An outer, first cup portion having a peripheral wall which has an opening at a first end and at a second end. An inner, second cup portion having a region which is formed from a first material which is impermeable to the powdered reagents but is permeable to water and to solutions containing dissolved reagents, the first and second cup portions being configured such that the second cup portion peripheral wall abuts and is connected to the first end of the outer first cup portion, the first and second being configured such that a first powdered reagent receiving chamber is defined in the first cup portion for receiving a first reagent and a second powdered reagent receiving chamber is defined in the second cup portion for receiving a second reagent, a closure secured to and closing the second end of the outer first cup portion, the closure being impermeable to the first reagent.

The present invention relates to the decontamination arts. It finds particular application in conjunction with sterilizing or disinfecting medical instruments and equipment and will be described with particular reference thereto. It should be appreciated, however, that the invention is also applicable to a wide variety of technologies in which at least two components or reagents are kept separate until time of use and then combined through dissolution in a common solvent.
Decontamination connotes the removal of hazardous or unwanted materials, such as bacteria, mold spores, other pathogenic life forms, radioactive dust, and the like. Disinfection connotes the absence of pathogenic life forms. Sterilization connotes the absence of all life forms, whether pathogenic or not.
Heretofore, medical equipment and instruments have often been sterilized in a steam autoclave. Autoclaves kill life forms with a combination of high temperature and pressure. However, steam autoclaves have several drawbacks. The high temperature pressure vessels tend to be bulky and heavy. The high temperature and pressure tends to curtail the useful life of endoscopes, rubber and plastic devices, lenses, and portions of devices made of polymeric materials and the like. Moreover, a typical autoclave sterilizing and cool down cycle is sufficiently long that multiple sets of the medical instruments are commonly required.
Instruments which cannot withstand the pressure or temperature of the oven autoclave are often sterilized with ethylene oxide gas, particularly in larger medical facilities or hospitals. However, the ethylene oxide sterilization technique also has several drawbacks. First, the ethylene oxide sterilization cycle tends to be even longer than the steam autoclave cycle. Another drawback is that ethylene oxide sterilization is sufficiently sophisticated that trained technicians are commonly required, making it unsuitable for physician and dental offices and for other smaller medical facilities. Moreover, some medical equipment can not be sterilized with ethylene oxide gas.
Liquid disinfection systems have also been utilized for equipment which could not withstand the high temperatures of steam sterilization. Commonly, a technician mixes a liquid disinfectant composition and manually immerses the items to be decontaminated. The high degree of manual labor introduces numerous uncontrolled and unreported variables into the process. There are quality assurance problems with the weakening of the disinfectant chemicals due to aging on the shelf, and technician errors in the mixing of sterilants, control of immersion times, rinsing of residue, exposure to the ambient atmosphere after the rinsing step, and the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,866 to Siegel, et al. discloses a two-compartment cup for powdered sterilant reagent components. An outer cup holds a first reagent while an inner cup, disposed within the outer cup, holds a second reagent. Peripheral walls of inner and outer cups are affixed together at their open ends at flanges. A permeable sheet is affixed to the inner cup portion flange for ventedly sealing both cups. The outer cup is closed at its base by a first detachable base and the inner cup similarly closed by a second detachable base. In use, the two bases are opened to allow mixing of the two reagents. The two-compartment cup ensures sterilization with a reproducible, pre-measured dose of reagents, while also facilitating handling and shipping of the reagents.
The present invention provides for a new and improved two compartment cup or packaging assembly which does not require a second removable base and which is ideal for storing powdered reagents which are retained separately until time of use and are released in solution when a solvent is passed through both compartments.

Multi-compartment plastic woven mesh dry chemistry container


The invention comprises a raised platform having a vibrator pad embedded therein. The platform has a ramp at its forward end and a raised platform portion extending forwardly from the forward end of the ramp. The vibrator pad is embedded in the raised platform portion. A vertically adjustable handrail is provided at the opposite sides of the platform. A plurality of patient restraint members are provided to enable a person to stand upright on the vibrator pad.

Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a bone density vibrator pad which is embedded in a platform which is designed to support a wheelchair thereon rearwardly of the vibrator pad. More particularly, the platform of this invention has patient restraints provided thereon to support a wheelchair patient in a standing position on the vibrator pad to increase the bone density of a patient.
Description of the Related Art
Many medical personnel believe that a person may increase his/her bone density if the person is subjected to vibration. It is believed to be especially important for a paraplegic person to increase his/her bone density to strengthen the person's legs, arms, etc. to enable the person to stand or to prevent injury to the person's legs, arms, back, etc. However, to the best of Applicants' knowledge, no one working in the art has provided a platform having a bone density vibrator pad embedded therein which is accessible for a person in a wheelchair. Further, Applicants' believe that no one working in the art has provided a means for enabling such a paraplegic patient to stand upright on the vibrator pad once the wheelchair has been positioned on the platform adjacent the vibrator pad.

Platform with vibrator pad embedded therein


A detecting device includes a conversion device having a substrate, a pixel electrode formed of a transparent conductive oxide, a impurity semiconductor portion, and a semiconductor portion, the pixel electrode, impurity semiconductor portion, and semiconductor portion having been formed upon the substrate in that order from the substrate side. The impurity semiconductor portion includes a first region including a place in contact with the pixel electrode, and a second region situated nearer to the semiconductor portion than the first region. Concentration of dopant in the second region is higher than concentration of dopant in the first region.

1. Field of the Invention
One disclosed aspect of the embodiments relates to a detecting device, detecting system, and manufacturing method of the detecting device, that are applied to a medical diagnostic imaging apparatus, a non-destructing inspection apparatus, an analysis apparatus using radiation, and so forth.
2. Description of the Related Art
As of recent, thin-film semiconductor manufacturing technology is also being applied to detecting devices having an array of pixels (pixel array), combining switching devices such as thin-film transistors (TFT) and conversion devices which convert radiation or light into charge such as photodiodes or the like. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-026300 discloses, as a detecting device according to the related art, a switching device disposed on a substrate, a conversion device disposed on the switching device and electrically connected to the switching device, and an inter-layer insulating layer disposed between the substrate, switching device, and conversion device. The conversion device described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-026300 includes a pixel electrode electrically connected to the switching device, a counter electrode disposed facing the pixel electrode, a semiconductor portion disposed between the pixel electrode and counter electrode, and an impurity semiconductor portion disposed between the pixel electrode and the semiconductor portion. A polycrystalline transparent conductive oxide is used for this pixel electrode, for efficient illumination if light to reduce afterimage. Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-026300 discloses that a buffer layer may be provided to the conversion device to improve adhesion between the semiconductor portion and the pixel electrode.
However, the configuration in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-026300 has had difficult in realizing both the adhesion of the impurity semiconductor portion and transparent conductive oxide, and dark current properties of the conversion device. Improving the adhesion of the impurity semiconductor portion and transparent conductive oxide has led to lowered dark current properties of the conversion device, and improved dark current properties of the conversion device has led to deterioration in adhesion of the impurity semiconductor portion and transparent conductive oxide.

Detecting device, detecting system, and manufacturing method of detecting device


The present invention reduces the effective dielectric constant of the interlayer insulating film while inhibiting the decrease of the reliability of the semiconductor device, which otherwise is caused by a moisture absorption. A copper interconnect comprising a Cu film 209 is formed in multilayer films comprising a L-Ox™ film 203 and a SiO2 film 204. Since the L-Ox™ film 203 comprises ladder-shaped siloxane hydride structure, the film thickness and the film characteristics are stable, and thus changes in the film quality is scarcely occurred during the manufacturing process.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for improving an adhesiveness of an interlayer insulating film employing an insulating material having a lower dielectric constant.
2. Description of the Related Art
Needs for achieving faster operation of semiconductor devices are growing in recent years, and in order to meet the needs, investigations for reducing the interconnect capacitance are actively conducted by replacing the conventional material for interlayer insulating film of the silicon oxide film (dielectric constant K=about 4.3) to a new material having lower dielectric constant. The insulating materials having lower dielectric constant include hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ), methyl silsesquioxane (MSQ), organic resin materials containing aromatic compounds or the like, that have a dielectric constant of about 3, and more recently, the development of porous materials, which contains fine pores within the film for the purpose of decreasing the dielectric constant, is also investigated. Such materials having lower dielectric constant is employed for the interlayer insulating film to reduce the interconnect crosstalk, thereby achieving faster operation of the devices.
The films having lower dielectric constant generally have insufficient mechanical performances and/or plasma resistance. Thus, a protective film is often formed on the film having lower dielectric constant for the purpose of preventing damages during the processes for forming the interconnect or for depositing the insulating film.
However, the above layer constitution may cause insufficient adhesiveness between the insulating film having lower dielectric constant and the protective film.
JP-A-2001-326,222 discloses a technology of solving the insufficient adhesiveness of the insulating film having lower dielectric constant described above. FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of an interconnect structure disclosed in JP-A-2001-326,222 as a prior art. The interconnect structure shown in the figure comprises an interlayer insulating film, which contains a silicon nitride film 1, a MSQ film 2 thereon and a silicon oxide film 4 thereon, and a copper interconnect containing a barrier metal film 5 and copper film 6, which is formed in the interlayer insulating film. Since the MSQ film 2 comprises an organic material and the silicon oxide film 4 comprises an inorganic material, the insufficient adhesion may occur between these films, and further the peeling off therebetween may be caused in the extreme cases. In order to address the problem, JP-A-2001-326,222 discloses a configuration of having a methylated hydrogen silsesquioxane (MHSQ) film 3 disposed between the MSQ film 2 and the silicon oxide film 4 as shown in FIG. 2, to improve the adhesiveness therebetween. According to the disclosure of JP-A-2001-326,222, although the MHSQ film 3 is employed in the embodiment shown in the figure, it is disclosed that other materials of polysiloxane compounds having Si—H group within their molecules may also be employed, and it is further described that the reason of improving the adhesiveness by employing these films comprising the above-mentioned materials may be considered that Si—H group is dehydrogenated to form activated reactive sites in the molecule, which, in turn, react with the upper and lower insulating films.
Nevertheless, the technology described in JP-A-2001-326,222 may have a room for further being improved in areas other than the improvement of the adhesiveness. First, the layer constitution shown in FIG. 1 may have a problem, in which it is easier to introduce moisture within the devices having such layer constitution. Although the reasons of occurring the problem is not necessarily clear, it may be considered that the surface of the MSQ film 2 is modified during the process of depositing the silicon oxide film 4 via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) to form a layer having a hygroscopic nature.
Further, the layer constitution shown in FIG. 2 may have an increased dielectric constant of the interlayer insulating film. Polysiloxane compounds having Si—H group within their molecules have a tendency to have increased dielectric constant when the compounds are exposed within plasma. It is considered that, in the layer constitution shown in FIG. 2, the surface of the film comprising polysiloxane compounds having Si—H group is modified during the deposition process of silicon oxide film 4 via CVD, thereby increasing the dielectric constant.
On the other hand, JP-A-H07-240,460 (1995) discloses a configuration, in which a silicon oxide film is deposited on a spin-on glass (SOG) film comprising hydrogen silsesquioxane via plasma CVD. It is further described that this configuration relaxes the stress in the interlayer insulating film including the SOG film, thereby inhibiting the generation of the cracks.
This configuration may also cause the increase of the dielectric constant of the interlayer insulating film. As described later, hydrogen silsesquioxane generally have a cage-shaped molecular structure as shown in FIG. 3, and there is a stronger tendency that hydrogen atom in the molecular structure is easily eliminated to increase the dielectric constant thereof. It is considered that, in the layer constitution described in JP-A-H07-240,460, the surface of the film comprising polysiloxane compounds is exposed within plasma during the deposition process of silicon oxide film, thereby increasing the dielectric constant.
Meanwhile, the method of inhibiting the deterioration of the performances due to introducing moisture within the interlayer insulating film generally employs a manner of providing a guard ring. Paragraphs 0002 and 0003 of JP-A-H10-199,883 (1998) and JP-A-2002-134,506 disclose semiconductor devices having guard rings provided therein. The guard ring in the semiconductor device is formed to surround a semiconductor chip or a specified pattern for the purpose of protecting the semiconductor chip or the specified pattern to inhibit the introduction of moisture into the semiconductor device, thereby stabilizing the operation of the semiconductor device. The introduction of moisture into the semiconductor device may cause an erosion of the metal interconnects or degrade the performances of the device by the uptake of moisture, thereby considerably deteriorating the reliability of the device. Thus, as described in the paragraph 0002 of JP-A-H10-199,883, the formation of the guard ring is an essential subject matter.
The guard ring can be provided by forming a bit line contact hole and filling the formed contact hole with a guard ring-forming material during the process of manufacturing the semiconductor device. Alternatively, in place of forming the bit line contact hole, the guard ring may also be provided by forming a node contact hole, a metal contact hole and a via contact hole that are formed therein, and thereafter filling the formed contact holes with a guard ring-forming material. Further, the guard ring may also be formed by additionally forming a dummy contact hole on the periphery of the above-mentioned contact holes, and thereafter filling the formed dummy contact holes with a guard ring-forming material. However, the configuration of providing the guard ring has reduced areas, on which devices are formed, and therefore the presence of the guard ring may be a factor of inhibiting the higher integration.

Semiconductor device including ladder-shaped siloxane hydride and method for manufacturing same


A base structure is formed from a green material having first and second opposing sides and having a plurality of via openings therein. The green material is then sintered so that the green material becomes a sintered ceramic material and the base structure becomes a sintered ceramic base structure having the via openings. A conductive via is formed in each via opening of the sintered ceramic base structure. First and second capacitor structures are formed on the sintered ceramic base structure, each on a respective side of the sintered ceramic base structure. The power and ground planes of the capacitor structure are connected to the vias. As such, a capacitor structure can be formed and connected to the vias without the need to drill via openings in brittle substrates such as silicon substrates. Capacitor structures on opposing sides provide more capacitance without manufacturing complexities associated with the manufacture of one capacitor structure having a large number of power and ground planes.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a capacitor structure that is included in a substrate of an integrated circuit package.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Integrated circuits are usually manufactured on wafer substrates. Wafer substrate is then "diced" or "singulated" into individual dies, each die carrying a respective integrated circuit. The die is then mounted on a package substrate, often with an intermediate interposer substrate. The substrate or substrates provide structural rigidity to the resulting integrated circuit package. A package substrate also provides x-y transformation from contacts of the die to contacts on a carrier substrate on which the integrated circuit package is mounted.
Signals can be provided through conductors in the substrate or substrates to and from an integrated circuit in the die. Signal delay, referred to as resistance-capacitance-inductance delay, often occurs when signals are transmitted through the conductors. In order to reduce resistance-capacitance-inductance delay, a capacitor is often provided close to the die. The capacitor acts as a reservoir of power close to the integrated circuit.
Discrete capacitors are relatively large and thus take up a large amount of real estate on a substrate. It has been appreciated that thin film capacitors may take up less real estate, which will allow for more capacitors to be formed. It may also be simpler to manufacture thin film capacitors during the manufacture of a substrate than to mount discrete capacitors to a substrate.
Via openings have to be manufactured in a base structure of a substrate, in which conductive vias have to be formed to which power and ground planes of a thin film capacitor structure have to be connected. The formation of such via openings has been a preoccupation of the semiconductor industry for a number of years. Thus far, all efforts have been directed to drilling openings in low k-value materials such as silicon. Silicon is a brittle material, which makes it difficult to drill openings therein. Each opening also has to be drilled individually, which reduces throughput.

Integrated circuit package substrate having a thin film capacitor structure


Disclosed is a method for selectively etching an opening in order to reduce cusping on and thereby widen the opening. The opening in one embodiment comprises a contact opening with a diffusion barrier liner layer deposited thereover that has formed cusps at the mouth of the contact opening. The contact opening is exposed to an etching agent at a low temperature and pressure such that the etching agent adheres to the contact opening. Photons are then directed towards the contact opening at an acute angle to the surface of the contact opening. The acute angle causes the surface of the contact opening to block the photons from contacting the bottom of the contact opening with a high flux density. The photons impart an energy to activate the etching agent, causing substantial etching of an upper portion of the contact opening, while a lower portion does not receive a significant flux density and is not substantially etched. Cusps are thereby removed from the mouth of the contact opening without substantially removing the material from the bottom of the contact opening. Further depositions can then be conducted without pinching off the mouth of the contact opening. A further embodiment is disclosed in which the foregoing method is used to planarize raised structural features with large openings without forming keyholes in the openings.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the manufacture of semiconductor devices. More particularly, the present invention is directed to methods of selectively etching a material from an opening in a structural layer of a semiconductor wafer with a preference for more rapidly etching the material from an upper portion of the opening than from a lower portion of the opening. The method of the present invention is particularly useful in removing cusps from the surface of a contact opening with a high aspect ratio in order that the contact opening can be filled with uniform step coverage.
2. The Relevant Technology
Recent advances in computer technology and in electronics in general have been brought about at least in part as a result of the progress that has been achieved by the integrated circuit industry in electronic circuit densification and miniaturization. This progress has resulted in increasingly compact and efficient semiconductor devices, attended by an increase in the complexity and number of semiconductor devices aggregated on a single integrated circuit wafer. The smaller and more complex semiconductor devices, including resistors, capacitors, diodes, and transistors, have been achieved, in part, by reducing semiconductor device sizes and spacing and by reducing the junction depth of active regions formed on a silicon substrate of an integrated circuit wafer. The smaller and more complex semiconductor devices have also been achieved by stacking the semiconductor devices at various levels on the wafer.
Among the semiconductor device features which are being reduced in size are the electrical communication interconnect structures through which electrical contact is made between discrete semiconductor devices, or portions of such devices, located on nonadjacent levels of the wafer. These electrical communication interconnect structures include contacts, vias, plugs, trenches, and other structures, whereby electrical connection is made to discrete semiconductor devices, or components of semiconductor devices, located at the varying levels of integrated circuit wafers. These and other such interconnect structures will hereafter be collectively referred to as "interconnect structures." Interconnect structure openings are defined herein as etched conduits between layers which, when filled with conductive material, form the interconnect structure. By way of example, a contact opening is an interconnect structure opening that is filled with a conductive material to form an interconnect structure called a contact. In order to continue in the process of reducing integrated circuit size, new interconnect structure formation methods which overcome certain problems existing in the art are required.
Many of the problems currently encountered when forming interconnect structures arise from the fact that the interconnect structure openings are becoming increasingly smaller. Interconnect structure openings are currently designed with diameters within the half micron range. Also, the aspect ratio of the interconnect structure openings, the ratio of the height of the openings in which interconnect structures are formed to the width of these openings, is becoming very high. Aspect ratios for contact openings are currently greater than about three. It is difficult to deposit with good step coverage the necessary conducting filler material in these tiny, narrow, high sided contact openings. These factors make it difficult to form increasingly miniaturized interconnect structures which retain a high conductivity.
Currently, interconnect structure openings are filled with conducting filler material using one of two processes, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and physical vapor deposition (PVD), the latter of which is also known as sputtering. Each of these processes has limitations and associated problems. For instance, limitations of the materials that can be deposited with CVD make it impractical for many applications. A shortcoming of existing PVD processes involves the phenomena of cusping, which occurs as a result of nonuniform step coverage, when high aspect ratio interconnect structure openings are being filled. Cusping also occurs to a lesser degree in CVD processes.
The problem of cusping will be discussed herein in greater detail in conjunction with the contact structure of FIG. 1. A specific type of contact known as a tungsten plug is being formed therein. Typically in the formation of a tungsten plug, an active region 12 on a silicon substrate 10 is being connected with surface metallization layers. A contact opening 14 is formed through a passivation layer 15, and a diffusion barrier liner layer 16 is deposited over contact opening 14. Diffusion barrier liner layer 16 is typically formed of titanium, which has a high tendency to form cusps 18 at a surface 13 of contact opening 14. Cusps 18 are formed by the deposition of large quantities of the conducting filler material concentrated at a the top of contact opening 14. Rather than being deposited in the bottom of contact opening 14, the slight angularity of the trajectory of sputtered material causes the fill material to aggregate at a mouth at the top of contact opening mouth 14, resulting in cusps 18.
Cusps 18 grow during continued deposition, progressively blocking the top or mouth of contact opening 14 until contact opening 14 is finally pinched off. Consequently, during the subsequent step of filling the remainder of contact opening 14 with a tungsten 18 layer 22, as shown in FIG. 2, tungsten layer 22 will close over cusps 14 and pinch off the top of contact opening 14, leaving a keyhole 19. The presence of a keyhole in a contact opening causes a high contact resistance, a reduction in semiconductor device speed, and a potential failure of the semiconductor device, particularly as the aspect ratio of the contact opening increases.
Attempts to remedy the angularity of the trajectory of sputtered material which causes cusping have included the use of collimators. Collimators are honeycombed structures used within PVD chambers to block the deposition of sputtered materials impinging at angles to the wafer. Nevertheless, collimators only reduce the degree of cusping, and cannot fully prevent it.
Thus, it becomes apparent that in order to continue in the progress of integrated circuit densification and miniaturization, an improved method is needed which reduces or eliminates cusping in the formation of interconnect structures. Such a method would be particularly beneficial if a contact could be formed thereby with a high aspect ratio and a high conductivity.

Etching method for reducing cusping at openings


A fiber bed assembly for a mist eliminator that operates at high efficiency and inhibits re-entrained liquid from leaving the mist eliminator. The fiber bed assembly has a construction that facilitates rapid drainage of liquid collected by the fiber bed. A pre-filter media can be employed upstream of the primary collection media to remove larger liquid drops. The pre-filter media can be used in unique combination with other features to reduce liquid re-entrainment, and/or allow increased flow capacity.

Mist eliminators have found widespread use in applications wherein aerosols, particularly of less than 3 microns, must be separated from a gas or vapor (hereinafter and in the claims collectively referred to as "gas") stream. These mist eliminators include fiber beds through which the gas stream is passed to achieve separation. Some of the more frequent applications of mist eliminators include removal of acid mists, such as sulfuric acid mist, in acid manufacturing processes, plasticizer mists in, for example, polyvinyl chloride floor or wall covering manufacture, water soluble solid aerosols such as, for example, emissions from ammonium nitrate prill towers. In removal of wetted soluble solid aerosols, the collected solid particulates are dissolved in, or flushed away by, a liquid within the fiber bed through use of an irrigated fiber bed or of a fogging spray of liquid such as water injected into the gas stream prior to the fiber bed.
Re-entrainment of collected liquid from the downstream surface of the fiber bed often causes problems. These problems can include any of the following individually or in combination; fouling of downstream process equipment, degradation of product purity, corrosion to ductwork and in some cases difficulty in achieving emission requirements. Re-entrainment in fiber bed separators can arise from two mechanisms. As the liquid drains down through the fiber bed and/or the downstream surface thereof, the moving gas stream can cause some of the draining liquid to break or bubble out of the descending liquid stream and become re-entrained in the gas stream as droplets. This problem is particularly severe at the bottom of a vertically disposed fiber bed since all of the liquid collected by the fiber bed necessarily drains to the bottom and from a practical standpoint because of gas phase drag on the liquid, out the downstream surface at the bottom of the fiber bed. At this disengagement point where the greatest cumulative drainage occurs, gas phase drag can cause bubbling, "spitting", jetting or fragmentation of the draining liquid. As these bubbles break, large to sub-micron sized fragments or droplets are formed which are carried away by the moving gas stream as what is termed "bubble re-entrainment".
The second re-entrainment mechanism termed "bed re-entrainment" occurs at gas bed velocities so high that gas phase drag on the draining liquid in the entire fiber bed on downstream discharge surfaces of the fiber bed causes bubbling, spitting, jetting and fragmentation into re-entrainment. Thus, in a given fiber bed and at a constant liquid loading, as bed velocity increases, a point is reached where bubble re-entrainment begins. This first occurs at the bottom of the fiber bed on the gas discharge surface of the collecting media. As the bed velocity is increased even further re-entrainment begins to occur at higher levels on the fiber bed until with only minor increases in velocity, re-entrainment is occurring from substantially the entire gas discharge surface of the fiber bed. This is typically referred to as a totally flooded condition.
Prior attempts have been made to prevent re-entrainment and to operate the fiber bed in a drier condition by removing collected liquid and soluble solids from the fiber bed. In one example a tubular fiber bed is formed of two or more shorter sections that are stacked one on top of the other to form the fiber bed. A metal plate is placed between adjacent sections in the stack to form a barrier against migration of liquid from one section into the next lower section and to cause liquid to flow radially away from the sections (and out of the fiber bed). However in this arrangement, it is possible for the liquid to move out of the fiber bed to the discharge (i.e., downstream) face of the fiber bed. At this location, the chances of the liquid becoming re-entrained increase. In addition, it is difficult to maintain the necessary gas seal between the fiber bed sections and the metal plate to avoid gas bypassing between the section and the adjoining plate.

Fiber bed assembly and fiber bed therefor


An electrically responsive composite material (1110) specially adapted for touch screen, comprising a carrier layer (1301) having a length and a width and a thickness (1303) that is relatively small compared to said length and said width. The composite material also comprises a plurality of electrically conductive or semi-conductive particles (201). The particles (201) are agglomerated to form a plurality of agglomerates (104, 1403) dispersed within the carrier layer such that each said agglomerate comprises a plurality of the particles (201). The agglomerates are arranged to provide electrical conduction across the thickness of the carrier layer in response to applied pressure such that the electrically responsive composite material has a resistance that reduces in response to applied pressure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrically responsive composite material, a position sensing device and a method of manufacturing a position sensing device. The invention also relates to a method of producing a composite material and a composite material comprising a liquid carrier and an electrically active solid filler material.
2. Description of the Related Art
User input devices are known that are substantially flat and are responsive to movement of a stylus or finger in an xy plane. In addition to this xy position detection, some devices of this type are also sensitive to pressure applied in the z dimension. Thus, when z dimension pressure detection is provided, it is possible for the input device to be provided with additional functionality.
It is also known for touch sensitive devices of this type to be combined with a display screen; the combination generally being referred to as a touch screen. The optical properties of a pressure responsive composition will usually be dominated by the nature of the electrically active filler particles and any further additives in the composition. It is therefore difficult to produce a transparent touch screen which is also capable of responding to applied pressure in the z dimension.


An apparatus and method for finishing the mating surfaces of a gear set or gear train includes at least a first and a second rotatably connected gear element in dynamic, lubricated contact and rotating at different cycle rates. A hardness differential is employed between mating gear surfaces to balance surface damage imparted by friction and plastic deformation. The mating surfaces are of a hardness of at least approximately 70 on the Rockwell superficial hardness scale (70HR-30N), and are subjected to a polishing process, such as isotropic chemical finishing, to shape the surface asperity profile, thereby reducing accumulative damage due to friction and plastic deformation.

Gear sets, or gear trains, are common to all mechanical or electro-mechanical systems requiring rotational motion control and power transmission, from simple machines such as wrist watches or wind-up toys to more complex systems such as automotive transmissions. A gear set consists of several mechanical gear elements, with each gear element engageable with at least one other gear element to transmit power and motion from one rotating body to another. Each gear element rotates or cycles at a cycle rate that may vary substantially from the cycle rates of other interconnected gear elements in the same gear set. The specific gear surface hardness chosen for any given application will depend in large part on the dynamics of the individual gear element and the forces or loads to which the individual gear elements are subjected.
Due to relatively high operating speeds and heavy loading, automotive power transmission gear sets are typically constructed from materials substantially harder than those used in lower speed, lower load gear sets. Gear sets used in automotive transmission systems in particular commonly include planetary gear sets comprised of sun gears, ring gears, and pinion gears.
A typical planetary gear set contains at least one high-cycle gear, for instance a sun gear, engaged or enmeshed with one or more lower-cycle gears such as a plurality of pinion gears. The sun gear typically sees more cycles than the pinion gear. The greater number of stress cycles or revolutions endured by the higher-cycle sun gear element may result in gradual, accumulative damage to the gear surfaces due to plastic deformation and friction, and in particular to those gear surfaces directly engaged with a mating gear element. Damage to the mating gear surfaces may take the form of abrasive wear, pitting, fatigue cracking, or other friction and stress-related deformation. Because of the relatively extreme operating conditions an automotive transmission may be subjected to, mating gear elements within such a system are typically hardened in an attempt to minimize damage inflicted on the gear elements during run-in and subsequent use.
It is known to use case hardening of gear elements in order to strengthen the overall gear set. Common case hardening methods include nitriding, carburizing, or carbon-nitriding processes by which nitrogen or carbon, respectively, are added to the external layers of the gear element to produce the desired surface hardness. In the use of case hardened gear elements, particularly in such gear element variations as are employed in automotive transmissions and other automotive gear systems, the surface hardness of the mating gears is matched as closely as possible within the tolerances of the gear elements, with the overall goal of minimizing damage to the surfaces of mating gears. As higher-cycle gear elements may experience increased levels of fatigue, stress cracking, and pitting relative to the lower-cycle mating gears, the higher-cycle gear may become the weakest member of the gear set, and therefore the primary source of costly premature gear set failure.
It is also known to apply surface coatings or spray coatings as a "hard" layer on mating metal parts. Common hard coatings include chromium, carbide, and titanium compounds. Fatigue performance of applied coatings is a noted drawback of hard coatings, due to the inherent risk of chipping, flaking, or the gradual reduction in bonding strength between the various material layers. Further, hard coatings are relatively expensive to apply, and repeatability of the applications within a narrow tolerance can be difficult and costly. In automotive planetary gear sets, applied hard coatings are commonly reserved for specialty applications, due in large part to these disadvantages.
It is also known to employ a hardness differential, i.e. a variance in surface hardness, between mating "soft" gear elements of a surface hardness of up to 35 on the Rockwell 30N (HR-30N) superficial hardness scale, in certain circular low speed/low stress gear sets. In such soft gear sets, the hardness differential is mainly used to compensate for manufacturing errors, such as errors in central distance and gear geometry, as changes in the shape or profile of the softer member occur through abrasive wear and/or plastic deformation. Such self-forming soft gear applications are typically limited to low speed drives employing circular gears in which the soft mating gears are not subject to the extreme stress, deformation, and accumulative wear of high cycle gears of the planetary gear type used in automotive transmissions.

Apparatus and method of using a hardness differential and surface finish on mating hard gears


The present invention relates to a method of determining the coherence between a physical object and a numerical model representative of the shape of a physical object, wherein a specific use of the method according to the invention is assessing and quantifying manufacturing defects. The method is characterized by a set of steps comprising: capturing multiple images of the physical object; processing the images to produce a second numerical model of the physical object; in a computer, aligning the first numerical model and the second numerical model to generate a third numerical model according to specific sub-steps, wherein the third numerical model comprises a plurality of points representative of the shape of the captured physical object. Compared with the first numerical model, the third numerical model allows determining a measurement of the coherence between the physical object captured by means of images and the first numerical model representative thereof.

One of the fields of the art that has been the most intensely developed is the field of the reconstruction of three-dimensional shapes of an object or a scene from photographic images capturing said object or scene from different viewpoints.
European patent no. EP2511653 which describes the use of a plurality of image sensors distributed around an image capture space is known, wherein the system is furthermore configured to allow the free fall of the object through the capture space in such a way that there is no holding or supporting element hiding part of the object.
The plurality of image sensors thereby capture a plurality of images which are subsequently processed for carrying out a reconstruction of the shape of the object from said plurality of images corresponding to different viewpoints of the object.
The fact that the object is captured in free fall means that there are no areas that the camera cannot access. Nevertheless, even under these conditions there are areas of the object that may not be captured by any of the image sensors, for example, cavities without outward openings or some concave areas.
As a result of configurations of this type where part of the object is not suitably captured by the image sensors, subsequent processing of the images gives rise to numerical models representing shapes with object reconstruction errors because they assume that the inaccessible parts are not empty.
The present invention relates to a method of determining the coherence between a physical object and a first numerical model representative of the shape of said physical object in which there is a phase of reconstructing the shape of the object which allows determining optimal points of said object best defining its shape by committing minimal error. This better reconstruction is characterized by a step in which the determination of the optimal points is established by combining all the information provided by the first numerical model.

Method of determining the coherence between a physical object and a numerical model representative of the shape of a physical object


A high-speed optical delay generating method by a rotation reflector in optical coherence tomography, capable of providing a sectional picture with a sufficiently long depth-direction (Z direction) scanning distance, and an optical coherence tomography device therefor are provided. The device comprises a low-coherence light source (1), a half mirror (2) for splitting light from the low-coherence light source (1) into two, that is, into object light towards an object (A) to be examined and reference light, a light delay mechanism (3) for delaying the reference light by means of a rotation reflector (12), a fixed mirror (4) for reflecting/returning the reference light from the light delay mechanism (3), the half-mirror (2) for combining the object light returning from the object (A) to be examined with the reference light returning from the light delay mechanism, and a light detector (11) for detecting interference light including a heterodyne interference beat signal combined at the half mirror (2).

As a conventional high-speed optical delay generating method in optical coherence tomography, a method has been known, in which the light-path for reference light extends through a half mirror, a first mirror, a second mirror, and the half mirror, and the boundary between the first mirror and the second mirror is set to be the reflection center.
FIG. 1 schematically shows the configuration of a conventional optical coherence tomography device. This figure shows a low-coherence light source (e.g., an SLD (super luminescent diode) light source) 101, a half mirror (two-splitting half mirror) 102, a rotating member 103, a first mirror 104A, a second mirror 104B, mirrors 105 and 106, an object A to be examined, and a light detector 107.

High-speed optical delay generating method by rotation reflector in optical coherence tomography and optical coherence tomography device


A welding apparatus is disclosed for use during welding of a tubular metal nozzle to a tank's metal domed cap. The nozzle extends longitudinally between a base end for mating to the tank's cap at an aperture therein and a spaced-away terminal free end. Typically, the nozzle's longitudinal axis is aligned oblique to a normal axis for the domed cap through the aperture thereof. Such welding apparatus involves a clamping arrangement having an actuator extending between a lid and a spaced, opposed backup plate. The backup plate seats against at least a marginal periphery of the domed cap's inner concave surface surrounding the aperture thereof. The lid covers the nozzle's terminal free end. Releasably actuating the actuator increases clamping pressure between the lid and backup plate, thereby clamping the backup plate opposite the weld seam for at least purge purposes, and perhaps light-duty heat-sink purposes.

The invention relates to welding backup systems for heat-sink or purge purposes as for application to welding construction of pipelines or tanks and the like.
A number of additional features and objects will be apparent in connection with the following discussion of the preferred embodiments and examples with reference to the drawings.

Welding backup systems for heat-sink or purge purposes


A method of programming an integrated circuit to operate in a selected operating mode includes assigning different resistance values to correspond to different operating modes of the integrated circuit, wherein the different resistance values are non-zero finite values. The integrated circuit is programmed to operate in one of the modes based on a corresponding one of the different resistance values presented to a terminal of the integrated circuit.

Many non-software-programmable integrated circuits are statically configurable. For example, a set of mode control pins may be individually coupled through external resistors to either the power supply voltage or ground. These voltages are then read and decoded at power on reset or another triggering event and the device sent into the corresponding operating mode. There may even be multiple levels of decoding, with the voltages at one set of pins determining the decoding of another set of pins during static configuration.
In conventional static programming schemes, the number of static configuration (mode select) pins or pads required is generally a function of the number of modes available—the more programmable modes available, the more pins required to make the selection. For example, if 4 (i.e., 22) modes are available, then at least 2 pins are required for mode selection, while if 8 (i.e. 23) modes are available, then at least 3 mode select pins are required, and so on. Hence, these conventional schemes are typically adequate if the number of available programmable modes is relatively small and/or the required pins are available yet are limited in the number of pins or pads which are available for configuration purposes.
Notwithstanding, when a large number of programmable modes are provided and/or in instances where the number of available pins is limited, conventional static programming techniques are inadequate. Hence, improved circuits and methods are needed to support statically configurable integrated circuits, especially those, which provide the end-user with a number of configuration options.

Single-resistor static programming circuits and methods


An adhesion promotion process and composition for enhancing adhesion between a copper conducting layer and a dielectric material during manufacture of a printed circuit board. The composition contains a corrosion inhibitor, an inorganic acid, and an alcohol which is effective to increase copper-loading in the composition.

This invention relates to improving adhesion of metal surfaces, such as copper to an insulating layer, in the manufacture of printed circuit boards.
A multilayer circuit board (MLB) has, among other things, a number of metal layers defining circuit patterns, and a number of insulating layers there-between. The metal layers defining circuit patterns today are typically formed from copper, and the insulating layers are typically formed from a resinous fiber-impregnated dielectric material. These respective layers can have a wide variety of thickness. For example, they can be on the order of only microns thick, or much thicker.
In manufacturing MLBs, it is desirable to enhance the adhesion between the conducting and insulating layers to avoid delamination in subsequent manufacturing operations or in service. So called "black oxide" processes had been used for years which created a strongly adherent copper oxide layer to which an insulating layer would adhere better. Black oxide processes have, for most of the industry, been replaced by processes such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,800,859 involving formation of an organometallic conversion coating (OMCC). These OMCC processes involve exposing the copper circuit layer to an adhesion promotion solution, which contains various components including an oxidizer, an inhibitor, and a mineral acid.
One limitation on OMCC processes has been that after processing a number of boards through the same solution, sludge can form in the solution as copper builds up. The effective life of a solution is therefore limited by its tolerance for loading of copper. Another limitation is that the OMCC must be a uniform color, such as, for example, a dark brown or chocolate color. The industry associates this color with a uniform coating which has strong adhesion properties. A dark uniform color is preferred because it provides color contrast with copper to aid in inspection for defects. For example, it provides contrast for inspection for the so-called "pink-ring" defect. OMCC processes which produce significantly lighter coatings are generally unacceptable, or at least undesirable for most applications. For a lighter coating, "pink ring" defects are substantially more difficult to detect.

Adhesion promotion in printed circuit boards


A fitting and an associated grommet are provided for supporting a conduit penetrating a panel and limiting energy transfer between the conduit and panel. The fitting may include a grommet having annular first and second sections spaced apart from one another and an annular wall extending between the first and second sections such that the wall and first and second sections define a bore. A plurality of ribs protrude from the annular wall, the ribs being distributed circumferentially around the annular wall and spanning between the first and second sections. A tubular liner extends through the bore of the grommet and contacts the first and second sections. The plurality of ribs extend into the bore, and at least some of the ribs contact the liner.

Traditionally, commercial airplanes were constructed with fuselage structures composed mainly of aluminum. These airplanes were often designed such that multiple tubes carrying hydraulic fluid were required to penetrate the fuselage at different points. Often, fittings were included at these penetration points to facilitate passage of the tubes through the fuselage and to provide for proper attachment of the hydraulic tubes to the fuselage structure in a way that restrained tube movement and prevented damage to both the tube and structure. In addition, in cases where the fuselage was pressurized, these fittings were designed to minimize the leakage through the penetration hole of the tube. Finally, the fitting served the additional purpose of facilitating aircraft assembly and servicing by acting as a connector for tubes being connected from outside the fuselage, thereby allowing external portions of the tubes to be connected and disconnected without significant disruption of the fuselage structure.
In more recent times, commercial airplanes in increasing numbers are being designed and constructed with composite fuselage and wing structures, meaning these structures incorporate components of metal and components composed of other materials. Some of the most common non-metallic materials to be used in aircraft construction are polymer-based materials. These materials are relatively inexpensive and lightweight while at the same time providing sufficient strength for many applications, and as such, designers are making significant use of those materials.
While polymer-based materials offer several advantages in aircraft construction, they also create several challenges. Presently, titanium hydraulic system tubes are used to transport hydraulic fluid through polymer-based thermoset composite fuselages. At certain instances, the fluid in these tubes may have operating temperatures high as 275° F. Using standard fittings designed for aluminum fuselages, the penetration of these tubes through the fuselage skin can lead to localized areas near the penetration hole with temperatures elevated to a point where thermoset composite material aging and degradation is a concern. As such, a need in the art for a new fitting that allows tube penetration through a thermoset composite fuselage while avoiding excessive localized heating.
Another challenge presented by the use of polymer-based materials in aircraft construction is the unwanted transmission of vibrational energy. Hydraulic system components, such as motors, pumps, and actuators, tend to vibrate as they operate. These vibrations may be transmitted along the hydraulic tubes leading to and away from the hydraulic components. When the hydraulic tubes pass through and come in contact with the fuselage, some of the vibrational energy may be transmitted to the fuselage. Additionally, because the hydraulic tubes are carrying a fluid, some of the energy associated with the movement of the fluid may be also transmitted to the fuselage. This vibrational energy may cause the fuselage to vibrate and produce noise in the fuselage. In the past, the damping capacity of the aluminum plane structures was sufficient to maintain the vibration-induced fuselage noise at an acceptable level. However, the capacity of composite fuselage structures to dampen mechanical vibrations is less than that of the aluminum structures, mainly due to the characteristics of the materials used in the composite fuselages. Hence, there is a need in the art for a new fitting that will dampen vibrations being transmitted from hydraulic tubes to composite fuselages through which the tubes are penetrating.

Fitting and associated grommet for supporting a conduit penetrating a panel


A storage assembly can include a first storage unit and at least one support member. The at least one support member can include a support member first end and a support member second end. The at least one support member also can include a support member first portion that extends between the support member first end and the support member second end and is releasably attached to the first storage unit. The at least one support member can further include a support member second portion that extends between the support member first end and the support member second end and is joined to the support member first portion beneath the support member first portion. The storage assembly also can include a second storage unit that is secured to the support member second portion. The support member can be employed with storage units having a variety of constructs.

Items and articles of one type or another that require supporting means often are supported from structures in a variety of ways, including through the use of support members. The items and articles that are supported can include, for example, shelves, racks, counters, receptacles and drawers, and the supporting structures from which the items and articles are supported can comprise, for example, walls, casings and bulkheads. In many cases, support members such as brackets and braces, for example, are employed for the purpose of supporting the items and articles from the supporting structures. In certain instances, storage units such as shelves and baskets, for example, are variously supported at the interior walls of refrigeration appliances, such as, for example, the fresh food compartments of household refrigerators. Often times, the storage units are supported at the interior walls of the refrigeration appliances by a type of supporting member such as a bracket or brace that is attached to the interior walls by fasteners. Those skilled in the art, pursuant to commercial and manufacturing incentives, continuously seek to make improvements in the technology concerning the installation and maintenance of such storage units and in the convenience and ease with which the positioning of the storage units can be adjusted at the interior walls of the refrigeration appliances.

Support members and storage assemblies incorporating the support members


A socket which compensates for non-planarities in a semiconductor device. The socket has a base with an aperture for receiving a semiconductor device and a plurality of bond pads within the aperture. The bond pads are typically electrically connected to external circuitry in some fashion. The socket also includes a lid which has a spring loaded portion for applying a force on a back surface of a semiconductor device when a major surface of the lid is in intimate contact with a major surface of the base such that contacts on the semiconductor device may make electrical contact to the bond pads while compensating for non-planarities in the semiconductor device. This compensation scheme is located in the spring loaded portion of the lid. This compensation scheme may also be aided through the use of a compliant, and perhaps compressible, interposer disposed between the semiconductor device's contacts and the bond pads.

Modern electronic devices utilize semiconductor chips, commonly referred to as "integrated circuits" which incorporate numerous electronic elements. These chips are mounted on substrates which physically support the chips and electrically interconnect each chip with other elements of the circuit. The substrate may be a part of a discrete chip package used to hold a single chip and equipped with terminals for interconnection to external circuit elements. Such substrates may be secured to an external circuit board or chassis. Alternatively, in a so-called "hybrid circuit" one or more chips are mounted directly to a substrate forming a circuit panel arranged to interconnect the chips and the other circuit elements mounted to the substrate. In either case, the chip must be securely held on the substrate and must be provided with reliable electrical interconnection to the substrate. The interconnection between the chip itself and its supporting substrate is commonly referred to as "first level" assembly or chip interconnection, as distinguished from the interconnection between the substrate and the larger elements of the circuit, commonly referred to as a "second level" interconnection.
The structures utilized to provide the first level connection between the chip and the substrate must accommodate all of the required electrical interconnections to the chip. The number of connections to external circuit elements, commonly referred to as "input-output" or "I/O" connections, is determined by the structure and function of the chip. Advanced chips capable of performing numerous functions may require substantial numbers of I/O connections.
The size of the chip and substrate assembly is a major concern. The size of each such assembly influences the size of the overall electronic device. More compact assemblies, with smaller distances between chips provide smaller signal transmission delays and hence permit faster operation of the device.
First level interconnection structures connecting a chip to a substrate ordinarily are subject to substantial strain caused by thermal cycling as temperatures within the device change during operation. The electrical power dissipated within the chip tends to heat the chip and substrate, so that the temperatures of the chip and substrate rise each time the device is turned on and fall each time the device is turned off. As the temperatures change, the chip and substrate may expand and contract by different amounts. This causes the electrical contacts on the chip to move relative to the electrical contact pads on the substrate. This relative movement deforms the electrical interconnections between the chip and substrate and places them under mechanical stress. These stresses are applied repeatedly with repeated operation of the device, and can cause breakage of the electrical interconnections.
Moreover, despite all of the efforts made during made during manufacture of the chips, some chips will be defective. These defects often cannot be detected until the chip is operated under power in a test fixture or in an actual assembly. A single bad chip can make a larger assembly including numerous chips and other valuable components worthless, or can require painstaking procedures to extricate the bad chip from the assembly. Therefore, the chips and the mounting components used in any chip assembly system should permit testing of chips and replacement of defective chips before the chips are fused to a substrate. The cost of the chip and substrate assembly is also a major concern.
Rai et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,728 discloses a first substrate such as a chip with studs or bump leads protruding outwardly and a second substrate with recesses having solder for engaging the bump leads. Malhi et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,006,792 discloses a test socket in which a substrate has an exterior ring-like structure and numerous cantilever beams protruding inwardly from the ring-like structure. Contacts are disposed on these cantilever beams so that the same can be resiliently engaged with contacts of a chip when the chip is placed in the socket. Nolan et al, A Tab Tape-Based Bare Chip Test and Bum Carrier, 1994 ITAP And Flip Chip Proceedings, pp. 173-179 discloses another socket with cantilevered contact fingers for engaging the contacts on a chip; in this case the contact fingers are formed on a flexible tab tape and reinforced by a silicone material so as to provide forcible engagement and a wiping action with the chip contact.
Hill et al, Mechanical Interconnection System For Solder Bump Dice, 1994 ITAP And Flip Chip Proceedings PP. 82-86, discloses a test socket for flip chip devices with solder bumps. The socket has rough, dendritic structures on contact pads; here again, the chip with the solder bumps thereon is forced into the engagement with the rough, dendritic structures so as to make temporary contact for testing.
The reference "MCM to Printed Wiring Board (Second Level) Connection Technology Options" by Alan D. Knight, (in Multichip Module Technologies and Alternatives, ed. by Daryl Ann Doane and Paul D. Franzon, Van Nostrand, 1993, pp. 504-509 and pp. 521-523), together with the corresponding U.S. Patent of Evans et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,519 and Grabbe, U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,861 disclose additional connection systems using deformable contacts.
Despite all of these efforts in the art however, there have still been needs for improved components for connecting semiconductor chips and other microelectronic components; for improved methods for connecting such chips and components and for improved systems which include the connected chips and components.


A near-eye display for displaying an image to a viewer has enhanced laser efficiency and enhanced eye-safety features. The display includes a laser source which generates one or more laser spots and a scan driver which scans the laser spots across an image field. The electrical energy consumption is minimized by modulating the laser source at 3 power levels—a near-zero level, a near-threshold level, and a lasing level—and by synchronizing the modulation with the scan driver. In another embodiment, the laser module generates two or more laser spots which scan non-overlapping lines on the image field. The scanning is configured to prevent the light intensity at the eye of a viewer from exceeding eye-safety levels, even in the event of a scanning malfunction.

Laser illumination is often used in near-eye displays in order to provide a virtual image whose brightness is comparable to that of outdoor scenery. In color displays, the image is formed by a bright spot which is generated by red, green, and blue lasers. The spot is scanned over a field of view (FOV) by one or two mirrors, which are controlled by actuators.
In the design of such near-eye displays, there are two conflicting brightness requirements. On the one hand, the brightness of the scanned spot must be high enough for the image to be visible on a background of world scenery. On the other hand, the brightness must be low enough that the combined optical intensity entering the eye of an observer is within eye safety limits. This is especially true for blue light wavelengths, at which the human eye is particularly sensitive.
A further consideration for battery-powered near-eye displays is to reduce the electrical power needed to provide sufficient laser illumination. A laser light pulse is emitted when a laser resonant cavity is excited, or pumped, by a laser driver to a lasing threshold level which exceeds internal power losses in the cavity. The time duration of a laser light pulse is typically much shorter than the total time needed by the driver to excite the pulse. This limits the pulse repetition rate, in units of pulses per second, that can be achieved.
One way to achieve a high pulse repetition rate is to maintain the resonant cavity in a continually excited state, which is just below the lasing threshold. However, this requires continuous operation of the laser driver and the expenditure of large amounts of electrical energy.

Near-eye display with enhanced laser efficiency and eye safety


The invention describes a test bed, a method and a computer program product for testing an application installed on a wireless communication device. The wireless communication device communicates with a server over a network through the test bed. Further, the test bed is connected to the server and receives various testing parameters from a user. Furthermore, the test bed establishes a wireless connection between the test bed and the wireless communication device. Thereafter, the test bed emulates various network conditions, based on the testing parameters, and subsequently communicates the emulated network conditions to the wireless communication device. The application installed on the wireless communication device experiences the emulated network conditions. The user then tests the application in the emulated network conditions.

The present invention relates to the field of testing a wireless communication device. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and system for testing an application installed on a wireless communication device.
With the exponential growth of wireless technology, various applications are being developed for wireless communication devices. Examples of such wireless communication devices include Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), mobile phones, laptops, computers, navigational devices, etc. There are various applications that run on wireless communication devices such as Internet browsers, applications that enable chatting, media players that stream live music through the Internet, etc. These applications are tested before they are launched in the market, to be used with wireless communication devices.
Presently, applications are tested by two common techniques. One of the techniques used for testing applications is known as 'Field Testing', wherein a tester installs an application on a wireless communication device and takes the wireless communication device in a 'live network'. Although the live network is similar to a real life scenario, the tester fails to test the application for a number of 'varying network conditions'. Further, the tester cannot control the network conditions and is therefore restricted to testing the application in the network conditions at the time of testing. For example, if the network conditions are strong on a given day, the tester may not be able to test the application during 'weak network coverage'. Therefore, testing does not guarantee the applicability of the application in varying network conditions. Furthermore, field testing is time-consuming and also an expensive way of testing the application.
Another technique employed for testing such an application is 'emulator-based testing'. An emulator is a computer that simulates various network conditions to test the application. Typically, in emulator-based testing, the application is installed on the emulator. Thereafter, the application is tested in various network conditions emulated by the emulator. Although emulator-based testing enables the tester to test the application in various network conditions, it has been observed that the application behaves abnormally once it is installed back in the wireless communication device. This occurs because the emulator fails to provide a hardware and software environment that is similar to the application provided by the wireless communication device.
In light of the above, there is a need for a system and method for testing the application installed on the wireless communication device. Further, the system should enable the tester to vary network conditions, to test the application thoroughly.

System and method for testing an application installed on a wireless communication device


Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for creating and managing custom timelines. One of the methods includes receiving, from a user using a user account of a social messaging platform, input to a user interface displaying a message timeline of a social messaging platform, the user input requesting that the platform save a first message from the message timeline and, in response, saving the message to a custom timeline of the user account, wherein saving the message to the custom timeline includes associating with the custom timeline an identifier that identifies the first message; monitoring engagements by one or more other accounts with the first message with respect to one or more notification criteria; and in response to determining that the monitored engagements satisfy a trigger condition, providing a notification to the user account associated with the first message through the custom timeline.

This specification relates to custom message timelines in a messaging platform.
A messaging platform can allow registered users to maintain social networking profiles and to build connections with each other. Conventional messaging platforms include features that allow users to post messages, view messages, and build connections with other user accounts. Typically, a user can view a message timeline that includes an ordered stream of messages authored by others and visible to the user.
Often users of a messaging platform do not have time to consume content at that moment. For example, a user may not have time to spend consuming the content or the user may want to wait until they have a different network connection, e.g., higher bandwidth or lower cost. However, because of the transient nature of the message feed, it may be difficult to find the same content at a later time. In some message platforms, users can indicate approval of a message, e.g., by "liking" the message. This typically allows the user to find the message again based on their prior activity. However, the liking action by the user is public to others viewing the message.


A method and system of polyline generation for rendering a representation of a geographic region is provided. Within a database containing geographic data, polyline data entities represent geographic features. Each polyline data entity is associated with a drawcode that defines attributes of the data entity, and organized within the database based on the drawcode. During a rendering process, a processor can read a group of data from a database stored on a disc that is organized to contain all polyline data entities associated with the same drawcode. The processor can then render all geographic features in an area that are similar using one or a minimum number of disc reads.

Computer-based navigation systems for use on land have become available in a variety of forms and provide a variety of useful features. These types of navigation systems use databases that represent geographic features, such as roads, in a region. A navigation system can use the data to display maps for in-vehicle navigation, for example. The data used by a navigation system may provide a model of a road/street network with depth, accuracy and coverage to enable turn-by-turn route guidance, or to help a user find locations of specific restaurants, hotels, airports, and shopping centers, for example. Other useful features may include map display functions, vehicle positioning functions, and destination resolution capabilities, for example.
When performing a map display function with a navigation system, the sizes, shapes, and relative positions of geographic features in a portion of a geographic region are portrayed on a display associated with the navigation system. The geographic features being displayed may include roads, intersections, and points-of-interest, as well as other features, such as lakes, railroad tracks, buildings, airports, stadiums, parks, mountain ranges, docks, ferries, tunnels, and bridges, for example. To provide this map display function, geographic data includes information that allows the navigation system to display the size, shape, position, and character of these various geographic features on the display associated with the navigation system.
Traditional paper maps use different colors, different kinds of lines (e.g., solid, dashed, dotted, etc.) and lines of different widths to depict different geographic features and different types of certain geographic features. For example, paved roads may be depicted with solid lines and unpaved road may be depicted with dashed lines. Similarly, controlled access roads may be depicted with wide, red lines and narrow, low-volume residential roads may be depicted with thin, blue lines. Maps rendered graphically on computer displays using geographic data have generally followed these conventions. However, rendering maps graphically on a computer display with lines of different colors, shapes and widths to represent different kinds of geographic features can use a relatively significant amount of computing resources. Some computing devices used for displaying maps are portable systems (such as in-vehicle or hand-held systems) that have limited memory or processing resources. Thus, some computing systems that render maps graphically may limit the different kinds of lines, shapes and colors used to depict different geographic features.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide an improvement for rendering maps on a display of a computing platform. Further, it would be beneficial to provide a computationally efficient means for rendering graphically on a computer display a map that includes a relatively wide palette of colors, widths and types of lines to represent different types of geographic features.

Method and system of polyline generation for rendering a richly attributed representation of a geographic region


It has been discovered that the degree of hormonal activity of candidate ligands correlates better with degree of fit into DNA than with the strength of receptor binding, and that the receptors in the steroid/thyroid hormone/vitamin A and D family alter the physiochemical properties of DNA and in concert with other transcription factors facilitate insertion of the ligand into DNA. As a result, the magnitude of the response is a function of the structure of the ligand as it related to insertion and fit into the DNA and the specificity of the response is a function of the stereochemistry of the receptor through binding to both the ligand and to the DNA. Based on these discoveries, a method is described herein for identifying drugs having increased activity as compared with the natural ligand for receptors such as the estrogenic receptors.

Why certain chemical structures and not others are present in nature has been a recurring question raised by scientists since the first organic natural products were characterized. Of equal interest has been elucidating what structural features within any given class of organic molecules are responsible for biological activity. Historically, the lack of satisfactory answers to both questions has relegated the development of biologically active molecules either to serendipity or to exhaustive synthesis and biological testing of large numbers of compounds. This frustration is particularly evident in the pharmaceutical industry where the development of drug agonists and antagonists is often time consuming, tedious and expensive.
This picture is beginning to change as more information is derived from modern molecular modeling techniques including characterization of the active sites in enzymes and the ligand binding sites in receptors. Over the past 15 years, another approach has emerged based upon a series of discoveries made with molecular models, wherein biologically active small molecules have been found to possess complementary stereochemical relationships with gene structure. This approach was first described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,619 to Hendry, et al., which is incorporated herein by reference. This simple molecular modeling technology was developed from observations first reported in 1977 of structural relationships between small molecules and nucleic acids, as described by Hendry, et al., J, Steroid Biochem. Molec. Biol. 42:659-670 (1992); Copland, et al., J. Steroid Biochem. Molec. Biol. 46:451-462 (1993); Hendry and Mahesh, J. Steroid Biochem. Molec. Biol. 41:647-651 (1992); Witham and Hendry, J. Theor. Biol. 155:55-67 (1992); Hendry and Mahesh, J. Steroid Biochem. Molec. Biol. 39:133-146 (1991); Hendry, J. Steroid Biochem. 31:493-523 (1988); Lehner, et al., Molec. Endocrinol. 1:377-387 (1987); Hendry, et al., J. Steroid Biochem. 24:843-852 (1986); Uberoi, et al., Steroids 45:325-340 (1985); Bransome, et al., J. Theor. Biol. 112:97-108 (1985); Hendry, et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 78:7440-7444 (1981); and Hendry, et al., Perspect. Biol. Med. 27:623-651 (1984), all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The essential ingredient of all genes is a single, well defined polymer, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). DNA is a remarkably uncomplicated molecule composed of recurring sugar-phosphate units attached to one of four possible bases: adenine (A), thymine (T), cytosine (C) or guanine (G). The simplicity of gene structure is further evident in the Watson and Crick base pairing scheme of double-stranded DNA (A with T and C with G), and the helical chirality (handedness) dictated by the absolute configuration of the sugar D-deoxyribose. Gene structure could conceivably be composed of many other chemical units, for example, other sugar stereoisomers such as L-deoxyribose or sugar homologs related to D-glucose.
The products of gene structure, proteins, are also simple, ubiquitous molecules. Nature limits the structure of proteins by constructing them from only twenty basic units, the amino acids; protein chirality is constrained by the absolute L-configuration of the amino acids. As in the case of nucleic acid subunits, a wide range of structural alternatives are possible for protein amino acids. Examples include changes in the chirality of a given amino acid side chain (e.g., D-isoleucine), rearrangements in the pattern of atoms (e.g., the t-butyl isomer of isoleucine) or the addition of atoms (e.g., pipecolic acid, a homologue of proline).
Structural constraints are also evident in the stereochemistry of low molecular weight natural products. Particularly conspicuous are limitations imposed by nature on the number, size, shape, elemental composition, and chirality of biologically active small molecules. For example, the pervasive neurotransmitters histamine and serotonin are unique in that alternative structures with changes in the position or composition of heteroatoms and/or ring patterns generally do not exist in nature. Similarly, many small molecular weight hormones are few in number, have recurring structural patterns and possess a single absolute chirality.
The source of the pervasive occurrence of physicochemical constraints on the structure of naturally occurring small molecules lies directly in the structure of the proteins which govern both their biosynthesis and bioactivity, i.e., enzymes and receptors, respectively. Ultimately, however, this stereochemical information is contained in the genes. According to the basic tenants of molecular biology, the information in DNA is replicated with remarkable precision and fidelity into newly synthesized DNA. It is also transcribed into RNA and subsequently translated into protein.
This scenario, however, presents an apparent paradox. While the genetic template ultimately directs which proteins and small molecules are synthesized, as well as which proteins and small molecules will interact with each other, the undirectional flow of genetic information during translation suggests that DNA structure performs this function without recognizing the structure of the small molecule. With few exceptions, such as certain antibiotics which bind directly to DNA and block transcription, small molecules are not considered to recognize or interact with the genetic template. Moreover, the structures of the molecules that are biosynthesized are thought to be unrelated to the structure of the genes.
In the initial search for structural relationships between biologically active natural products and DNA, it became apparent that the two-dimensional structures of DNA base pairs were analogous to many classes of small molecules, including gibberellic acid, a phytohormone; benzo a! pyrene oxide, a carcinogen; the prostaglandin PGE.sub.2 ; morphine, a narcotic; estradiol, a hormone; riboflavin, vitamin B.sub.12 ; serotonin, a neurotransmitter; and actinomycin, an antibiotic. In addition to similarities in size and shape, numerous small molecules contained donor/acceptor functional groups at locations where hydrogen bonds occurred between the base pairs. When overlaid on the base pairs, some compounds, such as the plant hormone gibberellic acid, the steroid hormone estradiol, and prostaglandins, contained heteroatoms separated by internuclear distances similar to that of phosphate oxygens on adjacent strands of double-stranded DNA. This was particularly evident in functional groups attached at the 3 and 17.beta. positions of the steroids.
Using three dimensional Corey-Pauling-Koltun (CPK) space filling models, it became apparent that there were spaces between base pairs in partially unwound DNA that could accommodate a variety of small molecules. For example, estradiol could be inserted between base pairs in DNA, and the hydroxyl groups at 3 and 17.beta. of estradiol were positioned such that they could form hydrogen bonds to phosphate oxygens on adjacent strands of DNA. Other steroids, including testosterone and progesterone, were also capable of stereochemical insertion between base pairs. In each case, complementary donor/acceptor linkages could be formed and the steroid conformed well to the topography of the double helix. Attempts to insert any of the non-naturally occurring steroid enantiomers into DNA resulted in poor fit in that donor/acceptor linkages were strained or could not form, and/or the overall shape of the molecules was incompatible with the helical topography of the DNA.
Certain synthetic compounds with hormonal activity can also be accommodated within the DNA; in many cases, the fit of synthetic compounds such as diethylstilbestrol mimicked that of the natural hormone. In addition to mammalian steroids, prostaglandins, the insect hormone ecdysone and several phytohormones were also capable of stereochemical insertion and "recognition" by the double helix. In the case of the plant hormone gibberellic acid, four stereospecific hydrogen bonds could be formed to donor/acceptor positions on the DNA. As with the steroids, only the naturally occurring enantiomer of gibberellic acid conformed to the topography of the double helix.
One conclusion drawn from these studies is that certain chemical shapes, coupled with heteroatom positioning compatible with that of the phosphate backbone of DNA and hydrogen bond positions of the base-pair template, potentiate partial or complete recognition between biologically active molecules and DNA.
While it was possible to form complexes between DNA and a variety of molecules, amino acids did not initially show any clear accommodation to the space between base pairs. Certain compounds derived from amino acids, for example, neurotransmitters, fit into related sites.
These relationships have been described as a stereochemical logic associated with gene structure. The stereochemical logic is defined as those unique features of nucleic acid structure which ultimately dictate constraints on molecular structure, function, metabolism, and biologic activity.
The use of molecular modeling as a tool to study organic structure has dramatically increased due to the advent of computer graphics. Not only is it possible to view molecules on computer screens in three dimensions but it is also feasible to examine the interactions of ligands with various macromolecules such as enzymes and receptors, as reviewed by Borman, Chem. Eng. News 70:18-26 (1992). An almost baffling array of software and hardware is now available and virtually all major pharmaceutical companies have computer modeling groups which are devoted to drug design.
Modern methods of drug design include studies which focus on the binding of a molecule to a protein such as a polypeptide ligand for a receptor, or a steroid such as an estrogen or progesterone for a receptor. Similarly, drugs can be designed based upon the interaction of substrates with various enzymes. For the most part, however, binding sites in proteins have been difficult to characterize. There are many situations where other mechanisms must be involved to explain the feedback between protein regulation and regulation of gene expression.
What is needed is a method for accurately predicting the biological activity of a given compound. The method should be easy to perform and should be able to predict both agonist and antagonist activity.

Computer-based design and screening of molecules using DNA interactions


A button cover holding mechanism in which an angle between a button cover and a body is constantly maintained when the button cover of a portable telephone is in an open condition, and the button cover is maintained in a closed condition when the portable telephone is in the closed condition, which is more convenient for a user to open and close the button cover. The button cover holding mechanism of a portable telephone has a cylindrical bush, a cylindrical ring and a spring inserted into circular holes of a button cover, covered with a cover mounting projection, and sealed by an ultrasonic connection technique; such that an opposite cylindrical ring is inserted into a reception guide rail of a body by positioning the cylindrical bush of the button cover toward a projection bar of the body, and the cylindrical bush and the cylindrical ring are outwardly positioned by a restoring force of the spring so that a trough portion of the cylindrical bush is assembled in contact with the projection bar. Wave projections of the cylindrical bush and the projection bar of the body are in contact with each other to directly apply the restoring force of the spring to the cylindrical bush; and the restoring force is generated by a change in a moving distance of the spring according to a phase of the cylindrical bush which causes a moment for rotating the button cover, to open and close the button cover.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a button cover holding mechanism of a portable telephone, and more particularly to a button cover holding mechanism for opening and closing a button cover which is engaged with a body of the portable telephone.
A button cover holding mechanism of a portable telephone according to the present invention is based on Korean Application No. 21323/95 which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the prior art in which portable telephones include a body with dial buttons and function buttons, it has been a disadvantage in that some buttons are unintentionally pressed, thereby causing an erroneous operation of the portable telephone. To prevent such erroneous operation, the body is provided with the button cover so that the button surface is protected from an unintentional external force. Many technologies for the button cover holding mechanism of the portable telephone have been developed, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,310.
For example, in the prior art, with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a cylindrical bush 32 is inserted into a circular hole 20 of a cover mounting projection 18 of a case 2, and a pipe shaft 30 having a wave cam 40 formed at its inner end is fitted into the cylindrical bush 32. The cylindrical bush 32 is fixed to a hinge portion 34 of the cover 14, and pins 36 are inserted at both sides for preventing rotation of the pipe shaft 30, the cylindrical bush 32 and the hinge portion 34 of the cover 14. Also, two L-shaped bent ends 38a of a spring 38 fixed to the case 2 are fitted into the pipe shaft 30.
If the L-shaped bent ends 38a of the spring 38 are positioned at trough portions 40b and 40d of the wave cam 40 of the pipe shaft 30 of FIG. 2, no elastic force acts on the pipe shaft 30 due to a non-deformation of the spring 38. However, if the L-shaped bent ends 38a are positioned at crest portions 40a and 40c of the wave cam 40 of the pipe shaft 30, elastic force acts on the pipe shaft 30 due to a deformation of the spring 38.
If the end 38a of the spring 38 is positioned at the trough portion 40b of the wave cam 40 of the pipe shaft 30, the cover 14 is maintained in a stable configuration, in which the cover 14 is maintained in a plane parallel to a plane D as shown in FIG. 2, allowing it to remain opened when inclined by 145.degree. with respect to the case 2 parallel to a plane C.
On the other hand, if the end 38a of the spring 38 is positioned at the plane C, the end 38a is in contact with a portion of the wave cam 40 at a position between the crest portion 40a and the trough portion 40d. Accordingly, the elastic force of the spring 38 acts on the pipe shaft 30 in a direction for closing the cover 14, so that the cover 14 is maintained in a closed configuration.
However, in the prior art button cover holding mechanisms of the portable telephone have had disadvantages in which it is difficult to assemble the hinge portion 34, the cylindrical bush 32 and the pipe shaft 30 with respect to one another since the pin 36 should be force-fitted at both sides so as to prevent rotation of the hinge portion 34, the cylindrical bush 32 and the pipe shaft 30 of the cover 14, and also in which an appearance of the portable telephone as a high quality product is compromised since the pin 36 appears exposed.
Also, there have been disadvantages in that the pipe shaft 30 should be manufactured as a material identical with the material of the spring 38 so as to reduce an abrasion of the pipe shaft 30 caused by the friction of the ends 38a of the spring 38 which are in contact with the wave cam 40 of the pipe shaft 30. Accordingly, the pipe shaft 30 should be manufactured by a diecast or a mechanical processing, which increases the product cost as well as the product weight, but which causes the component holding volume of the case 2 to be reduced due to the space occupied by the spring 38, which thus prevents miniaturization of the product.
Moreover, there have been disadvantages in that, when the cover 14 is in a closed condition, an angle range for closing the cover 14 is relatively large (e.g. it may be more than 72.5.degree.) over which the ends 38a of the spring 38 are moved from the trough portion 40d to the crest portion 40a of the wave cam 40 of the pipe shaft 30, which causes inconvenience to the user and which causes the ends 38a of the spring 38 to be in contact with only one portion of the wave cam 40 of the pipe shaft 30, thereby reducing the force for rotating the cover 14.

Button cover holding mechanism for a portable telephone


A holder for multiple fishing rods pivotally attached to the support column of a swivel mounted boat chair, with cradles for each rod capable of independent angular adjustment. The rod cradles are mounted to an arcuate mounting member which allows the rods to be regularly spaced yet remain equidistant from the user. A vertically adjustable arm is secured perpendicularly to the support column of a chair using a collar and hand operated threaded fastener. Releasably attached the other end of the arm is a laterally disposed arcuate support member, supporting a plurality of fishing rod holders. A unitary fishing rod cradle made up of parallel horizontal side rails, a U-shaped rod receiver, a loop rod stabilizer, and an arcuate pivot support slot for pivotal attachment to the arcuate support member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fishing rod holders, and more specifically to a modular holding mechanism supporting multiple fishing rods in association with a stationary vertical support column, such as the disclosed boat seat pedestal. The invention also relates to fishing rod holders, and more specifically to a holder made up of a particular arrangement of bent, rigid wires.
2. Description of the Related Art
Devices have been proposed by which a fishing rod may be cradled and supported. Such devices are well known in the art as evidenced by the Gary L. Hardwick, U.S. Pat. No. 4,645,167; William L. Behrle, U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,165; Albert J. Matura, U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,321; Bernard L. Reed et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,620; Manuel Gutierrez, U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,589; Kennie R. Colson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,557,877;
Edward D. Dysarz, U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,670. The patents to Reed et al., and Hardwick disclose a chair attached fishing rod support. The patent to Colsen discloses a universal mount fishing rod holder for holding a plurality of fishing rods wherein each individual fishing rod holder is formed of elongated ridged wire having an open V-shaped end and a looped end. The patent to Dysarz discloses a cleat mounted holding device which may be pivoted relative to the cleat and secured in the desired direction and angle by a wing bolt.
However, none of the prior art fishing rod holding devices include the combination of a holder for multiple fishing rods, holders for each rod formed of elongated ridged wire having an open U-shaped end and a looped end, independent angular adjustment of each holder, and vertically adjustable attachment of the device to the support column of a swivel mounted boat chair. Nor are any of the multiple fishing rod holders mounted to an arcuate mounting member which allows the rods to be regularly spaced apart yet remain equidistant from the user.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a multiple fishing rod holder solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

Multiple fishing rod holder and fishing rod cradle