume and generally more than 10% by volume of the diamond. The addition of hydrogen to the gas mixture leads to the very rapid increase in the volume fraction of MCD in the films relative to the UNCD component, increasing to 50% MCD for 5% added hydrogen by volume (94% Ar/1% CH4/5% H2) and >90% MCD for 20% added hydrogen. Recent TEM results shown in FIG. 1 dramatically illustrate this UNCD+MCD structure directly. FIG. 1 illustrates differences in a 1% methane plasma with varying added hydrogen. Most of the films grown prior to about 1998 were grown using significant amounts of added hydrogen.
In addition, further recent work has also shown that, when the amount of hydrogen gas is reduced below a certain level, which is dependent to some extent on substrate temperature, as will be explained, the resulting film consists of a large amount of sp2-bonded carbon, and is thus useless for applications that require either nanocrystalline or ultrananocrystalline films nanocrystalline applications.

Method to grow carbon thin films consisting entirely of diamond grains 3-5 nm in size and high-energy grain boundaries

Abstract: A method of manufacturing UNCD film is also disclosed in which a vapor of acetylene and hydrogen in an inert gas other than He wherein the volume ratio of acetylene to hydrogen is greater than 0.35 and less than 0.85, with the balance being an inert gas, is subjected to a suitable amount of energy to fragment at least some of the acetylene to form a UNCD film having an average grain size of 3 to 5 nm with not more than about 8% by volume diamond having an average grain size larger than 10 nm.


In order to prevent a gradation shift due to variations in the thickness of a film used to form an auxiliary capacitor, a detection capacitor having a layer structure similar to that of the auxiliary capacitor placed for each pixel is provided on an array substrate. Furthermore, the capacitor value of the detection capacitor as a representative of the plurality of auxiliary capacitors is detected, and the potential amplitude ΔVcs of a power supply line connected to the auxiliary capacitor is adjusted based on this detected value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an active-matrix liquid crystal display device including a switch element, an auxiliary capacitor, and a pixel electrode for each pixel.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, active-matrix liquid crystal display devices have been developed actively. A liquid crystal display device of this type includes a switch element, an auxiliary capacitor, and a pixel electrode for each of segments bordered by a plurality of signal lines and a plurality of scan lines.
As the switch element, for example, a MOS thin-film transistor (TFT) is used. A gate terminal of the TFT is connected to the scan line, a source terminal thereof is connected to the signal line, and a drain terminal thereof is connected to one terminal of the auxiliary capacitor and the pixel electrode. The other terminal of the auxiliary capacitor is connected to a power supply line.
The switch element, the auxiliary capacitor, and the pixel electrode are usually formed on a translucent array substrate. A counter substrate is placed to face the array substrate with a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween. The pixel electrode on the array substrate and a counter electrode on the counter substrate are placed to face each other with the liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween.
When a scan signal comes in through the scan line, the switch element is turned on, and a video signal voltage which has come in through the signal line is applied through the switch element to the auxiliary capacitor and the pixel electrode. At this time, the potential of the power supply line connected to the auxiliary capacitor is varied. This variation redistributes the charge of the auxiliary capacitor, and determines the voltage to be applied to the pixel electrode. A system in which the voltage on the pixel electrode is determined in this way is called a capacitively coupled drive system. As a liquid crystal display device of this type, for example, one described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-255851 is known.
Liquid crystal display devices have wide-ranging uses. In particular, in mobile terminals, there are strong needs for higher definition and higher luminance. In order to sharply display an image such as a photograph, it is required that there be no variations in the gradation-luminance characteristic of a liquid crystal panel.
However, the capacitively coupled drive system has the problem that a gradation shift is prone to occur due to variations in the thickness of a film used to form the auxiliary capacitor.

Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology Co., Ltd.


A chemical looping system that contains an oxidizer and a reducer is in fluid communication with a gas purification unit. The gas purification unit has at least one compressor, at least one dryer; and at least one distillation purification system; where the gas purification unit is operative to separate carbon dioxide from other contaminants present in the flue gas stream; and where the gas purification unit is operative to recycle the contaminants to the chemical looping system in the form of a vent gas that provides lift for reactants in the reducer.

Chemical looping is a recently developed process which can be utilized in electrical power generation plants which burn fuels such as coal, oil, natural gas, biomass, and other fuels. The chemical looping process can be implemented in existing or new power plants, and provides promising improvements in terms of reduced plant size, reduced emissions, and increased plant operational efficiency, among other benefits.
The FIG. 1 depicts a chemical looping system 10 that comprises an oxidizer 12 and a reducer 14. In the oxidizer 12, a solid such as calcium sulfide (CaS) or a multivalent metal oxide (denoted as "Me") are oxidized with oxygen derived from air. For example, calcium sulfide is oxidized in the oxidizer 12 to calcium sulfate. The multivalent metal oxide is oxidized from a lower valence state to a higher valence metal oxide (e.g., FeO is oxidized to Fe2O3). The calcium sulfate and the metal oxide are also called solid oxygen generators. Nitrogen and oxygen are released from the oxidizer as hot exhaust gases. The hot calcium sulfate is then transported to a reducer 14, where calcium sulfate is reduced to calcium sulfide with the release of oxygen. The released oxygen is used to combust a fuel (e.g., a solid fuel such as coal) supplied to the reducer 14. The combustion of the solid fuel in the reducer 14 produces carbon dioxide and small amounts of water along with other contaminants (hereinafter called "flue gases"). The reduced calcium sulfide from the reducer is then discharged back to the oxidizer 12 thus providing the chemical loop and the thermal loop for the process.
In summary, a chemical looping system utilizes a high temperature process, whereby solids such as calcium- or metal-based compounds are "looped" between a first reactor, called an oxidizer (or an air reactor), and a second reactor, called a reducer (or a fuel reactor). In the oxidizer, oxygen from air injected into the oxidizer is captured by the solids in an oxidation reaction. The heat liberated by the oxidation raises the temperature of the solids and the gases. The captured oxygen is then carried by the hot oxidized solids to the reducer to be used for combustion and/or gasification of a fuel such as coal, for example. After a reduction reaction in the reducer, the solids, no longer having the captured oxygen, are returned to the oxidizer to be oxidized again. This cycle is repeated.
Even though gases are generated by combustion in the reducer and in the oxidizer, there is a need to use a lift gas in both the oxidizer and the reducer in order to facilitate lifting the solid fuel and the solid oxygen generator (CaSO4 or the metal oxide) into a combustion zone in the oxidizer and reducer so as to facilitate efficient combustion. In order to do so, an external lift gas is fed to either the oxidizer, the reducer, or to both. In the case of the oxidizer, the air provides the lift gas as well as the source of oxygen. In the case of the reducer, a gas that is reactive with the fuel is desired for providing lift. This gas can either be steam from the steam generation part of the power plant or carbon dioxide from a gas purification unit (GPU). Since the final product from the combination of the reducer and the gas processing unit in sequence is a relatively pure carbon dioxide stream, it is therefore desirable to use a lift gas that does not add additional contaminants to the flue gases.

Chemical looping integration with a carbon dioxide gas purification unit


A corrosion inhibiting compound with a general structure A-B or A-X-B for inhibition of corrosion of steel in acidic solution. A comprises a heterocyclic ring system having a plurality of cyclic Carbon atoms and at least one cyclic Nitrogen atom, wherein the at least one cyclic Nitrogen atom is neutral under neutral conditions and protonatable under acidic conditions. B comprises at least two unsaturated Carbon atoms. B may comprise a ring system or a polymerisable group.

There are numerous circumstances where it is desired to protect metal, notably steel or an alloy steel, from corrosion. These include the protection of steel used in a subterranean borehole to access a hydrocarbon reservoir and, more particularly but not by way of limitation the protection of steel exposed to a corrosive aqueous acidic liquid, such as when steel tubing is used to convey a flow of acidic aqueous liquid.
One industry which has a need for protection of steel against corrosion is oil and gas exploration and production. Steel tubulars used in a borehole may be exposed to corrosive conditions and so may steel pipelines used to carry produced oil and gas. In the oil and gas industry exposure to acidic solution may result from deliberate use of acid in an oilfield operation.
The technique of matrix acidizing, in which the producing formation is treated with acid to stimulate production, involves deliberate exposure of borehole steel to acid. This operation may be performed with coiled tubing, which is run into a borehole and then used to convey acid down the borehole to the formation. When the matrix acidizing operation comes to an end, the steel casing in the borehole and the exterior of the coiled tubing can be exposed to so-called unspent acid flowing back with formation fluids that flow back towards the surface.
Steel may be protected against corrosion by contacting the steel with an organic corrosion inhibitor. These organic inhibitors adsorb on the metal surface. Adsorbed inhibitor(s) may influence the rate of corrosion by one or more of several mechanisms: (i) by forming a physical barrier film which restricts the diffusion of species to/from the metal surface, (ii) by blocking anodic and/or cathodic reaction sites directly, (iii) by interacting with corrosion reaction intermediates adsorbed on the surface and (iv) by influencing the electrical double layer that forms at the metal/solution interface.
Adsorption may comprise physi-sorption which is the result of electrostatic attractive forces between inhibiting organic ions or dipoles and the electrically charged surface of the metal. The surface charge of the metal is due to the electric field at the outer Helmholtz plane of the electrical double layer existing at the metal/solution interface.
Another possibility is that adsorption is by chemi-sorption, which takes place more slowly than electrostatic adsorption and with a higher activation energy. Chemi-sorption involves electron transfer from electron-rich sites within the structure of the inhibitor molecule(s) to vacant low energy orbitals in the metal. Typically, such electron-rich sites within an inhibitor molecule are heteroatoms with lone pair(s) of electrons or are multiple bonds and aromatic rings so that covalent bonds have electrons in π-orbitals. Because activation energy is required, to bring about chemi-sorption, the extent of chemi-sorption and therefore the efficacy of corrosion inhibition may increase with temperature.
Aromatic nitrogen salts have been extensively used as corrosion inhibitors for mineral acids. Examples are n-alkyl pyridinium halides, n-alkylbenzylpyridinium halides, n-alkylisoquinolinium halides and n-alkylbenzylquinolinium halides. These compounds contain a cationic pyridinium or quinolinium group.
Schmitt, G. and Bedbur, K., in "Investigations on structural and electronic effects in acid corrosion inhibitors by AC impedance", Werkstoffe and Korrosion, v36 (1985), 273-278, compared several pyridinium and quinolinium derivatives on pure iron and steel in deaerated 10% hydrochloric acid and concluded that the best performance was given by naphthylmethylquinolinium chloride (NMQCl). Frenier, W. W., in "Acidizing fluids used to stimulate high temperature wells can be inhibited using organic chemicals", Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) paper 18468, presented at the SPE International Symposium on Oilfield Chemistry, 8-10 February, 1989, compared the acid corrosion inhibitor performance of various pyridinium and quinolinium compounds on carbon steel (N80) and the alloy 13Cr. Of all the compounds studied, NMQCl showed the best performance on N80 at 250° F. (125° C.); at this temperature, the test solutions contained 0.03 mol/L pyridinium or quinolinium inhibitor and 10 g/L phenyl ketone in 15 wt % or 28 wt % HCl. The superior performance of NMQCl was confirmed in further tests at 300° F. (149° C.) and 350° F. (177° C.).
Corrosion inhibitors may be marketed as a mixture containing materials which inhibit corrosion together with so-called "intensifier" materials which enhance the inhibition of corrosion in various circumstances, even though these other materials do not function as corrosion inhibitors (or are less efficacious) if used alone. A number of materials have been found to act as intensifiers, including formic acid, methyl formate, potassium iodide and salts of copper, antimony and bismuth.
It is generally desirable to minimise corrosion and therefore desirable that a corrosion inhibitor should be effective. In some circumstances, it is also desirable to minimise the amount of corrosion inhibitor which is included in the corrosive solution, either on grounds of cost or because of apprehension that it will cause problems when the corrosive solution is used or further treated. Thus there is a desire for corrosion inhibitors which are effective at low concentration in the corrosive solution taking into account that all the exposed metal/alloy surfaces should be effectively protected.


An end gate is provided for a truck box which may be selectively automatically pivotally moved to an open position as the truck box is pivotally moved to its dumping position. A cable interconnecting the end gate and dump box is threaded through a series of pulleys to cause the end gate to pivot outwardly in response to upwardly movement of the dump box.

This invention relates to an end gate and more particularly to an end gate for a farm truck or the like.
Many types of end gates have been previously provided for farm trucks, grain carts, trailers, etc. The most common type of end gate for a farm truck is an end gate which completely closes the rearward end of the truck body and which has a vertically movable slide gate located in the lower central portion thereof which may be opened to permit grain to pass therethrough. Although end gates of the type described above work fairly well in some situations, it is frequently desirable to be able to dump the grain or the like from the truck body at a much greater rate than is possible through the small slide gate.
Many end gates have been previously provided which not only provide small slide gates at the lower central portion of the end gate but which provide a larger opening to facilitate faster dumping of the contents of the body. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 834,380, 3,026,139, 1,790,379, and 4,699,428.
The instant invention is intended to overcome certain shortcomings of the prior art in that the end gate may be used for grain, gravel, silage, etc. Further, the end gate of the instant invention is believed to be much easier to use than the end gates of the prior art. Further, the instant invention is believed to have greater versatility than the end gates of the prior art.


Processing methods and internal reactor parts avoid peeling and particle generation caused by differences in the coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE's) between reactor parts and films deposited on the reactor parts in hot wall CVD chambers. Conventional materials for reactor parts have relatively low CTE's, resulting in significant CTE differences with modem films, which can be deposited on the surfaces of reactor parts during semiconductor processing. Such CTE differences can cause cracking and flaking of the deposited films, thereby leading to particle generation. Reactor parts, such as boats and pedestals, which undergo large thermal cycles even in a hot wall chamber, are made of materials having a CTE greater than about 5×10−6 K−1, in order to more closely match the CTE of deposited materials, such TiN. The decreased CTE differences decrease differences between the expansion and contraction of the reactor parts and deposited films, leading to decreased cracking, flaking and, ultimately, decreased particle generation.

Hot wall reactors can be used to deposit various materials on semiconductor substrates. The substrates can be accommodated in the process chamber of the reactors and precursors can be flowed into the process chamber to deposit films of material on the substrates. For a variety of reasons, including uniformity of electrical and physical properties, high purity and uniformity is typically desired for the deposited films. Deposition results, however, can be adversely affected by the presence of particulate matter in the furnace. In some cases, the particles can come to rest on or become incorporated into the films, thereby degrading the purity and uniformity of the deposited films.
A possible source of particulate matter contamination is material deposited on reactor surfaces. In the course of depositing films on substrates, material can be deposited on the surfaces of various reactor parts in the process chamber. This material can then flake off the reactor surfaces, thereby generating particulate matter that can contaminate deposited films.
Accordingly, to consistently achieve high quality process results, a need exists for processing methods and systems that can minimize the generation of particulate contaminants from reactor surfaces.


The present invention relates to a system for one pot solids recovery from solutions, slurries, emulsions, dispersions, gels, semisolids, and their like. Further the system can be used for controlled concentration of solutions, slurries, emulsions, dispersions, gels, semisolids, and their like to enable easy to operate cost effective energy efficient processes. The system is so constructed to enhance the contact between the liquid medium and the gaseous medium used in the process for effective heat transfer. The system can be used for controlled concentration and/or recovery of substantially dry solids in applications related to foods, nutraceuticals, natural products, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, etc.

Recovery of solids from solutions, slurries, dispersions, emulsions, gels, semisolids, and their like involves the removal of the solvent and/or the carrier medium by diverse processes that involve evaporation, reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration, pervaporation, freeze concentration, clathration etc. Such processes are generally carried out using various types of equipments such as spray driers, drum driers, freeze driers, foam-mat, fluid bed driers, etc.
Spray driers are routinely used for recovery of solids from solutions/slurries. Similarly, fluid bed driers are routinely used to dry wet solids but cannot be used for recovery of solids from solutions, dispersions, slurries, emulsions, gels, semisolids and their like.
The challenges in technologies related to the treatment of solutions, dispersions, slurries, emulsions, gels, semisolids and their like for the recovery of substantially dry solids are in providing cost effective equipments/systems that enable easy to operate energy efficient processes. The present inventions address this technology gap.

Method for controlled concentration and solids recovery


A swivel assembly for connecting a load such as a television receiver to a support includes a swivel stem having a cylindrical head, a reduced diameter cylindrical middle body, and a mounting base. The stem is supported by a retainer assembly including thrust washers engaging the top and the bottom of head. An adjustment is provided for maintaining the thrust washers securely engaged with the head of the stem.

One use of a swivel assembly of the type contemplated by this invention is to rotatably support a television receiver on a support arm adjacent a hospital bed. Such swivel assemblies may be hollow to permit electrical cables to extend along the center axis of the swivel assembly from the television receiver. Swivel assemblies are known in the art, but these are typically difficult to assemble at a hospital or other site and have an undesirable looseness, leading to a backlash condition which permits the load to wobble. Therefore, there is need for an improved swivel assembly that provides a swivel joint for rotatably supporting a television receiver or other load with minimal or no looseness or backlash.


The invention provides an information recording apparatus and method by which unattended recording can be executed in accordance with a set condition. If a hard disk recorder recognizes that unattended recording set by a user cannot be executed because of insufficient free capacity of a built-in hard disk, then it transmits a notification of the insufficient capacity from a communication antenna to a mobile phone of the user. The notification transmitted from the hard disk recorder is converted by a management server into data of a data format which can be output by the mobile phone, and then transmitted to the mobile phone. The user will confirm the notification of the insufficient capacity on the mobile phone and issue a request for data of the programs already stored on the hard disk recorder. The user will select a program to be erased based on the program data stored in the hard disk recorder and erase the selected program to assure the sufficient free capacity of the hard disk recorder.

This invention relates to an information recording apparatus and method, an information processing terminal, method and apparatus and a recording medium, and more particularly to an information recording apparatus and method, an information processing terminal, method and apparatus and a recording medium wherein unattended recording is executed.
In recent years, a recording and playback apparatus which records a television program onto a recording medium such as a hard disk or an optical disk has been developed and put into practical use. By using a recording and playback apparatus of the type mentioned to record a television broadcast by unattended recording, a user can enjoy the television broadcast later even if the user is out at the broadcast time of the television broadcast.
However, even if the recording medium has a sufficient remaining storage capacity when a user presets unattended recording, the storage capacity of the recording medium may become short, for example, because a family records some other program while the user is out. If the user is at home, then the user can erase data of a program which has been recorded already onto another recording medium in response to a warning from the recording and playback apparatus to make it possible to execute the unattended recording. However, if the user is out, such a problem occurs that, for example, only part of the program preset for unattended recording is recorded or the recording and playback apparatus erases a program recorded already in accordance with its own decision.

Information recording apparatus and method, information processing terminal, method and apparatus, and recording medium


A method for controlling a light source of a video image display apparatus, comprising: projecting illumination lights to a first spatial light modulator (SLM) and a second SLM, and changing over a wavelength of one of the illumination lights projected to the second SLM in a sequence during a period when the wavelength of another one of the illumination lights projected to the first SLM is controlled to have a flexibly adjustable wavelength.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to controlling a light source of a video image display apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a video image display apparatus implemented with multiple spatial light modulators for reflecting and modulating light of different colors controlled to project the lights with specially arranged time sequences to suppress the color break phenomena.
2. Description of the Related Art
Even though there have been significant advances made in recent years in the technology of implementing electromechanical micromirror devices as spatial light modulators (SLM), there are still limitations and difficulties when these are employed to display high quality images. Specifically, when the display images are digitally controlled, the quality of the images is adversely affected because the images are not displayed with a sufficient number of gray scale gradations.
Electromechanical mirror devices are drawing a considerable amount of interest as spatial light modulators (SLM). The electromechanical mirror device consists of a mirror array arranging a large number of mirror elements. In general, the number of mirror elements range from 60,000 to several millions and are arranged on the surface of a substrate in an electromechanical mirror device.
Refer to FIG. 1A for a digital video system 1 as disclosed in a relevant U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,420, which includes a display screen 2. A light source 10 is used to generate light energy to illuminate display screen 2. Light 9 is further concentrated and directed toward lens 12 by mirror 11. Lens 12, 13, and 14 serve a combined function as a beam collimator to direct light 9 into a column of light 8. A spatial light modulator 15 is controlled by a computer through data transmitted over data cable 18 to selectively redirect a portion of the light from path 7 toward lens 5 to display on screen 2. The SLM 15 has a surface 16 that includes switchable reflective elements, e.g., micro-mirror devices 32 with elements 17, 27, 37, and 47 as reflective elements attached to a hinge 30, as shown in FIG. 1B. When element 17 is in one position, a portion of the light from path 7 is redirected along path 6 to lens 5 where it is enlarged or spread along path 4 to impinge the display screen 2 so as to form an illuminated pixel 3. When element 17 is in another position, light is not redirected toward display screen 2 and hence pixel 3 would be dark.
Each of the mirror elements constituting a mirror device functions as a spatial light modulator (SLM), and each mirror element comprises a mirror and electrodes. A voltage applied to the electrode(s) generates a Coulomb force between the mirror and the electrode(s), making it possible to control and incline the mirror. The inclined mirror is "deflected" according to a common term used in this patent application for describing the operational condition of a mirror element.
When a mirror is deflected with a voltage applied to the electrode(s), the deflected mirror also changes the direction of the reflected light in reflecting an incident light. The direction of the reflected light is changed in accordance with the deflection angle of the mirror. The present patent application refers to the light reflected to a projection path designated for image display as "ON light", and refers to a light reflected in a direction away from the designated projection path for image display as "OFF light". When only a portion of the reflected light is directed in the ON light direction and the light reflected by the mirror to the projection path is of lesser intensity than the "ON light", it is referred to as "intermediate light".
The present patent application defines an angle of rotation along a clockwise (CW) direction as a positive (+) angle and that of a counterclockwise (CCW) direction as a negative (−) angle. A deflection angle is defined as zero degrees (0°) when the mirror is in the initial state.
The on-and-off states of a micromirror control scheme, such as that implemented in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,420 and by most conventional display systems, limit image display quality. This is because the application of a conventional control circuit limits the gray scale (PWM between ON and OFF states) by the LSB (least significant bit, or the least pulse width). Due to the ON-OFF states implemented in conventional systems, there is no way to provide a pulse width shorter than the LSB. The least brightness, which determines the gray scale, is the light reflected during the least pulse width. A limited gray scale leads to lower image quality.
In FIG. 1C, a circuit diagram of a control circuit for a micro-mirror according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,407 is presented. The control circuit includes memory cell 32. Various transistors are referred to as "M*" where * designates a transistor number and each transistor is an insulated gate field effect transistor. Transistors M5, and M7 are p-channel transistors; transistors, M6, M8, and M9 are n-channel transistors. The capacitances, C1 and C2, represent the capacitive loads presented to memory cell 32. Memory cell 32 includes an access switch transistor M9 and a latch 32a, which is the basis of the Static Random Access switch Memory (SRAM) design. All access transistors M9 in a row receive a DATA signal from a different bit-line 31a. The particular memory cell 32 to be written is accessed by turning on the appropriate row select transistor M9, using the ROW signal functioning as a word-line. Latch 32a is formed from two cross-coupled inverters, M5/M6 and M7/M8, which permit two stable states. State 1 is Node A high and Node B low and state 2 is Node A low and Node B high.
The mirror is driven by a voltage applied to the landing electrode and is held at a predetermined deflection angle on the landing electrode. An elastic "landing chip" is formed on the portion of the landing electrode that comes into contact with the mirror, and assists in deflecting the mirror towards the opposite direction when the deflection of the mirror is switched. The landing chip is designed to have the same potential as the landing electrode so that a shorting is prevented when the landing electrode is in contact with the mirror.
Each mirror formed on a device substrate has a square or rectangular shape, and each side has a length of 4 to 15 um. In this configuration, a portion of the reflected light is reflected not from the mirror surface but from the gaps between the mirrors or other surfaces of the mirror device. These "unintentional" reflections are not applied to project an image and are inadvertently generated. The contrast of the displayed image is degraded due to the interference from these unintentional reflections generated by the gaps between the mirrors. In order to overcome this problem, the mirrors are arranged on a semiconductor wafer substrate with a layout to minimize the gaps between the mirrors. One mirror device is generally designed to include an appropriate number of mirror elements, wherein each mirror element is manufactured as a deflectable mirror on the substrate for displaying a pixel of an image. The appropriate number of elements for displaying an image is configured in compliance with the display resolution standard according to the VESA Standard defined by the Video Electronics Standards Association or by television broadcast standards. When a mirror device is configured with the number of mirror elements in compliance with WXGA (resolution: 1280 by 768) defined by VESA, the pitch between the mirrors of the mirror device is 10 μm, and the diagonal length of the mirror array is about 0.6 inches.
The control circuit, as illustrated in FIG. 1C, controls the mirrors to switch between two states, and the control circuit drives the mirror to oscillate to either an ON or OFF deflected angle (or position) as shown in FIG. 1A.
The minimum intensity of light reflected from each mirror element for image display, i.e., the resolution of gray scale of image display for a digitally-controlled image display apparatus, is determined by the least length of time that the mirror may be controlled to stay in the ON position. The length of time a micromirror is in an ON position is controlled by a multiple bit word. FIG. 1D shows the "binary time intervals" when controlling micromirrors with a four-bit word. As shown in FIG. 1D, the time durations have relative values of 1, 2, 4, 8, which in turn define the relative brightness for each of the four bits, where "1" is the least significant bit and "8" is the most significant bit. According to the control mechanism as shown, the minimum controllable differences between gray scales for showing different levels of brightness is a represented by the "least significant bit" that maintains the micromirror at an ON position.
For example, assuming n bits of gray scales, one time frame is divided into 2″−1 equal time periods. For a 16.7-millisecond frame period and n-bit intensity values, the time period is 16.7/(2n−1) milliseconds.
Among conventional display apparatuses, comprised of one SLM as described above, a color display is projected by changing over, in a time sequence, the colors of light to be displayed onto a screen using a wheel, which is known as a color wheel and which comprises a plurality of color filters (e.g., red (R), green (G) and blue (B) color filters) possessing different wavelength bands of transmission light in a plurality of regions, and a plurality of laser lights (e.g., R, G and B laser lights) that emit the lights of different wavelength bands.
Such a display apparatus, however, attains a color display by projecting each of a plurality of color lights in a time sequence, and therefore a distortion phenomenon known as a "color breakup" (or a rainbow effect) is known to occur. A color breakup occurs when a rainbow-like image is instantly visible when, for example, a viewer shifts his or her point of focus on the screen.
Accordingly, it is desirable to design a display apparatus such that a color display is projected through the projection of a plurality of color lights onto a screen in a time sequence, while suppressing the occurrence of the above described color breakup.

Light source control method for video image display apparatus and video image display apparatus


A method for detecting and identifying metabolites in biological samples includes subjecting the samples to high resolution mass spectrometry (MS) analysis to detect ions of the molecular species. Mass defect values for the detected ions are determined. The method also includes specifying a predetermined range for mass defect values. Detected ions having mass defect values falling outside the specified range are discarded and those with mass defect values falling within the predetermined range are retained. Species of interest are determined from the retained values. The species of interest include drug metabolites or impurities and/or degradants of a known pharmaceutical sample.

A common objective in biological and pharmaceutical research is the detection and identification of drug metabolites. Biological samples or fluids may be subjected to liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) analysis for detecting the presence of, as well as for identifying specific, metabolites. The biological samples may include plasma, bile, spinal fluid, joint fluid, other bodily fluids, tissue extract, urine, and fecal extract for example.
Detection and identification of metabolites with low concentration in the biological samples, however, is often difficult due to significant interference from endogenous species (ions). A metabolite ion signal in a mass spectrum may be embedded among ion signals of endogenous ions. As a result, a species of interest may not be easily identifiable even by those skilled in LC/MS analysis. For example, a metabolite ion may be isobaric (i.e. having the same nominal, or integral, mass-to-charge ratio) with a naturally occurring biological substance. LC/MS data from a high resolution instrument can assist in distinguishing the metabolite from an endogenous isobaric interference.
In pharmaceutical development, the detection and identification of drug impurities and degradants is also a common task. Pharmaceuticals (i.e. drug products) may be subjected to LC/MS analysis for detecting the presence of, as well as for identifying specific impurities or degradants. The bioavailability of relatively insoluble drugs can be greatly enhanced by the addition of polymeric emulsifying agents such as Cremophor and polyethylene glycol (PEG) to the dosage form.
However, detection and identification of metabolites, impurities and degradants arising from drug products formulated in complex excipients, for example polymeric emulsifying agents, is difficult due to significant interference from such agents. Due to their complex or polymeric nature, such additives or excipients produce complex patterns in the mass spectra of the samples containing the agents. A drug-related impurity ion signal that is the target of analysis in a mass spectrum may be embedded among ion signals of polymeric ions, and thus cannot accurately be detected. It is therefore desirable to exclude such excipient signals during the detection and identification of the desired targets.
Detection and identification of drug metabolites or impurities and degradants for determining the effectiveness or quality of drugs is highly desirable. Existing techniques such as background subtraction are inadequate for the desired detection and identification of either drug metabolites in biological samples, or impurities and degradants that may occur in the sample in combination with polymeric agents in the drug formulation. An improvement over existing techniques is therefore necessary to more selectively identify metabolites and drug impurities and degradants in biological samples or in complex formulations, especially those occurring at low concentrations or with unknown molecular identities.
Accordingly, the present invention provides improved methods for detecting and identifying metabolites in biological samples and impurities in drug samples formulated with emulsifying agents.
A mass defect filter may be utilized for obtaining the desired selectivity in detection and identification of drug metabolites and impurities/degradants.


In a method for fabricating a semiconductor component, a semiconductor substrate comprising a first surface is provided and a shaping matrix is applied to the first surface. The shaping matrix comprises at least one continuous depression arranged in such a way that contact regions in a region of the first surface are at least partly uncovered. A sacrificial layer is applied to sidewalls of the continuous depression in an upper section of the depression, a first electrode is produced by applying a first conductive layer in a lower section of the depression and to the sacrificial layer, and the sacrificial layer is removed in order to uncover the sidewalls of the shaping matrix in the upper section. A dielectric layer is applied to the first conductive layer and a second electrode is formed by applying a second conductive layer to the dielectric layer.

The present invention relates to a method for fabricating a semiconductor component and to a semiconductor component.
Although the problem area of the present invention is described below on the basis of a so-called crownlike capacitor device of a semiconductor memory, the present invention is not restricted thereto, but rather relates generally to a method for fabricating semiconductor components.
A semiconductor memory has a multiplicity of memory cells each comprising at least one capacitor and a transistor. A binary information item is stored as a quantity of charge in the capacitor. Access to the quantity of charge and thus the information by means of read-out and/or writing devices of the semiconductor memory is effected via the transistor of the memory cell, which is addressed by means of word and bit lines of the semiconductor memory. In order to provide semiconductor memories having a high storage density and thus a high number of memory cells on an acceptable area, the smallest possible lateral dimensions of the memory cells, that is to say both of the transistors and of the capacitors, are required.
The operation of the memory cells requires a minimum quantity of charge that can be stored in the capacitor. The quantity of charge that can be stored is substantially determined by the area content of capacitor areas of the capacitors. Therefore, provision of sufficiently large capacitance areas is to be ensured despite the reduction of the lateral dimensions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,652,165 describes such a capacitor having a so-called crown-shaped capacitor. The crown-shaped capacitor has at least one first cup-shaped electrode having inner surfaces and outer surfaces opposite to the inner surfaces, which run perpendicular to a semiconductor substrate. The inner and also the outer surfaces are completely covered by a dielectric, on which the second electrode is applied. A capacitor area of the crown-shaped capacitor thus essentially comprises both the inner, and also the outer, perpendicularly running surface.
A generally known fabrication method for the crown-shaped capacitor firstly requires the provision of the cup-shaped first electrode having uncovered inner and outer surfaces. In this case, the first electrode has only a low mechanical stability at this point in time in the method for fabricating the crown-shaped capacitor. In particular, this is the case when the first electrode has a substantially larger vertical dimension than horizontal dimension in order, as required previously, to provide a large capacitor area in conjunction with a small lateral space requirement.
For the fabrication of the first electrodes, liquids are used, inter alia for etching and/or cleaning the first electrode. On account of the liquids between adjacent first electrodes, a capillary force acts on said adjacent first electrodes in such a way that upper sections of the adjacent first electrodes approach one another. Since the first electrodes have only a low mechanical stability, the first electrodes can approach one another to such an extent that they actually touch one another. This is one of several possible effects on account of which the first electrodes approach one another. Adhesive effects, for example on account of electrostatic charges, prevent first electrodes, once touching one another, from being released from one another again even if the liquids are removed and the capillary force is no longer acting. This leads to desirable electrical contact-making between the adjacent first electrodes and possibly to short circuits during operation of the memory device.

Method for fabricating a semiconductor component and semiconductor component


In methods and apparatus for generating an LPC-encoded noise signal from an LPC-encoded speech signal, excitation parameters of the LPC-encoded speech signal for a current frame are randomized upon detection of speech in the current frame. For frames in which no speech is detected, LPC coefficients and frame energy for the current frame may be replaced with respective averages calculated over the current frame and a plurality of preceding frames. For frames in which speech is detected, LPC coefficients for the current frame may be replaced with respective averages of LPC coefficients used to replace LPC coefficients of an immediately previous frame. The comfort noise generation technique is particularly suitable for use in echo suppressors for digital cellular radio systems.

Echo is a common problem in telecommunications systems. Echo can be very annoying to telecommunications system users, particularly in telecommunications systems having relatively long transmission delays, as for example satellite telecommunications systems and cellular radio telecommunications systems. Consequently, several methods for suppressing echo have been developed.
In one known type of echo suppression, received signals are first processed to determine whether echo is present. If echo is detected, the received signal is processed to suppress the echo. If no echo is detected, no echo suppression is applied.
In one known form of echo suppression, signals containing echo are replaced by a comfort noise signal to eliminate the echo. The comfort noise may be generated by a variety of known techniques.
In one known method for generating comfort noise from an LPC-encoded signal, internal gain and synthesis filter coefficients for a short interval of background noise are used with a pseudorandom excitation provided by a pseudorandom excitation generator or a noise excitation codebook. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,475,712 entitled Voice Coding Communication System and Apparatus Therefor issued in the name of S. Sasaki on Dec. 12, 1995, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,537,509 entitled Comfort Noise Generation of Digital Communication Systems issued in the names of K. Swaminathan et al on Jul. 16, 1996. Unfortunately, these methods of generating comfort noise provide a comfort noise which sounds somewhat unnatural and which may be discontinuous with background noise present in parts of the speech signal for which no echo is detected. This can lead to distinguishable and annoying discontinuities in the perception of background noise by the user of the telecommunications system.
Consequently, there is a need for a comfort noise generator which provides a more natural and continuous comfort noise for use in echo suppression applications and the like.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/431,224 entitled Methods and Apparatus for distinguishing Speech Intervals from Noise Intervals in Speech Signals and filed in the names of C. C. Chu et al on Apr. 28, 1995 discloses LPC speech encoders and decoders in which LPC coefficients of non-speech frames are averaged over a plurality of consecutive frames during encoding or decoding operations to provide background noise which sounds more natural. Low pass filtering of the resulting signal is also added to make the background noise sound even more natural.

Methods and apparatus for generating noise signals from speech signals


A plug connector device (10) for multicore flat cables (15), has a plug (11) which can be fixedly joined to one end of a flat cable in a mechanical fashion, and a plug socket (12) which can be run through by the flat cable (15) such that, with their first contact ends (62), contact elements of the plug socket (12) engaging in the plug (11) can be electronically connected to the flat cable at their other contact ends (63) using IDC technology. To assure that the plug connector device is robust and has high contacting reliability, provision is made that plug (11) is provided with contact elements (18), whose first contact ends (38) are configured for the electrical connection to the first contact ends (62) of the contact elements (19) of the plug socket (12), and whose other contact ends (36) are configured for the connection to the flat cable (15) using IDC technology.

The present invention relates to a plug connector device for multicore flat cables.
Connector devices of this type are used in connection with multicore flat cables, for example, in designing a network of components out of doors such as detonators for civilian explosions, such that these components can be driven in a controlled manner both spatially as well as temporally via the flat cable and the plug connector devices. For this purpose, the plug connector devices must be not only robust but also sealed, so that they maintain the electrical connection, i.e., the contact, under any circumstances.
In one known plug connector device of this type, the plug socket at the insertion end of its cylindrical plug receptacle has a partition that is fitted with contact elements that are arranged in an upright position, the contact elements, on the one hand, extending beneath the partition into a flat cable receiving space and, on the other hand, extending into the receiving space for the plug. In this context, both ends of the contact elements are executed using IDC technology, which means that in the space between the partition and the base, both ends are electrically connected to the flat cable, which passes through this space, i.e., to its individual cores. In this context, the other contact end is also produced using IDC technology. The plug of this known plug connector device has a cylindrical hollow space, in which the flat cable is inserted in a li-shape, abutting the interior side of a base of this hollow space.
The end in question of the flat cable is mechanically fixed in position by a support that is introduced into the cylindrical hollow space. From the exterior side of the plug, the base is provided with recesses, through which the other contact ends of the contact elements executed using IDC technology extend, thus being able, in the plug, to contact the cores of this inserted end of the flat cable.
One disadvantage of this known plug connector device, apart from the insufficient seal, is the fact that the contacting of the plug connector device is not as reliable as might be hoped, because the assignment of contact bore holes in the plug, on the one hand, and the configuration of the IDC contact ends, on the other hand, must be very precise due to the minimal flexibility and elasticity of the individual contact surfaces.

Plug connector device for multicore flat cables


An ultrasonic nebulizer for producing high-volume sub-micron droplets is disclosed. The ultrasonic nebulizer utilizes a 3 or 5 MHz frequency as an oscillation frequency for producing sub-micron droplets. The nebulizer can also use at least one piezoelectric ceramic oscillator for increasing the volume of the droplets. The ultrasonic nebulizer comprises an ac/dc converter, an oscillator circuit, an amplifying device, a nebulization chamber, and at least one piezoelectric ceramic oscillator. The ac/dc converter rectifies an ac current to a dc current. The oscillator circuit produces an oscillation signal with a frequency larger than or equal to 3 MHz. The amplifying device amplifies the oscillation signal. The nebulization chamber has a lower face for holding a liquid to be nebulized. At least one piezoelectric ceramic oscillator is formed on the lower face of the nebulization chamber and connected to the amplified signal providing an ultrasonic output to cause nebulization for producing high-volume sub-micron droplets.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the technical field of ultrasonic nebulizers and, more particularly, to an ultrasonic nebulizer for producing high-volume sub-micron droplets.
2. Description of Related Art
An ultrasonic nebulizer uses an oscillation signal to drive a piezoelectric ceramic oscillator for producing mechanical vibration. The vibration energy is coupled to a liquid to be nebulized for producing capillary waves thereon and droplets. The ultrasonic nebulizer can be used for medication or producing droplet applications. Generally an oscillation frequency of a conventional ultrasonic nebulizer is 1.6 MHz or 2.4 MHz. As shown in FIG. 1, the average diameter of droplets produced by a conventional ultrasonic nebulizer at 1.6 MHz and 2.4 MHz are 2.3 μm and 1.7 μm respectively. The droplets with a diameter of 2.3 μm and 1.7 μm are too large for treatment of an alveolus. In general, the droplets with a diameter large than 1.0 μm are easily absorbed by a bronchus or bronchioles before entering the alveolus. On the contrary, most droplets with a diameter less than 1.0 μm easily pass through the bronchus or bronchioles and are absorbed by the alveolus. FIG. 1 shows that the total quantity of droplets with a diameter less than 1.0 μm is very little for a conventional nebulizer with a 2.4 MHZ oscillation frequency, and therefore the total volume of the droplets entering the alveolus is also very little and is not suitable for treating an alveolus. However, if the oscillation frequency can be changed to 5 MHz, then the volume of the droplets with a diameter less than 1.0 μm can be dramatically increased for treating the alveolus. Therefore, there is a need to have a novel design for a nebulizer that can mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problems.

Ultrasonic nebulizer for producing high-volume sub-micron droplets


An image monitoring system uses wireless communications to transmit images for security monitoring. The system includes a central controller (105) and a plurality of digital still camera units (110) operatively connected to the central controller (105). At least one of the camera units (110) includes an image sensor (215), a motion detector (220) that causes the image sensor (215) to receive image data when motion is detected, a micro controller (205), and a first nonvolatile memory operatively connected to or included in the micro controller (205). The micro controller (205) determines whether received image data should be transmitted to the central controller (105), and the central controller (105) determines whether received image data should be transmitted to a monitoring station (115). The camera units (110) may further be used as standalone units as replacements for motion detectors in existing security systems.

Video image monitoring systems such as security systems are increasingly common as the costs of cameras and image processing and communications technologies decrease. Often such systems include several cameras connected to a bank of video monitors overseen by a security guard. These systems suffer from limitations however as the number of cameras increases. First, wiring both power and data cables to each of the cameras significantly increases costs and complexity. Second, the amount of data received and recorded by a system frequently becomes unmanageable. Third, the ability to monitor simultaneously all of the cameras decreases, resulting in a higher probability that an anomalous event such as a security breach will go unnoticed.
Further, individual cameras of existing video security systems generally require wired connections to both a mains power supply and to a device for receiving and recording images such as a video recorder. Such existing cameras are thus prohibitively expensive and impractical for many applications where easy access to such wired connections is unavailable.
There is therefore a need for an improved image monitoring system and method that overcomes the above limitations.