A lock slider for a slide fastener, comprises: a slider body composed of upper and lower wings joined at their front ends, the upper wing having on its lower surface a pair of downwardly projecting side flanges and on its upper surface a pair of upwardly projecting lugs disposed with a width of a pull tab, each of the lugs having a horizontal slot and a pivot insertion hole communicating with the horizontal slot, the upper wing also having at least one locking-pawl insertion hole communicating with one of the horizontal slots; the pull tab having at its base a pair of lateral pivots to be inserted in the respective pivot insertion holes. Further, the pull tab has on one surface at least one locking pawl insertable through the locking-pawl insertion hole when the pull tab is pivotally moved about the base to lie flat on the upper surface of the upper wing. In production, the slider body and the pull tab are simultaneously molded in an assembled form using cores movable from the front, rear, right, left, upper and lower sides.

1. Field of the Invention
This relates to a lock slider for a slide fastener, and more particularly to a lock slider composed of a pull tab with locking pawls, and a slider body, which are simultaneously molded in an assembled form.
2. Description of the Related Art
As shown in FIG. 10 of the accompanying drawings, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Sho 51-4809 discloses a conventional lock slider, for a slide fastener, in which a slider body has centrally in its upper surface a rearwardly opening pull-tab-receiving groove 12' in which a pull tab 2' is to be received in such a manner that the upper surface of the pull tab 2' is flush with the upper surface of the slider body 1'. For assembly, a pair of lateral pivots 22' of the pull tab 2' are received in a pull-tab-holding groove 14' disposed at opposite walls of the pull-tab-receiving groove 12' from a rear end to a center position of the slider body 1', whereupon confronting edges 11' at the pull-tab-holding groove 14' is bent downwardly to prevent the pivots 22' from removing from the pull-tab-holding groove 14', in such a manner that the pull tab 2' can be received in the pull-tab-receiving groove 12'.
As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, U.S. Pat. No. 2,495,539 discloses a lock slider, for a slide fastener, in which a slider body 1" and a pull tab 2" having a locking pawl are simultaneously molded in an assembled form.
In the slider disclosed in this U.S. Patent, an upper wing 3" of the slider body 1" has a cutout 15" extending from one side edge to a central pull-tab-attaching lug 11" so that the pawl 23" of the pull tab 2" can be inserted. The pull-tab-attaching lug 11" has a pair of lateral projections 14" on which a pair of attaching rings 22" of the pull tab 2" are threaded.
According to the lock slider of the first-named publication, the slider body 1' and the pull tab 2' are molded individually, and then they are assembled to complete the slider, which is laborious and time-consuming. Therefore it is impossible to improve the rate of production. Further, if the pull tab 2' is inverted, the pull tab 2' and a locking pawl 23' would project on the slider body 1' to catch and damage a garment or something around.
According to the lock slider of the second-named publication, the cutout of the upper wing 3" is formed by inserting into the mold a side core having a thickness equal to that of the upper wing 3" during molding. Therefore the cutout 15" of the upper wing 3" is devoid of anything, at a flange side, for guiding the fastener elements, namely, for protecting the corners of the fastener elements. In addition, since the front and rear walls of the cutout 15" of the upper wing 3" have acute edges, the upper surfaces of the fastener elements, especially braids of sewing threads, would tend to be damaged due to the movement of the slider.
Further, partly since one end of the cutout 15" is larger in width than the locking pawl 23", and partly since the front end of the slider body 1" is larger in width than the rear end as a shape of the upper wing 3", smooth guiding of the fastener elements could not be achieved. And since the attaching rings 22" of the pull tab 2" are threaded on the respective lateral projections 14" of the pull-tab-attaching lug 11", stable attachment of the pull tab 2" could not be achieved. Still further, since there is only a side flange 6" bridging upper wing portions about the cutout 15", adequate toughness of the slider is difficult to achieve.


A method for the validation of physiological data, acquired in two or more parts of the human body by sensors connected to a medical device, for the statistical validation of the relationship among the signals retrieved by the medical devices, in order to select information that increases the accuracy of the study being carried out, with a high statistical certainty. The purpose of the actual invention is to make this statistically validated data available for use by protocols or reference values, according to the field of application, which increase accuracy of the studies being carried out.

A. Field of the Invention
The actual invention includes methods for the validation of physiological data, acquired in two or more parts of the human body by sensors connected to a medical device, for the statistical validation and comparison of the relationship among the signals retrieved by said medical devices, in order to select information that increases the accuracy of the study being carried out. The purpose of the actual invention is to make this data available for use by protocols or reference values, according to the field of application.
B. Background of the Invention
One of the concerns of the people involved in the health sector is the reliability of the results provided by medical devices using physiological data acquired in two or more parts of the human body. This is due to the fact that most of the values visually retrieved by the operator through a medical device interface are not filtered to distinguish between reliable values and values resulting from errors in measurements, in addition to the absence of a reliable comparison between the data acquired by sensors in two or more parts of the body.
This means that the statistical certainty of the study decreases if data collection is made visually and the information is not statistically validated to make sure that the acquired physiological data is comparable.
Additionally, the time spent in acquiring said data and the amount of analyzed data vary and are contingent upon the operator's experience and criteria. In other words, the operator decides the time at which the system stability or data certainty is acceptable and proceeds to obtain the required values. However, this decision is subjective and may lead to errors in the reported results.
A medical device for acquiring physiological data in two or more parts of the human body may be, for example, a physiological monitor for obtaining oxygen saturation values from a patient, where said physiological monitor may comprise: two or more LED light-emitting/receiving sensors connected to a corresponding pulse oximeter at one or more USB communication ports, and a computer in communication with the USB interface. In order to increase reliability of the measurement results of said physiological monitor, it is necessary to validate, firstly by the medical device, that the connections of the pulse oximeter sensors to the computer exist in order to be able to proceed to the retrieval and analysis of physiological data from said locations.
If said validation is not made, measurement anomalies, highly capable of generating low certainty level results and, thus, dubious interferences and potentially erroneous diagnoses, may not be identified.
In view of the needs described above, the applicant has developed a method for the acquisition and validation of physiological data for the incorporation thereof to medical devices, said method allows the comparison of physiological data acquired in two or more parts of the body and the inference of the system stability in order to provide certainty to the results of the study being carried out.
By the use of the method of the actual invention, it is possible to validate and compare the fact that the signals retrieved by medical devices provide data with high statistical certainty.

Method to obtain and validate physiological data


Apparatus for driving a liquid crystal display module provided with one driving circuit for outputting overflown LCD driving circuit. The LCD driving controller outputs two groups of scanning signals which are sequentially outputted at two timings being different from each other, synchronously with LCD driving data for each and every dot. The driving circuit receives overflown LCD driving data which has overflowed the capacity of the LCD driving controller. The LCD panel has scanning electrodes which are divided into two groups, that is, a first group of scanning electrodes corresponding to the first to eightieth dots and a second group of scanning electrodes corresponding to the eighty first to hundredth dots, and has signal electrodes which are applied with the LCD driving data outputted from the LCD driving controller and the driving circuit, respectively, in order to display the characters on the character display member thereof. The driving apparatus of this invention provides advantage in that it needs only one driving circuit for outputting overflown LCD driving data, thereby simplifying the construction thereof and reducing the manufacturing cost and also improving the productivity due to the simplification of the construction thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a liquid crystal display LCD module driving apparatus, and more particularly to an LCD module driving apparatus with one driving circuit in which LCD driving data output ports of an LCD driving controller are used for outputting LCD driving data at a timing for driving a group of scanning electrodes and also a part of the LCD driving data output ports are used once more for outputting the LCD driving data at another timing for driving another group of scanning electrodes of the LCD panel, thereby causing only one driving circuit to be equipped, thus simplifying the construction thereof.
2. Description of The Prior Art
With reference to FIG. 1, known LCD panels, each having twenty character display parts sequentially arranged in a line, generally have a plurality of pixel electrodes and a common electrode which are disposed between an upper substrate 11 and a lower substrate 12. Here, each pixel electrode corresponds to each and every dot and is provided with a color filter. In manufacturing such an LCD panel, the upper and lower substrates 11 and 12 receive therebetween a liquid crystal which is injected between the pixel electrodes and the common electrode, then are hermetically sealed, thereby providing a character display member 11a disposed on the upper panel 11. Here, the upper and lower substrates 11 and 12 are generally made of glass, while the pixel electrodes and the common electrode are generally formed as coating a transparent conductive coat such as an ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) coat.
As shown in FIG. 2, the character display member 11a of the conventional LCD module is comprised such that one character display consists of 5.times.7 dots, one character display cursor consists of 5.times.1 dots. Therefore one character display part consists of 5.times.8 dots, resulting from adding the one character display of 5.times.7 dots to the one character display cursor of 5.times.1 dots. Thus upon sequentially arranging twenty character display parts, each consisting of 5.times.8 dots, in a line, the character display member 11a results.
On the other hand, the known LCD panel is provided with a scanning electrode pattern of C1 to C8 which are applied with scanning signals, furthermore, provided with a signal electrode pattern of S1 to S100 which are applied with character display data, as shown in FIG. 3. Thus, upon being applied with the scanning signals and the character display signals, each pixel electrode for each dot disposed at a cross position of each signal electrode and each scanning electrode may be driven by means of a thin film transistor.
As shown in FIG. 4, the known apparatus for driving such a LCD module having the character di splay member 11a consisting of twenty character display parts sequentially arranged in a line, hereinafter said type of LCD module being referred to simply as "the LCD module", includes a LCD driving controller 20 which outputs scanning signals from scanning signal output ports Q1 to Q8 to the scanning electrodes C1 to C8 of the LCD panel 10 synchronously with generation of LCD driving data corresponding to the one hundred dots which corresponds to the twenty character display parts. At this time, the LCD driving controller 20 directly outputs a part of the LCD driving data from the driving data output ports D1 to D40 thereof to the signal electrodes S1 to S40 of the LCD panel 10, but indirectly outputs the other LCD driving data, which overflows the driving data output ports D1 to D40 thereof, to the signal electrodes S41 to S100 by way of a pair of driving circuits, that is, a first circuit 30 and a second circuit 40.
Here, the first driving circuit 30 receives the other LCD driving data, which overflowed the driving data output ports D1 to D40 thus applied from the ports D1 to D40 thereto, then outputs a part of the received LCD driving data from output ports Y1 to Y40 thereof to the signal electrodes S41 to S80 of the LCD panel 10, while the second driving circuit 40 receives the LCD driving data, which overflowed the output ports Y1 to Y40 of the first circuit 30 thus applied from the ports Y1 to Y40 thereto, then outputs the received LCD driving data to the signal electrodes S81 to S100 of the LCD panel 10.
The operation of the known apparatus for driving the LCD module having the above construction will be described hereinafter.
Upon receiving character display data and a control signal outputted from a central processing unit (CPU, not shown) of an external system, the LCD driving controller 20 generates LCD driving data for driving the LCD panel 10 by means of a ROM, which is adapted for generating the character, synchronously with generation of the scanning signals. The scanning signals are sequentially outputted from the scanning output ports Q1 to Q8 to the scanning electrodes C1 to C8 of the LCD panel 10, while the LCD driving data is outputted from the driving data output ports D1 to D40 of the controller 20.
At this time, the first to fortieth signal electrodes S1 to S40 of the LCD panel 10 are directly applied with the LCD driving data directly outputted from the driving data output ports D1 to D40 of the controller 20. However, if the LCD driving data overflows the driving data output ports D1 to D40 of the controller 20, the overflown LCD driving data is outputted from the driving data output ports D1 to D40 in order to be received in the first driving circuit 30, then outputted from the driving data output ports Y1 to Y40 of the first driving circuit 30 to the forty first to eightieth signal electrodes S41 to S80 of the LCD panel 10. In addition, if the LCD driving data also overflows the output ports Y1 to Y40 of the first driving circuit 30, the overflown data is outputted from the first circuit 30 in order to be received in the second driving circuit 40, then outputted from the output ports Y1 to Y20 of the second circuit 40 to the signal electrodes S81 to S100 of the LCD panel 10.
Here, the second circuit 40 generally has forty driving data output ports but uses only twenty output ports in outputting the overflown LCD driving data.
The scanning electrodes of the LCD panel 10 comprise, as described above, eight electrode lines of C1 to C8, thus, the one hundred signal electrodes S1 to S100 of the LCD panel 10 are applied with the LCD driving data at 1/8 duty cycle in one screen driving period of the LCD module in order to drive the LCD pane 10.
In brief, the one hundred signal electrodes S1 to S100 of the LCD panel 10 are applied with the LCD driving data in order to drive the character display member 11a under such manner that the first to fortieth signal electrodes S1 to S40 are directly applied with the data directly outputted from the output ports D1 to D40 of the controller 20, and the forty first to eightieth signal electrodes S41 to S80 are applied with the LCD driving data outputted from the first driving circuit 30, additionally, the eighty first to hundredth signal electrodes S81 to S100 are applied with the LCD driving data outputted from the second driving circuit 40. Thus, the known apparatus for driving the LCD module has disadvantage in that it additionally includes the second driving circuit 40 which, despite of being provided with forty output ports due to the conventional chip construction, uses only twenty output ports of the forty output ports in outputting the LCD driving data, thereby deteriorating the using efficiency of the second circuit 40. Furthermore, the known apparatus comprises two driving circuits 30 and 40 for outputting the LCD driving data, thereby causing the construction and the manufacturing process of the apparatus to be complex, thus deteriorating the productivity.

Apparatus for driving an LCD module with one driving circuit


A supporting structure for supporting a plurality of sealed medical cartridges is disclosed, comprising a planar supporting plate having a plurality of receptacles for accommodating the sealed cartridges. Retaining protrusions are formed at the bottom ends of the receptacles protruding inward, which are mated with the shoulder portions of the sealed cartridges in such a manner that the shoulder portions of the sealed cartridges are supported on the retaining protrusions of the receptacles and that the upper ends of the sealed cartridges protrude from the upper ends of the receptacles at an upper side of the planar supporting plate, when the sealed cartridges are accommodated upside-down in the receptacles. The inventive nest will be suitable for any nested liquid filling machine without much changes in filling table and general settings.

Conventionally presterilized prefillable syringe barrels are supplied in tub and nest assemblies that are hermetically sealed to the environment to pharmaceutical customers, who then fill medicine into the presterilized nested syringe barrels under sterile conditions using filling and stoppering machines. In the market there are three types of filling and stoppering machines available, namely 1) manual machines, 2) semi automatic machines and 3) fully automatic machines.
There is one tub and nest format available in the market for pre-crimped cartridges but there are lots of disadvantages to use this existing tube and nest format with existing as well as new filling and stoppering machines because this tub and nest format requires complete setting change from infeed to outfeed for accommodating different height level of cartridge into the nest. Moreover a complete replacement of filling carriers is required for maintaining the height between the filling nozzles and the cartridge top level. Further the drawback of two different change parts needs separate validation study as per GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) guidelines requirements. If one tries to fill the pre-crimped cartridge nest available in the market on the same machine without changing the machine height setting accidents will happen which may cause damage to the filling nozzles or glass cartridges may get broken because the height difference between the filling nozzles and the pre-crimped cartridges is too small.
These disadvantages similarly hold 1) for manual filling and stoppering machines, which are operated electrically and pneumatically and where the processes are triggered by an operator, 2) for semi automatic filling and stoppering machines, which are operated electrically, electronically and pneumatically and where the operator has to remove the outer bag of the tub and nest assembly and then a top lid from the tub along with an inner sheet, and 3) for fully automatic filling and stoppering machines, which are operated electrically, electronically and pneumatically and where whole packets are inserted into the filling and stoppering machine one by one, the machine will automatically remove the outer bag and then remove the top lid from the tub by means of an automatic peeling off unit, then the inner sheet of the tub and nest assembly will be removed automatically and the machine will then automatically pick up the nests by means of a vacuum cup and place them onto transport carriers, which are then moved towards the filling station nozzles for the medicine filling process.
The currently available tub and nest assemblies in the market require the replacement of filling carriers for maintaining an accurate height difference between the filling nozzles and the cartridge top levels. Further after replacement of the filling carriers the replacement parts require separate validation studies as per GMP guidelines requirements. If the tub and nest assemblies available in the market are directly fed for filling of pre-crimped cartridges on the same machine without any alterations in the filling machines then the filling nozzles can be damaged or glass cartridges can be broken because the height difference between the filling nozzles and the pre-crimped cartridges is too small. All the above activities will incur higher costs and also additional time will be required to change the parts resulting in production losses. Further all fully automatic machines and new separate change parts are very expensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,561,828 B2 discloses a nest for concurrently holding a plurality of cylindrical pharmaceutical containers, such as vials or cylindrical ampoules, that have no retaining edges like the hand rests of conventional syringe bodies. The nest comprises a plurality of cylindrical receptacles for accommodating the cylindrical containers. At the bottom ends of the receptacles two opposite retaining protrusions are provided, for limiting an axial movement of the cylindrical containers and directly supporting the bottoms of the cylindrical containers. Each receptacle has two opposite apertures so that a lifting element of a manipulating device can directly engage with the bottoms of the containers to properly adjust their height levels. The containers are, however, accommodated upright in the receptacles.
US 2013/0048531 A1 discloses a similar nest, wherein each of the receptacles is formed by a plurality of side-walls that are spaced apart from each other but not unitary, circumferential side-walls. At the bottom ends of the side-walls retaining protrusions are provided. Also this nest can only be used for cylindrical pharmaceutical containers, such as vials or cylindrical ampoules, that have no retaining edges like the hand rests of conventional syringe bodies.
EP 2 183 166 B1 of the same applicant discloses a similar nest where the pharmaceutical containers are either accommodated in tubular receptacles having a closed bottom or hang with their neck portions in openings provided in the supporting plate of the nest.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,118,167 B2 discloses a transport container for sealed prefillable syringe barrels. The transport container accommodates a nest having cylindrical receptacles provided on the upper side thereof. The syringe barrels hang with their hand rests on the upper rims of the cylindrical receptacles. The bottom ends of the syringe barrels are sealed and extend into the free inner volume of the transport container. The bottom ends of the syringe barrels are not supported by holding members.
US 2013/0161225 discloses a further packaging unit for storing syringe barrels, wherein the syringe barrels again hang with their hand rests on the upper rims of the cylindrical receptacles. An upper lid can be clipped onto the nest to secure the syringe barrels and provide an integral cover. A similar tube storage rack is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 3,643,812.
US 2005/0214924 A1 discloses a supporting structure for sampling tubes containing culture growth media. The supporting structure comprises a supporting plate having a plurality of cup-shaped receptacles with bottoms on which the bottoms of the sampling tubes are directly supported. Here, the sampling tubes are supported in an upright position and with their upper ends protruding beyond the supporting plate so that the filling openings are easily accessible.

Supporting structure for supporting sealed cartridges, transport or packaging container and process for processing the same


A method of controlling an engine which has a continuous variable valve duration (CVVD) device that controls an operation of opening or closing an intake valve, and an ETC device that controls an operation of opening or closing a throttle valve and adjusts the amount of air to be introduced into a combustion chamber, may include determining whether it is necessary to increase or decrease engine torque; changing a duration of the intake valve by using the CVVD device when it is necessary to increase or decrease the engine torque; and adjusting the amount of air introduced through the ETC device in a state in which the duration of the intake valve is changed.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of controlling an engine for a vehicle, and more particularly, to a method of controlling an engine which is capable of improving fuel economy by quickly and actively controlling the engine in accordance with various driving situation conditions of the engine and vehicle. The present case is achieved by utilizing a continuous variable valve duration (CVVD) device configured to control the operation of opening and closing an intake valve and an electronic throttle control (ETC) device configured to control the operation of opening and closing a throttle valve and adjusts the amount of air to be introduced into a combustion chamber.
Description of Related Art
In general, an internal combustion engine produces power by introducing fuel and air into a combustion chamber and combusting the fuel. to introduce air an intake valve is controlled by the operation of a cam shaft, and air is introduced into the combustion chamber while the intake valve is opened. In addition, an exhaust valve is controlled by the operation of a cam shaft, and air is discharged from the combustion chamber when the exhaust valve is opened.
In the present case, optimal operation of the intake and exhaust valves vary depending on the revolutions per minute (RPM) of the engine. That is, an appropriate timing to open or close the valve varies depending on the RPM of the engine.
To implement an appropriate valve operation in accordance with the RPM of the engine a continuous variable valve lift (CVVL) device is implemented wherein a cam for driving the valve is designed to have a plurality of shapes, or the valve is operated by different lifts in accordance with the RPM of the engine has been developed.
A continuous variable valve timing (CVVT) technology has been developed as a device configured for adjusting the opening time of the valve. The present technology simultaneously changes the timings of opening and closing the valve in a state in which the duration of the valve is fixed.
However, the CVVL or CVVT in the related art has a complicated configuration and high price. Korean Patent No. 10-1326818 "Continuous Variable Valve Duration Device", hereinafter referred to as a CVVD device. has been presented as a method of solving the above problem.
That is, an engine equipped with the CVVD device may actively control the duration (for reference, the term "duration" refers to an angle of a cam for opening and closing a valve or refers to the time while the valve is opened, but in the present specification, the term "duration" means the time while the valve is opened) of the intake valve, and or the exhaust valve, in accordance with an operating state of the engine. The configuration and principle of the CVVD device is public knowledge.
Most of the recently released engines for a vehicle are equipped with an electronic throttle control (ETC) device configured to electronically control the opening degree of a throttle valve in accordance with a driving mode and acceleration state; thereby electronically controlling the amount of air supplied required for the combustion in the chamber in accordance with an operating state of the engine.
Meanwhile, while a vehicle travels the control device of the engine may receive a request for torque reserve (e.g., in a case in which the vehicle enters an uphill road or an air conditioner is operated) which requires an increase in the torque of an engine, or receives a request for a torque reduction (e.g., in a case of the timing of shifting gears of a transmission or when a vehicle enters a downhill road) which requires a decrease in the torque of an engine.
In the related art, the ETC device is and configured to compensate for the torque of the engine. However, the control of the ETC device adjusts the air flow rate, and as a result there are problems wherein the responsiveness is relatively lowered and a loss of fuel economy is induced equivalent to the lowered responsiveness.
In another method, torque is reduced by changing the ignition timing in the combustion chamber to quickly reduce an engine torque value when a request for an instantaneous reduction in engine torque is made by a component such as the transmission or an electronic stability control (ESC) device. However, there is a problem when the ignition timing is changed from an optimal timing the engine efficiency is reduced and a loss of fuel economy occurs in a like manner.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.


An error checking technique for database records. A record is selected and its entities are compared with the entities of other records stored in the database to determine a likelihood that the labels associated with the entities of the selected record are correct. The likelihood for each entity of the selected record being correctly labeled can be determined by comparing the number of times that the entity appears in the database records with that label to the number of times that the entity appears in the database records with any other label. If the likelihood does not exceed a threshold, then an error is likely, and action can be taken to correct the record.

The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents one or more different approaches to database management issues, which may be unique.
In a multi-tenant database system ("MTS"), various hardware and software components comprise the database and may be shared by one or more customers as a "cloud computing" solution for data storage and management. Service providers offer access to such systems through a network, such as the Internet. For example, an application server may be configured to simultaneously process multiple requests for many different customers, and a database may be configured to store data that is shared by many different customers.
Customers of database systems demand that the data they purchase be comprehensive and accurate. An ongoing business enterprise typically maintains significant amounts of data in a database related to the company's business, including information pertinent to sales, revenue, costs, business opportunities, inventory, networking, etc. As one example, electronic business cards or contacts are the lifeblood of many organizations, and the contact information can be maintained in the database. However, maintaining the accuracy of the contacts or any other information stored in a database can be tedious, particularly when significant amounts of the information are provided by users, i.e., crowd sourcing. For example, data entry errors, such as reversing the first name and last name for a contact, are common for such crowd sourced database systems.
Thus, it would thus be desirable to provide an error checking routine that could be used to identify one or more errors in a database record, and which could initiate action to correct the errors.


An improved seal-insert and seal for a toner hopper as used in toner cartridge assemblies for printers, copiers and facsimile machines. In one embodiment, the seal has two slotted, rectangular outer pieces joined together with slot alignment and joined by an inner layer of two-sided tape. The two-sided tape is made with a long u-shape which does not interfere with the slots in the outer pieces. The open end of the u-shaped tape configuration allows a seal to be inserted or removed from between the outer pieces to close or open the slots. The seal-insert is applied over the passage from the toner hopper. The outer pieces are made from an antistatic and/or a conductive material, such as an aluminum laminate or plastic impregnated with conductive particles. Alternately, the outer pieces may be made from plastic covered with an antistatic and/or conductive spray or coating. In another embodiment, a tear-seal is made from antistatic and/or conductive material, and is provided with a tear-guide secured to and under the tear-sheet. The tear-guide has a width smaller than the tear-sheet and slightly smaller than the slot of the seal-insert. When the tear-guide is pulled by the enduser, the tear-guide will rip the tear-sheet in a straight line, providing an opening with an even width that will not block toner flow.

This invention relates to an apparatus for allowing the refilling and sealing of a toner hopper used in toner cartridge assemblies for dry toner imaging machines such as printers, copiers and facsimile machines.
The use of xe2x80x9cthrow-awayxe2x80x9d type toner cartridge assemblies is common in the dry toner imaging industry. The user of the printer, copier or facsimile machine must buy a new toner cartridge assembly from the manufacturer when the original assembly is depleted of toner. Toner cartridge assemblies are expensive and their disposal is a waste of good components. This expense and waste has created a need for remanufacturing and sealing used toner cartridge assemblies for shipment to the user.
The manufacturers seal the toner hopper assemblies of the new toner cartridge assemblies at their manufacturing location, and there is no leakage of the toner during shipment. For example, the manufacturers seal closed the top of the toner reservoir section of the toner hopper with a plastic sheet, then fill the toner hopper, located in the cartridge assembly, with dry toner. The plastic sheet is attached to both sides and ends of the hopper prior to assembling the toner hopper and fusing/plastic welding/ultrasonic welding the toner hopper together from its subcomponents. Of course, this is done before assembling the toner hopper with the other subcomponents of the cartridge. The original manufacturer has a slight advantage because they can seal the toner hopper before it is permanently assembled and fused/plastic welded. Aftermarket manufacturers, commonly known as rechargers or cartridge remanufacturers do not always have this luxury of working with the toner hopper prior to its permanent assembly. This would requires greater expertise, equipment and labor. Many such rechargers are small xe2x80x9cmom and popxe2x80x9d companies and cannot afford the extra expense. Consequently, applicants had to develop a product that would be practical for an already fused/plastic welded toner hopper, however, this development may also be used for a split hopper. After the toner hopper is sealed, assembled, joined, and filled with toner, it is assembled as a subcomponent of a modular toner cartridge. This toner cartridge may be shipped to the enduser""s location without spillage of the dry toner because the plastic sheet seals it. When the toner cartridge assembly is received at the enduser""s location, the plastic sheet is removed from the toner reservoir in the hopper and the toner is exposed to the feed roller device for use in the imaging process of the printer, copier or facsimile machine. The plastic sheet and other original manufacturer sealing devices are not reusable and, furthermore, are not meant to be re-sealable as they are designed to be throwaway items.
Toner cartridge assembly remanufacturers have come up with various ways of sealing the toner hopper for shipment after refilling used cartridges. Applicant""s U.S. Pat. No. 5,296,902 discloses a seal-insert applied over the passage from the toner hopper. The seal-insert has a slot covered with a removable adhesive tape/heat-tape that is peeled off or torn by the customer when the refilled toner cartridge is ready for use. The same patent also discloses a seal-insert with a slot that is covered or uncovered by a seal which slides over the seal-insert. Applicant""s U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,003 discloses a seal-insert which includes slotted outer pieces sandwiching a slotted middle piece of resilient two-sided foam tape. A seal slides into or out of the seal-insert to close or open the slots. Applicant also has other U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,184,182 and 5,337,126, and Application Ser. Nos. 07/850,930 filed on Mar. 13, 1992 and 08/019,300 filed on Feb. 18, 1993, disclosing similar seals and seal-inserts. U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,831 to Foster discloses a layered, compliant strip for sealing the toner hopper opening.
One problem that arises with the use of these seals and seal-inserts used in a toner hopper (of the style that has a narrow opening for the seal to pull through) is toner blockage in the passage between the reservoir and feed roller compartment, caused by the narrowness of the slot or slots in the seal-insert. But the slot has to be narrower than the sliding seal (in order that the seal completely closes the slot), and the sliding seal has to be narrow enough to slide through the opening in the side of the toner hopper. Applicant has application Ser. No. 08/335,055, filed on Nov. 1, 1994, which uses a seal-insert with a wider slot to prevent toner blockage while printing but still allow the seal and seal-insert to operate properly and prevent toner leakage during shipment of the refilled and remanufactured toner cartridge assembly. The seal must be able to slide through a very narrow opening on the side of the toner hopper, yet seal over a passage from the toner hopper wider than the narrow opening. Although the seal and seal-insert of application Ser. No. 335,055 solve the toner blockage problem by disclosing a seal made from a material that flexes as it is pulled through the narrow opening and allows a wider slot in the seal-insert, the seal and seal-insert are more difficult to manufacture and install and have an increased cost. Some toner cartridge remanufacturers may not want to use it for these reasons.
Through more careful study, applicant has found the cause of toner blockage associated with the use of the seals and seal-inserts in the patents and patents pending. The seal-insert is a slotted strip of rigid plastic affixed to the perimeter of the passage in the toner hopper. The slot is closed by a seal strip during the original cartridge manufacturing process. This prevents toner leakage until the seal strip is removed by the enduser, allowing toner to pass through the seal-insert as the toner cartridge assembly operates within the imaging machine.
Toner is generally composed of magnetic oxides of iron with a small amount of carbon black for die, all encapsulated or mixed in styrene. The styrene is the major component, making up over fifty percent of the toner in many formulations used in the market. Styrene is a great static electricity generator when put into motion. For example, if one rubs a low density, lightweight block of STYROFOAM (which is polystyrene, made from styrene with many similar properties) on a wool material, the STYROFOAM would stick to a wall or ceiling in the same way that an inflated balloon would, overcoming the force of gravity. When the toner cartridge operates, the toner that passes through the hopper passage and seal-insert slot generates electrostatic electricity. The styrene in toner becomes charged, and therefore, may stick to the plastic seal-insert as toner moves through the slot. Toner is also charged from the bias voltage of the developer roller component of the cartridge. Some of the toner that lands on the developer roller might bounce off the roller onto the plastic seal-insert where it adheres and collects with the toner charged through the rubbing motion.
To further aggravate the situation, the magnetic oxides of iron within the toner stuck to the seal-insert attract still more toner to the seal-insert slot area, causing a xe2x80x9csnowball effectxe2x80x9d as the toner accumulates. Eventually, the toner begins to block the slot in the seal-insert, causing a condition commonly known as xe2x80x9ctoner starvationxe2x80x9d. When toner starvation takes place, a portion of the developer roller is starved of toner and thus, no toner is transported from the developer roller to the photoreceptor drum over a given region. The net result is that over this region, a white streak of no-toner and therefore, no print occurs on the output page of the imaging machine. This toner starvation problem has plagued toner cartridge remanufacturers of such cartridges as the LX variety. Through careful observation, applicant has identified the problem or source of the problem, and has come up with a solution different than, and more effective than, simply making the slot wider. Furthermore, applicant has also developed a simple way to also solve the problem by making the slot wider. Both embodiments may be also used simultaneously, however. By using both embodiments simultaneously, toner starvation should never occur.
Tear-seals are used by themselves or with seal-inserts to seal the passage from the toner hopper to the feed roller compartment usually prior to refilling the toner hopper with toner. Tear-seals are torn off by the enduser before the remanufactured toner cartridge is inserted in the imaging machine for operation. The problem is that prior art tear-seals sometimes do not rip in a straight, even line, in some cases partially blocking the toner passage. These tear-seals are also hard to install over the toner passage thus, causing the problem they are supposed to prevent. In some cartridges, such as those of the LX variety, unremovable remains of the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) seal are present on the toner hopper, affecting the quality of any new seal used. While conventional tear-seals have priorly been used with flexible seal-inserts, a device is needed which ensures a straight, even-width rip in the tear-sheet of the tear-seal that matches the slot in the seal-insert. Many of the tear-seals have had problems such as uneven tear, premature tearing off of rip portion, constriction of toner opening, difficulty in installing, and other problems.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a shipping seal that will prevent toner blockage inside a toner hopper, between the reservoir and feed roller compartment of a toner hopper assembly, which is a component of a toner cartridge, which is used in imaging machines. In general, one way to prevent toner blockage is to use a conductive/antistatic material o the seals and then the seal-insert opening does not have to be widened. Alternatively, a new seal/seal-insert system is introduced that can allow a wider opening.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a seal and seal-insert for the passage from the reservoir which, when the seal is removed from the seal-insert, allows uninterrupted flow of toner from the reservoir to maintain the quality of the image produced.
Another object of this invention is to design a slotted seal-insert which does not attract toner to its surfaces and cause toner build-up and clogging of the slot. Thus, toner starvation may be prevented.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a tear-guide for the tear-sheet of a tear-seal on a seal-insert which enables the tear-sheet to be torn in a straight line with an even-width rip, opening up a wider opening in the seal-insert or the passage from the reservoir to the feed roller compartment. The tear-guide is used with a seal-insert and tear-seal. Also, with this tear-guide enhanced tear-seal, when the tear is controlled, the opening for toner flow is controlled, and thus when the tear is controlled, a wider than otherwise opening may be made because this torn strip in some cartridges such as LX must be then pulled through a very narrow constriction. By pulling a consistent strip, both the opening may be made wide enough and the even remains of the torn strip may be consistently pulled through the narrow constriction without problems. One such problem in prior technology is premature ripping of the entire tear portion causing a toner blockage.
A still further object of this invention is to provide an install tail for easy installation, whereby the seal may be easily installed. When the recharger pulls simultaneously on the install tail and the pull strip at the same time, the entire seal may be kept taut, and thus installation is greatly enhanced. With previous technology, many seals get ruined while installing, because there is no means for pulling the seal taut. With the development of the install tail, a very important part of this development, installation is significantly easier, less wastage is made, installation is quicker, and an OEM style seal may be installed in an already joined (nonsplit) toner hopper which is more difficult to do than when the OEM did it prior to joining. In fact, with this install tail, all the previous teat-seal and other art may be done in a more practical manner as well as the other new art of this invention.
In carrying out this invention in the illustrative embodiment thereof, a seal-insert is comprised of two rectangular, slotted outer pieces attached together by an inner-layer of two-sided tape. The two-sided tape is configured in a long u-shape such that it has an open end through which a seal is inserted or removed from between the outer pieces to block or open the slot. The seal-insert is attached over the passage from the toner hopper to the feed roller compartment of the toner cartridge assembly. The outer pieces are designed to be antistatic and/or conductive. The outer pieces may be made from antistatic and/or conductive materials or may be more conventional material covered with antistatic and/or conductive sprays, laminates, creams, waxes, coatings or films. Since the seal-insert is grounded through its attachment to the electrically grounded toner hopper, charged toner particles do not stick to the seal-insert and clogging of the slot in the seal-insert and passage from the toner hopper is eliminated. This ensures a steady flow of toner to the feed roller compartment and prevents white streaks on the output paper of the imaging machine caused by toner starvation.
In another embodiment, a conventional tear-seal used with a seal-insert is improved by securing a tear-guide to the tear-sheet of the tear-seal. The tear-guide has a narrower width than the tear-sheet, approximately equal to the width of the slot in the seal-insert. The tear-guide material is chosen for good adhesion to the tear-sheet and good longitudinal strength so it will not break when pulled by the enduser. It may be an adhesive tape. If using an adhesive tape, part of the tear-guide must be kept free from adhesive so it will pull through the slot. This may be done either by not removing some of the tape backing material or by not applying adhesive along the full length of the film tape material. An end of the tear-guide is fed through the opening in the side of the toner hopper, and when pulled will tear the tear-sheet in a straight line and provide an even width rip or opening that will not block toner flow through the toner passage and seal-insert slot. The tear-sheet is also optionally made from or coated or laminated with antistatic and/or conductive material to prevent toner attraction. It may optionally include a stiffener, internal or external, to enable the tear-seal to be easily and efficiently attached to the toner hopper.

Flexible tear-seal; seal material and method for toner hopper compartment


A wristband, particularly suitable for athletic use, comprising an elastic moisture absorbing sleeve having a high friction surface located over a major portion of the wristband whereby a ball, such as a football, gripped between the wristband and the wearer's body resists removal or dropping.

1. Field of the Invention The invention pertains to wristbands having both moisture absorbing and friction enhancing characteristics to improve the grip of the athlete carrying the ball between the forearm and the body.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wristbands are commonly worn by athletes for perspiration absorbing purposes. Such wristbands commonly consist of a tubular sleeve of elasticized moisture absorbing fabric such as terry cloth, and surround the forearm wrist region and are used by the athlete to wipe perspiration from the head and face, and are also used to absorb hand perspiration. Wristbands are commonly employed in most highly active sports such as tennis, basketball, baseball and football.
Friction enhancing gloves to improve the catching ability of football pass receivers often utilize friction enhancing materials, as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,606,614; 4,881,276 and 5,146,628. Such devices are worn upon the athlete's hands and improve the engagement of the athlete's hands with a football in flight to reduce the likelihood of the ball slipping from the hands.
Also, it is known to impregnate a wristband with an anti-slip composition, such as of a sticky nature, wherein a tennis racket handle, or the like, may be rubbed on the wristband to improve the frictional characteristics of the handle as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,068,318.
When running with a football, the recommended technique is for the runner to hold the ball in the right or left hand close to the runner's upper torso or chest. The football will extend across the wrist area of the athlete, and by firmly nesting the football between the hand, arm and body, the likelihood of an opponent "stripping" the ball from the runner is reduced. However, as the runner is tackled, or the ball is attempted to be knocked from the runner's grip, it is not uncommon for the football to be inadvertently released or lost by the runner resulting in a possible turnover of the ball to the opponent. Prior to the advent of the instant invention, no friction enhancing apparatus has been available, other than of the aforementioned glove type, to reduce the likelihood of the football being lost by the runner.


A method of facilitating Internet Protocol access by a mobile node to an access Network, the method comprising: sending an attachment request from the mobile node to an access router of the access network, the request containing a mobile node identifier and an Interface Identifier or means for deriving an Interface Identifier, and being signed by the mobile node to allow the message to be authenticated as originating at that mobile node; receiving the request at the access router and authenticating the message there using the signature, and in response to the receipt and authentication of the message, performing a predefined set of tasks delegated to the access node and which are required to facilitate said access; and returning an acknowledgment from the access router to the mobile node confirming the access permission, the acknowledgement containing a network routing prefix and means for authenticating the access router to the mobile node.

In the context of a mobile wireless communication network, the term "attachment" refers to the procedure whereby a user device connects to a local wireless network (such as a wireless LAN access point) and is able to make use of at least some of the services offered by that network. In practice, this procedure involves multiple protocol layers relating, for example, to the identification of the correct radio frequencies, radio-layer negotiation to enable communications with the access point, network access authentication and authorization procedures, link layer security protection initiation, finding the routers and addresses at the IP layer, and reestablishing mobility mechanisms to a new IP address. Unfortunately, these tasks take time to complete, and the interaction and overall effects of the individual tasks are not well understood, because most of the work on wireless access issues has focused only on a particular aspect.
An area likely to suffer in particular from a failure to inter-relate multiple protocol issues is that of mobility between different network types. For example, researchers in this area have tended to ignore the effects of having to have access control on the link (necessary due to business and/or legal requirements). Real users are only about to start taking advantage of mobility between different network types and the associated problems have therefore not been fully seen or appreciated.
Mobile IP is a set of protocols which provide for the roaming of subscribers between access networks, whilst at the same time ensuring that the subscribers are reachable by correspondent nodes that do not know the current locations of the subscribers. FIG. 1 illustrates schematically a network architecture for implementing Mobile IP. A subscriber 1 is attached to an access router 2 of an access network 3. Fundamental to Mobile IP is the provision of a Home Agent 4 in a subscriber's home network 5 and which knows the current location of the subscriber 1 (the current location being defined by an IP address known as a "care-of-address") and is able to route messages directed to the subscriber's fixed IP address to the current location. Binding update messages are used to enable the subscriber 1 to update his care-of-address at the Home Agent 4, e.g. in the event that the subscriber roams to a new access network. When a subscriber changes its care-of-address, a route optimisation procedure may be invoked to ensure that packets subsequently sent from correspondent hosts 6 attached to respective access networks 7 are routed to the subscriber via the optimal route. An Authentication, Authorisation, and Accounting (AAA) server 8 located in the home network 5 communicates with the Home Agent 4.
In the case of Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), the process for network attachment in a typical wireless link is as follows:                Link layer attachment, such as detecting and connecting to a specific Wireless Local Area Network (LAN) access point.        Access control procedures. Mechanisms such as 802.1X and EAP are used for this. Typically, this involves three EAP control messages (identity request, response, and success, piggybacked on the EAPOL-Success message), and a specific authentication method. Simple authentication methods complete in two messages, but many methods require more.        Router Discovery. This is the process of finding the default router for the node and determining the routing prefixes for this link. In the simplest case this requires two messages, with a waiting period in between.        Duplicate Address Detection (DAD). This is used to ensure that the address that the mobile node selects for use on this link is unique. Typically, this involves one message and a waiting period.        Mobility management procedures. These include messaging with a Home Agent and possibly with correspondent nodes and a previous router. The messaging consists typically of two messages with the exchanged between the user terminal and the Home Agent, five (partially simultaneous) messages with each correspondent node, and a message with the previous router.
Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) behaves largely in the same manner as IPv6. However, Router Discovery, Neighbour Discovery, and address autoconfiguration are replaced with the Dynamic Host Control Protocol (DHCP), and there is no support for DAD. DHCP typically requires four messages. Mobile IPv4 does not have route optimisation, and therefore involves only two additional mobility related messages. There is no support in IPv4 for a smooth handover from an old to a new access router.
In summary, with IPv6 there are at least 16 messages in the full case assuming only one correspondent node, and two distinct waiting periods (although four of the messages can be sent in parallel). In the IPv4 case, the number of messages is somewhat smaller due to the lesser functionality of IPv4 and the central role of DHCP. However, at least 11 messages are still needed.
Work is ongoing to try to optimise some of the signalling procedures discussed above. In particular:                So-called "Optimised" DAD attempts to avoid delays associated with DAD, and may also enable the use of the tentative address before DAD has completed. The potential benefit of this approach is the elimination of one waiting period, and possible additional parallelism in the messaging sequence. Another proposed approach uses the access router to assist in the DAD procedure.        Optimised Movement Detection attempts to make it faster to detect when movement (of a user terminal) has occurred, and to identify the network parameters in the new network. This involves new algorithms for the reduction of the waiting periods associated with IPv6 Router Advertisements, but does not reduce the overall amount of messages.        Hierarchical Mobile IP (HMIP) attempts to localise movements so that the number of location updates sent to the Home Agent and the correspondent nodes can be minimized.
These optimisation approaches are mainly concerned with the elimination of unnecessary waiting times. They do not appear to have a significant impact on the amount of required signalling, with the except of HMIP. HMIP does not, however, reduce the amount of basic network access signalling, it only shortens the path that this signalling needs to take.


To form an interconnection on a substrate, an interconnection material layer is deposited on a surface of a substrate having a step with a base layer of Ti-base metal disposed between the interconnection material layer and the substrate, and the interconnection material layer is etched by way of dry etching using a fluorine gas until a surface of the base layer is exposed. After the surface of the base layer is exposed, the substrate is heated to a temperature ranging from 250.degree. C. to 600.degree. C., and the interconnection material layer and the base layer are continuously etched by way of dry etching. The process allows an interconnection pattern to be reliably formed on the stepped substrate surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for forming an interconnection or conductive path in an electronic device such as a semiconductor device, for example.
2. Description of the Related Art
To meet requirements for smaller sizes and higher packing densities, electronic devices including integrated semiconductor circuits such as a VLSI circuit, a ULSI circuit, or the like incorporate a multilayer interconnection structure including interconnections and electrodes (hereinafter collectively referred to as "interconnections") with inter-insulating layers disposed therebetween. Efforts are being made to increase the density of and reduce the pattern of interconnections in electronic devices to meet demands for electronic devices of much smaller sizes and higher packing densities.
Interconnections on an upper surface of inter-insulating layer are connected, by way of ohmic contact, through connecting holes such as contact holes or via holes defined in the inter-insulating layer to other interconnections or semiconductor regions (hereinafter referred to as "contact regions") such as impurity-diffused regions of Si semiconductors beneath the inter-insulating layer. The connecting holes are also required to be smaller in diameter.
It is necessary that the inter-insulating layers have a certain thickness in order to provide a desired level of electric reliability and avoid the problem of parasitic capacitance. Consequently, the aspect ratio (depth/diameter) of the connecting holes is relatively large.
Metal plugs may be embedded in connecting holes of large aspect ratios for connection to an upper interconnection layer. To form such metal plugs, blanket tungsten (Blk-W) is deposited by way of chemical vapor deposition (CVD).
To hold a layer of blanket tungsten in intimate contact with a lower layer, a barrier metal layer of Ti is employed as a base layer beneath the upper interconnection layer (see, for example, Shingaku Gihou SMD91-133, pages 19.about.24).
One conventional process of forming such an interconnection structure is illustrated in FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C of the accompanying drawings.
In FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C, an interconnection will be connected to a semiconductor region 2 of a substrate 1 such as a semiconductor substrate through a connecting hole 4 defined in an inter-insulating layer 3 deposited on the substrate 1, as follows: First, as shown in FIG. 1A, a barrier metal layer 5 of Ti, which is of a multilayer structure composed of a lower barrier metal layer 5A of Ti and an upper barrier metal layer 5B of TiN, is deposited on the inter-insulating layer 3 including the connecting hole 4.
Then, an interconnection material layer 6 of blanket tungsten is deposited on the barrier metal layer 5 so as to fill the recess that has been produced therein by the connecting hole 4.
A thermally oxidized device-separating thick insulating layer 7. i.e., LOCOS, is formed on the substrate 1. A channel-stop region 8 of a high impurity concentration is disposed on the semiconductor surface beneath the thick insulating layer 7.
Then, anisotropic dry etching is effected on the interconnection material layer 6 and the barrier metal layer 5 using a fluorine gas for thereby removing a flat portion of the interconnection material layer 6 except its portion within the connecting hole 4, by way of etchback, as shown in FIG. 1B. Thus, an interconnection contact is formed as a metal plug that is filled in the connecting hole 4 and composed primarily of the interconnection material layer 6 of Blk-W.
Upon anisotropic dry etching using a fluorine gas as of SF.sub.6 or CF.sub.4, for example, the etchback on the interconnection material layer 6 of Blk-W progresses until the lower Ti barrier metal layer 5 is exposed. Thereafter, the etchback on the interconnection material layer 6 of Blk-W ceases. Since only etching of the barrier metal layer 5 subsequently goes on and results in a certain degree of overetching, the interconnection material layer 6 of Blk-W projects beyond the other portions, as shown in FIG. 1C. If an interconnection pattern of Al or the like is formed on the projecting interconnection material layer 6, it may possibly be broken or otherwise damaged thereby.
It has been found out that such a phenomenon is caused for the following reason: At the time the Ti barrier metal layer 5 is exposed, the Ti and the dry etching gas, e.g., SF.sub.6 or CF.sub.4, reacts with each other, generating a fluoride TiF. As shown in FIG. 1B, the generated fluoride TiF is deposited on the interconnection material layer 6 of Blk-W, forming a film 9 of TiF which has an etching rate that is much lower than the etching rate of the Ti barrier metal layer 5.
The above difficulty experienced by the generation of the fluoride of Ti in the formation of the interconnection contact that is formed as the metal plug in the connecting hole defined in the inter-insulating layer also occurs in a structure as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B of the accompanying drawings. In FIGS. 2A and 2B, an interconnection material layer 6 as of tungsten, molybdenum, polycrystalline Si, or the like is deposited on a surface 11 of a substrate 13 having a step 12 by anisotropic dry etching using a fluorine gas, with a barrier metal layer 5 disposed as a Ti base layer underneath the interconnection material layer 6. The interconnection material layer 6 is etched to a desired pattern extending across the step 12.
More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2A, the interconnection material layer 6 is deposited on the entire surface of the Ti barrier metal layer-5 which is composed of a lower barrier metal layer 5A of Ti and an upper barrier metal layer 5B of TiN on the entire surface of the surface 11 of the substrate 13 that has the step 12. To etch the interconnection material layer 6 to a predetermined pattern for thereby forming an interconnection of the same pattern, an etching resist 10 having that pattern is formed on the interconnection material layer 6, and then, using the etching resist 10 as a mask, the interconnection material layer 6 is etched by way of anisotropic dry etching using a fluorine gas, as shown in FIG. 2B. If the interconnection material layer 6 is deposited by CVD, for example, then it is deposited also on a vertical wall surface of the step 12, and the interconnection material layer 6 deposited thereon has a larger vertical thickness along the vertical wall surface of the step 12 in the etching direction.
Accordingly, even when the etching of the interconnection material layer 6 deposited on a horizontal surface and having a smaller vertical thickness is finished, exposing the barrier metal layer 5 therebeneath, the interconnection material layer 6 still remains unremoved as a remaining layer 6s (see FIG. 2B) on the vertical wall surface of the step 12. Thus, a film 9 of TiF is formed on the remaining layer 6s, and prevents the remaining layer 6s from being further etched away, so that an undesired interconnection material remains on the vertical wall surface of the step 12.
The remaining layer 6s causes a short circuit between interconnections on the substrate 13. One solution is to effect the etching process for a long period of time to etch away the film 9 which has a very low etching rate and the remaining interconnection material layer 6 disposed therebeneath, so that the unwanted remaining layer 6s will be eliminated from the step 12. If the etching process is prolonged, however, the interconnection material layer 6 on the horizontal surface will be overetched, resulting in unduly narrow interconnections. Therefore, high-density fine interconnection patterns for use in ULSI circuits, for example, cannot be formed highly reliably.

Method of forming interconnection in semiconductor device


Contemplated antiviral/cancer treatments comprise analysis of neoepitopes from viral DNA that has integrated into the host genome, and design of immunotherapeutic agents against such neoepitopes.

The background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
All publications herein are incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application were specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference. Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
Human Papilloma Viruses are relatively small DNA viruses that infect various epithelial tissues and can be classified into cutaneous types and mucosotropic types. In addition, Human Papilloma Viruses (HPV) can also be classified as low- and high-risk types, depending on their difference in their ability to promote malignant transformation in infected tissues. For example, HPV types 16 and 18 are mucosotropic HPVs that are associated with more than 99% of cervical carcinomas. In most of these cancers, the viral DNA genome is integrated into the genome of the host. Infection with most HPV types is self-limiting in a significant number of cases. However, persistent infection and neoplastic transformation is observed in a clinically relevant proportion of patients, especially where infection was with a high-risk type HPV.
More recently, vaccine formulations have become available against the most common high-risk HPV types. Unfortunately, vaccinations are generally not effective against an already established infection. Moreover, a vaccination may also be less effective where the virus has undergone sufficient genetic changes. Effective HPV treatment may be further complicated by the concurrent genomic instability, which is generally attributed to interactions of viral proteins E6 and E7 with normal DNA damage response (typically mediated via the hosts p53 and pRb proteins).
Therefore, despite improved treatments and vaccinations, several problems with HPV infection, and especially persistent HPV infection still remain. Thus, there is still a need for systems and methods that improve treatment of HPV infections.


A golf bag to be carried by a user for retaining golf clubs has an elongated tubular container, a shoulder strap system for carrying the container on the user's shoulder and a waist band system for fastening the container to the user's waist to support the weight of the container with the user's lower body. The waist band system including a waist band for fastening around the user's waist and a lumbar pad for providing cushioning to the user's lower back. The golf bag allows the user to transfer the weight of the bag from the shoulders to the lower back to ameliorate fatigue and soreness to the shoulders and to improve the golfer's posture and golf ability.

The present invention is directed generally to a sport and utility bag and, in particular embodiments, to a golf bag with a support structure designed to minimize user discomfort and fatigue and improve the user's posture.
The game of golf is not only one of the world's oldest presently practiced sports, but is also one of the most popular sports both on a recreational and professional level. In recent years, an increasing number of men and women have taken up the sport as a recreational activity. Moreover, the popularity of golf tournaments and competitions has also increased. With this increase in popularity of tile sport, there has also been an increase in interest in equipment and techniques for improving ones ability and enjoyment of the sport.
While much effort has been spent on the development of golf clubs and balls, many have failed to realize the impact that the golf bag has on ones ability and enjoyment of the sport. During a typical 18 hole golf game, a player may carry a bag full of golf clubs and other equipment for thousands of yards. It is no surprise that a common complaint among golfers relates to back, shoulder and neck pain caused by carrying heavy bags of golf equipment.
Moreover, the process of carrying such a bag a hundred yards or more, moments before lining up to swing at a golf ball, can severely affect the golfer's swing. Typical golf bags are designed with one or two shoulder straps such that the bag can be slung over one or both of the golfer's shoulders as the golfer walks from one ball position to the next. Such straps tend to concentrate the weight of the bag on either one or both shoulders. With a single shoulder strap, the weight of the golf bag is concentrated on one shoulder and offset relative to the golfer's spine, causing the golfer to shift his or her weight to the opposite side in order to balance the load.
Even with two shoulder straps, the weight of the golf bag on both shoulders tends to cause posture problems (e.g., hunching over of the shoulders) and discomfort. Furthermore, where most of the weight of the bag and equipment is concentrated on one or two shoulder straps, the straps tend to pinch nerves and possibly obstruct the circulation of blood in the shoulder area on which the strap is supported. This can result in numbness and loss of power and control in the golfers arms as well as fatigue to shoulder and arm muscles. These adverse affects can offset the golfer's swing posture, strain muscles and cause severe spine and hip discomfort. Posture being a very important component to ones golf swing form and golf ability, it is readily apparent that various prior golf bag designs have been a major contributor to many poor golf games and golf injuries.
A prior golf bag having a strap design to support the bag in a centered relationship relative to the user's bag is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,038,984, 5,042,703 and 5,042,704, all to Izzo. This bag has two shoulder straps and a back pad, to allow the golfer to carry the bag's weight on both shoulders and to rest the bag, almost horizontally across the golfer's lower back. However, like the above discussed prior bag designs, the primary portion of the weight of the bag is carried on the golfer's shoulders. Moreover, the position of the bag when being carried tends to allow clubs or other equipment to fall out of the bag.
Thus, there is a need in the industry for a golf bag design which minimizes user discomfort and maximizes the user's golf posture. Therefore, it is an object of a preferred embodiment of the present invention to provide a new golf bag which addresses the above-discussed problems associated with prior golf bags and which can be easily carried over the distance of a typical golf course without causing undue fatigue or soreness to the user's shoulder, spine and hips.


A surface-emitting laser includes optically transparent layers on a side of a DBR mirror structure that is opposite to an optical cavity of the laser. In one embodiment, the transparent layer is a heat-conducting layer that has an efficient heat transfer relationship with an opening in a top electrode and with a heat-spreading layer. The heat-spreading layer increases the diameter of the electrode, so as to reduce the thermal impedance of the surface-emitting laser. The heat-spreading layer may be annular in shape and may have an inside diameter that is less than the outside diameter of the electrode, allowing the heat-spreading layer to first overlap the electrode and then overlap the portion of the heat-conducting layer that resides on the inside portion of the electrode. In another embodiment, the optically transparent layer is positioned between the top electrode and the top DBR mirror structure of the surface-emitting laser. In this embodiment, the transparent layer is a current-spreading layer that reduces the lateral resistance of the laser. Lateral resistance is reduced by providing a layer having a thickness of one-half of the wavelength of the light energy generated in the laser times an odd multiple greater than one. Optionally, two half-wavelength layers may be formed between the electrode and the mirror structure, with the upper layer being selected primarily for its electrical properties and the lower layer being selected primarily for its optical properties.

Semiconductor lasers may be used in a wide variety of applications, such as for providing high-speed optical data links or for connecting workstations, peripherals and displays. In many applications, surface-emitting lasers provide a number of advantages over conventional edge-emitting lasers. The advantages include: (1) the devices are completed at a wafer level and therefore can be completely characterized; (2) the numerical aperture is smaller and symmetrical, allowing a highly efficient coupling to an optical fiber; (3) operation is single-frequency; and (4) the devices can be relatively easily integrated with monitor photodiodes or transistors, or may be integrated in two-dimensional arrays of surface-emitting lasers.
For a surface-emitting laser, radiation is typically emitted through one or more openings in a metal electrode of the laser. This arrangement is particularly advantageous if the light emitted from an opening is to be coupled to a single mode optical fiber. The shape and size of the opening through which light is coupled to the optical fiber can be made to conform to the shape and size of the fiber. On the other hand, light emitted from an edge-emitting laser is typically radiated from an elongated area, so that laser-to-fiber coupling is less efficient.
A surface-emitting laser is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,503 to Wang et al., which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention. An opening in the electrode layer of Wang et al. is aligned with an electrically insulating region that may be formed by oxygen ion implantation. The region of implantation confines current flow from the electrode to a selected region of an active layer in which light energy is generated at a fixed wavelength in response to the current flow. The electrode and the current-confinement region may have a concentric arrangement.
Two concerns in the design and operation of a surface-emitting laser are the distribution of thermal energy and the distribution of current flow. These concerns are somewhat interrelated. A high thermal impedance will adversely affect performance of the laser. Current from the annular electrode is injected through a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) mirror structure in which each layer has a thickness of one-quarter wavelength of the frequency of generated light propagating through the layers of the laser. In many cases, the one-quarter wavelength layers are too thin to handle the large current densities, e.g. 10-20 KA/cm.sup.2 injected into the mirror structure. This results in light output degradation and in a reduced useful life of the laser. A vertical cavity top-emitting laser is particularly susceptible to such problems. The uppermost layer is almost degenerately doped in order to reduce the contact resistance of the metal electrode. Since the layer is thin, it is susceptible to excessive heating that will result in burn-out.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,487 to Scott et al. describes a vertical cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) that addresses the issue of current crowding, i.e. a non-uniform current distribution. In one embodiment, a contacting region is formed between an electrode and an active region of the VCSEL. The contacting region is provided with a layered section that is radially graded in resistivity, so as to restrict the current injection to a radius less than that of the resonant cavity of the laser. U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,622 to Jewell et al. describes a VCSEL that positions a stratified electrode between the active region of the laser and an upper DBR mirror structure. The stratified electrode comprises pairs of high doped and low doped layers having a conductivity type selected for injecting current into the active region of the laser. The thickness of the high doped layers is approximately equal to or less than one-quarter of the wavelength of emitted radiation. Likewise, the thickness of the low doped layers is approximately equal to or greater than one-quarter of the wavelength, with the total thickness of a pair being one-half wavelength. While use of the Scott et al. and Jewell et al. teachings provides improvements over previous laser structures, further improvements are desired.
What is needed is a surface-emitting laser that further improves current and/or heat distribution without adversely affecting the performance of the laser.

Current and heat spreading transparent layers for surface-emitting lasers


In a method of fabricating a metallization structure during formation of a microelectronic device, the improvement of reducing metal shorts in blanket metal deposition layers later subjected to reactive ion etching, comprising:                a) depositing on a first underlayer, a blanket of an aluminum compound containing an electrical short reducing amount of an alloy metal in electrical contact with the underlayer;        b) depositing a photoresist and exposing and developing to leave patterns of photoresist on the blanket aluminum compound containing an electrical short reducing amount of an alloy metal; and        c) reactive ion etching to obtain an aluminum compound containing an alloy metal line characterized by reduced shorts in amounts less than the aluminum compound without said short reducing amount of alloy metal.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to use of low percents by weight of Cu in AlCu lines to improve functional yield by substantially reducing metal shorts for blanket metal deposition layers that are later subjected to reactive ion etching (RIE), when making microelectronic devices.
2. The Prior Art
Advances in interconnection technology have allowed continued improvements in integrated circuit density, performance and electrical characteristics, and this has led to a steady decline in the price per bit for dynamic random access memories (DRAMs).
In this connection, aluminum and aluminum alloys are used to form various electrical connections or wiring in electronic devices, such as integrated circuit structures. The aluminum or aluminum alloys are used to form the electrical connections between active and/or passive devices of the integrated circuit structures. For example, in fabricating a metallization structure, it has been the practice to use aluminum or an alloy thereof electrically connected to an underlying substrate, such as silicon. Although the aluminum and silicon are electrically connected together, the practice is to use intermediate electrically conducted layers interposed between the silicon and aluminum to provide better electrical connection to the silicon and to provide a physical barrier between the silicon and aluminum. This is for the purpose of preventing electromigration and spiking of the aluminum into the silicon, since migration of aluminum atoms into the underlying silicon can interfere with the performance and reliability of the resulting integrated circuit structure.
In addition to electromigration, the problem of hillock growth also occurs. These problems are especially pronounced at the submicron level. Further, as the demand increased for scaling down the dimensions of the interconnection lines and for increasing the current density, minimizing electromigration and hillock growth, improving functional yield was accomplished by alloying Cu in amounts of >2 weight-percent (wt %) to form AlCu lines. However, as the linewidth decreases, Cu defects become more critical to functional yield in AlCu RIE lines when performing blanket metal deposition followed by RIE when fabricating micro electronic devices—such that even when Cu is present in an amount of 0.5 wt %, excessive metal shorting occurs.
IBM Journal of Research and Development Vol. 39, No. 4, Jul. 19, 1995, pg. 4 disclose the use of AlCu alloy wiring innovation for enhancing reliability. Enhancing reliability included alleviating electromigration associated with AlSi metallurgy. Reliability is further enhanced by the use of thin layers of refractory metals, including the use of Ti, above and below the AlCu alloy layers. The refractory metals reduce contact resistance and provide an immobile redundant layer capable of shunting currents over small voids, thereby improving electromigration and stress-migration resistance.
A process of fabricating a metallization structure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,943,601. The process comprises:                depositing onto a substrate a first layer of titanium having a thickness of about 90 to 110 angstroms; and then depositing a layer of aluminum and/or an aluminum alloy whereby the layer of aluminum and/or aluminum alloy is in electrical contact with the layer of the group IVA metal. The process of the present invention provides a metallization structure that exhibits enhanced electromigration characteristics along with being highly textured and being free of hillocks.
The process may use AlCu.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,291,336 B1 disclose the use of AlCu metal deposition for robust RC via performance. The method deposits a metal layer on a semiconductor substrate, and comprises:
providing a silicon substrate having a first metal layer;
depositing an insulating layer over the metal layer;
forming via holes in the insulating layer;
performing a sputter etch cleaning of the via holes;
depositing a barrier layer in the via holes;
depositing a film of second metal over the barrier layer, wherein the second metal is aluminum copper alloy, wherein the second metal is deposited at a temperature between about 40° C. to 80° C., and wherein the thickness of the second metal is between about 6,000 to 6,600 Å; and
depositing an anti-reflective coating onto said film of metal.
L. A. Clevenger et al. in Interconnect Technology, 1999. IEEE International Conference, pgs. 29-31 disclose a process window for a Al(Cu) deposition temperature for a 0.2 /spl μ/m wide, 0.44 /spl μ/m pitch, Al RIE interconnection used in a 256 Mbit DRAM. While surface roughness and Al texture degrade slightly with increasing deposition temperature, other properties like RIE etchability, /spl Theta/-Al2Cu precipitate distribution and texture, sheet resistance and opens/shorts yield either improve or are unaffected as the Al deposition temperature is increased. All of these parameters combine to suggest a wide process window for Al deposition temperature for 0.2 /spl μ/m Al RIE interconnections.
T. Kwok in Reliability Physics Symposium 1988. 26th Annual Proceedings., International, pgs. 185-191 disclose the dependence of electromigration lifetime on the metal line geometry in Al—Cu of electromigration lifetime on the metal line geometry in Al—Cu submicron lines. The results indicated that as the linewidth decreases, the lifetime initially decreases and then increases below a crucial width. The lifetime also decreases with increasing film thickness. Those Al—Cu submicron lines with linewidth comparable to or smaller than film thickness have a longer electromigration lifetime than other Al—Cu fine lines. The effect of line length on electromigration lifetime was found to be small.
There is a need when utilizing AlCu metallization schemes for blanket metal deposition layers subjected to reactive ion etchings, to lessen or eliminate poor functional yield, poor process window and numerous Cu rich defects during microelectronic fabrication.

Low Cu percentages for reducing shorts in AlCu lines

International Business Machines Corporation


A pouch for dispensing a beverage. The pouch includes a pair of opposing walls with a first half and a second half. A valve is inserted within one of the walls at the first half of the pouch. The valve is configured to be operable with a beverage dispenser. The pouch also includes various elements for hanging the pouch by its second half such that the pouch may be hung and dispense the beverage through the valve.

The present invention relates to fluid pouches and more particularly relates to pouches intended for small amounts of a beverage, such as syrups or concentrates, and a method for the delivery and the use of these pouches.
Various types of plastic pouches have long been used in the beverage industry to deliver liquids such as syrups or concentrates for carbonated soft drinks, juices, sports drinks, and similar types of beverages. The most common design for the delivery and use of such beverages is a xe2x80x9cbag-in-boxxe2x80x9d package. As the name implies, a bag-in-box package usually includes a pouch positioned within a corrugated box. The pouch is usually a single or a multi-ply thermoplastic bag with a spout and an internal dip strip. The pouch is formed with the internal dip strip and then filled with the beverage through the spout. The pouch generally holds about one (1) to about five (5) gallons with about five (5) gallons of syrup being a common size. A valve with an attached cap is then installed within the spout so as to seal the pouch. The pouch is then placed within the corrugated box. The box is sealed and shipped to the customer.
Upon delivery of the package to the customer, the customer opens one end of the box and attaches a suction line from the dispensing equipment to the valve of the pouch. The pouch generally stays within the box during use. The box functions to support and protect the pouch while the beverage is being drained from the pouch. Likewise, the dip strip provides a liquid pathway within the pouch. The dip strip prevents the pouch from falling upon itself and cutting off access to the valve. Examples of known bag-in-box designs include commonly owned U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,893,732; 4,998,990; and 5,147,071, all entitled xe2x80x9cCollapsible Bag With Evacuation Pathway And Method For Making The Samexe2x80x9d. The disclosures of these patents are incorporated herein by reference.
One drawback with the known bag-in-box package designs is that most packages are simply too big for lower volume customers. The customer may not be able to consume all of the beverage in the package before the recommended expiration date. As a result, some of the beverage may be wasted. Likewise, the total cost of the typical beverage delivered in a bag-in-box package may be too expensive for a lower volume customer. This expense may be related to the cost of the beverage itself, the cost of the bag-in-box package, or the cost of delivering the package to the customer. It may not make economic sense for such a customer to purchase a beverage in a bag-in-box format if the beverage will not be consumed in time, if the packaging costs are too high, or if the delivery costs are too high.
What is needed, therefore, is a means for the delivery and use of smaller of amounts of beverages than is currently available with conventional bag-in-box designs. The means should be able to provide beverages, such as syrups and concentrates, to lower volume customers in a practical, efficient, but inexpensive manner.
The present invention provides a pouch for dispensing a beverage. The pouch includes a pair of opposing walls with a first half and a second half. A valve is inserted within one of the walls at the first half of the pouch. The valve is configured to be operable with conventional beverage dispenser equipment. The pouch also includes various elements for hanging the pouch by its second half such that the pouch may be hung and dispense the beverage through the valve.
Specific embodiments of the present invention include the walls being substantially rectangular in shape. The walls may be made from a single or a multiple ply thermoplastic material. The material may be a linear low density polyethylene. The walls may be made from one or more sheets of material. If two sheets are used, the walls may include a first edge, a second edge, a third edge, and a fourth edge. The walls are heat-sealed along these edges. If multiple sheets are used, the sheets of material form a first edge, a second edge, third edge, and a base. The walls are heat-sealed together along these edges and the base.
The hanging elements may include a hanging hole positioned within the second half of the walls. The hanging hole may be positioned within the heat seal. The hanging hole may include a metal or plastic reinforcing layer or a connector positioned therein. The hanging elements also may include a rod seam or a hook fitment.
The method of the present invention provides for the use of a fluid pouch. The method includes the steps of inserting a valve into a first end of the pouch; forming the pouch along a first side, a second side, and a third side; filing the pouch with a fluid through a fourth side; sealing the fourth side of the pouch; delivering the pouch to a customer; hanging the pouch by a second end; and attaching a beverage dispenser line to the valve. The delivery step also may include shipping the pouch by mail or by a package delivery service. The method may further include the steps of placing one or more pouches in a delivery box before the delivery step and then removing the pouches from the delivery box after the delivery step. The method may further include the step of draining the fluid from the pouch via the valve.
A further method of the present invention provides for the use of a fluid pouch. The method includes the steps of forming the pouch from multiple sheets of material along a base, a first side, and a second side; filing the pouch with a fluid through a third side; inserting a valve into the third side of the pouch; sealing the third side of the pouch; delivering the pouch to a customer; hanging the pouch; and attaching a beverage dispenser line to the valve.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon review of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention when taken in conjunction with the drawings and the appended claims.

Process for the manufacture and delivery of small beverage pouches


Delay overhead in a memory device is eliminated.

In recent years, resistance change type memories (resistive RAMs (ReRAMs)) attract attention as a nonvolatile memory capable of rewriting data at a higher speed as compared with a NAND flash memory or the like. As a characteristic of a memory device using a ReRAM, reading from the memory device is very fast, and reading can be performed with a constant delay time after issuance of a read command (for example, see Patent Document 1). On the other hand, writing in the memory device takes more delay time than that of reading. Moreover, the delay time is not constant. This is because checking whether writing has been performed normally and rewriting a bit that has not been written normally are automatically performed within the memory device. The delay time becomes short if the writing is performed normally at one time, and the delay time becomes longer if rewriting is performed. In a memory device having such characteristics, using a control method such as referring to a signal indicating the state of the memory device after transmitting a write command and transmitting a next command after receiving a status signal indicating completion of writing (for example, see Patent Document 2).

Memory controller, memory system, and information processing system

Abstract: A command accepting unit accepts a read command requesting data reading from the memory device. A control unit selects, in accordance with a state of the memory device, one of a first mode in which a read request, requesting data reading from a memory cell array of the memory device and output of the read data, is issued to the memory device after completion of a preceding request and a second mode in which a sense request requesting data reading from the memory cell array is issued and then a data-out request requesting output of the data read by the sense request is issued to the memory device after a lapse of predetermined time from completion of the preceding request. A request issuing unit issues a request to the memory device in accordance with the first or the second mode selected by the control unit.


A cooking system includes a first cooking apparatus including a first base and a first upper heating unit. The first base has a first lower heating plate and the first upper heating unit has a first upper heating plate. The first upper heating unit is moveable to bring the first upper heating plate towards the first lower heating plate. The first base includes a mounting surface configured to receive a plurality of interchangeable lower heating plates including the first lower heating plate and the first upper heating plate is one of a plurality of interchangeable upper heating plates.

Embodiments of the invention relate to a cooking apparatus, and in particular to a cooking apparatus having modular cooking surfaces or cooking unit.
Grills for cooking apply heat from a lower heating plate and from an upper heating plate to opposite sides of a food item to decrease cook times and to cook food evenly. In conventional systems, only one type of cooking may be performed on a cooking surface, which may limit the types of food or cooking styles that may be used.

Cooking apparatus with modular cooking surfaces