Provided is a controller for use with a luminaire. The controller that includes a processor connected to at least one lead of a receptacle included in the luminaire. The processor can be programmed to multiplex at least one lead of the receptacle to achieve at least one of a plurality functions.

Advanced functionalities are sought to be added to luminaires, partly due to the advent of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. Such functionalities include online monitoring of luminaire data, such as lumen output, calibration data, power delivery, metering data, ON & OFF schedules, maintenance records, location data, etc. Furthermore, these new functionalities can include providing support or control of nearby devices, such as transferring and/or receiving data from parking meters to detect presence of absence of parked cars, monitoring, controlling, and processing data from cameras, for security or pedestrian traffic management applications. In sum, IoT technologies will bring forth the age of the "smart luminaire," which will be only one of many aspects of new "smart cities."
Nevertheless, manufacturing and deploying such smart luminaires may be highly cost-prohibitive, or in some instances, the cost of manufacturing and deploying such luminaires may not scale favorably. This is partly due to the fact that for each additional functionality desired, a specific luminaire having the hardware capable of supporting the additional functionality must be manufactured. This leads to increased product skews, which in turns increases manufacturing costs and complexity.


A display panel and a display device are provided. The display panel includes a substrate, a thin film transistor layer, an organic light emitting diode (OLED) layer, a thin film encapsulation layer, a first common electrode layer, a cover plate, and conductive lines. An area without touch function of the display panel is eliminated by disposing the conductive lines at a side of the first common electrode plate, placing the conductive lines and the first common electrode plate respectively on two film layers, and electrically connecting with each other via through holes of an insulation layer.

In flat panel display technology, organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays have many advantages such as light and thin, active illumination, fast response, wide viewing angles, wide color gamut, high brightness, and low power consumption. OLED displays have gradually become the third-generation display technology after liquid crystal displays. Compared with liquid crystal displays (LCDs), OLED have advantages of more power savings, thinner, and wider viewing angles, which is unmatched by LCDs. At present, people are increasingly demanding higher level of detail, that is, the resolution, but production of high-quality, high-resolution OLED displays still faces many challenges.
With development of display technology, OLED panels are being adopted by more and more electronic products, and flexible OLEDs have attracted much attention due to their flexibility. Touch sensor used in flexible OLED panel is mainly out-cell type, that is, the sensor module is completed on the film layer structure and then attached to the OLED panel. The production of touch sensor directly on flexible OLED panel needs to consider influence of the electron emission layer (i.e., the cathode) of OLED on the touch sensor signal.
In existing technology, touch sensor is divided into two types: self-capacitance and mutual capacitance:
1. The mutual capacitance touch screen has a large capacitance between the electron emission layer (i.e., the cathode) of OLED and touch sensor, resulting in a large capacitance, which affects the sensitivity of the touch.
2. The self-capacitance touch screen (single layer multi-point) divides the entire screen into M*N areas, each area is a separate transparent conductive electrode block, and each transparent conductive electrode block passes the signal line and touch on the same layer. That is, each transparent conductive electrode block independently forms a capacitance to the surrounding environment. When finger approaches a transparent conductive electrode at a certain position, a coupling capacitor is introduced, causing the detected capacitance to increase, and the IC determines that the position is touched. However, since the signal line occupies a part of the touch screen, the touch cannot be achieved at this position. Therefore, the single-layer multi-point self-capacitance touch screen has poor touch precision issues.

Wuhan China Star Optoelectronics Semiconductor Display Technology Co., Ltd.


A manually powered fastening tool which stores and instantly releases the energy of a spring such that it may force a staple or other fastener into an object by an impact blow in which the operating handle is hinged near the end of the tool body opposite the end from which the staples exit. A staple ejecting plunger is unstably linked to spring actuating levers such that with the removal of a light holding force, the plunger and actuating levers are delinked. The tool housing comprises a cantilevered rear profile.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to manually powered fastening devices, and more specifically to impact driven staple guns and tacking machines.
2. Description of the Related Art
The fastening tool of the present invention is similar to that disclosed in co-pending application Ser. No. 07/899,748 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,587. The fastening tool enables an operator's single hand to compress a spring to store and instantly release the energy of the spring to expel a staple from the fastening tool by an impact blow. The fastening tool incorporates a forward acting actuator lever. The staples exit towards the front end of the fastening tool while the lever is hinged near the rear end of the fastening tool. The tool may be gripped through an opening in the body of the tool. The opening extends to the front of the tool, and in certain configurations, the opening may originate at the front of the body of the tool.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,671,215 issued to Abrams discloses the familiar Arrow stapler. A lever is pivoted towards the front of the staple gun. Pressing down the lever behind the pivot compresses a coil spring and raises a plunger through a pivotally attached actuating arm. At a pre-determined point of the lever travel, the actuating arm has arced rearward sufficiently such that it releases the plunger assembly. The plunger is driven downwards by the force rearward sufficiently such that it releases the plunger assembly. The plunger is driven downwards by the force stored in the coil spring. The coil spring is located immediately adjacent to, or above, the plunger. The plunger is located in the front of the staple gun.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,610,505 issued to Males discloses a design similar to the Abrams design. A lever is pivoted near the front of a staple gun. Pressing the extended arm of the lever downwards towards the rear of the staple gun causes a coil spring to compress and simultaneously raises a plunger. Once the lever has been lowered past a predetermined point, the lever is released from the coil spring and plunger assembly by the force of a cam assembly, and the force stored in the coil spring is allowed to drive the plunger downwards, striking and ejecting a staple. The plunger is located at the front of the staple gun.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,326,540 issued to Krantz discloses a staple gun in which the actuation lever is pivoted towards the rear of the staple gun. Through a series of levers, this action is connected to a coil spring and plunger located at the front of the staple gun. As the lever arm is lowered, the spring is compressed and the plunger is raised. A pivotable member of the spring and plunger assembly links the levers to the assembly. Once the lever reaches a predetermined point, the pivotable member is forcibly disengaged from the lifting lever, and the energy stored in the coil spring is allowed to release, driving the plunger downward, striking and expelling a staple.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,769,174 issued to Libert describes a staple gun in which the actuation lever is pivoted at a point towards the rear of the staple gun, and staples are expelled out of the front of the staple gun. Pressing down on the actuation arm towards the bottom of the staple gun actuates a series of levers and compresses a coil spring to raise the plunger. At a predetermined point, two of the levers are forcibly decoupled and the energy stored by the coil spring is allowed to release, driving the plunger downwards, striking and expelling a staple.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,108 issued to Judge describes a staple gun contained within a stamped metallic frame which is enclosed in a second stamped or molded housing. Judge describes a common mechanism to accommodate an actuation lever pivoted near the rear of the staple gun. The release mechanism appears to be similar to that of Libert.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,862,712 issued to LaPointe et al. discloses a staple guiding track which slides rearward to expose a chamber in the staple gun body into which staples are placed. The staple gun is inverted during this operation. This sliding mechanism requires numerous components and assembly operations for its manufacture.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,452,388 issued to Fealy comprises a staple gun with an intermediately actuated leaf spring. The multi-layered leaf spring spans the length of the tool body. A mechanism pulls upward upon the spring to lift the spring and plunger. The mechanism is then forced away from the spring to release the spring from the actuating mechanism.
Typical of the prior art, the above described designs use either of two release methods. By one method a cam or stop acts upon a linking member to force a delinkage at the release position. By the other method a rotating actuating member is slidably linked to a reciprocating plunger member. At the release position the actuating member has rotated out of the plane of motion of the plunger member, and the plunger member is released.
The above release methods may be called active or direct releases because the release is forcibly and directly caused by the actuating members. The first method requires a substantial increase in operating force to enable the forced release action. The second method provides only a vague release action since there is no secondary event to cause the release. No distinct action occurs at the release position.

Forward acting, staple machine with passive release


Methods using a probe apparatus configured to measure a set of electrical characteristics in a plasma include providing a chamber wall including at least a set of plasma chamber surfaces configured to be exposed to a plasma, the plasma having a set of electrical characteristics. The method includes installing a collection disk structure configured to be exposed to the plasma, wherein the collection disk structure having at least a body disposed within the chamber wall and a collection disk structure surface that is either coplanar or recessed with at least one of the set of plasma chamber surfaces and providing a conductive path configured to transmit the set of electrical characteristics from the collection disk structure to a set of transducers. The method may include coupling a thermal grounding element with the conductive path for providing thermal grounding to at least the conductive path and may alternatively or additionally include disposing an insulation barrier configured to substantially electrically separate at least one of the collection disk and the conductive path.

The present invention relates in general to substrate manufacturing technologies and in particular to apparatus for measuring a set of electrical characteristics in a plasma.
In the processing of a substrate, e.g., a semiconductor wafer, MEMS device, or a glass panel such as one used in flat panel display manufacturing, plasma is often employed. As part of the processing of a substrate (chemical vapor deposition, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, physical vapor deposition, etch, etc.) for example, the substrate is divided into a plurality of dies, or rectangular areas, each of which will become an integrated circuit. The substrate is then processed in a series of steps in which materials are selectively removed (etching) and deposited (deposition) in order to form electrical components thereon.
In an exemplary plasma process, a substrate is coated with a thin film of hardened emulsion (such as a photoresist mask) prior to etching. Areas of the hardened emulsion are then selectively removed, causing parts of the underlying layer to become exposed. The substrate is then placed in a plasma processing chamber on a substrate support structure comprising a mono-polar or bi-polar electrode, called a chuck. Appropriate etchant source gases (e.g., C4F8, C4F6, CHF3, CH2F3, CF4, CH3F, C2F4, N2, O2, Ar, Xe, He, H2, NH3, SF6, BCl3, Cl2, etc.) are then flowed into the chamber and struck to form a plasma to etch exposed areas of the substrate.
Subsequently, it is often beneficial to measure the electrical characteristics in a plasma (i.e., ion saturation current, electron temperature, floating potential, etc.) in order to ensure consistent plasma processing results. Examples may include detecting the endpoint of a chamber conditioning process, chamber matching (e.g., looking for differences between chambers which should nominally be identical), detecting faults and problems in the chamber, etc.
Referring now to FIG. 1, a simplified diagram of an inductively coupled plasma processing system is shown. Generally, an appropriate set of gases may be flowed from gas distribution system 122 into plasma chamber 102 having plasma chamber walls 117. These plasma processing gases may be subsequently ionized at or in a region near injector 109 to form a plasma 110 in order to process (e.g., etch or deposit) exposed areas of substrate 114, such as a semiconductor substrate or a glass pane, positioned with edge ring 115 on an electrostatic chuck 116.
A first RF generator 134 generates the plasma as well as controls the plasma density, while a second RF generator 138 generates bias RF, commonly used to control the DC bias and the ion bombardment energy. Further coupled to source RF generator 134 is matching network 136a, and to bias RF generator 138 is matching network 136b, that attempt to match the impedances of the RF power sources to that of plasma 110. Furthermore, vacuum system 113, including a valve 112 and a set of pumps 111, is commonly used to evacuate the ambient atmosphere from plasma chamber 102 in order to achieve the required pressure to sustain plasma 110 and/or to remove process byproducts.
Referring now to FIG. 2, a simplified diagram of a capacitively coupled plasma processing system is shown. Generally, capacitively coupled plasma processing systems may be configured with a single or with multiple separate RF power sources. Source RF, generated by source RF generator 234, is commonly used to generate the plasma as well as control the plasma density via capacitively coupling. Bias RF, generated by bias RF generator 238, is commonly used to control the DC bias and the ion bombardment energy. Further coupled to source RF generator 234 and bias RF generator 238 is matching network 236, which attempts to match the impedance of the RF power sources to that of plasma 220. Other forms of capacitive reactors have the RF power sources and match networks connected to the top electrode 204. In addition there are multi-anode systems such as a triode that also follow similar RF and electrode arrangements.
Generally, an appropriate set of gases is flowed through an inlet in a top electrode 204 from gas distribution system 222 into plasma chamber 202 having plasma chamber walls 217. These plasma processing gases may be subsequently ionized to form a plasma 220, in order to process (e.g., etch or deposit) exposed areas of substrate 214, such as a semiconductor substrate or a glass pane, positioned with edge ring 215 on an electrostatic chuck 216, which also serves as an electrode. Furthermore, vacuum system 213, including a valve 212 and a set of pumps 211, is commonly used to evacuate the ambient atmosphere from plasma chamber 202 in order to achieve the required pressure to sustain plasma 220.
In view of the foregoing, there are desired apparatus for measuring a set of electrical characteristics in a plasma.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods for measuring a set of electrical characteristics in a plasma


A formaldehyde-free composition for finishing fabrics, the use thereof, and the fabrics obtained thereby are disclosed, the finishing composition being an aqueous dispersion containing from 10-50% by weight of a polymeric resin binder such as a carboxy-modified polymer, 1-10% by weight of an aqueous-dispersible epoxy resin or blend of said resin with another thermosetting resin and one or more additives such as surfactants, delustrants, antistatic agents, flame retardants, fillers, thickeners, catalysts, as needed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention comprises a formaldehyde-free aqueous composition for finishing a fabric, a method for finishing a fabric using the formaldehyde-free composition, and the formaldehyde-free fabric obtained thereby.
Importantly, the formaldehyde-free composition of the present invention provides a treated, finished fabric with a rigid stiffness. The treated fabric is heat and light stable and non-tacky, enabling the fabric to be transfer printed and used in window treatments such as pleated window shades and vertical blinds.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Presently, window treatment fabrics are customarily dyed, printed, and/or metallized with a finish process with one or more of the finishing compositions containing formaldehyde. Hereto-fore, it has been believed that formaldehyde is a necessary ingredient in the finish composition in order to produce the stiffness and rigidity in the fabric necessary to make window treatments such as pleated window shades and vertical blinds.
Pleated window blinds may be produced by various methods known in the art in which the fabric may be dyed and finished; finished, metallized on back, and transfer printed; finished, metallized on back, transfer coated and printed; finished, transfer printed and laminated; or dyed, finished and laminated. The fabric may also be finished, wet printed (solvent or aqueous solution) and/or metallized. Vertical blinds may also be produced by similar methods.
Commonly, the finished fabric that is used in window treatments contains formaldehyde releasing resins such as melamine formaldehyde, urea formaldehyde, glyoxal reactants and mixtures thereof. Based on the chemical nature of these resins, formalde-hyde gases are released during and after each process as described above and have been determined to be hazardous to the health of workers by OSHA. The formaldehyde gases are also released over a long period of time after the final product has been made and purchased by the customer.
Because of the need for a formaldehyde-free window treatment, a finished fabric has been developed that is non-hazardous, but retains the properties, especially stiffness, which is customary in a formaldehyde-containing product. Replacing the thermoset resin containing formaldehyde with a formaldehyde-free thermoset resin product eliminates the hazardous formaldehyde gas that is retained in the fabric and eliminates the hazardous formaldehyde gas that is given off in the pleating and printing process. The improved finish described herein thus allows the fabric to be used without releasing formaldehyde gases that are hazardous to human health both in the workplace and in the home while retaining the properties necessary to make successful window treatments.

Formaldehyde-free aqueous composition, method of treating a fabric therewith and fabric obtained by said treatment suitable for use as a window treatment


An object system for generating an output signal of an O.sub.2 sensor from a target air-fuel ratio is expressed as a model including a response delay element and a dead time element. Data of identified values of parameters of the model are sequentially generated by an identifier. Data of an estimated value of the output signal of the O.sub.2 sensor after a dead time of the object system is sequentially generated by an estimator. The target air-fuel ratio is generated according to an adaptive sliding mode control process performed by a sliding mode controller using the data of the identified and estimated values. The air-fuel ratio of an internal combustion engine is manipulated on the basis of the target air-fuel ratio according to a feed-forward control process.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air-fuel ratio control system for an internal combustion engine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The applicant of the present application has proposed an air-fuel ratio control system having an exhaust gas sensor for detecting the concentration of a certain component of an exhaust gas that has passed through a catalytic converter such as a three-way catalytic converter disposed in the exhaust passage of an internal combustion engine, such as an O.sub.2 sensor for detecting the concentration of oxygen in the exhaust gas, the exhaust gas sensor being disposed downstream of the catalytic converter. The system controls the air-fuel ratio of the internal combustion engine, more accurately, the air-fuel ratio of an air-fuel mixture to be combusted by the internal combustion engine, in order to converge an output of the O.sub.2 sensor, i.e., the detected value of the oxygen concentration, to a predetermined target value for enabling the catalytic converter to have a desired purifying ability irrespective of the aging of the catalytic converter. See U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/153300, for example.
According to the disclosed technology, a manipulated variable for manipulating the air-fuel ratio of the internal combustion engine, specifically, a target air-fuel ratio or a quantity defining such a target air-fuel ratio, is successively generated in given control cycles in order to converge the output of the O.sub.2 sensor to its target value based on a feedback control process. An exhaust gas sensor (hereinafter referred to as an "air-fuel ratio sensor) for detecting the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas that enters the catalytic converter, specifically, the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture that has been burned by the internal combustion engine, is disposed upstream of the catalytic converter. The amount of fuel supplied to the internal combustion engine is regulated so as to converge the output of the air-fuel ratio sensor, i.e., the detected value of the air-fuel ratio, to a target air-fuel ratio defined by the manipulated variable for thereby controlling the air-fuel ratio of the internal combustion engine at the target air-fuel ratio.
Such air-fuel ratio control for the internal combustion engine is capable of converging the output of the O.sub.2 sensor disposed downstream of the catalytic converter to its target value for thereby enabling the catalytic converter to have a desired purifying ability.
In the above air-fuel ratio control system, the O.sub.2 sensor is used as the exhaust gas sensor disposed downstream of the catalytic converter. However, the exhaust gas sensor may comprise an NOx sensor, a CO sensor, an HC sensor, or another exhaust gas sensor. It is possible to enable the catalytic converter to have a desired purifying ability by controlling the air-fuel ratio of the internal combustion engine so as to converge the output of such an exhaust gas sensor to a suitable target value.
In order to increase the stability and reliability of the control process for converging the output of the O.sub.2 sensor to its target value, a sliding mode control process (more specifically, an adaptive sliding mode control process), which is one type of feedback control process that is highly stable against disturbances, is used to generate the manipulated variable for converging the output of the O.sub.2 sensor to its target value.
The sliding mode control process requires that an object to be controlled be modeled. According to the above technology, it is assumed that the output of the air-fuel sensor is feedback-controlled at a target air-fuel ratio determined by a manipulated variable. Therefore, the object to be controlled by the sliding mode control process is regarded as an exhaust system extending from the air-fuel ratio sensor to the O.sub.2 sensor and including the catalytic converter, and the exhaust system is modeled by a discrete-time system. In order to compensate for the effect of behavioral changes of the modeled exhaust system, there is provided an identifier for identifying, successively on a real-time basis, parameters of the model to be established, using data of the output from the air-fuel ratio sensor and data of the output from the O.sub.2 sensor. According to the sliding mode control process, the manipulated variable is generated by an algorithm constructed on the basis of the model using the data of the output from the O.sub.2 sensor and the parameters of the model identified by the identifier.
Because it is assumed according to the above technology that the output of the air-fuel sensor is feedback-controlled at a target air-fuel ratio determined by a manipulated variable, if the air-fuel ratio sensor fails to operate for some reason, then the air-fuel ratio of the internal combustion engine cannot be appropriately manipulated into the target air-fuel ratio. In such a case, the output from the O.sub.2 sensor positioned downstream of the catalytic converter cannot be controlled at the target value, making it impossible for the catalytic converter to have a desired purifying ability.
One solution is to regulate the amount of fuel supplied to the internal combustion engine according to a feed-forward control process using a map or the like depending on the target air-fuel ratio determined by the manipulated variable which is generated according to the sliding mode control process. At this time, the data of the target air-fuel ratio determined by the manipulated variable may be used instead of the data of the output from the air-fuel ratio sensor for identifying the parameters of the model.
According to the above technology, however, since the model as a basis for generating the manipulated variable is the model of the exhaust system extending from the air-fuel ratio sensor to the O.sub.2 sensor and including the catalytic converter, the model does not take into account behavioral characteristics of the internal combustion engine and their changes. Consequently, even if the manipulated variable for the air-fuel ratio is generated according to the sliding mode control process constructed on the basis of the model, it is difficult make the generated manipulated variable suitable for behavioral states of the internal combustion engine. Even when the air-fuel ratio of the internal combustion engine is manipulated based on the manipulated variable according to the feed-forward control process, it is difficult to manipulate the air-fuel ratio of the internal combustion engine into an appropriate air-fuel ratio required to converge the output of the O.sub.2 sensor to its target value in various behavioral states of the internal combustion engine. As a result, the control process for converging the output of the O.sub.2 sensor to its target value cannot appropriately be performed stably, and hence the catalytic converter fails to have a desired purifying ability.
Furthermore, the above technology is disadvantageous as to cost because the air-fuel sensor is needed in the control process for converging the output of the O.sub.2 sensor to its target value.

Air-fuel ratio control system for internal combustion engine


In embodiments of hardware verification with RFID-stored build information, a mobile device includes hardware components and a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag to store build information for hardware verification of the hardware components in the mobile device. A bootloader can interrogate the RFID tag to obtain the build information and compare the build information to current information of the hardware components in the mobile device. The bootloader can then determine whether the current information matches the build information. If the current information does not match the build information, then a message can be displayed on the mobile device indicating that unauthorized hardware is installed in the mobile device.

Portable devices, such as mobile phones, tablet devices, communication devices, and other types of computing and electronic devices are ever-increasing in availability and in different configurations of features and hardware. Some of these type devices, such as mobile phones, are starting to be available as a user-configurable consumer product, both before and after purchase. For example, a user may select specific hardware components to configure a mobile phone, such as specifying display size, camera resolution, battery capacity, processor speed, and/or memory size. However, designing a mobile device for configurability opens up the possibility of users changing the hardware configuration and components after purchase, and causing potential damage.
Further, a user may replace original equipment hardware components with inferior components of smaller capacity, lower resolution, slower speed, etc., and then look to have a mobile phone replaced or swapped for a newer one that has the better components, which are comparable to the original device hardware configuration and components. This can have a direct impact on warranty and service costs for a manufacturer of the device. Further, particularly challenging is selectable memory that can be easily unplugged and swapped-out for a lower-capacity memory. More importantly, changing out the memory can replace or eliminate the entire boot image and hardware configuration setup information for a mobile device.

Hardware verification with RFID-stored build information


A medicated dental floss and a method of preparation is presented for controlling the bacterial activity associated with gingivitis. The floss incorporates an antimicrobial agent which, as a result of the flossing action, is deposited to the interdental area of the teeth. The slow dissolution of the antimicrobial agent ensures that effective levels of medication are attained for sustained periods, thereby reducing bacterial activity.

This invention relates to an improved dental floss of the antibacterial type. The purpose of the proposed research is to develop a novel means of drug delivery for controlling gingivitis utilizing a dental floss with medication laden lubricant. Bacterial activity is indicated in the majority of gingivitis occurrences. Research efforts have been directed at investigating antimicrobial agents such as stannous fluoride, taurolin, and chlorhexidine for their effectiveness in reducing the levels of the most commonly encountered bacterial strains in the oral environment with encouraging results. The bulk of these efforts have resulted in the development of the antimicrobial agent in the form of a mouth rinse.
Plaque is the leading cause of tooth decay and periodontal disease, affecting approximately 90% of the adult population. Plaque is a sticky colorless layer of harmful bacteria that is constantly forming on teeth and gums. To reduce the incidence of periodontal disease, plaque should be removed at least once a day. Generally, the typical means for removing plaque deposits involves brushing, using a toothbrush, preferably combined with use of dental floss and/or toothpicks. Recently, the use of rotary electric toothbrushes has gained favor as a more effective means for removing plaque and, therefore, for preventing and reducing the incidence of periodontal disease.
Periodontitis is a painful and destructive dental disease which accounts for the majority of tooth loss in adult populations. Though the disease is widespread, certain groups have developed a higher rate of affliction. Among these are the elderly, patients undergoing cancer therapy, and other patient populations experiencing immunosuppression, such as HIV infected individuals. Other susceptible individuals include patients receiving orthodonture and fixed prosthodontics.
The most common aspect of periodontitis is oral tissue destruction and eventual loss of teeth. However, this disease may be successfully prevented in the early stage of development known as gingivitis. Gingivitis is recognized by inflammation, and often bleeding, of the gingiva and is associated with an increase in dental plaque and calculus deposits. Conditions leading to the initiation and progression of gingivitis, as well as the histopathological features associated with gingival inflammation have been thoroughly documented in the canine model.
With the formation of the supragingival plaque adhering to the enamel surface of the teeth, plaque derived substances enter the gingival tissues by diffusion. The gingiva reacts in response to these substances in a variety of ways. To begin with, the natural stream of emigrating neutrophils becomes intensified. Next, the connective tissue covering the gingival margin becomes acutely inflamed. Permeability of the vessels increases and their morphology changes. This is accompanied by an exudation of neutrophils and monocytes, as well as serum components. In addition, there is the appearance of gingival fluid, degradation of the collagen framework at the site of the reaction, and development of a cellular infiltrate at this site.
Though the identification of the specific factors within the plaque which are directly responsible for the onset of inflammation is still in debate, there is no doubt that bacterial plaque is essential for the production of gingival inflammation in both the human and canine models. Increases in the magnitude and maturity of plaque deposits have been shown to be linked to significant alterations in the oral microfloral environment which favor the growth of certain bacterial types.
Studies of gingivitis have documented that normal gingiva did not harbor these bacteria and that the change in the microflora occurred before gingivitis was clinically diagnosed, indicating that these microorganisms play a role in the initiation of periodontal inflammation. Thus, the most effective means of preventing or reversing gingivitis would involve a combination of bacterial eradication and plaque removal.
The most common recommendation for plaque removal is mechanical, through scaling, planing, and polishing, followed up by regular tooth brushing and flossing. Studies have shown that plaque accumulation is highest in the interdental regions, causing gingival conditions to become most serious in these areas. Thus, it is important to focus on plaque removal and bacterial reduction in these areas.
While these methods are effective in removing plaque formed on teeth, periodontal disease is still prevalent in the adult population and, consequently, improved means for the treatment of periodontal disease are still indicated. In particular, attempts have been made to develop means for delivering various medicaments to the areas subject to periodontal disease and other diseases, in order to combat these diseases in place.
A common antibacterial agent used widely in both clinical and domestic applications is chlorhexidine. Chlorhexidine is a cationic biguanide microbicide with a broad spectrum of activity against many forms of bacteria and fungi. It has been shown to be effective in reducing the activity of many common strains of oral flora and has been a popular agent in many studies of gingivitis reversal. Specifically, chlorhexidine acts to directly disrupt the permeability of the bacterial cell membrane leading to lethal destruction of the cell. Most research in this area has been conducted using chlorhexidine gluconate oral rinses. These studies have revealed many positive aspects of this antimicrobial agent but also many negative aspects of the rinse application.
Chlorhexidine has been shown to have many beneficial properties in dental applications, in addition to its general antibacterial activity. Chlorhexidine gluconate adsorbs to hydroxyapatite, tooth surfaces, and salivary mucins and is subsequently released when the concentration in the environment is low. This affinity may in part be due to the cationic binding of chlorhexidine to the acidic side chains of proteins found in saliva and oral tissues. These mucins continuously cover the teeth and the oral mucosa, and their incorporation in the plaque matrix has been suggested.
Thus, reservoirs of chlorhexidine may form which would be slowly released, preventing bacterial colonization and the development of dental plaque. However, when chlorhexidine is applied in the form of an oral rinse, the contact time between the agent and the oral cavity is very brief. Even a contact time of one minute showed a 25% reduction in adsorption as compared to a contact time of 5 minutes. In addition, the constant flow of phosphate and chloride ions, and mucins in the mouth will tend to rapidly eliminate free chlorhexidine from the mouth. Generally, oral rinses are the preferred means for delivering medicaments to these diseased areas. However, such oral rinses suffer from the inability to penetrate significantly below the gum line and may not contact the gum line.
In an effort to improve the adsorption and beneficial activity of these types of preparations, systems have been developed, but with significant shortcomings. Specifically, a medicament containing dental brush, U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,599 by Lemon, includes a plurality of parallel fibers having a medicament such as tetracycline, chlorhexidine, or sodium fluoride disposed between or within the individual fibers. The medicament is then released during brushing. However, a device of this nature which utilizes a dental brush as a means for drug delivery, can be extremely painful to patients with advanced disease, there is also the issue of reliable drug delivery to the sight of infection. Once the brush is removed the source of the drug is interrupted making the absorption similar to that of a mouth rinse. Specifically, the drug does not remain at the site of infection for any appreciable amount of time.
Tseng, U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,581 shows a sustained release matrix for dental application which includes either an anti-microbial agent or a colorant that is released from the matrix when the matrix contacts water. The matrix consists of a polyethylene oxide incorporated into the bristles on a tooth brush. Upon contact with water some of the anti-microbial agent diffuses out of the matrix, onto and down the bristles and eventually into the saliva and mouth killing bacteria on contact. The ability of the drug to stay on the tooth or infected surface is compromised however, when the source of the drug is removed, i.e. the tooth brush. Once the mechanical act of brushing is discontinued drug is no longer available.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,830,247 discloses dental floss impregnated with antiseptic in a housing wherein the floss passes through a reservoir of antiseptic. U.S. Pat. No. 3,342,539 discloses a dental floss which comprises a length of conventional construction terminating in a porous section which when pre-soaked prior to use, in an antiseptic solution, then delivered into interdental spaces as the floss is used normally to physically remove food particles from between the teeth. U.S. Pat. No. 3,838,702 shows a dental floss having an improved cleaning and polishing action obtained by coating the floss with a coating agent comprised of a resilient wax, polymer or elastomer, having embedded therein a finely divided, particulate, polishing agent. In addition, the incorporation of various adjuvant materials into the coating agent such as coloring matter, flavoring, medicinals or therapeutic agents is suggested.
Thus, a more feasible and effective method of application is with the use of a chlorhexidine impregnated dental floss. Rosenberger, U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,796 relates to a dental floss coated with a microcrystalline wax containing a prophylactic, antimicrobial analgesic and/or antiseptic material. However, microcrystalline wax, as described by Rosenberger, is hydrophobic and therefore resistant to transfer to the moist surface of the teeth, which minimizes its effectiveness as a vehicle for medication delivery.
The transfer of antibacterial agent is limited to that material which resides on the surface of the wax. Such a limited quantity is unlikely to provide an effective concentration within the mouth once the floss is removed. In addition, this concentration will be rapidly diluted by the influx of saliva. The antimicrobial effect of the drug is shortened, as the medication is quickly washed away. The quantity of drug available at the surface of the wax may be enhanced by increasing the percentage of drug within the wax, however, high percentages of drug will reduce the effectiveness of the wax as a lubricant or binder, and will adversely effect the handling characteristics of the floss.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,795 makes use of a soap or detergent binder for binding bacterially active matter into the floss material. The application may take place through using squeegees and/or squeegee rollers, by using a volatile ingredient as a solvent for the active agent and/or binder or by pulling the floss through a paste mix of the active agent.
For the purposes of a drug delivery system, it is desirable that the lubricant transfer to the tooth surface and dissolve, leaving the antibacterial agent in place, as indicated by Tseng, this is not the case. In contrast, the present invention mechanically removes plaque deposits, and delivers a dosage of chlorhexidine compound to the surfaces with the greatest risk of disease: the interdental region, supragingival region and subgingival regions. This is accomplished by incorporating the antimicrobial agent into the dental floss lubricant, a soluble vehicle such as Polyethylene Glycol. For the purpose of a drug delivery system it is desirable that the lubricant transfer to the tooth surface and dissolve, leaving the antibacterial agent in place.
The action of flossing will deposit small amounts of the soluble vehicle directly to the areas in need of treatment: the interdental spaces that are difficult to reach by other means. These areas, particularly the subgingival regions, are relatively shielded from the constant flux of saliva, which results in the retardation of the dissolution of the vehicle. This slow dissolution of the antimicrobial agent will ensure that effective levels of medication are maintained at the divider sites for greater periods than attainable with mouth rinses. The precise placement of the medication will result in greater effectiveness with the use of significantly less medication than through oral rinsing. Staining, which is common with frequent oral rinsing, should also be reduced or limited to areas that are largely concealed, reducing aesthetic impact.
The subsequent reduction of bacteria in these areas combats gingival inflammation without affecting the general oral flora. Likewise, the chlorhexidine compound will be shielded from rapid removal due to the constant flow of mouth mucins and elements. Staining will also be confined to the interdental spaces presenting less of an aesthetic burden to the patient. Medicated antibacterial floss such as this could prove especially useful in many specific situations.
As will be seen hereinafter, none of the previously cited art discloses applicant's novel, unique, and unobvious product which overcomes the prejudice of the prior art against a wax binder of coating for floss where bactericidal material is incorporated in the floss.

Medicated dental floss and method of preparation


A system and method for detecting an object in a high dimensional image space is disclosed. A three dimensional image of an object is received. A first classifier is trained in the marginal space of the object center location which generates a predetermined number of candidate object center locations. A second classifier is trained to identify potential object center locations and orientations from the predetermined number of candidate object center locations and maintaining a subset of the candidate object center locations. A third classifier is trained to identify potential locations, orientations and scale of the object center from the subset of the candidate object center locations. A single candidate object pose for the object is identified.

Many three dimensional (3D) detection and segmentation problems are confronted with searching in a high dimensional space. For example, a 3D similarity transformation is characterized by nine parameters: three position parameters, three orientation parameters and three scale parameters. It is very expensive to search the entire space for detection of an object. The search for all these parameters becomes computationally prohibitive, even if coarse-to-fine strategies are involved. Moreover, training a discriminative classifier using positive and negative examples for an object with so many parameters is challenging, because hardware limitations only allow a relatively small number of negatives at a time (on the order of 106). To handle all the possible negative examples, multiple levels of bootstrapping have to be employed, making the whole system even slower.
But there are many cases when the objects to be detected are naturally aligned in some way. For example, most faces in pictures are approximately horizontal and have approximately the same skin color. Similarly, most hearts in CT scans have approximately the same size and orientation. There is a need for a method for fast detection of an object in a high dimensional space in which the search space can be greatly reduced while still retaining accurate results.

System and method for detecting an object in a high dimensional space


Described herein are compositions containing (a) a cycloaliphatic epoxy resin, (b) an aromatic amine hardener, and (c) a particular cure accelerator. These compositions afford unreinforced castings with a high level of mechanical properties and improved heat deflection temperatures.

Amine curable epoxy resin formulations are widely used as coatings, adhesives, sealants, and matrices for fiber-reinforced composites. For many applications, a fast rate of cure is desirable.
Many additives have been tested as cure accelerators for epoxy/amine mixtures. Several references teach that additives with phenolic hydroxyl groups are effective with epoxy resins derived from epihalohydrins and active hydrogen compounds, such as bisphenol A epoxy resins. For example, Shechter et al in Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Volume 48, No. 1, pages 94 to 97, 1956, disclosed that phenol was more effective than aliphatic alcohols in accelerating the reaction of phenyl glycidyl ether with diethylamine. Bowen et al in the American Chemical Society Advances in Chemistry Series, Volume 92, pages 48 to 59, 1970, disclosed that a variety of hydroxyl containing compounds decreased the gel time of a bisphenol A epoxy/triethylenetetramine mixture. Bowen et al disclosed that 4,4'-dihydroxydiphenyl sulfone, glycerin, phenol, tetrabromobisphenol A, and hisphenol A accelerated the cure with a similar degree of effectiveness.
Epoxy compositions containing resorcinol are described in the prior art. For example, Gough et al (in the Journal of Oil and Color Chemists Association, volume 43, pages 409 to 418, 1961), Nagy (in Adhesives Age, pages 20 to 27, April, 1967), and Pattensky (in the American Chemical Society Advances in Chemistry Series, Volume 92, pages 29 to 47, 1970) disclosed that resorcinol and many other phenolic compounds accelerate the cure of glycidyl epoxy/amine mixtures. Markovitz in "Chemical Properties of Crosslinked Polymers," American Chemical Society Symposium 1976, S. S. Labana, Ed., pages 49 to 58 described curable compositions containing cycloaliphatic epoxides, resorcinol and metal salts as coaccelerators. No reference was found to cycloaliphatic epoxide/aromatic amine mixtures containing resorcinol as an accelerator.
In many epoxy/amine formulations, cycloaliphatic epoxides are used as the epoxy component since they impart improved mechanical and thermal properties to the cured compositions. For example, unreinforced castings of bis(2,3-epoxycyclopentyl) ether cured with m-phenylenediamine have tensile strengths and tensile moduli which are among the highest of any thermosetting material. Similarly, as described by McLean et. al. in Report No. 14450 of the National Research Council of Canada, November, 1974, high mechanical properties can be achieved in unreinforced castings made by curing 3,4-epoxycyclohexylmethyl 3,4-epoxycyclohexane carboxylate with methylene dianiline. However, resin systems containing bis(2,3-epoxycyclopentyl) ether or 3,4-epoxycyclohexylmethyl 3,4-epoxycyclohexane carboxylate cure more slowly with aromatic amines than similar compositions containing hisphenol A epoxy resins. This characteristic limits their utility in composite fabrication processes such as filament winding and reaction injection molding. Thus there is a need for cure accelerators for cycloaliphatic epoxide/amine resin systems. Moreover, in commercial practice it is desirable that the mixture of the accelerator and epoxy resin have good storage stability in the absence of the amine hardener. This characteristic facilitates handling in a production environment.
It has now been found that a select group of phenolic compounds are highly effective cure accelerators for cycloaliphatic/aromatic amine resin systems. Under a fixed cure schedule, the accelerated compositions afford improved properties compared to compositions which do not contain the accelerator, such as higher mechanical properties and/or increased heat deflection temperatures in unreinforced castings.
Further, a method for accelerating the cure of cycloaliphatic epoxide/aromatic amine mixtures at low temperatures has been found which comprises adding a solid solution of a high melting accelerator in a low melting solid cycloaliphatic epoxy resin.

Accelerated cycloaliphatic epoxide/aromatic amine resin systems


The glass containers described herein have at least two performance attributes selected from resistance to delamination, improved strength, and increased damage resistance. In one embodiment, a glass container may include a body having an inner surface, an outer surface and a wall thickness extending between the outer surface and the inner surface. At least the inner surface of the body may have a delamination factor less than or equal to 10. A tenacious inorganic coating may be positioned around at least a portion of the outer surface of the body. The outer surface of the body with the tenacious inorganic coating may have a coefficient of friction less than or equal to 0.7.

Field
The present specification generally relates to glass containers and, more specifically, to glass containers for use in storing pharmaceutical formulations.
Technical Background
Historically, glass has been used as the preferred material for packaging pharmaceuticals because of its hermeticity, optical clarity, and excellent chemical durability relative to other materials. Specifically, the glass used in pharmaceutical packaging must have adequate chemical durability so as to not affect the stability of the pharmaceutical formulations contained therein. Glasses having suitable chemical durability include those glass compositions within the ASTM standard 'Type IA' and 'Type IB' glass compositions which have a proven history of chemical durability.
Although Type IA and Type IB glass compositions are commonly used in pharmaceutical packages, they do suffer from several deficiencies, including a tendency for the inner surfaces of the pharmaceutical package to shed glass particulates or "delaminate" following exposure to pharmaceutical solutions.
In addition, use of glass in pharmaceutical packaging may also be limited by the mechanical performance of the glass. Specifically, the high processing speeds utilized in the manufacture and filling of glass pharmaceutical packages may result in mechanical damage on the surface of the package, such as abrasions, as the packages come into contact with processing equipment, handling equipment, and/or other packages. This mechanical damage significantly decreases the strength of the glass pharmaceutical package resulting in an increased likelihood that cracks will develop in the glass, potentially compromising the sterility of the pharmaceutical contained in the package or causing the complete failure of the package.
Accordingly, a need exists for alternative glass containers for use as pharmaceutical packages which exhibit a combination of at least two of improved resistance to delamination, increased strength, and/or damage tolerance.

Glass containers with delamination resistance and improved damage tolerance


A package extraction tool (10) removes package (12) from socket (14) of circuit board (16). The tool (10) consists of a cylinder (18) and a piston assembly (20). Port (24) that is used to evacuate the cylinder (18) after the piston (20) is inserted in, the cylinder (18). The piston assembly (20) splits symmetrically into two halves (26) and (28) along its major axis. On one end (32) of the piston (20), there is an undercut pocket (34) to grab around the edges (36) of the package (12) and seal on flat edge (38) of pin side (40) of the package (12). A small port (42) connects the two ends (32) and (33) of the piston (20) with a controlled leak. Piston (20) fits into the cylinder (18) with a slight clearance. Leakage is controlled by the piston (20 )/cylinder (18) clearance. In use, the piston halves (26) and (28) are separated far enough to allow them to be reassembled around the package (12). The cylinder (18) is placed over the piston (20), and vacuum applied. The controlled leaks between the piston (20) and the cylinder (18) and between the two ends (32) and (33) of the piston are small enough that the piston (20) begins to move upward. When the undercut pocket (34) seats against the underside (40) of the package (12), a seal is initiated. The vacuum above the piston (20) increases, maintaining the seal at the package edges (36). When the combined upward forces at the edges (36) and on the body of the package (12) reach a critical value, the package pops loose.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a tool and method for extracting a high pin count electronic package or similar electronic module from a socket which engages the pins of the package with friction force. More particularly, it relates to such a tool and method which utilizes a combination of edge-applied force and vacuum force to remove the package from the socket. Most especially, the invention relates to such a tool and method in which the extraction force applied to the package scales upward proportionally to an increase in the number of connection pins of the package.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When an electronic package having, for example, several hundred connection pins extending from the package is in place in a socket on a printed circuit board with the pins held in their socket positions by friction, a considerable force is required to remove the package from the socket. A typical package of this type is referred to as a Pin Grid Array (PGA) package. The friction fit socket into which the pins of the PGA package are inserted is referred to as a non-Zero Insertion Force (ZIF) socket.
In conventional practice, when it is desired to remove a PGA package from its non-ZIF socket, a PGA extractor is used to grab the PGA package on its four edges to remove it from the socket. As package pin counts have increased to over 400, there has been an increased incidence of package breakage, due to the high stresses at the edges when sufficient force is applied to the edges of the package by the extractor to remove the package from the socket. The package breakage problem will get worse in the future, since the required extraction force scales as the number of pins, but the perimeter scales only as the square root of the number of pins.
Vacuum separation methods are used to separate boards comprising an electronic module in a Cray 2 computer. Vacuum grippers are used for many industrial and commercial applications, such as in the insertion and removal of automobile windshields. However, a vacuum applied force applied to an upper surface of an electronic package having a 100 mil (thousandths of an inch) grid of pins is insufficient for assuring removal of the pins from the socket. Assuming a hard vacuum of -14.7 psi, a lifting force of about 2.5 ounces per pin will be generated. However, depending on the particular non-ZIF socket a force of between about 2 ounces and a about 5 ounces per pin is required to assure package extraction.

Gentle package extraction tool and method


A semiconductor device having an inter-layer insulation film that allows a refractory metal to be easily etched and that well covers high side walls of a gold plate and a fabrication method thereof are disclosed. The semiconductor device comprises a semiconductor substrate, a conductive portion formed on the semiconductor substrate, a metal film formed on the conductive portion, a gold plate portion formed on the metal film, an inter-layer insulation film formed on an area of the semiconductor substrate, the area being free from the conductive portion, the metal film, and the gold plate portion in such a manner that the inter-layer insulation film contacts side walls of the conductive portion, the metal film, and the gold plate portion, a refractory metal film formed in such a manner that the refractory metal film coats the gold plate portion, and a protection film formed in such a manner that the protection film exposes part of the refractory metal film as an electrically connecting portion and coats the inter-layer insulation film and the refractory metal film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a fabrication method thereof, in particular, to a compound semiconductor device using gold plating and a fabrication method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the density and integration of semiconductor devices have become high, a multi-layer wiring structure has been widely used. With such a structure, in addition to the accomplishment of high integration, a wiring pattern can be easily designed. However, as drawbacks of the multi-layer wiring structure, the number of fabrication steps increases. In addition, the front surface of a multi-layer wiring structure unsmooths. When the surface of the multi-layer wiring structure unsmooths, a wire breakage and a migration will take place. Thus, the smoothness of the front surface of the multi-layer wiring structure is very important.
The multi-layer wiring structure is obtained as follows: contact holes are formed in a substrate. Metal is clad and patterned. An insulation layer is disposed on the patterned metal. After a predetermined number of layers are formed, bonding pads are formed.
Film materials used for the multi-layer wiring structure are metal films and insulation films. Preferred characteristics of the metal films include a good step coverage, a low resistance, a high ohmic contact to the substrate, a good adhesion to the base material of the insulation film, an easy patterning characteristic, uniform and homogeneous, a high migration resistance, and chemical and thermal stabilities. Preferred characteristics of the insulation films include a good step coverage, an excellent insulation, a good adhesion to metal, a low reactiveness to metal, an excellent passivation against contamination.
Examples of such metal films include Al, Ti, Pt, Mo, W, and alloys thereof. Examples of such insulation films include SiO.sub.2, PSG, SiO.sub.2 --PSG, SiO.sub.2 -plasma Si.sub.3 N.sub.4, Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, and polyimide.
In the multi-layer wiring structure, gold may be plated for a metal so as to decrease the wiring resistance and increase the resultant height. However, the gold plate does not have good adhesion to a CVD passivation film formed thereon. To solve this problem, it is necessary to improve the adhesion to the passivation film by, for example, forming a Ti layer between the gold plate and the passivation film.
Next, with reference to FIGS. 3A to 3H, a fabrication method of a conventional semiconductor device having a multi-layer wiring structure will be described.
A metal film 2 is formed on a GaAs semiconductor substrate 1 (see FIG. 3A). The metal film 2 is composed of an Au layer, a Pt layer, and a Ti layer that successively disposed as an upper layer, a middle layer, and a lower layer, respectively. The thicknesses of the Au layer, the Pt layer, and the Ti layer are 10,000 .ANG., 300 .ANG., and 500 .ANG., respectively. An under-resist 3 is formed on the metal film 2 by photo-etching process (see FIG. 3B). The under-resist 3 is hard-baked (see FIG. 3C). A plating base metal film 4 is formed on the hard-baked under-resist 3. The plating base metal film 4 is composed of an Au layer and a Ti layer that are successively disposed as an upper layer and a lower layer, respectively (see FIG. 3D). The thicknesses of the Au layer and the Ti layer are 1,000 .ANG. and 50 .ANG., respectively. A top-resist 5 is formed by photo-etching process (see FIG. 3E). A gold plate 6 is electrolytically precipitated to an area free of the top-resist 5 for a thickness of 4 .mu.m (see FIG. 3F). The top resist 5 and the under-resist 3 are successively peeled off (see FIG. 3G). A Ti film 8 is evaporated or vapor deposited on the entire front surface of the substrate. The Ti film 8 is photo-etched with a mask. A resist 9 is peeled off (see FIG. 3H). In the above-described steps, the Ti film 8 remains on the plating base metal film 4 in a whisker shape. In addition, it is difficult to form a CVD passivation film or the like on the Ti film 8 in such a manner that the CVD passivation film well covers bulky side walls of the gold plate.
As described above, in the semiconductor device having the multi-layer wiring structure, when gold is plated, a refractory metal such as Ti is evaporated so as to improve the adhesion of gold to the CVD passivation film. However, in this case, it is difficult to well cover the bulky side walls of the gold plate with the CVD passivation film.

Semiconductor device and fabrication method thereof


Alloys of hydrogenated amorphous silicon and germanium are disclosed that exhibit unexpectedly low saturated defect densities, particularly relative to the initial defect densities of the alloys, so as to render them substantially resistant to Staebler-Wronski degradation. The alloys are producible using conventional equipment, but glow-discharge methods are preferred. The preferred amount of germanium in the alloy is about 15 at. % to about 50 at. %. The alloys are particularly useful for making photovoltaic cells. The alloys can be used as intrinsic semiconductors and doped for use as "n" or "p" materials. Methods for making the alloys are also disclosed.

Photovoltaic cells ("solar cells") are currently under intensive development for use as alternative energy sources. Much of this work has been driven by the urgency to reduce the dependency upon fossil fuels and the need for efficient energy production in space.
Silicon is the favored element for most photovoltaic cells, due in part to its relative abundance.
Hydrogenated amorphous silicon (designated "a-Si:H") has intrinsic semiconductor properties. Hydrogenation is believed to facilitate termination of "dangling bonds" in amorphous silicon. Hydrogenated amorphous silicon can be alloyed with other elements to form semiconductor materials (amorphous silicon "alloys") having a variety of optical bandgap energies, wherein the optical bandgap energy determines what wavelength(s) of light will cause the semiconductor to generate a photovoltaic current. Hydrogenated amorphous silicon can also be doped. Production of "device quality" amorphous silicon solar-cell material generally involves hydrogenation to some extent. "Device quality" is a term used imprecisely by persons skilled in the art but can be considered descriptive of material that works particularly well and efficiently in a solar cell.
Amorphous silicon can be "hydrogen diluted" wherein hydrogen is incorporated during processing into the amorphous atomic network of silicon. Hydrogen dilution is one way to change the optical bandgap energy of silicon.
Unfortunately, amorphous silicon solar cells are prone to a phenomenon in which they experience a significant reduction in power output (i.e., a reduction in conversion efficiency) after the cells have been exposed to light. This light-induced degradation is termed "Staebler-Wronski degradation" after the individuals who first observed and reported the phenomenon. Staebler and Wronski, Appl. Phys. Lett. 31:292 (1977). Although agreement has not been reached on the cause(s) of Staebler-Wronski degradation, the phenomenon appears to be a manifestation of an increase in the density of "defects" in the amorphous network upon prolonged exposure to light.
Staebler-Wronski degradation appears to be more or less self-limiting. Accelerated light soaking of a-Si:H and a-Si:H,F films using a krypton ion laser indicated that the light-induced defect density of these materials eventually reaches a saturated value. Park et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 55:2658 (1989); Park et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 57:1440 (1990); Redfield and Bube, Appl. Phys. Lett. 54:1037 (1989). Staebler-Wronski degradation is associated with an increase in defect density, but the mechanism by which the defect density changes during light soaking has not been elucidated. The general state of the art indicates that "device quality" materials have saturated defect densities of about 2.times.10.sup.16 cm.sup.-3 or less.
In one study of the saturation behavior of a number of a-Si:H films, the lower limit of saturated defect density appeared to be related to the optical bandgap energy of the material. Isomura et al., Solar Cells 30:177 (1991). The authors suggested that, by lowering the optical bandgap energy of a-Si:H, the saturated defect density could also be reduced. The optical bandgap energies were lowered by reducing the concentration of hydrogen in the materials (effected by changing process conditions). However, these conclusions were valid only for changing the hydrogen concentration in the films. Also, reducing the concentration of hydrogen may actually increase the number of "dangling bonds" in the amorphous silicon atomic network, thereby degrading initial quality of the material.
Initial defect density may affect the saturated defect density level of a particular amorphous silicon material. (The initial defect density is the density of defects inherently present in the material immediately after annealing). However, the relationship between these two defect densities is unclear and there is considerable disagreement among persons skilled in the art as to what the currently limited experimental findings mean. Aljishi et al., in Fritzche (ed.), Amorphous Silicon and Related Materials, p. 887, World Scientific, Singapore, 1988), found that increasing the germanium concentration in amorphous silicon caused a corresponding increase in initial defect density. The effect of germanium on saturated defect density was not reported.
Hence, there remains a need to reduce the saturated defect density of amorphous silicon materials so as to improve the photostability of these materials.
There is also a need for amorphous silicon materials exhibiting a lower saturated defect density.
There is also a need for a photovoltaic cell comprised of an amorphous silicon material that is photostable.
There is also a need for a photovoltaic cell comprised of an amorphous silicon material that, when light-soaked, exhibits a saturated defect density that is not significantly different from the initial defect density of the material or, in any event, less than about 2.times.10.sup.16 cm.sup.-3.

Photostable amorphous silicon-germanium alloys


Disclosed herein are methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for configuring a field programmable gate array (FPGA) based trusted execution environment (TEE) for use in a blockchain network. One of the methods includes storing a device identifier (ID), a first random number, and a first encryption key in a field programmable gate array (FPGA) device; sending an encrypted bitstream to the FPGA device, wherein the encrypted bitstream can be decrypted by the first key into a decrypted bitstream comprising a second random number; receiving an encrypted message from the FPGA device; decrypting the encrypted message from the FPGA device using a third key to produce a decrypted message; in response to decrypting the encrypted message: determining a third random number in the decrypted message; encrypting keys using the third random number; and sending the keys to the FPGA device.

Distributed ledger systems (DLSs), which can also be referred to as consensus networks, and/or blockchain networks, enable participating entities to securely, and immutably store data. DLSs are commonly referred to as blockchain networks without referencing any particular user case. Examples of types of blockchain networks can include public blockchain networks, private blockchain networks, and consortium blockchain networks. A consortium blockchain network is provided for a select group of entities, which control the consensus process, and includes an access control layer.
A node in a blockchain network runs one or more programs, e.g., a blockchain virtual machine, for executing blockchain-related tasks. Examples of blockchain-related tasks include querying an account's balance, deploying a smart contract, verifying a new blockchain transaction, and so on.
A field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is an integrated circuit capable of being configured to perform different logic functions. An FPGA contains an array of programmable logic blocks and interconnects that can be used to wire the logic blocks in different configurations. An FPGA bitstream is a file that contains the programming information for an FPGA.
Some modern processors include a trusted execution environment (TEE) functionality. A TEE is a secured hardware environment that protects software code executing on a processor from unauthorized modification. A TEE provides an isolated enclave to prevent outside processes (e.g., an operation system, external actors, etc.) from altering any data or software code executing inside the enclave. TEE's also generally include a mechanism for verifying that the software code executing on the processor, or, in some cases, the data associated with the executing software, has not been modified. One example of a TEE implementation is Intel's CPU-based SGX® technology, which relies on a centralized trust authority operated by Intel.
It would be desirable to allow developers to implement their own trust mechanisms without involving an external entity.

Field-programmable gate array based trusted execution environment for use in a blockchain network


Presbyopia correction is achieved by a tightening of the crystalline lens capsule. Applying laser energy to the pre-equatorial lens capsular membrane in increase the capsule tension without unwanted effects on the central clarity or on the refractive status of the eye. Wavelength selection, power, pulse duration, treatment spot size, placement, and pattern affect the accommodative and refractive effect.

This invention is directed generally to the correction of vision and, more specifically to the reversing the effects of aging on accommodation by increasing the tension of the capsular membrane.
The normal aging process is associated with a loss of accommodative potential (presbyopia). This loss of accommodation requires the use of corrective lenses in order to perform visual tasks at near, such as reading.
Moreover, many patients have a hyperopic refractive error for which they compensate by using their accommodative potential when they are young. As they grow older, therefore, they more easily exhaust their accommodative reserve resulting in a biphasic pattern of increased dependence on optical appliances. Initially, they develop a need for corrective lenses just for near work; but eventually, they need corrective lenses for distances as well.
Patients with low to moderate myopia can compensate for presbyopia by removing their corrective lenses for near work. With the introduction of effective means for correcting myopia by photorefractive keratectomy (PRK), these patients forfeit the option when they elect to have their myopia eliminated.
The etiology of presbyopia has not been firmly established. Contributing factors identified to date include an apparent loss of ciliary muscle function, sclerosis of the crystalline lens fibers, loss of capsular tension by reduced elasticity, and crowding of the anterior segment of the eye by continued growth of the crystalline lens after puberty.
Recently, a method of restoring accommodative amplitude by expanding the equatorial circumference of the globe over the ciliary body by a variety of surgical techniques has been disclosed. These surgical techniques are quite invasive requiring deep invasions in the eyeball or the suturing of an expansive band to the eyeball.

Laser method for restoring accommodative potential


A vapor deposition system wherein means orbit a plurality of rotating planets. Each planet supports a plurality of wafer targets which orbit the associated planet axis. A planet wheel of limited rotatability is operative to effect rotation of the orbiting wafer targets.

This invention relates, in general, to deposition systems and more particularly to improvements in vacuum deposition systems that will insure a higher degree of uniformity of deposited material.
The typical production deposition system used for the deposition of either a layer of a single element or a layer of a combination of elements on a substrate consists of a vacuum chamber in which is contained the source of the material to be deposited and a substrate or target on which the source material is deposited. The system is usually placed on the vacuum and when the pressure within the vacuum chamber is reduced to the required level, the source material is heated to the point of vaporization and deposition on the target occurs.
In an attempt to insure a uniform deposition of source material in a production system which, for example, is required to deposit a layer of aluminum on a semiconductor wafer, as many as seven or eight wafer targets each having a three inch diameter are usually mounted on a disc or planet. A plurality of planets (usually three) are then mounted in rolling engagement on a pair of circular tracks so as to position the planets in a plane inclined toward the source. The source is usually located on the system axis and traditionally is positioned a few inches below the plane of the lower track on which the planets are rotating. The planets are then caused to rotate about the source, on the tracks, while the source material is vaporized. Thus, as each planet rotates about its axis each wafer target to be coated is caused to rotate about the axis of the planet and about the axis of the system.
In theory each of the wafer targets should be uniformly coated in order to achieve the best processing results. However, in actual practice, only the wafer target located on the axis of the planet will be uniformly coated while the wafers arranged around the planet, at its perimeter, will not achieve a uniform coating. This is based on the theory that since the density of evaporated material is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the source and the wafer target, that portion of the wafer target closest to the perimeter of the planet will be exposed to a significantly higher density of material than its diametrically opposed portion. This phenomenon becomes more apparent when one considers the relative densities of evaporated material when the target is, for example, in the lowest portion of its travel, that is, when it's closest to the source as compared to the density of evaporated material when the wafer target is at the highest point of its travel, that is, when it is furthest from the source. The differences in density of material is reversed as the wafer target is rotated from its lowest point to its highest point about the axis of the planet. However, these differences in diffusion densities do not counteract each other and the net result is that the portion of the wafer target that is closest to the source when the wafer target is at the bottom of its travel will have a higher concentration of deposited material than the remainder of the wafer target. I have found, for example, a variation in coating thickness of as much as 3,000 Angstroms in a 12,000 Angstrom thick layer. Such variations in thickness across a wafer target having integrated circuits formed thereon can cause severe problems during the subsequent etching step.

Means to orbit and rotate target wafers supported on planet member


An improved hydrodynamic bearing design and method for fabricating a hydrodynamic bearing is disclosed, which incorporates a filling groove so that oil or other lubricating fluid can be efficiently inserted into the bearing gap without risking the loss of fluid during operation; the method provides for fabricating the hydrodynamic bearing and its oil filling groove so that the efficiency of the manufacturing process is not compromised. The same grooving tool which forms the hydrodynamic bearing is scraped across an abutment on the sleeve which supports the counterplate to form a shallow filling groove under the counterplate.

The present invention relates to the field of hydrodynamic bearing assemblies, and more specifically to an improved method for machining the hub and sleeve of a hydrodynamic bearing element.
Hydrodynamic bearings have been the subject of considerable research and development in the past few years. In these types of systems, a lubricating fluid-either gas or liquid-functions as the actual bearing surface between a stationary base or shaft and a rotating sleeve or hub of the motor, or between two such relatively rotating parts. Such bearings have a number of advantages over conventional ball bearings. Such ball bearings, especially when used in motors which are used in disc drives or the like have problems in a number of areas. Specifically, shocks to the disc drive may in turn create a force across the mechanical bearing system which can lead to deformation and damage to the raceway and balls of the ball bearing. Over time, this could result in a failure of the spindle motor to be able to run smoothly and without vibration. Since the spindle motor is directly coupled to the discs, the vibration could easily be directly transferred. A misalignment between the disc which the spindle supports and the transducer which is used to access the surface of the disc could also occur. In either case, the transducer which flies close to the disc surface is more likely to impact the disc.
However, the very fact that a fluid is being used as the bearing surface in a hydrodynamic bearing demands that the bearing must have very fine tolerances for the gap between the shaft and the sleeve, in turn, requiring highly accurate machining of all surfaces. Further, the surfaces must be cleaned of any imperfections which could result in scraping or other damage to the near by facing surface which forms the opposite side of the gap, or in turn the generation of particles. All these goals must be achieved with an economically efficient manufacturing process.
Finally, it is important that provision be made for filling the gap between the shaft and the sleeve. It is important that access be provided to the hydrodynamic bearing gap so that fluid or gas can be inserted into the gap; by the same token, it must be provided that this gap does not diminish the performance of the hydrodynamic bearing, or make it easy for the fluid to leak out of the bearing, or for air to enter the bearing which could diminish the performance of the bearing fluid.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved hydrodynamic bearing design and an improved method for fabricating the hydrodynamic bearing.
It is a further objective of the invention to provide a hydrodynamic bearing design which incorporates a filling groove so that oil or other lubricating fluid can be efficiently inserted into the bearing gap without risking the loss of fluid during operation.
It is yet another objective of the invention to provide an improved method for fabricating the hydrodynamic bearing and its oil filling groove so that the efficiency of the manufacturing process is not compromised.
These and other objectives of the invention are achieved in a hydrodynamic bearing assembly including a shaft and surrounding sleeve which define the hydrodynamic bearing gap, the shaft and sleeve defining at the end of the sleeve a flat, radial surface. In forming the bore through the sleeve, which is the outer surface of the hydrodynamic bearing, a boring bar is used having a sharp nose which is used for cutting the interior surface of the bore. The same tool nose, when dragged across a portion of the radial surface at the end of the sleeve forms a groove across this radial surface of the sleeve. The operation may be repeated one or more times, depending on the speed at which the oil is being inserted into the hydrodynamic bearing gap during assembly.
By following this process, the entire boring process is simply achieved without changing the tools which are being used in the boring machine, resulting in an efficient, high speed boring process.

Machining process for hydrodynamic bearing


A rotary impact tool includes a drive shaft rotationally driven by a rotational drive power source, a hammer arranged around the drive shaft, a ball engaging with a cam groove formed on the outer circumferential surface of the drive shaft and a cam groove formed on the inner circumferential surface of the hammer, an anvil engageable with the hammer along a rotational direction and a spring for biasing the hammer toward the anvil. The hammer is designed to rotate along a rotational locus decided by the cam groove of the drive shaft and the cam groove of the hammer. The rotational locus of the hammer as seen in a development view describes a curve in which the lead angle of the rotational locus varies continuously with the change in hammer rotation angle.

Conventionally, there is known a rotary impact tool of the type including a drive shaft rotationally driven by an electric motor or a pneumatic motor and a hammer loosely fitted to the outer circumferential surface of the drive shaft. Cam grooves are formed on the outer circumferential surface of the drive shaft and on the inner circumferential surface of the hammer. Balls engage with the cam grooves of the drive shaft and the hammer so that the rotation of the drive shaft can be transferred to the hammer through the balls. As the hammer makes forward and rotating movement with respect to the drive shaft under the guidance of the cam grooves and the balls, it applies a rotary impact to an anvil provided with an output bit.
One example of conventional rotary impact tools is shown in FIG. 3. This rotary impact tool is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Application No. 2006-175553, wherein an output shaft 1 of a motor as a rotational power source is connected to a drive shaft 3 through a speed reduction mechanism 2 including a planetary gear mechanism.
A hammer 5 biased forwards by a spring 9 is loosely fitted to the outer circumferential surface of the drive shaft 3. Obliquely-extending V-shaped cam grooves 3a are formed on the outer circumferential surface of the drive shaft 3, while axially-extending straight cam grooves 5a are formed on the inner circumferential surface of the hammer 5. Balls 4 are arranged to engage with both the cam grooves 3a and the cam grooves 5a. Each of the cam grooves 3a has an obliquely-extending portion used in forward rotation and a reversely-extending portion used in reverse rotation. Rotation of the drive shaft 3 is transferred to the hammer 5 through the balls 4. The hammer 5 is provided with locking claws 6 protruding forwards.
An anvil 8 is rotatably supported on the front end portion of a gear case 7 by a bearing 70. The anvil 8 is provided at its front end with a chuck for holding an output bit and at its rear end with arm portions 8a rotationally engaging with the locking claws 6 of the hammer 5. The front end portion of the drive shaft 3 is rotatably supported within a bearing hole portion formed at the rear end of the anvil 8. Reference numeral 18 in FIG. 3 designates a housing.
When the work load is light, rotation of the drive shaft 3 is transferred to the anvil 8 through the hammer 5 by the engagement between the locking claws 6 of the hammer and the arm portions 8a of the anvil 8. If the work load becomes greater, the hammer 5 moves backwards against the spring 9 due to the angle of contact surfaces of the locking claws 6 and the arm portions 8a. At the time point when the locking claws 6 ride over the arm portions 8a, the hammer 5 is moved forwards by the biasing force of the spring 9. Due to the inclination of the cam grooves 3a, the hammer 5 rotates faster than the drive shaft 3 and strikes the anvil 8. As the anvil 8 is struck by the hammer 5 having the energy originating from the biasing force of the spring 9 and the rotational speed and inertial moment of the hammer 5, a large magnitude of torque is applied to the anvil 8. The drive shaft 3 continues to rotate while the hammer 5 reciprocates relative to the drive shaft 3 along the cam grooves 3a. Thus, the locking claws 6 of the hammer 5 ride over the arm portions 8a of the anvil 8. When the locking claws 6 strike the arm portions 8a next time, the hammer 5 strikes the anvil 8 in a state that it is rotated about 180° with respect to the anvil 8.
In this regard, the impact force of the hammer 5 against the anvil 8 becomes greater if the rotational velocity of the hammer 5 when striking the anvil 8 is higher. In other words, the rotational velocity of the hammer 5 can be found by the following equation from the kinetic energy conservation law:
spring energy of the spring 9 accumulated by backward movement of the hammer 5=total sum of the energy during rotation of the hammer 5=axial kinetic energy+rotational kinetic energy+spring energy. This can be represented by: KZmax2/2=MZv2/2+JZr2/2+KZ2/2, where K is a spring constant, Zmax is the backward movement distance of the hammer 5, M is the mass of the hammer 5, Zv is the axial velocity of the hammer 5, Zr is the rotational velocity of the hammer 5, Z is the bending deflection of the spring 9 and J is the inertial moment of the hammer 5.
The rotational striking impact applied to the anvil 8 by the hammer 5 is greatly affected by the second term, i.e., the rotational energy term, of the right-hand member in the above equation. Therefore, there is a need to increase the rotational velocity Zr at the striking time.
The rotational velocity Zr is given by the equation: Zr=Z·cos θ, where θ is the lead angle of the locus of the hammer 5. In order to increase the rotational velocity Zr, the lead angle θ of the cam grooves 5a is set small.
Conventionally, the rotational locus of the hammer 5 as seen in a development view is set to change linearly, which imposes the following constraints. The cam grooves 3a and the cam grooves 5a need to be formed at two points on the circumferential surfaces of the hammer 5 and the drive shaft 3. If the lead angle of each of the cam grooves 3a and the cam grooves 5a is made small within such an extent that the cam grooves 3a or the cam grooves 5a do not interfere with each other, it is difficult for the hammer 5 to have great enough axial displacement. This means that the energy accumulated in the spring 9 by the backward movement of the hammer 5 becomes small, consequently resulting in reduction in the rotational velocity of the hammer 5.

Panasonic Electric Works Power Tools Co., Ltd.


Embodiments of the invention provide a device and method for controlling sway of a trailer utilizing a global positioning system (GPS) device to detect a speed of a vehicle, a rate gyro to detect a sway angle of the vehicle, and a controller coupled to the GPS device and the rate gyro. The GPS and the rate gyro provide the speed and the sway angle to the controller and the controller outputs a brake command if either a first condition is satisfied or a second condition is satisfied.

A trailer is an unpowered vehicle that is generally pulled or towed by a powered vehicle. A trailer may be an enclosed toy trailer, a mobile home, a travel trailer, a recreational vehicle, or any other unpowered single or multi-axel vehicle that is towed by a powered/towing vehicle. A trailer hitch, a fifth wheel coupling, or other type of tow hitch is needed to connect a trailer to the towing vehicle to draw the trailer with the towing vehicle, which can be, for example, a car, a truck, or other traction engine. A trailer is typically coupled to a towing vehicle by a ball socket, but may be coupled in some other fashion. Trailers may be coupled in a number of ways to the towing vehicle including by a drawbar or a tow bar.
When a towing vehicle pulls a trailer, external forces may cause the trailer to sway in either one direction or multiple directions. Trailer sway is a fishtailing motion of the trailer, which is caused by external forces that set the trailer's mass into lateral motion with the ball socket serving as the axis or pivot point. The motion can be described as a sideways seesaw. Typically, trailers sway in response to a high towing speed, swerving movement of the towing vehicle, gusting winds, bad roads, downhill travel, poor trailer design, poor weight distribution, or a bow wave of a large semi-truck, a box truck, or a van overtaking the trailer from the rear. Some trailers are designed for correction by the driver and will quickly re-stabilize. However, some trailers will continue to sway after the force that caused the instability has ceased. In fact, in some trailers, the sway motion may increase until control of both the towing vehicle and the trailer is lost. Unfortunately, many trailers are prone to sway due to poor weight distribution.
Trailer sway is an inevitable part of trailer towing which can be mitigated using a number of mitigation techniques. One such mitigation technique is to brake the trailer independently of the towing vehicle. When the speed of a trailer is reduced independent of its towing vehicle, tension is created between the vehicle and the trailer, which helps to stabilize the system. However, there remains a need for a cost-effective, reliable trailer sway mitigation device which would initiate braking of a trailer, thereby alleviating driver hesitations that trailer sway could initiate a dangerous condition for those aboard the towing vehicle and trailer combination.


The improved furnace of this invention may be used to produce heat by the burning of wood or other combustible matter. The furnace has a combustion chamber with a generally vertical axis and a chamber access door for loading combustible matter into the furnace. The access door in its normally closed position lies in a plane extending upwardly and outwardly from the axis of the chamber. A smoke limiting means which is positioned above the access door extends to the plane of closure of the door. This smoke limiting means limits the escape of smoke and other combustion products when the access door is open. The smoke limiting means may have a port for visually observing the interior of the chamber and for admitting a poker therein. An air injector extending through the door directs air to the burning material within the combustion chamber. The access door may have attached to it a grate extending into the chamber for holding the combustible material as it burns. The grate moves with the door making it easier to load fresh combustible matter onto the grate when the door is open and also shaking down previously burned material from the grate as the door is opened and closed. Finally, the furnace may be adapted with a latch means which automatically engages as the access door is opened but requires manual operation for release thereby preventing accidental closure of the door.

Manually loaded furnaces for burning wood and other solid combustible matter have been known and used for many years. Generally these furnaces comprise a chamber for holding the combustible matter and for radiating the heat produced therefrom, as well as an access door for adding combustible material to the chamber and means for exhausting the products of combustion.
Numerous ornamental and utilitarian changes have been made in these furnaces over the years. For example, some manually fed furnaces burning wood and other solid combustible materials have been fitted with automatic stoking devices. In many applications, the advent of ready supplies of natural gas and fuel oil has eliminated the use of both manually fed and automatically stoked furnaces burning solid combustible matter altogether.
Nevertheless, manually fed furnaces burning wood and other solid combustible matter still have an important role to play. These furnaces can be used to produce heat from renewable resources like wood or combustible trash. Properly designed furnaces can operate for twelve hours or longer on a single load of solid combustible material, thus making automatic stoking unnecessary.
While it cannot be denied that manually loaded furnaces burning wood and other solid combustible material are environmentally desirable and practical in many applications, those using these furnaces do experience some inconvenience. In particular, one opening an access door to a furnace already containing a burning combustible material will be met by a gust of smoke and other combustion by-products. The loading of combustible material into the furnace chamber itself is often awkward and backbreaking. Removal of spent combustible material from its supporting grate within the furnace chamber is a messy chore.
While the prior art has failed to overcome these problems, the present invention represents an important contribution to the art by providing useful, novel solutions.