An integrated circuit assembly is formed with an insulating layer, a semiconductor layer, an active device, first, second, and third electrically conductive interconnect layers, and a plurality of electrically conductive vias. The insulating layer has a first surface and a second surface. The second surface is below the first surface. A substrate layer has been removed from the second surface. The semiconductor layer has a first surface and a second surface. The first surface of the semiconductor layer contacts the first surface of the insulating layer. The active device is formed in a region of the semiconductor layer. The first electrically conductive interconnect layer forms an electrically conductive ring. The second electrically conductive interconnect layer forms a first electrically conductive plate above the electrically conductive ring and the region of the semiconductor layer. The third electrically conductive interconnect layer forms a second electrically conductive plate below the electrically conductive ring and the region of the semiconductor layer. The plurality of electrically conductive vias electrically couple the electrically conductive ring to the first electrically conductive plate and to the second electrically conductive plate. The electrically conductive ring, the first electrically conductive plate, the second electrically conductive plate, and the plurality of electrically conductive vias form a Faraday cage around the active device.

In an integrated circuit, metal lines typically connect individual circuit elements together. The nature of this metal interconnect critically affects the performance and cost of the integrated circuit product. For example, most integrated circuit processes offer multiple levels of metal interconnect, in order to allow the maximum flexibility in circuit layout. This layout flexibility allows a designer to minimize the size of an integrated circuit, for example, reducing the cost of the product.
An example of a typical circuit layout with two levels of metal interconnect is shown in FIG. 1. This layout includes two metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFET) 240. Isolation edges 235 and gate fingers 240g define the transistors. One of the transistors 240 has two gate fingers 240g and one has three gate fingers. The gate shapes 240g and isolation edges 235 determine the source and drain regions of the transistors (240s and 240d, respectively). The drains 240d of both transistors 240 are electrically connected together, through contacts 245, first metal lines 250, inter-metal vias 270, and second metal line 280. The source regions 240s of the two transistors are connected individually through contacts 245 and first metal lines 250. The layout of FIG. 1 could be, for example, a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) inverter, if one of the transistors 240 is an n-channel MOSFET and the other is a p-channel MOSFET.
In most multi-level metallization schemes, to connect upper-level metal lines to lower level metal lines or transistor electrodes (sources, drains, and gates), all of the intermediate metal layers and contacts or vias must be used. This can be seen in FIG. 1, where the second level metal line 280 is connected to transistor drains 240d through the first metal layer 250 and metal/diffusion contact 245. Thus, to connect source fingers 240s together, for example, a metal line 250 runs outside the transistor area to avoid shorting transistor sources 240s and drains 240d together. This increases the height, and thus the area, of the layout. Moreover, the width of this layout is determined by the minimum pitch of the contacted first metal lines, or the minimum pitch of the contacted source/drain regions—whichever is greater. If the minimum pitch of the contacted first metal lines is the greater of the two pitches, then this layout may be reduced in width by an alternative metallization scheme. Note that the minimum pitch of the contacted metal lines may be determined by lithographic or other process considerations, or it may be determined by electromigration concerns or other considerations/concerns.
The resistance (per unit length) and capacitance (per unit area) of the metal interconnect layers often has a direct impact on the performance of an integrated circuit. The interconnect structures and materials used affect, in turn, the resistance and capacitance of the interconnect lines. For example, the capacitance between a given interconnect line and the semiconductor substrate, or the capacitance between two interconnect lines, decreases as the vertical distance between them increases. If multiple interconnect layers are available, critical capacitances can be reduced by placing their nodes on metal layers that have more vertical separation between them.
To illustrate the origin of these parasitic capacitances, a cross-section of the layout of FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 2. Parasitic capacitances, for example, between the gates 240g and the drain regions 240d (gate-drain capacitance) and the source 240s and drain 240d regions (off-state capacitance), are determined partly by the interconnect structure. For example, the overlap area between the first metal lines 250 and the source regions 240s forms a component of the off-state parasitic capacitance 290. The capacitance between the contact metal 245 and the transistor gates 240g contributes to the total gate-drain parasitic capacitance. Thus, the metallization scheme and layout has an effect on circuit parasitic capacitances, and therefore circuit performance.
These parasitic effects are important for high frequency and high-speed circuits. Such circuits are often implemented on semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) technology, which was first commercialized in the late 1990s. The defining characteristic of SOI technology is that the semiconductor region in which circuitry is formed is isolated from bulk substrate by an electrically insulating layer. This insulating layer is typically silicon dioxide. The advantageous aspects of SOI technology stem directly from the ability of the insulator layer to electronically isolate the active layer from bulk substrate.
SOI technology represents an improvement over traditional bulk substrate technology because the introduction of the insulating layer isolates the active devices in an SOI structure, which improves their electrical characteristics. For example, parasitic capacitances within the semiconductor region—depletion and diffusion capacitances, for example—are often reduced in SOI devices, especially those with thin enough semiconductor layers such that the transistors are "fully-depleted." Short-channel effects—the variation of the threshold voltage of a transistor with its channel length—are also reduced in SOI devices. For these reasons, among others, SOI is often the technology of choice for high-speed, low-power circuits. In addition, the SOI's insulating layer can act to shield the active devices from harmful radiation. This is particularly important for integrated circuits that are used in space given the prevalence of harmful ionizing radiation outside the earth's atmosphere.
Like bulk-substrate technologies, SOI technologies may also make use of multiple layers of metal interconnect. If these metal layers can be formed in such a way as to take advantage of the unique structure of SOI, cost and performance benefits can result. These performance benefits may be especially desirable for the types of circuits typically fabricated on SOI technologies—high-speed or high switching frequency, low-loss circuits.

Methods of making integrated circuit assembly with faraday cage and including a conductive ring


In order to enable only condensate to be discharged/fed under pressure without leaking out steam independently of the respective pressures at the primary side and at the secondary side, in a condensate discharging device comprising a condensate receiving chamber provided with a condensate inlet opening and a condensate outlet opening as well as an operating high pressure fluid inlet and outlet; a float disposed within the chamber and adapted to rise and drop along with the water level; an inlet valve connected to the float and used for opening and closing the inlet; an exhaust valve connected to the float and used for opening and closing the outlet; and check valves, one arranged at the condensate inlet opening and the other at the condensate outlet opening, the improvement comprises a valve mechanism connected to the float to open and close the outlet opening independently of the check valves, the valve mechanism being adapted to close the condensate outlet opening when the water level is low, and to open the condensate outlet opening when there is a rise in the water level, whereby after the float closes the inlet (8) and opens the high pressure fluid outlet the condensate is introduced from the condensate inlet opening into the chamber until the water level reaches a predetermined water level, and the high pressure fluid outlet is closed and the high pressure fluid inlet is opened, the condensate thereby being discharged from the opened condensate outlet opening when the predetermined water level is reached.

The present invention relates to a condensate discharging device for discharging condensate produced in various kinds of equipment using steam and piping for steam, or for feeding the condensate under pressure to a boiler or an apparatus using waste heat.
Condensate condensed in equipment using steam is ordinarily discharged through a steam trap. However, in the case where the condensate is recovered to a place higher in pressure, such as a boiler or an apparatus utilizing waste heat, or in the case where the secondary pressure is higher than the primary pressure, like the case of discharging condensate within a vacuum into the atmosphere, the condensate can not be discharged using the steam trap.
In the case where the secondary pressure is higher than the primary pressure, a condensate discharging device (pumping trap) as disclosed in Japanese utility model laid-open publication sho-50-147228 is used. This device comprises a condensate receiving chamber provided with a condensate inlet opening and a condensate outlet opening, and a high pressure operating fluid (pressure gas) inlet and outlet. In the condensate receiving chamber, an open or closed type of float is set up so as to rise and drop according to the water level and is connected to an inlet valve for opening and closing the operating high pressure fluid inlet and to an exhaust valve for opening and closing the fluid outlet. Through the cooperation with respective check valves arranged at the condensate inlet and outlet openings, condensate is introduced into the condensate receiving chamber, after the operating high pressure fluid inlet is closed and the fluid outlet is opened, until the water level within the condensate receiving chamber reaches a predetermined level. When the predetermined level is reached, the operating high pressure fluid outlet is closed and the fluid inlet is opened, introducing the operating high pressure fluid into the condensate receiving chamber so that the action of pressure causes the condensate to be discharged from the opened outlet opening.
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,141,405 discloses a device basically similar in construction to the above-described device.
Among the above-mentioned devices using steam, for example, in a heat exchanger for heating a fluid to be heated by steam, supply to the heat exchanger is carried out after the pressure of steam is controlled so as to maintain a temperature of the fluid to be heated delivered from the heat exchanger constant, which causes the primary pressure to rise to a pressure higher or fall to a pressure lower than the secondary pressure.
If the condensate discharging device disclosed in the above-mentioned utility model laid-open publication sho-50-147228 or U.S. Pat. No. 5,141,405 is mounted on such a piece of equipment using steam, a problem arises in that when the primary pressure rises to a pressure higher than the secondary pressure, the check valve arranged at the condensate outlet is always caused to be opened so that not only the condensate but also the steam under high pressure is flown out therethrough. Meanwhile, if an ordinary steam trap is mounted on such a device using steam, it will not be able to be used in the case where the primary pressure is lower than the secondary pressure.


In order to be able to weld on studs (2) with a larger than normal diameter, a stud-welding process is proposed in which the pressure applied to the stud (2) before the welding current is triggered is applied symmetrically to the stud axis (A), but extra-axially and adjustable as appropriate, thus ensuring better centering during the welding operation and also improving the quality of the weld. A suitable pressure-application device (27) is proposed for this purpose.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a stud welding process in which a stud to be welded to a surface is pressed against the surface with an acceleration force and a welding current is triggered wherein a positioning pressure is applied to at least two points spaced away from the stud axis.
2. Description of Related Art
In principle, two forms of stud-welding processes are known. One employs a tip which is simultaneously subjected to a current and applied under force to the part to be welded on. This is referred to as tip ignition method. Here, large currents are built up and then discharged via the tip. Owing to the short time available during the discharge, it is not possible to accelerate the stud even further toward the part to be welded on and to immerses it deeper into the melt. As a result, this process cannot be used in the case of a stud diameter over 8 mm, as is known from specialist books (cf. Betterman "Bolzenchweisstechnik" [Stud-welding technique], page 4).
Thus, for example, JP-A-56-91 983 describes an apparatus for stud-welding, in which a guide device ensures the vertical guidance of a welding gun in relation to a surface onto which the stud is welded. The stud itself is pushed into a guide block which in turn is displaceable, by means of springs coordinated with it, in the axial direction of the welding gun. During the welding process, the stud is pressed against the surface by means of the welding gun. The guide block is provided for ensuring that the welding gun remains positioned at right angles to the surface during the welding process.
Although relatively large diameters can also be welded by means of the elevator ignition technique, this method requires an inert gas atmosphere, the energy requirement is higher, the welding time is longer and the tendency to burn through the stud on the part to be welded on is greater so that at least very strong welding discolorations always remain behind on the lower surface of the plate when such a stud is welded onto a thin plate. However, this is undesirable in many cases.
Consequently, it has not been possible to date to weld on studs having a diameter of more than 8 mm
cleanly, PA0 without an inert gas and PA0 in a short time.
This gives rise to an object of the present invention permit in particular a tang to be welded onto a trowel blade cleanly, without an inert gas and in a short period of time.
Extensive attempts have been made to achieve this object. An initial shown that an important phenomenon leading to the difficulties mentioned is the fact that, when the welding current is triggered, the stud has the tendency to "float away" on the end which has become liquid. This tendency cannot be counteracted by the conventional pressure-application devices acting exclusively axially, i.e. the investigations led to the discovery that this is not just a centering problem during the welding process, which may last a very short time where the tip ignition process functions within milliseconds.
Based on this discovery, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a positioning pressure is applied to at least two points spaced away from the axis of the stud. By virtue of the fact that the pressure now involves force components which are parallel and symmetrical in terms of the angle, decentering is not so easily possible, and any decentering tendencies due to the geometry of the stud or of the device can preferably be compensated by separately adjusting the pressure at the at least two points. For this purpose, all that is required is a test weld in order to be able to make the necessary adjustment, "separate" adjustment being intended to mean one in which an adjustment of one pressure does not necessarily result in an equally large adjustment of the other pressure.
Although the above statements indicate that the invention can be applied in principle to all embodiments of the stud-welding process, the object of the invention is preferably achieved when the tip ignition method is used.
An application of the process according to the invention in which the advantages are utilized to a particularly high degree is welding a stud to be used as a tang of a trowel onto the trowel surface. In this case, however, it is preferable if the tang is bent prior to welding, since on the one hand this is easier and on the other hand the action of high forces on the welding spot is avoided in this manner.
The centering problem discussed above is even better controlled when a stud having a non-straight shape is held firmly in a mold surrounding it.
Although the process according to the invention has quality advantages for the welding of all stud thicknesses, it can be particularly advantageously used for studs having a cross-sectional thickness (i.e. the diameter in the case of a circular cross-section) greater than 8 mm, for which those skilled in the art previously believed the stud-welding process was in principle unsuitable.
Although it has been found that pressure application to at least two points is entirely sufficient, the application of an additional axial force gives rise to a further improvement.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for carrying out stud welding by applying a positioning force to at least two points away from the axis of the stud.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a device wherein at least one pressure member is formed by a fluidic piston/cylinder unit and the stud to be welded is held in a mold.
The stud holder is held exclusively on at least one of the pressure-application devices, but the opening and closing devices for the mold halves of the holder are not rigidly connected to the housing, guidance of the stud during the welding process is determined exclusively by the pressure-application devices. Thus, opening--and if necessary also closing--of the mold halves is effected by means of suitably chosen coupling members which do not prevent the downward movement of the stud in its holder.
Further details of the invention are evident from the following description of embodiments shown schematically in the drawings.

Stud-welding process and a device for carrying out the process


In one embodiment of the invention, a control system for a robotic surgical instrument is provided including a torque saturation limiter, a torque to current converter coupled to the torque saturation limiter, and a motor coupled to the torque to current converter. The torque saturation limiter receives a desired torque signal for one or more end effectors and limits the desired torque to a range between an upper torque limit and a lower torque limit generating a bounded torque signal. The torque to current converter transforms a torque signal into a current signal. The motor drives an end effector of one or more end effectors to the bounded torque signal in response to the first current signal.

Typical robotic surgical gripping instruments or tools use wires or cables to open and close jaws of the tool. With the jaws closed around tissue, the wires or cables may be further tensioned to generate a gripping torque and apply a gripping force on the tissue. When the robotic surgical gripping instrument or tool was new, a predetermined position limit in a capstan or input disk is set in the tool. The predetermined position limit is not exceeded so that the wires or cables in the robotic surgical gripping instrument or tool are not overloaded.
However as the robotic surgical gripping instrument or tool and its cables are used over and over again after being re-sterilized, it ages and the wires or cables that open and close jaws of the tool may stretch or the instrument may compress causing slack in the wires or cables. With stretched cables or a compressed instrument limiting the position of the input disk to the predetermined position limit may not allow a maximum torque to be reached. This results in a reduced gripping torque at the jaws and a reduced gripping force being applied to tissue. This may be particularly problematic during robotic surgical procedures.
It is desirable to provide a maximum torque to the jaws of a robotic surgical gripping instrument or tool over its lifetime so that a maximum gripping force may be applied to tissue during robotic surgical procedures.

Methods for maximum torque driving of robotic surgical tools


A computer-implemented method and apparatus for encoding video signals, wherein the encoding is defined by a plurality of encoding parameters. According to a preferred embodiment, an initial quantization level is determined for quantizing a block of signals representative of a block of pixels of a picture, wherein the initial quantization level is an encoding parameter of the plurality of encoding parameters. At least one encoding parameter of the plurality of encoding parameters is modified before encoding the block of signals to provide a modified plurality of encoding parameters such that block edge artifacts between the block of pixels and at least one adjacent block of pixels that arise after decoding encoded signals are reduced. In an alternative preferred method and apparatus for encoding a block of signals representative of a block of pixels of a picture, wherein the encoding is defined by a plurality of encoding parameters including a quantization level selected from a plurality of possible quantization levels, an encoding error is determined for the block of pixels such that the encoding error for the block of pixels tends to be larger for encoding parameters that cause a block edge artifact between the block of pixels and at least one adjacent block of pixels. A plurality of encoding parameters is selected in accordance with the encoding error.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to signal processing, and, in particular, to computer-implemented processes and apparatuses for encoding and decoding video signals.
2. Description of the Related Art
This invention relates to signal processing which is often used to compress video image signals representative of video pictures into an encoded bitstream. Each picture may be a still image, or may be part of a plurality of successive pictures of video signal data that represent a motion video. As used herein, "picture" and "video picture" may interchangeably refer to signals representative of an image as hereinabove described.
The portion of an encoded bitstream representing a compressed picture may be stored in a mass storage device such as a hard disk drive or compact disk read-only-memory (CD-ROM) in its compressed format in order to conserve storage space. When the compressed picture is later retrieved it may be decompressed and, for example, displayed on a monitor. A higher amount of compression of the blocks constituting an image tends to lower the number of bits needed to represent the image, but also tends to diminish the quality of the image reconstructed by the decoder.
The encoded bitstream may also be transmitted to one or more remote signal processing systems such as video conferencing nodes which decode the encoded signals. These video conferencing nodes may be personal computer (PC)-based systems communicating with each other over a selected transmission medium. Possible transmission media include Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) and Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) telephone connections. Although ISDN connections provide a higher bandwidth than PSTN connections, ISDN connections are currently less readily available and more expensive than PSTN connections.
Because transmission media have finite bandwidths, in order to provide video conferencing of satisfactory quality, each PC system preferably compresses or encodes in real time the video signals corresponding to the local participant and transmits the resulting compressed signals or bitstreams to the PC systems of the remote participants. In such a video conferencing system, each PC system also preferably receives and decompresses compressed signals from the PC systems of the remote participants to play the decompressed video signals locally. The encoder may also, in some usages, encode video pictures offline to perform more computation-intensive and more efficient encoding.
Such encoding operations that compress video image signals typically operate on subsets of the image, such as (8.times.8) blocks of pixels, or on macroblocks comprising a number of such blocks. A macroblock comprises a (16.times.16) array of luminance pixels (also known as "luma pels") and two associated (8.times.8) blocks of chroma information. The (16.times.16) luma array is further divided into four (8.times.8) blocks, and all six blocks in a macroblock are typically transformed using the forward discrete cosine transform (DCT), quantized, and further encoded.
Thus, the (8.times.8) blocks of the image to be encoded are typically transformed by a forward DCT to generate a transformed signal comprising 64 DCT coefficients, which are also arranged in an (8.times.8) block. One technique for controlling the bit rate of the encoded bitstream is to select varying quantization levels at the encoding stage which are applied to the DCT coefficients to produce coefficient indexes. Varying quantization levels may be produced by using a basic quantization table which is multiplied by the quantization level (also referred to as the quantizer step size or quantization scale). Thus, when a basic quantization table is utilized in this manner, the quantization scale corresponds to the quantization level. For example, a quantization scale of 7 corresponds to a quantization level of 7, where 7 is multiplied by each entry in the basic quantization table to produce a scaled quantization table that corresponds to quantization level 7. A particular quantization level is typically selected within an acceptable range of quantization levels which are expected to produce approximately the desired codesize.
In quantization, each DCT coefficient is divided by the quantization factor in the corresponding (8.times.8) block position in order to reduce the number of bits needed to represent the coefficient. As is appreciated by those skilled in the art, use of a coarser quantization table, associated with a coarser quantization level, implies using fewer bits to encode an image but at the cost of image quality. Use of finer quantization tables results in encoded bitstreams with more bits but with higher quality images upon decompression or decoding. This type of bit rate control is often referred to as primary bit rate control. Secondary bit rate control involves the dropping of pictures or images from the video stream. The secondary bit rate control is a back-up mode in case the primary bit rate control is insufficient.
Existing techniques for encoding video signals include the H.261 (P.times.64) video compression method developed by the International Telegraph Union (ITU), and standards developed by the Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) of the International Standards Organization (ISO), such as the ISO/IEC 11172 (MPEG-1) and ISO/IEC 13818 (MPEG-2) standards.
In existing techniques for encoding video signals, a reconstructed picture decoded from the encoded bitstream can suffer quality degradation due to, inter alia, inaccuracies caused by the quantization and dequantization process. In particular, encoding pictures on a block-by-block basis in which quantization is applied may lead to artifacts in the decoded images in the form of edges between the blocks. Such block edge artifacts are also referred to as blocking effects or blockiness.
Postfiltering is one technique which may be employed to smooth out those edges. Conventional methods of post-filtering use linear filters applied indiscriminately over the image or just along block boundaries. However, such techniques attempt to reduce artifacts which are effectively built into encoded video signals, rather than reducing block edge artifacts before pictures are encoded. Such post-filtering methods also tend to reduce real edges that happen to correspond to block boundaries.
There is thus a need for methods and apparatuses for encoding video signals to reduce blocking effects during the encoding process itself.

Reducing blocking effects in block transfer encoders


The present invention comprises methods and compositions for treating solid surfaces having antimicrobial and biocidal properties. Such surfaces are capable of controlling or killing a broad spectrum of biological agents, including viruses, bacteria and other microbial agents in solids, liquids or gases that subsequently contact the treated surface.

Humans and animals are exposed to many surfaces that have microbial organisms present, or that may become contaminated with microbial organisms. After the advent of antibiotics, many thought that there were no risks to humans or animals from microbial organisms because antibiotics could solve any infections. Antibiotic resistance soon proved those thoughts to be incorrect. Many microbial organisms are resistant to current therapies and different approaches are needed.
Despite increasing public concern, current technology does not adequately meet the needs. Humans or animals may be exposed to surfaces that are in contact with household contaminating organisms, stormwater, industrial runoff, human and animal waste, and other sources of microbial organisms.
Microbial organisms such as those found in on humans, animals, in sewage, human waste and animal waste, including bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other disease organisms, are of particular concern. Organisms such as pathogenic organisms that are infective at a low organism concentration or whose mode-of-entry may or may not be oral ingestion. These pathogens include, but are not limited to Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphyloccus aureus, Escherichia coli, Shigella, or enteroviruses. Relatively small populations of P. aeruginosa may cause health problems simply through water contact, and such bacteria are typically resistant to antibiotics. The presence of enteroviruses is of concern since very small virus concentrations are capable of producing infections or diseases.
What is needed are methods and compositions for treatment of surfaces with compositions that are capable of controlling or killing a broad spectrum of biological agents, including viruses, bacteria and other microbial agents and then render the surfaces capable of continuing to kill a broad range of microbial agents. The treatments should also be stable, durable with a long lasting effect, safe and non-toxic.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods and compositions for antimicrobial surfaces


A method for forming a low-k dielectric layer for a semiconductor device using an ALD process including (a) forming predetermined interconnection patterns on a semiconductor substrate, (b) supplying a first and a second reactive material to a chamber having the substrate therein, thereby adsorbing the first and second reactive materials on a surface of the substrate, (c) supplying a first gas to the chamber to purge the first and second reactive materials that remain unreacted, (d) supplying a third reactive material to the chamber, thereby causing a reaction between the first and second materials and the third reactive material to form a monolayer, (e) supplying a second gas to the chamber to purge the third reactive material that remains unreacted in the chamber and a byproduct; and (f) repeating (b) through (e) a predetermined number of times to form a SiBN ternary layer having a predetermined thickness on the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for forming a low-k dielectric layer for a semiconductor device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for forming a ternary silicon boron nitride (SiBN) layer having a low dielectric constant using an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a silicon nitride layer (SiNx) has been widely used in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices for several reasons. First, a SiNx layer has a high etching selectivity over a silicon oxide (SiO2) layer in a reactive ion etching (RIE) process and a wet etching process. Second, a SiNx layer exhibits strong oxidation and abrasion resistances. Third, a SiNx layer has an excellent diffusion barrier characteristic. However, a SiNx layer has a high dielectric constant of about 7. This high dielectric constant causes a propagation delay since parasitic capacitance increases as a chip size is reduced.
Recently, in view of the above disadvantage of a SiNx layer, the SiNx layer has been replaced with a boron nitride (BN) layer having a relatively low dielectric constant as a dielectric layer for a semiconductor device. The BN layer is formed by an ALD process at a low temperature in a range of 200° C. to 550° C., so that a conformal BN layer is formed.
The BN layer formed using the ALD process has a low dielectric constant, between 2.2 and 5 depending on deposition conditions, thereby reducing the propagation delay in comparison with a SiNx layer having a dielectric constant of about 7.
However, an ALD BN layer has several disadvantages. For example, an ALD BN layer is easily hydrolyzed by moisture in the atmosphere, is wet etched by a high temperature wet chemical based on sulfuric acid H2SO4, and has poor oxidation resistance.
Further, a conventional SiBN layer formed by a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process has poor step coverage.

Method for forming a low-k dielectric layer for a semiconductor device


A seal arrangement for rotating shafts, in particular a propeller shaft of a ship which is in contact with water containing impurities, is designed to provide a filter portion substantially adjacent the outermost seal to thereby filter dirt particles out of the water and keep the dirt particles out of the vicinity of the seal. Such a filter can be made from a sintered material and can essentially be designed to fit the existing space available along the propeller shaft.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a seal arrangement for rotating shafts, in particular, for the rotating propeller shafts of ships. Propeller shafts can be equipped with at least one ring seal and/or an axial face seal, along with at least one additional backup seal which has an annulus open to the medium in which the propeller is disposed. Along with this annulus, there can also be associated a ring-shaped dirt deflector which creates a backpressure in the annulus when the shaft rotates. To minimize the amount of fine particle contaminants present in the annulus, which particles could eventually pass through the seals of the shaft, the outermost backup seal can be provided with a porous wall, or filtering portion, through which the medium would have to pass before entering into and passing through the annulus.
2. Background Information
The known seal arrangements may offer sufficient protection against the penetration of coarse dirt particles into the annulus, but the protection is reduced when the dirt particles in question are fine particles which get sucked into the annulus on account of the underpressure which develops during rotation. Thus, these fine particles could enter into the vicinity of the ring seals.
German Patent No. 32 05 538 discloses seals for rotating shafts, which shafts have, in front of the ring seal, a plate which rotates along with the shaft. This rotating plate is equipped with pump elements which generate a circulating flow of the medium, and on the inflow side of the flow path of this circular flow, a porous layer is included. In this known system, however, the medium to be sealed out is not water bearing dirt and impurities, but is instead, an air-fluid mixture, in particular, an oil spray, such as that which occurs in the crankcase of an internal combustion engine. Accordingly, in this case the porous layer does not act to deflect dirt, but instead acts as a phase separator which separates the fluid phase from the gas phase of a gas-fluid mixture.

Sealing arrangement for rotating propeller shafts of ships


A power supply apparatus and method for supplying direct current power to low and medium voltage DC loads wherein a multi-phase transformer having multiple secondary windings provides multi-phase power to multiple power cells, each of which have a single DC output and are controllable by a modulation controller. The primary and secondary windings in the power transformer may be star- or mesh-connected; the secondary windings may be shifted in phase. Because the power cells can be connected in series, the maximum output voltage for each cell may be less than the maximum line-to-line voltage. The power cell output can have variable DC voltage and current which can be controlled using pulse-width modulation techniques. AC input power is converted to DC output power for each power output line. Output power modulation can be produced by interdigitating a selected number of carrier signals so that harmonic components reflected back to the input are attenuated.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a variable AC-to-DC converter, and a method for operating a variable-DC power supply, particularly to AC-to-DC converters employing pulse-width modulation (PWM) conversion methods.
2. Description of the Art
In general, existing AC/DC power conversion is accomplished using a variety of circuit topologies with phase-controlled SCRs operating from multi-phase transformers. These topologies may sometimes have the drawbacks of harmonic line currents, a variable power factor, and high DC ripple currents. These traits are especially problematic at higher power levels typical for arc loads and plasma torches. Because of these and other disadvantages of the SCR circuit topology, pulse-width modulated (PWM) circuits are preferred to provide smoother control.
Pulse-width modulation is a form of modulation in which the value of each instantaneous sample of the modulating wave is caused to modulate the duration of a pulse. In PWM, the modulating wave may vary the time of occurrence of the leading edge, the trailing edge, or both edges of the pulse. The modulating frequency may be fixed or variable. In a PWM circuit, a reference signal may be used to generate a train of pulses, the width of each pulse being related to the instantaneous value of the referenced signal. The pulses may be generated by using a comparator to compare the reference signal with a carrier signal, which may be a sawtooth or triangular wave. When the reference signal exceeds the carrier signal, the output of the comparator is high; at other times, the output of the comparator is low. The comparator output does provide a train of pulses representing the reference signal. The pulses are then used to drive an electronic switching device for intermittently applying a voltage across the load.
When a voltage is suddenly applied across an inductive and resistive load, such as a plasma torch, the current through the load rises almost linearly with time. When the voltage is then turned off, the current through the load does not immediately fall to zero but decreases approximately linearly with time, as the inductor's magnetic field collapses, and the current flows in a freewheeling diode. Thus, the input voltage pulses applied across the load result in a current which has a ripple. This ripple is inherent in all PWM amplifiers. The magnitude of the ripple is directly proportional to the supply voltage and inversely proportional to the switching frequency and to the circuit inductance. Current ripple is generally undesirable because it wastes energy in the inductor and may cause unwanted pulsations in the load. To reduce ripple, the SCR controller typically increases the inductance in series with the load as well as increase chopping to a 12 or 24 pulse output. This is typically an expensive approach and further increases losses and injects harmonics via line notching on the power system. Pulse-width modulation techniques can reduce ripple by interdigitating multiple power cells to significantly increase the ripple frequency and reduce the ripple amplitude.

Low and medium voltage PWM AC/DC power conversion method and apparatus


A method of operating a hub used in an internet of things (IoT) network system which includes a first controller and an IoT device is provided. The method includes: performing secure pairing with the first controller using a first communication, receiving first information related to the IoT device from the first controller paired with the hub, authenticating the first controller using the first information, and performing secure pairing with the IoT device using a second communication.

Apparatuses and methods consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to a method of sharing a key between devices, and more particularly, to a method of sharing a key between devices using physical access restriction.
The internet of things (IoT) refers to a network of things embedded with electronics, software, sensors, and network connectivity which enable these things to collect and exchange data. Here, the things may be embedded systems such as home appliances, mobile equipment, and wearable computers. In the IoT, a thing needs to have an accessible address to identify itself when it is connected through a wired or wireless communication interface and needs to have a sensor embedded therein to obtain data from external environments.
Since everything can be an object of hacking, the IoT will develop together with security for the IoT. When at least one of IoT devices is used by a malicious user in an IoT network system, the IoT network system may be badly damaged.

Method of sharing key between devices using physical access restriction

RESEARCH & BUSINESS FOUNDATION SUNGKYUNKWAN UNIVERSITY


A camper unit for use with a dump truck includes a front portion normally resting on the floor of the dump truck with a rear portion extending down behind the tail gate area, but terminating clear of the ground. When it is desired to unload the camper, the dump truck body is elevated until the ground engaging means on the lower rear corners of the camper unit dig into the ground or frictionally engage the ground with part of the weight of the camper unit thereon. The truck is then driven slowly forwardly with the camper unit remaining stationary. Towards the front underside of the front portion of the camper unit, a hinged ground engaging support frame is mounted and when it clears the tail gate area of the truck body, it swings downwardly by gravity. The elevation of the dump truck body is adjusted as it is moved forwardly so that the support frame engages the ground thereby supporting the camper unit upon the support frame at the front and upon the rear portion of the camper at the rear. To load the camper, the dump truck body is elevated so that the floor engages under the front lower edge of the front portion of the camper and the truck is backed up towards the camper. This lifts the front end of the camper whereupon the dump truck body position is adjusted as the truck is backed under the camper, hinging the support frame rearwardly as it moves under the camper until the camper is fully loaded into the dump truck body. Means are provided to detachably lock the camper into the dump truck body.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in camper units for trucks, particularly for dump trucks such as grain dump trucks and the like. Conventional camper units are provided for pick-up trucks and the like which are detachably mounted within the pick-up truck body. When it is desired to remove the camper unit from the pick-up truck, various jacking devices are utilized so that the weight of the trailer unit is released from the pick-up truck whereupon it is driven forwardly and forwardly positioned legs are then engaged adjacent each front corner and adjacent the rear of the trailer unit in order to support same in the desired position.
This is an extremely awkward manoeuver to undertake particularly as the trailer unit has to be jacked up into position and then left on relatively unsteady support means.
Furthermore, the average pick-up truck is relatively small so that the interior dimensions of such a trailer unit are limited.


A package pricing apparatus includes a plurality of label issuing mechanisms, a plurality of label attaching mechanisms for attaching a plurality of labels to a commodity, an acquisition part for acquiring commodity information about the commodity, and a control part for controlling operations of the plurality of label attaching mechanisms. On the basis of the commodity information, the control part switches to a first mode in which all of the labels to be attached to the commodity are attached to the commodity by the plurality of label attaching mechanisms or a second mode in which some of the labels to be attached to the commodity are attached to the commodity by one of the label attaching mechanisms and the remaining labels are carried to a given position by the other label attaching mechanism.

For example, an apparatus described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-323114 is known as a conventional label attaching apparatus. The label attaching apparatus described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-323114 is provided with a plurality of label feeding mechanisms for feeding labels, a plurality of label attaching mechanisms for attaching the plurality of labels fed from the plurality of label feeding mechanisms to individual packaged commodities carried to given label attachment positions, and a plurality of transverse displacing mechanisms for two-dimensionally displacing the plurality of individual label attaching mechanisms with respect to carrying planes of the packaged commodities.
In a configuration provided with the plurality of label attaching mechanisms like the conventional label attaching apparatus, the plurality of labels can be attached to the commodities at the same timing. In this configuration, when sizes of the commodities are small, the label attachment positions on the commodities are closer. For this reason, when the labels are attached, the plurality of label attaching mechanisms have a risk of coming within a certain distance of each other. For this reason, in the conventional label attaching apparatus, when the plurality of label attaching mechanisms approach to each other, an error occurs and the apparatus is stopped. When the apparatus is stopped because of the error, work such as collection of the commodities is needed. For this reason, restarting of the stopped apparatus takes time, and work efficiency is decreased
An aspect of the present invention is intended to provide a label attaching apparatus capable of preventing deterioration of work efficiency when labels are attached to commodities using a plurality of label attaching mechanisms.


Disclosed herein are system, method, and computer program product embodiments for providing repeatable stream access by multiple consumers. A repeatable stream object is provided, which provides an in-memory buffer and disk storage for handling of a data stream, as well as independent, repeatable, and parallel access to the data stream by multiple consumers. Using the repeatable stream object, consuming of the stream by a first consumer causes the stream to also be placed into the in-memory buffer for later reuse, and does not impact the ability of a second consumer to also consume the stream.

Data being read by an application may arrive in the form of a data stream. In a data stream, the application accesses and processes data from the data stream while the data stream is actively being received. The process of configuring and accessing the stream is often not intuitive, and requires that the application track several pieces of information about the stream. Worse, if the stream needs to be accessed by more than one consumer of the stream data, there are no generally suitable solutions short of simply loading the stream into a buffer first.
In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical or similar elements. Additionally, generally, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears.

Repeatable stream access by multiple components


A dispenser cathode body includes a heat capturing portion extending rearwardly from the dispenser cathode, said heat capturing portion having greater mass and thickness than an exterior support skirt. A slip-in heater is received within the heat capturing portion. Substantially greater electron emission density is secured without requiring injuriously high temperatures from the slip-in heater.

The present invention relates to a cathode structure for cathode-ray-tubes and particularly to such a structure for providing high current density emission.
The performance of cathode-ray-tubes is often limited by the current density of the electron beam. In the case of the typical measurement CRT used in oscilloscopes, cathode emission limits the ability of the instrument to utilize the bandpass available. Although an electron beam can be deflected rapidly enough for viewing very "fast" events, the lack of beam current may render the resulting trace so dim that it cannot be seen. In display CRTs such as used for computer terminals, work stations and the like, the information density and resolution are limited since spot size on the CRT screen is governed by electron beam current density.
Simply running a conventional CRT cathode at a higher temperature, in order to permit increased cathode loading, drastically reduces the life span of the cathode. A higher beam current can be obtained with a "dispenser" cathode, e.g. comprising a sintered material such as tungsten impregnated with an electron emissive material. However, construction of these cathodes presents various problems. A dispenser cathode with a potted heater might produce enough heat, but such a structure is difficult and expensive to manufacture in small sizes for a CRT. When utilizing a "slip-in" or insertable heater, the structures heretofore proposed have been unable to cope with heater burn-out problems inasmuch as the heater must be operated at an excessively high temperature in order to heat the cathode to the necessary level. Prior art structures have employed re-entrant tubular metal structures having electron dispensers disposed at the end of a thin metal tube within which the heater element is located. Unfortunately, much of the heat provided is radiated or conducted away down the metal support tube rather than being effective in raising the temperature of the cathode emitter. Moreover, the prior structures have been mechanically unstable resulting in unpredictable electronic properties.


An air diffuser plenum for use with climate control systems to direct air to desired locations within the interior of a building. An inlet receives air from the climate control system. Within the air diffuser plenum is a cavity which receives the incoming air. The bottom of the housing has a deflector which is formed from the interior sides of a bottom portion of the diffuser. The deflector directs air from the cavity to outlets connected to the sides of the diffuser. Since the deflector is formed from the opposing sides of the bottom portion of the diffuser, there is no need for a separate bottom plate to hold a diffuser insert in place. Additionally, the deflector may extend a distance beyond the side wall intersection to direct air in direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to the area of heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems including the components which are located at outlets through which air is supplied to a space to be ventilated or the like by the system. More specifically, this invention relates to an air diffuser plenum which may be used in a roof-mounted climate control system.
2. Description of Related Art
Climate control systems such as heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems (HVAC systems) are often utilized in buildings to provide a comfortable climate within the building. Some buildings utilize ducts within the building to direct air from a climate control unit to specific locations for further distribution throughout a desired space. Other buildings may utilize multiple climate control units in a system in an effort to minimize the length and quantity of ducts within the building. In some buildings, especially buildings of a commercial nature, such as warehouse-type retail stores, the climate control system, often comprising a number of climate control units, are mounted on the roof. Preferably the roof is a flat roof immediately above a living or working space, although the air diffuser plenum of the preferred embodiments could be utilized in conjunction with pitched roofs and/or ductwork.
At least four different air diffuser plenum designs are known in the prior art. In all of these known designs, air is directed from a climate control system, through a curb in the roof, into at least one transition duct, and into the air diffuser plenum. Once the air enters the prior art air diffuser plenums, it contacts a diffuser insert which directs air out of vents located on the sides of the diffusers. The bottom portion of the prior art air diffuser plenums are substantially planar. On top of this substantially planar bottom portion is where an air diffuser insert is positioned during construction of these prior art diffuser plenums. Once the diffuser insert is positioned within the diffuser at the desired location, the bottom panel is connected to the sides to hold the diffuser assembly in place. The diffuser insert in these designs is contained within the sides of the diffuser housing. Insulation is often used on top of the bottom panel to reduce or eliminate condensation from forming on the bottom surface of the bottom panel.
In many buildings constructed today, the plurality of climate control units creates the requirement for a number of diffusers per building. Accordingly, the elimination of some sheet metal from the construction of air diffusers will likely result in a cost savings in material to the manufacturer of air diffuser plenums.
Furthermore, a need exists for a more efficient air diffuser capable of more precisely directing air than has been known in the prior art.
It is therefore desirable, to have an improved air diffuser plenum.


A display apparatus includes a display panel including a first sub-pixel and a second sub-pixel adjacent to the first sub-pixel; a first fingerprint identification device including a first photosensitive element, an orthographic projection of the first photosensitive element on the display panel being located within the first sub-pixel; and a fingerprint identification anti-interference structure on a light exiting side of the display panel. The fingerprint identification anti-interference structure is configured to shield the first photosensitive element from light emitted from the second sub-pixel and reflected by a fingerprint.

In a display apparatus, an optical fingerprint identification technology may be used for fingerprint identification. An identification principle for the optical fingerprint identification technology may include: when a pixel unit emits light, optical signals reflected by a fingerprint of a user are detected and current signals are generated according to the optical signals by means of a fingerprint detector, so as to identify a fingerprint pattern according to the current signals.
However, an accuracy of existing fingerprint identification needs to be improved.

Display apparatus with fingerprint identification device

BEIJING BOE DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


An improved master-slave flip-flop that is characterized by a novel clock generator. The improved flip-flop preserves the true master-slave relationship by ensuring a two step latching process is executed by non-overlapping clocks. The clock generator features an inverter in combination with a current limiter. The current limiter has the effect of shifting the trip point of the inverter such that non-overlapping clocks may be derived from a single master clock signal or a master clock signal and its complement.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to digital computer systems and specifically to digital computer systems which rely on master-slave latches or flip-flops. The invention provides an apparatus and method for generating quickly slewing clock signals with non-overlapping duty cycles from a master clock that has relatively slow rise and fall times.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Referring to FIG. 1, the current state of the art describes a master-slave latch combination in which data is clocked into the master latch 20 and slave latch 40 through a two sets of gating transistor pairs 10 and 30, respectively, by a master clock CLK and its complement CLK.sup.1. D indicates the input data and Q represents the static state output of D after proper latching by the master latch 20 and the slave latch 40. The master clock signal CLK and its complement CLK are depicted in FIG. 2.
 FNT .sup.1 The conventional method to indicate a complementary signal is to overline the signal. However, due to a word processing limitation, following this convention is not possible. Thus, in the text of this application the symbol for a complementary signal is set for as the signal underlined (e.g. CLK).
When properly operating, the master clock CLK goes from low to high, the gating transistor pair 10 is conducting and data is permitted to pass into the master latch 20. Also at this time, because the clock signals are inverted at gating transistor pair 30, this transistor pair is switched off and data is not permitted to pass into the slave latch 40.
When the master clock CLK reverses state, i.e. from high to low, the first gating transistor pair 10 ceases to conduct. However, the second gating transistor pair 30 begins conducting and the data which was latched into the master latch 20 is now permitted to pass into the slave latch 40. After a brief propagation delay, the data is latched and stable at output Q.
Thus, when the master-slave latch is operating properly, latching occurs in two separate, discrete steps. These two steps provides for stable data at output Q. However, a problem arises during slow rise and fall times of the master clock CLK.
The problem during the clock transition characterized by relatively slow rise and fall times is that both gating transistor pairs 10 and 30 may be partially conducting at the same time. This will result in the data racing through the master-slave latch pair 20 and 40 without achieving a steady state. This occurs when the two step process described above is circumvented because of overlapping master clock signals as a result of relatively slow rise and fall times. Therefore, a need existed to provide a master-slave latch pair with non-overlapping clock signals to permit proper latching of data in a two step process for master-slave latches.

Apparatus and method for an improved master-slave flip-flop with non-overlapping clocks


One embodiment provides an image processing circuitry. The image processing circuitry includes a feature extraction circuitry and an optimization circuitry. The feature extraction circuitry is to determine a feature descriptor based, at least in part, on a feature point location and a corresponding scale. The optimization circuitry is to optimize an operation of the feature extraction circuitry. Each optimization is to at least one of accelerate the operation of the feature extraction circuitry, reduce a power consumption of the feature extraction circuitry and/or reduce a system memory bandwidth used by the feature extraction circuitry.

Computer vision applications such as augmented reality, virtual reality, mixed reality, robotics, unmanned aircraft (e.g., drones), computational imaging, etc., utilize object recognition, pattern recognition, tracking and/or three-dimensional reconstruction techniques. Associated image processing may include feature detection and feature extraction to support recognition and/or reconstruction operations. Feature detection includes identifying features, e.g., corners, in a captured image. Feature extraction includes determining one or more image feature descriptors related to the identified features. Determining image feature descriptors may be computationally intensive, may result in significant latency and may consume significant energy.
Some computer vision applications may be implemented on portable and/or small form factor devices such as smart phones, tablets and/or Internet of things (IoT) devices. Consumption of device resources (e.g., processing, power, memory bandwidth) and associated latencies may be relatively more significant on such portable and/or small form factor devices.
Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments, many alternatives, modifications, and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art.


There is provided a disk apparatus having a construction in which a reproducing unit is accommodated inside an enclosed space, whereby an optical head is protected from external dust. The optical head reads information recorded on a disk. Component parts of the disk apparatus are accommodated inside a case. The optical head is provided on a chassis formed in a box-like shape, the chassis having walls with ends which have contacting surfaces which come in contact with the case. A circuit board assembly which receives circuit processing information from the optical head is positioned outside the chassis. The chassis and the case together form an enclosed space, the optical head being accommodated inside the enclosed space.

The present invention generally relates to a disk apparatus, and more particularly to a disk apparatus which has a dust proof construction ensuring an effective release of heat, a reduced thickness and easy to assemble.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional optical disk apparatus 10.
The optical disk apparatus 10 comprises a bottom plate 11 on which a circuit board assembly 12 and a reproducing unit 13 are mounted. A disk tray 14 is movable in directions indicated by arrows A1 and A2. A case 15 having a top plate 15a and side plates 15b covers the reproducing unit 13 having an optical head 22 (see FIG. 2) and the circuit board assembly 12, and is mounted on the bottom plate 11 by means of screws. Accordingly, the reproducing unit 13 and the circuit board assembly 12 are enclosed in the apparatus, and thus the optical head 22 is protected from external dust.
In the above-mentioned optical disk apparatus 10, since the circuit board assembly 12 is enclosed in the apparatus, when the apparatus is used, and in particular, uses continuously for a long time, the temperature inside the apparatus considerably increases due to heating of the circuit board assembly 12.
In order to reduce the temperature increase, hot air inside the optical disk apparatus 10 is released to the outside, and external cool air is introduced into the apparatus. However, in this case, dust may enter inside the apparatus together with the cool air introduced inside the apparatus, and thus there is a problem in that the dust adheres onto the optical head.
FIG. 2 is a schematical perspective view of the conventional optical disk apparatus 10.
In FIG. 2, a mechanical unit 25 comprises a base 19 pivotally provided on a chassis 17 by being supported by a shaft 18 on one end thereof, a turn table driving motor 20, a turn table 21 and the optical head 22 being mounted on a base 19.
Reference numeral 23 indicates a gate-type disk clamper supporting member which is mounted on the chassis 17 to be bridged over the mechanical unit 25.
A stem 16a of a disk clamper 16 is fitted in a through hole 23a of the supporting member 23, as shown in FIG. 3A, and is attached to the supporting member 23 by a screw 24 serving as a stopper.
A disk 30 is loaded in the optical disk apparatus 10 in the manner as explained below.
In an initial state, the mechanical unit 25 is inclined as shown in FIG. 3A, and thus the turn table 21 is located at a lower position. The disk 30 is placed on a tray 14, and then is carried into the optical disk apparatus 10. When the disk 30 is carried into the apparatus, a lifting mechanism 26 starts to operate to rotate the mechanical unit 25 in a direction indicated by an arrow A, the mechanical unit 25 being rotated to be horizontally positioned as indicated in FIG. 3B.
Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 3B, the disk 30 is supported by the turn table 21 in a state where the disk 30 is lifted up from the tray 14. Additionally, the disk clamper 16 is magnetically attracted by the turn table 21, and thus the disk 30 is clamped. After the disk 30 is clamped, the turn table 21 is rotated by the motor 20, and then information on the disk 30 is reproduced by means of the optical head 22.
In the above-mentioned disk loading mechanism, since the disk clamper supporting member 23 is located above the disk clamper 16, and since the top plate 15a of the case 15 covers the supporting member 23, there is a problem in that a height h.sub.10 (refer to FIG. 3A) of the optical disk apparatus 10 is relatively great, thus preventing the thickness of the apparatus from being reduced.
FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing how the optical head 22 is connected to the reproducing unit 13 of the optical disk apparatus 10. In the optical disk apparatus 10, the reproducing unit 13 and the circuit board assembly 12 are arranged on the chassis 17 in a state where they are piled on top of each other. The reproducing unit 13 is provided with the turn table 21 and the optical head 22 movable in directions indicated by arrows X1 and X2.
A tape-like flexible printed circuit (FPC) 27 extends from the optical head 22. The FPC 27 extends through an opening 17a formed in the chassis 17, and is connected to an FPC connector 28 mounted on the circuit board assembly 12 located under the chassis 17.
An operation for connecting the FPC 27 to the FPC connector 28 is carried out by using a jig 29 as shown in FIG. 5. One end of the FPC 27, the other end of which is connected to the optical head 22, is drawn out to extend to the lower side of the chassis 17 by passing it through the opening 17a while the reproducing unit 13 is held in an oblique state by means of the jig 29. The one end of the FPC 27 is then inserted into the FPC connector 28, as shown by an arrow B in FIG. 5.
Since the operation for connecting the FPC 27 to the FPC connector 28 must be performed in a relatively narrow space, there is a problem in that the operation is inconvenient and takes a long time. Additionally, since the FPC 27 is being made as short as possible from the view point of cost reduction, there is a possibility of the FPC 27 being drawn out accidentally by a strong force, thereby damaging the optical head 22.

Disk apparatus having a dust proof construction


A composition type brake shoe for a railroad car in which the backing plate keybridge is filled with composition brake lining material to reinforce the keybridge. A recess formed in the braking face of the brake lining extends beyond the keybridge so that a relatively thin area of brake lining is formed between the recess and backing plate outboard of the keybridge opening, and to which thin section area cracks that may develop in the brake lining are encouraged to migrate in order to redirect backing plate flexure away from the critical keybridge area to a stronger area of the backing plate.

The present invention relates to brake shoes for railroad cars and particularly to composition lined brake shoes having a metal backing plate to which the composition brake shoe material is bonded.
Brake shoes of the aforementioned type typically incorporate a projecting structure of the backing plate known as a key bridge for insertion into a complementary pocket in a brake head or brake shoe carrier via which a locking key is passed to firmly secure the brake shoe to the brake head under spring tension of the locking key. Depending upon the particular style of manufacture, the brake lining of these brake shoes may be continuous over the entire braking face or alternatively, may be discontinuous. In the latter case, the discontinuity in the braking face may be manifested by a recess formed in the braking face substantially adjacent the keybridge concavity that only extends partially into the composition brake lining, or by a two-piece lining that results from the recess extending completely through the brake lining into the keybridge concavity.
Collapse and breakage of the backing plate in the critical area of the keybridge is possible in these various style brake shoes. Vibration and impacts that occur in service between the brake shoe and brake head due to irregular track and/or damaged wheel treads cause excessive brake head wear at the interface with a brake shoe. As this brake head wear increases, flexure of the brake shoe backing plate can occur during application of the brakes. In time, collapse and breakage of the backing plate occurs in the area of the key holes in the keybridge as a result of this flexure. Breakage of the backing plate in this area is considered critical since a portion of the brake shoe is free to fall off of the brake head. This not only reduces the brake effectiveness, but if the remaining part of the brake shoe is not replaced soon after the breakage, contact between the wheel and brake head during brake applications could damage these parts.
In the case of a brake shoe having a two-piece lining, it is quite evident that without any brake lining support at the mouth of the keybridge, flexure can occur at the keybridge with consequent breakage, as discussed.
Even brake shoes having a one-piece brake lining that extends intact across the mouth of the keybridge are susceptible to backing plate failure at the keyhole area of the keybridge under conditions of severe vibration and impact forces between the brake head and brake shoe. Moreover, brake shoes having the keybridge concavity filled with composition brake lining material to reinforce the keybridge, as disclosed in the referencing application, are not entirely free of failure, since any cracks that develop in the brake lining adjacent the keybridge can easily migrate to the area of maximum flexure, i.e., the keyhole area of the keybridge. This in effect degrades the integrity of the keybridge reinforcement brought about by filling the keybridge with composition brake material, and allows keybridge flexure and consequent fatigue fracture to occur at the keyhole area.

Brake shoe having fatigue resistant backing plate


An organic electroluminescence device according to one aspect of the present invention includes: a base material in which a recess is provided at an upper surface of the base material; a reflective layer that is provided at least along a surface of the recess; a filling layer that is filled into an inside of the recess via the reflective layer, the filling layer having light transmissivity; a first electrode that is provided at least on a layer above the filling layer, the first electrode having light transmissivity and light reflectivity; an organic layer that is provided on a layer above the first electrode, the organic layer including at least a light-emitting layer; and a second electrode that is provided on a layer above the organic layer, the second electrode having light transmissivity and light reflectivity. A part of the reflective layer contacts a part of the first electrode.

One known form of display device is a self-light-emitting type display device such as an organic electroluminescence display device. Electroluminescence will be abbreviated EL herein. In an organic EL display device, light emitted from a light-emitting layer progresses in all directions, and a part of the light is totally reflected by the difference in refractive indexes between the light-emitting element and an external space (air). A large amount of the light totally reflected at the boundary between the light-emitting element and air is bound within the light-emitting element, and is not extracted to the external space. For example, if the refractive index of the external space is 1.8, of the light emitted from the light-emitting layer, approximately 20% is extracted to the external space, and the remaining approximately 80% is bounded within the light-emitting layer. In this manner, a conventional organic EL device has the problem of a low light usage efficiency.
In Patent Document 1 noted below, an organic EL display device that has a carrier substrate, an organic EL element provided on the carrier substrate, and a light-reflecting layer that reflects light emitted from the organic EL element is disclosed. In the organic EL display device, a recess that includes an inclined surface along the outer edge of an organic light-emitting layer is provided in the light-reflecting layer. Light emitted from the light-emitting layer, after being reflected at the inclined surface of the recess, returns toward the organic EL element once again. This constitution is described as preventing image quality deterioration by, for example, bleeding, and improvement in light usage efficiency.
In general, the light emission spectrum of a light-emitting material tends to be a broad distribution over a wide wavelength range. For that reason, if high color purity is demanded, it is not possible to obtain the desired color purity with the intrinsic spectrum of a light-emitting material. A method that has been proposed for increasing the color purity is a so-called microcavity structure, in which light emitted from a light-emitting layer is caused to multiply reflect and resonate between a pair of reflective layers. When light is multiply reflected and resonates between a pair of reflective layers, the effect is achieved of the light emission spectrum in the vicinity of the resonant wavelength becoming steep, the light intensity at the peak wavelength increasing and the color purity increasing. For example, Patent Document 2 noted below discloses an organic light-emitting display device having a lower electric, an upper electrode, and an alternately stacked dielectric film, with a microcavity structure formed by the alternately stacked dielectric film and the lower electrode.

Organic electroluminescence device including a micro-cavity light extraction structure


A transmission gearing arrangement includes four simple planetary gear sets, three brakes, and four clutches. The transmission produces two reverse gear ratios and twelve forward speed ratios in response to engagement of the brakes in clutches in combinations of three. The transmission is suitable for use with a range selector. In a low range, one of the reverse ratios and all twelve of the forward ratios are utilized. In a high range, the other reverse ratio and eleven of the forward ratios are utilized.

Many vehicles are used over a wide range of vehicle speeds, including both forward and reverse movement. Some types of engines, however, are capable of operating efficiently only within a narrow range of speeds. Consequently, transmissions capable of efficiently transmitting power at a variety of speed ratios are frequently employed. When the vehicle is at low speed, the transmission is usually operated at a high speed ratio such that it multiplies the engine torque for improved acceleration. At high vehicle speed, operating the transmission at a low speed ratio permits an engine speed associated with quiet, fuel efficient cruising. Typically, a transmission has a housing mounted to the vehicle structure, an input shaft driven by an engine crankshaft, and an output shaft driving the vehicle wheels, often via a differential assembly which permits the left and right wheel to rotate at slightly different speeds as the vehicle turns.
Some vehicles also include a transfer case which directs power from the transmission to front and rear driveshafts. Some transfer cases include shiftable gearing that allow the transfer case to operate in a low range and in a high range. The high range is typically selected for on-road driving. The low range may be selected for off-road driving or other situations in which high torque or precise speed control are desired. One disadvantage of providing this functionality in a transfer case is that it is only available in four wheel drive vehicles. Another disadvantage is the transfer case gearing is often not capable of shifting between low range and high range while the vehicle is moving under engine power.


Apparatus is disclosed for measuring creep stiffness of a specimen, for example, asphalt cement, or other viscoelastic material, having a flexural modulus greater than approximately 1,000 psi. The specimen and the lower part of a loading mechanism are submerged in a constant temperature coolant thereby providing buoyant support to the specimen, preventing it from deflecting under its own weight, as well as providing means for controlling the test temperature. The coolant temperature is maintained to within approximately +/-0.1.degree. C. of a desired temperature. The specimen, having known dimensions, is supported within the coolant on two spaced apart support members. A loading head actuated by an air bearing/pneumatic piston mechanism engages the specimen midway between the two support members. The deflection of the specimen is measured with an LVDT and the load imparted to the specimen by a load cell provided under at least one of the specimen support members. In order to prevent the buildup of frost on the apparatus, those components which extend from the air into the coolant are composed of low conductive material such as polymethylmethacrylate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to apparatus for rapidly and accurately measuring the flexural creep compliance, or creep stiffness, of asphalt cement, polymers, and other viscoelastic materials at temperatures at which they exhibit relatively high stiffness, generally greater than 1,000 psi.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The mechanical properties of some viscoelastic materials, that is, materials having some elasticity and slow flow or creep, cannot be determined by customary methods of shear rheometry. Their peculiar properties rather involve factors requiring a very considerable time element, as opposed to the rapid type of testing using shear rheometers. Also, there is a temperature factor which enters in the case of certain materials. One illustrative instance is the comparative measurement of asphalts as applicable to a determination of their characteristics for service life in pavements and the like. For instance, asphalt cement in pavement usage is subjected to stresses more particularly brought about by thermal expansion and contraction as caused by ambient temperature changes, freezing and thawing and the like. Hot-mix asphalt pavements are particularly characterized by their ability to undergo deformation, for example, to bend without breaking, in transmitting traffic loads to the foundation and natural sub-grade. In one sense, therefore, hot-mix asphalt pavements must be characterized by their response to stresses to include the effect of certain long-time factors affecting deformability.
Isolated properties such as penetration, softening point, and the like, as commonly determined for asphalt cements, are not sufficiently informative as to the overall behavior which may be expected of a given material in actual service life. Such fundamental properties as viscosity and elasticity enter, but extensive investigation has shown that these fundamental variables may change counter to each other with changes in temperature, and other environmental conditions, such that these individual characteristics are by themselves, of limited value in judging relative behavior of different materials.
Load-deformation response as a function of loading time and temperature, however, embodies the essential factors to such an extent that measurement of deformability becomes more convenient and practical as a basis of comparison. The present invention accordingly provides means by which deformability, at low stress levels, of asphalt, and materials generally which exhibit slow flow characteristics, may be relatively evaluated in a practical manner. One of the most important criteria of usefulness is the amount of cold flow under stress, commonly called creep. In the common forms of creep testing, the specimen is subjected to a torsion or shear load over a prolonged period of time. At various times during the period of loading, the deflection of the material is measured and subsequently plotted against time to serve as a measure of the fundamental engineering response of the material.
Determination of the creep compliance of asphalt cement at low temperatures is extremely important, since many pavement failures are caused by excessive stiffness of the asphalt binder at low temperatures. Previously, there was no simple and accurate means of determining the stiffness of asphalt cement at low temperatures. It was with knowledge of the existing situation that the present invention was conceived and is now reduced to practice.

Bending beam creep test device with piston having a gas bearing