The present invention discloses a new information reading apparatus which employs a CIS module for reading the image information from a sheet. The invention is characterized by using a single guiding device for guiding and supporting a CIS carriage in balance while contacting tightly with the bottom surface side of the sheet table. Since the space between the CIS module and the sheet table can be controlled this way, we can assure the sheet in focus. Consequently, the picture quality of the images generated by the CIS scanner can be improved.

A. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a flatbed scanner having a contact image sensor, especially to a flatbed scanner using only a single guiding device for supporting and guiding the contact image sensor to contact tightly with the bottom surface side of the sheet table, thereby to maintain a constant light path.
B. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional flatbed scanner preferably uses a CCD line sensor for reading the image information from a sheet because the CCD line sensor can provide stable and good picture quality of images. The trade-off for using a CCD line sensor is that the size of the flatbed scanner is restricted by the light path required for the CCD line sensor. For this reason, the size of the flatbed scanner can hardly be reduced in a great scale even with the aid of mirror arrays to reflect the light beams.
Recently, a new approach is trying to replace a CCD line sensor with a contact image sensor contact sensor for producing low-end flatbed scanners. An advantage for this new approach is that it can save a lot of time and efforts in assembly and maintenance because a contact image sensor contact sensor is modularized. All the necessary optical elements, such as mirrors, light source and a photoelectric converting device, are included in a compact module. Thus, a contact image sensor module (hereinafter referred to as CIS module), can help to simplify the inner structure of a scanner. Moreover, a contact image sensor contact sensor is smaller and lighter than a CCD line sensor. With a contact image sensor contact sensor, the scanner can be portable with height around 30 mm. Nevertheless, this new approach did not prevail. The main reason is because the scene depth of a contact image sensor is only about 0.3 mm. Based on the structure of a conventional flatbed scanner, it is very difficult to assure the sheet remains in focus. Even a small manufacture error or structure distortion will affect the picture quality of the images.

Information reading apparatus having a contact image sensor


In order to increase the efficiency of large-capacity transmission, the continuity of divided signals generated by dividing a multiplexed signal is maintained and the original large-capacity multiplexed signal is restored. A signal dividing section divides a multiplexed signal to generate a plurality of divided signals in the STS or STM transmission interface format. A guarantee information adding section adds guarantee information for guaranteeing the continuity of the divided signals to each of the divided signals to generate transmission signals. A signal sending section sends the transmission signals via a transmission line in the transmission interface format. A signal receiving section receives the transmission signals. A signal restoring section restores the multiplexed signal by constructing the divided signals on the basis of the guarantee information.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a transmission system and, more particularly, to a transmission system for controlling the transmission of a multiplexed signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
SONET (Synchronous Optical Network)/SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy), being the nucleus of multiplexing technologies, defines communication procedures for multiplexing various communication services effectively. The standardization of SONET/SDH is stimulating its development.
In addition, in recent years data traffic has increased especially on the Internet and various communication services are needed. Therefore, it is hoped that SONET/SDH transmission systems with larger capacity will be introduced into the current backbone networks.
FIG. 20 is a view showing the structure of the format of a synchronous transport signal-1 (STS-1). An STS-1 (51.84 Mbps) is a frame being the standard unit for SONET. On the other hand, a synchronous transport module-1 (STM-1: 155.52 Mbps) is a frame being the standard unit for SDH.
The format of an STS-1 frame consists of 9 (rows)×90 (bytes). In FIG. 20, the leftmost three bytes are used as an overhead (OH) area. The remaining eighty-seven bytes less a path overhead (POH) area are a payload where actual user data will be inserted.
With SONET/SDH, multiplexing will be controlled by the use of the standardized multiplexing unit called a virtual container (VC). Multiplexing by a VC is always performed by the byte. VC's are concatenated to generate a concatenation signal. With SONET, for example, a concatenation signal with a capacity of N times the capacity of a VC is symbolized as STS-Nc.
FIG. 21 is a view showing the structure of the format of an STS-12c. An STS-12c frame is represented by a two-dimensional byte array consisting of 9 (rows)×1080 (columns). The leading 9 (rows)×36 (columns) are an OH area and the subsequent 9 (rows)×1044 (columns) are a payload where multiplexed information is stored. Four STS-3c sets, CH1 through CH4, are multiplexed in this payload portion.
Byte H1 is located in column 1 to column 12 of a pointer in row 4 and byte H2 is located in column 13 to column 24 of the pointer in row 4. Bits 7 and 8 of byte H1 and 8 bits of byte H2 form a 10-bit pointer.
Bits 1 through 4 (4 bits) of byte H1 are a new data flag (NDF). With NDF, the value of a 10-bit pointer will be changed according to a change in the payload. For example, when there is no need to change the value of this pointer, NDF is represented by the code "0110." When the value of this pointer is changed, NDF is represented by the reverse code "1001."
However, an NDF for a subsidiary channel is "1001" (constant). A subsidiary channel of a concatenation signal is indicated by a combination of this NDF and a pointer value.
Usually the value of a 10-bit pointer for a leading channel is a number between 0 and 782. On the other hand, the bits of a 10-bit pointer for a subsidiary channel of a concatenation signal are all "1." A combination of the NDF ("1001") and the 10-bit pointer ("1111111111") indicates that it is a subsidiary channel. For example, an STS-12c consists of four channels. Therefore, the value of a 10-bit pointer for channel 1 is a number between 0 and 782. Channels 2, 3, and 4 are subsidiary to channel 1, so the bits of 10-bit pointers for them are all "1."
Generating and transmitting such a concatenation signal enables large-capacity transmission which cannot be realized by a single container.
The provision of new services, however, will need large-capacity systems. In that case, an increase in system capacity should be realized not only by extending conventional multiplex transmission systems described above but also by making effective use of the existing network systems. That is to say, it is important to minimize the extensions.
When concatenation signals, such as STS-192c's (9.953280 Gbps), are transmitted, a new high-speed transmission line and the like dedicated to STS-192c's should not be laid. If there is a transmission line on which the bit rate is limited, these large-capacity signals should be transmitted by making effective use of this transmission line.


An optical waveguide device including a package housing having an element mounting surface, an element inserting groove opening to the element mounting surface, and a cutout as a space opening to an inner surface of the element inserting groove; and an optical waveguide element having a dielectric substrate, an optical waveguide formed in a surface of the dielectric substrate, and an electrode formed over the surface of the dielectric substrate, the optical waveguide element being inserted and fixed in the element inserting groove of the package housing by using an adhesive. The cutout opens also to the element mounting surface. In applying the adhesive to the bottom surface of the element inserting groove and inserting the optical waveguide element into the element inserting groove, the adhesive flows into the cutout and is prevented from flowing up to the element mounting surface. Further, a working space for application of the adhesive to the bottom surface of the element inserting groove can be ensured by the cutout.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical waveguide device including an optical waveguide element having an optical waveguide formed in the surface of a dielectric substrate, and a package housing accommodating the optical waveguide element.
2. Description of the Related Art
An optical waveguide element having an optical waveguide formed in the surface of a dielectric crystal substrate of lithium niobate (LiNbO.sub.3), for example, by thermal diffusion of titanium (Ti) or its oxide, for example, has features including low loss, wide band, and mass productivity using a planar technique, and has been widely researched and developed to become practical. In particular, attention is focused on a Mach-Zehnder (branch interference type) modulator chip owing to its high-speed performance, which is configured by forming an optical waveguide and a plurality electrodes on a dielectric crystal substrate. By controlling a voltage to be applied to the electrodes, the refractive index of the optical waveguide is adjusted to thereby perform a switching operation and a modulating operation.
The Mach-Zehnder modulator chip is configured by forming an optical waveguide consisting of a pair of arm portions connected together at their opposite ends in the surface of a dielectric substrate formed of a Z-cut lithium niobate crystal, forming a buffer layer of SiO.sub.2 on the optical waveguide, and forming a plurality of metal electrodes (signal electrode and ground electrode) so as to correspond to the optical waveguide. The optical waveguide is formed by thermal diffusion of titanium into the surface of the dielectric substrate to thereby increase the refractive index.
Light entering the optical waveguide from its one end is branched into two beams to reach the pair of arm portions of the optical waveguide. At this time, a drive voltage is applied to one of the electrodes, so that a phase difference is produced between the two beams in the two arm portions by the electro-optical effect (the directions of electric fields at the two arm portions are opposite to each other, so that the refractive indices of the two arm portions change in opposite directions). These two beams are combined into one beam at the other end of the optical waveguide, and this beam is taken out as an optical signal output. By applying the drive voltage so that the phase difference between the two beams becomes zero or .pi., an ON-OFF digital signal, for example, can be obtained.
The modulator chip as mentioned above is formed in the shape of elongated rectangular rod having dimensions of about 1.times.1.times.60 (mm), for example, and it is accommodated in a package housing formed of metal for the purposes of connection with an optical fiber of the like and protection, thus configuring an optical waveguide device. The package housing has an element mounting surface having a grounding portion to be connected to the ground electrode of the modulator chip. An element inserting groove slightly larger in size than the optical waveguide element is formed on the element mounting surface.
The optical waveguide element is fixed to the package housing by applying an adhesive to the inner surface (bottom surface) of the element inserting groove with an adhesive applicator rod and thereafter inserting the optical waveguide element into the element inserting groove. Thereafter, the ground electrode of the optical waveguide element and the grounding portion of the element mounting surface are electrically connected together by ribbon (wire) bonding. Further, the signal electrode of the optical waveguide element is electrically connected to a voltage applying terminal insulated from the package housing.
In the conventional optical waveguide device as mentioned above, the element inserting groove formed on the element mounting surface of the package housing is very thin (narrow) as having a width of about 1 mm and a depth of about 1 mm. Accordingly, the work of applying the adhesive is very difficult to carry out, so that there is a possibility that the adhesive may be applied in an excess amount or may be erroneously applied also to the side surface of the element inserting groove or other portions. Further, a gap between the opposed side surfaces of the optical waveguide element and the element inserting groove is narrow. Accordingly, in the case of erroneous application of the adhesive to the side surface of the element inserting groove or application of the adhesive in an excess amount as mentioned above, the adhesive may rise in this gap by capillarity to reach the element mounting surface, causing adverse effects on characteristics (high-frequency characteristics), reliability, and bonding ability of the optical waveguide element.


Provided herein are systems and methods for containing a viscous material, such as a coolant, on a roll and/or a roll processed engineering material (e.g., a metal strip). In particular, a viscous material containment system can include a movable seal and a gas delivery device. A method for cooling a roll can include applying a viscous material, such as a coolant, to the roll and containing the viscous material on the roll using the viscous material containment system. In some cases, the viscous material containment system can be used to facilitate removal of the viscous material from the roll and/or the roll processed engineering material.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Existing roll processing methods can use a wiper to contain a viscous material (e.g., a coolant, a lubricant, a pretreatment, a cleaner, or the like, or any combination thereof) applied to a surface (e.g., a surface of a roll (a work roll, a backup roll, or an intermediate roll) and/or a roll processed engineering material (e.g., a metal article or a polymer film)) during and/or after processing steps performed at elevated temperatures (e.g., hot rolling, cold rolling, and/or warm rolling). In some cases, the wiper is in constant contact with the roll surface, risking collection of debris which can damage the roll and/or the roll processed engineering material surface. Additionally, a vacuum system can be employed to remove viscous materials from, for example, the roll and/or the roll processed engineering material after cooling. Vacuuming uncontained viscous materials can be ineffective at removing viscous materials from the roll and/or roll processed engineering material, particularly when processing is stopped and/or reversed.

Systems and methods for containing viscous materials in roll processing


The invention presented is a chain drive sprocket assembly designed to capture lubricating oil from the engine sump or case and distribute the oil throughout the assembly including over the bearings. The invention provides a unique accumulator channel to capture dripping and splashing oil and exit ports with reduced pressure that enable the oil to be drawn through the bearing space and out the assembly, providing for continuous circulation of oil through the assembly.

Chain drives are used in association with vehicle engines to drive such ancillary components as valve lifters. Often, chain drive assemblies are designed to capture dripping and/or splashing oil from the engine oil sump for lubrication of those assemblies. However, where splash or drips from the engine sump are insufficient and/or where bearings are too far away from the engine, the bearings may be deprived of adequate lubricating oil. In addition, the structure of the chain drive assembly or the presence of assembly components such as seals or assembly retention features may block oil from reaching the bearings.
Pump systems, either separate pumps used with the chain drive assemblies or those diverting oil from the engine pump to the chain drive assembly may be used to provide the necessary quantity of oil to the assembly. However, these systems add to the overall cost of the vehicle and can increase the complexity of the design, e.g. in fitting additional components into the engine compartment.
Thus, there is a need in the field to provide an inexpensive method and apparatus to adequately lubricate chain drive sprocket assemblies used with engines in vehicles.

Idler sprocket lubrication assembly and method


A self-tanning cosmetic product is provided for imparting a natural-appearing tan to skin. Besides the self-tanning agent, compositions of this invention will include a crosslinked non-emulsifying siloxane elastomer and a volatile siloxane.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a cosmetic composition which rapidly imparts a tan similar in color to a natural suntan onto the skin.
2. The Related Art
Today there is a great health concern with natural tanning through sunlight. Ultraviolet radiation from the sun is considered to be a leading factor in causing skin cancer. Even if not lethal, ultraviolet radiation has been acknowledged as accelerating aging and wrinkling processes on the skin.
Beyond health concerns, there are obvious practical reasons against natural tanning. Foremost is the reason that in many areas of the globe and during all but summertime, there is insufficient sunlight available to accomplish a natural tan.
Based on the above considerations, there has been much interest in effectuating a tan through cosmetic means. Dihydroxyacetone (hereinafter known as DHA) has widely been utilized in cosmetics to accomplish self-tanning of the skin.
Although there has been great progress in self-tanning compositions, considerable further progress is needed to increase speed of coloration and achieve a coloration even closer to a natural tan.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and composition for self-tanning having improved rates of coloration, reduced streaking and imparting a more natural hue.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method and composition for self-tanning which utilizes ingredients that impart good aesthetics and have an impeccable health safety profile.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a self-tanning composition which in emulsion form is stable for long term storage without phase separation.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a composition for self-tanning which in emulsion form achieves a smooth emulsion break when rubbed into the skin.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a composition for self-tanning which has improved skinfeel properties.
These and other objects of the present invention will become more readily apparent through the following summary, detailed discussion and Examples which follow.

Chesebrough-Pond's USA Co., Division of Conopco, Inc.


A method and system for identifying whether an electronic communication is likely to be unwanted by the recipient is provided. A trust system relies on a trust provider, such as a sending domain, to indicate whether an electronic communication is likely to be unwanted. The sending domain may assign its trust level to the electronic communications based on various factors. Upon receiving the electronic communication and the trust level assigned by the sending domain, the receiving domain may determine whether to forward the electronic communication to the recipient based on the trust level. If a sending domain consistently provides trust levels that are accurate assessments of whether electronic communications are unwanted, then the receiving domain learns to trust the trust levels assigned by the sending domain. In contrast, if the assigned trust levels are not accurate, then the receiving domain learns not to trust the sending domain and may discard all message from the receiving domain without forwarding them to the recipients.

Electronic communications, such as electronic mail messages and instant messages, are increasingly being used for both business and personal uses. Electronic communications have many advantages over nonelectronic communications, such as postal mail. These advantages include low cost, rapid delivery, ease of storage, and so on. Because of these advantages, electronic communications have resulted in many benefits including increased worker productivity, more informed decision making, and so on. These benefits, however, are currently being limited because of the vast number of unwanted electronic communications, also known as "junk mail" or "spam," that are being sent via the Internet.
Because of the advantages of low cost and rapid delivery, many organizations use electronic communications to advertise by sending electronic communications that most recipients do not want to receive. For example, a mortgage company may purchase a list of electronic mail addresses and send an electronic mail message containing an advertisement for the mortgage company to each electronic mail address. Since the cost of sending each electronic mail message is extremely small, an organization can cost effectively send thousands and even millions of electronic mail messages containing their advertisements. Even if only a small fraction of a percent of the recipients respond to the advertisement, the benefits to the organization may outweigh the small cost of sending the electronic mail messages.
Because many organizations send advertisements via electronic mail messages, it is not uncommon for a person to receive many unwanted electronic mail messages a day. People receiving such unwanted electronic mail messages typically find them annoying. Indeed, their productivity can decrease significantly as they separate the unwanted from the wanted electronic mail messages. Unwanted electronic mail messages may also cause a person's inbox to become full and may make it difficult to locate and identify wanted electronic mail messages.
Various techniques have been developed to combat unwanted electronic mail messages. For example, some electronic mail systems allow a user to create a black list of unwanted electronic mail senders. When an electronic mail message is received from a sender on the black list, the electronic mail system may automatically discard the unwanted electronic mail message or may automatically store the unwanted electronic mail message in a special folder. When an unwanted mail message is received from a sender who is not currently on the black list, the recipient can indicate to add that sender to the black list. As another example, some electronic mail systems may allow the recipient to specify a white list of allowed senders. If an electronic mail message is received from a sender who is not on the white list, then the electronic mail system may automatically discard or otherwise specially handle such an electronic mail message.
Instant messaging systems also have problems with unwanted instant message requests that, in some respects, could be more problematic than the problems associated with unwanted electronic mail. In particular, because instant messaging to be effective requires that a person's attention will be directed to an instant message as it is received, when an unwanted instant message request is received, that person's attention is unnecessarily distracted by an unwanted instant message request. The unwanted instant message request may be a request to obtain presence information of the recipient, to invite the recipient to join in an instant messaging session with the sender of the request, and so on. Since electronic mail systems do not require such attention of the recipient, unwanted messages can present more problems to instant messaging systems than to electronic mail systems.
The problems resulting from unwanted instant message requests have not been particularly significant because instant messaging systems have traditionally been restricted to a single domain. Such instant messaging systems could prohibit instant message requests from outside the domain and could control unwanted instant message requests from originating within the domain. For example, if the domain comprises the computer systems of a company, then the management of the company could take action against an employee who sends unwanted instant message requests.
It is anticipated, however, that inter-domain instant messaging will increase. As a result, instant messaging users will likely receive unwanted instant message requests from outside their domain. It would be desirable to have a way to identify whether communications, such as instant message requests and electronic mail messages, sent from other domains are likely to be unwanted by the recipient.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system for evaluating confidence in a sending domain to accurately assign a trust that a communication is not unwanted


A chip stack structure taking a wafer as a stacking base and stacking chips thereon is provided. The chip stack structure is capable of achieving high density electrode bonding and breaking the bottleneck of requiring interposer to serve as a transferring interface in three dimensional chip package. The chip stack structure is easily fabricated and compatible with wafer level process, so as to reduce processing time and manufacturing cost. A method for fabricating the chip stack structure is also provided.

With advancement of information technology, electronic product designs reveal a trend of light weight, thinness and compactness. Three dimensional integration techniques promote high density chip package in high efficiency and low power consumption. For instance, to the portable electronic devices with the characteristic of multi-function or small size, such as solid state drives (SSD) or DRAMs, processing performance thereof can be improved, and power consumption of chips during operation can be reduced without altering I/O terminals, so as to satisfy the demand of high capacity, high efficiency, and high density of I/O terminals.
The three dimensional chip integration techniques include the fabrication of through silicon via (TSV) and micro bumps, and steps of wafer thinning, alignment, bonding and dispensing. However, the existing bonding process, such as the chip-to-wafer (COW) bonding process, still suffers from some outstanding bottlenecks. For example, the high temperature of bonding process may cause high residual stress. Small scribe line in high density chip package is unfavorable for performing dispensing process. In addition, a molding process is conducted to a chip stack module following the dispensing process. However, after the molding process, since the chip stack module is provided by stacking a chip to a wafer temporarily attached to a carrier via an adhesive, part of the adhesive may not be completely removed and remain on bumps at the bottom of the wafer when debonding the wafer from the carrier, which affects processing yields. Furthermore, the bonding interface between the chip stack module and an external interposer or circuit substrate is fragile and affects the reliability of products.

Chip stack structure and method for fabricating the same

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A bipode joint for small articulation angles and high torque transmission has a first joint part (1) and a second joint part (23). Two rollers (7, 8) are rotatably supported on arms (3) of the first joint part (1). The rollers (7, 8) engage apertures (27) which extend from a cavity (24) to the outer face of the second joint part (23). To assemble the first joint part (1) with arms (3), recesses (32) are provided which enable the first joint part (1) to be threaded in. Thus, it is possible to associate the running faces which cooperate with the rollers (7, 8) with the apertures in the second joint part, thus, overall achieving a stable embodiment for high torque transmission.

The invention relates to a bipode joint with a first joint part which defines a first longitudinal axis. Two arms extend from the first joint part at a right angle relative to the first longitudinal axis. The axes are positioned in a plane containing the first longitudinal axis. Rollers are supported on the arms. A second joint part has a second longitudinal axis and includes a central cavity to accommodate the first joint part. The second joint part has two opposed tracks which are open towards the cavity and extend parallel to the second longitudinal axis. The first joint part includes a first connecting means and the second joint part a second connecting means.
A bipode joint is illustrated, for example, in the book by F. Schmelz, H.-Ch. Graf von Seherr-Thoss and E. Aucktor "Gelenke und Gelenkwellen" (Joints and jointed shafts"), Konstruktionsbucher, Volume 36, published by Professor Dr.-Ing. G. Pahl, Springer-Verlag 1988, page 152, FIG. 4.35. In this embodiment, the rollers have a spherical surface whose diameter is centered on the arm axis. The tracks are cylindrical. The arms are associated with sliding blocks to provide support in the direction of the arm axis on the second joint part. The blocks outer face is spherical and, together with one arm, are inserted into bores in the end faces of the arms. The second joint part is open at its end face, thus permitting the first joint part, together with the arms, rollers and sliding blocks, to be slid into the second joint part from the end face of same. This design leads to a relatively large diameter with respect to the torque which it transmits.


A process for producing a fat imitator by combining a complex carbohydrate, a simple carbohydrate, a proteinaceous material, a gum or hydrocolloid polycarbohydrate and a salt. The complex carbohydrate may be a whole, dehulled cereal grain, legume seed or plant tuber. The simple carbohydrate may be a sugar solid or sugar syrup. The proteinaceous material contains a minimum protein content of 20% weight as determined by 6.25% times nitrogen content. The gum or hydrocolloid polycarbohydrate may be of vegetable, algal, animal or bacterial origin. The salt may be a sodium or potassium chloride, phosphate, acetate, citrate, lactate, gluconate, or an ammonium phosphate, acetate, citrate, lactate, gluconate or combinations of the foregoing salts.

Many products have been developed to serve as fat replacements when added to already existing foods, or as mimics or analogues of already existing foods. The purpose of such products is to produce fat and calorie-reduced food products. Rarely however do such products duplicate or imitate the appearance, taste, texture, mouthfeel and performance characteristics of existing fat containing foods.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a process for making a fat replacement ingredient the results of which are readily reproduced, which process can accommodate a wide range of compositions in order to suit each particular food application as desired.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a fat replacement ingredient which is easy to manufacture, versatile and makes possible the preparation of a dry solid food product which may be relatively instantly reconstituted with water to form a fat and calorie replacement system which can then serve as an analogue to already existing foods or may be added to already existing foods, without significantly altering the aforementioned performance characteristics of such foods.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide food analogues which are easy to manufacture, exhibit superior quality and performance characteristics, are available in a number of conveniently used forms, and which according to alteration of the processing method and the ratios of ingredients or elements employed can be engineered to meet the performance requirements of any foods to which they are intended to be added or which they are intended to replace.

Fat imitator and process for its production


A tread for a tire, this tread having a tread surface intended to come into contact with a road surface and comprising at least one groove of width W and of depth P delimited by two walls facing one another, these walls being joined together by a groove bottom, at least one groove comprising at least one flexible device for at least partially closing this groove as it passes through the contact patch, each flexible device comprising at least one blade of a suitable thickness that allows it to flex under the effect of a circulation of liquid, this blade being borne by a wall delimiting the groove, each blade of thickness E being bounded by a bottom wall facing the bottom of the groove, an end wall facing the other wall of the groove and a contact wall intended to come into contact with the road surface and lateral walls spaced apart by a distance equal to the thickness E of the blade, this tread being such that the bottom wall of the blade comprises a first part referred to as connection part and a second part extending the first part up to the end part of the blade, the connection part being offset towards the outside of the tread with respect to the second part of the bottom wall of the blade so as to form a notch.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to tire treads and more particularly to treads comprising grooves comprising flexible devices for reducing the noise generated by air going into resonance in these grooves during driving.
2. Description of Related Art
It is known that as a tire that is running comes into contact with a road surface air is made to circulate in a pipe formed by a groove notably a groove of circumferential overall orientation, and the road surface itself, this pipe being open at both ends.
The air in this pipe forms a vibrating air column the resonant frequency of which is dependent on the length between the two ends of the pipe and therefore on the length of groove in contact with the road surface.
This resonance of the air in the grooves has the result of generating, in a vehicle fitted with these tires, a noise inside the vehicle and a noise outside the vehicle.
These inside and outside noises usually correspond to a frequency of 1 kHz or thereabouts, which is a frequency to which the human ear is particularly sensitive. In order to reduce such resonant noise it is known practice to arrange, in each circumferentially oriented or generally circumferentially oriented groove, a plurality of relatively thin closure membranes or blades made of a rubbery material, each closure membrane or blade occupying the entire cross section of the groove or at least a large proportion of this cross section. Each closure membrane may extend from the bottom of the groove or may be fixed to at least one of the walls delimiting the said groove. Relatively thin here means that each closure membrane is able to flex in order to open the cross section of the groove under a flow of liquid notably during wet-weather driving.
Thanks to these closure membranes, the length of the column of air in each circumferential groove is reduced by comparison with the total length of groove in the contact patch, and this leads to a change in the resonant frequency. The frequency is shifted towards resonant frequency values to which the human ear is less sensitive.
Of course, in order to maintain the water clearing function, when driving on a wet road surface, it is necessary for this membrane to be able to flex appropriately under the action of the pressure of the water and thus open the cross section of the groove. Various solutions of this type for reducing the resonance of the air column vibrating in the grooves have been proposed.
One approach is, for example, described in patent documents FR2715891, JP3-276802, JP08-150812, and JP4-221807.
One of the problems encountered with this type of blade fixed to the walls of the groove is the difficulty in achieving fullest closing-off of the cross section of the groove in order to reduce or even eliminate resonance of air in the groove while at the same time making these blades easy to mould and to release from the mould.
Definitions:
The tread surface of a tread corresponds to the surface that comes into contact with the ground when a tire fitted with such a tread is being driven on.
A groove corresponds to a space formed in a tread, the space being delimited by walls of material, these walls being joined together by a groove bottom distant from the tread surface by a distance equal to the depth of the groove. The groove bottom corresponds to that part of the groove that is situated radially underneath the tire wear indicator that indicates the minimum tread depth beyond which the tire tread no longer meets the legal requirements for use.
A block is a raised element formed on a tread, this element being delimited by voids or grooves and comprising lateral walls and a contact face, the latter—which is intended to come into contact with the road surface during driving, forming part of the tread surface of the tread.
A rib is a raised element formed on a tread, this element being delimited by two grooves. A rib comprises two lateral walls and a contact face, the latter being intended to come into contact with the road surface.
A radial direction means a direction perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the tire (this direction corresponds to the direction of the thickness of the tread).
An axial direction means a direction parallel to the axis of rotation of the tire.
A circumferential direction means a direction which is tangential to any circle centred on the axis of rotation. This direction is perpendicular both to the axial direction and to a radial direction.

Resonant-noise suppressor device for tire

COMPAGNIE GENERALE DES ETABLISSEMENTS MICHELIN


A bipolar transistor including a semiconductor layer formed on a semiconductor substrate; a base region formed at an upper portion of the semiconductor layer; a graft base region formed at the upper portion of the semiconductor layer so as to connect with a periphery of the base region; an emitter region formed at an upper portion of the base region; an offset insulating film formed on the base region around the emitter region; a collector buried region formed in the semiconductor layer below the base region; a collector drawn region formed in the semiconductor layer so as to connect with the collector buried region and be arranged on the side of the base region adjacent to an element isolating region; an emitter electrode formed on the offset insulating film so as to connect with the emitter region; an emitter insulating film formed so as to cover the emitter electrode; a base electrode formed so as to connect with the graft base region and contact with the emitter insulating film; and a collector electrode formed so as to connect with the collector drawn region.

The present invention relates to a bipolar transistor and a Bi-CMOS device including the bipolar transistor, and also relates to a manufacturing method for the bipolar transistor and the Bi-CMOS device.
There have been demanded large scale and high performance of LSIs. In particular, Bi-CMOS devices are remarkable since they have the advantage of CMOS transistors such as high integration and low power consumption and the advantage of bipolar transistors such as high-speed operation.
Such Bi-CMOS devices have a composite element structure of CMOS transistors and bipolar transistors. In general, a manufacturing method for a Bi-CMOS device is complex with many steps to cause a high manufacturing cost.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a bipolar transistor to be formed in a manufacturing process for a CMOS transistor in a Bi-CMOS device in the prior art.
Referring to FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 designates a semiconductor substrate such as a p-type monocrystal silicon substrate, and reference numeral 2 designates a semiconductor layer formed at an upper portion of the semiconductor substrate. The semiconductor layer 2 is formed as an n.sup.+ epitaxial growth layer.
An n.sup.+ collector buried region 3 is formed in the semiconductor layer 2 and the semiconductor substrate 1.
A p-type base region 4 is formed at an upper portion of the semiconductor layer 2 above the n.sup.+ collector buried region 3. An n.sup.+ emitter region 5 is formed at an upper portion of the p-type base region 4. A p.sup.+ graft base region 6 is formed at the upper portion of the semiconductor layer 2 so as to connect with a periphery of the p-type base region 4.
An element isolating region 7 is formed in the semiconductor layer 2, and an n.sup.+ collector drawn region 8 is formed in the semiconductor layer 2 so as to connect with the n.sup.+ collector buried region 3 and be arranged on the side of the p-type base region 4 adjacent to the element isolating region 7.
A base electrode 9, emitter electrode 10 and collector electrode 11 are formed on the p.sup.+ graft base region 8, the n.sup.+ emitter region 5 and the n.sup.+ collector drawn region 8 of the semiconductor layer 2, respectively.
An offset insulating film 12 is formed on the p-type base region 4 around the n.sup.+ emitter region 5. An emitter side wall insulating film 13 is formed on a side wall of the emitter electrode 10 so as to connect with the offset insulating film 12.
A manufacturing method for the NPN bipolar transistor shown in FIG. 1 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 2A to 2C.
In the first step shown in FIG. 2A, an n.sup.+ collector buried region 3 is formed in an upper layer of a semiconductor substrate 1 such as a p-type monocrystal silicon substrate by an ion implantation process. Then, a semiconductor layer 2 such as an n-type epitaxial growth layer is formed on an upper surface of the semiconductor substrate 1 by an epitaxial growth process.
Then, a plurality of element isolating regions 7, 14 and 15 are formed at an upper portion of the semiconductor layer 2 by a LOCOS process.
Then, upper surfaces of the element isolating regions 7, 14 and 15 and the semiconductor layer 2 are flattened by an etch-back process.
Then, a first insulating film 16 is formed on the upper surface of the semiconductor layer 2 by a thermal oxidation process.
Then, a first polysilicon film 17 is formed on the entire upper surface of the semiconductor layer 2 so as to cover the first insulating film 16 and the element isolating regions 7, 14 and 15 by a CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) process.
Then, a portion (shown by a two-dot chain line) of the first polysilicon film 17 is removed by a photolithography and etching process to form a mask pattern 18 as the remaining portion of the first polysilicon film 17.
Then, a portion (shown by a one-dot chain line) of the first insulating film 16 is removed by an RIE (Reactive Ion Etching) process using the mask pattern 18 as an etching mask, thereby forming an offset insulating film 12 as the remaining portion of the first insulating film 16 on a base forming region 20 around an emitter forming region 19.
In the second step shown in FIG. 2B, a second polysilicon film 21 is formed on the entire upper surface of the semiconductor layer 2 so as to cover the mask pattern 18 by a CVD process. Then, a portion (shown by a one-dot chain line) of the second polysilicon film 21 and a portion (shown by a dashed line) of the mask pattern 18 are removed by a photolithography and RIE process to form a base electrode 9, an emitter electrode 10 and a collector electrode 11 as the remaining portion of the second polysilicon film 21.
Then, an n.sup.+ collector drawn region 8 is formed at the upper portion of the semiconductor layer 2 between the element isolating regions 7 and 15 so as to connect with the n.sup.+ collector buried region 3 by an ion implantation process.
In the third step shown in FIG. 2C, a second insulating film 22 such as a silicon oxide film is formed on the entire upper surface of the semiconductor layer 2 so as to cover the electrodes 8, 10 and 11 by a CVD process.
Then, a portion (shown by a two-dot chain line) of the second insulating film 22 is removed by an etch-back process to form an emitter side wall insulating film 13 on a side wall of the emitter electrode 10.
Then, boron ions are implanted into the upper portion of the semiconductor layer 2 by an ion implantation process to form a p.sup.+ graft base region 6 on the opposite sides of the base forming region 20.
Then, boron ions are implanted into the emitter electrode 10 by an ion implantation process, and then the boron ions in the emitter electrode 10 are diffused into the base forming region 20 by an impurity diffusion process to form a p-type base region 4 connected with the p.sup.+ graft base region 6.
Then, arsenic ions are implanted into the emitter electrode 10 by an ion implantation process, and then the arsenic ions in the emitter electrode 10 are diffused into an upper portion of the p-type base region 4 by an impurity diffusion process to form an n.sup.+ emitter region 5.
In this manner, the NPN bipolar transistor shown in FIG. 1 is manufactured.
In the prior art bipolar transistor mentioned above, however, a distance between the base electrode 9 and the emitter electrode 10 is decided by a resolution in the photolithography process. Accordingly, in order to obtain a sufficient resolution in the photolithography process, a sufficient distance W between the emitter electrode 10 and a base contact portion 24 must be defined. Even in the case of a photolithography process using an excimer laser, the distance W becomes about 0.25-0.3 .mu.m.
Accordingly, the bipolar transistor cannot be sufficiently reduced in size. As a result, a collector--base parasitic capacitance and a collector saturation parasitic capacitance cannot be reduced to cause a reduction of a cut-off frequency and an elongation of a delay time. Accordingly, electrical characteristics of the bipolar transistor is reduced.
FIG. 3 shows an example of a Bi-CMOS device in the prior art.
Referring to FIG. 3, the Bi-CMOS device includes a p-type semiconductor substrate 31, n.sup.+ buried layer 32, n-type epitaxial growth layer 33, p-type well 34p of an n-type MOS transistor, n-type well 34n of a p-type MOS transistor, p-type isolation layer 34pi, selective oxide film 35, gate insulating film 36, gate electrodes 37 formed of polysilicon, n.sup.+ collector drawn region 38, LDD 39 of the n-type MOS transistor, gate side wall insulating film 40 formed on a side wall of each gate electrode 37, source and drain 41 of the n-type MOS transistor, emitter window opening insulating film 42, p.sup.+ base drawn region 43 selectively formed in a base region 27 formed in the n-type epitaxial growth layer 33, source and drain 44 of the p-type MOS transistor, emitter window 45 formed through the emitter window opening insulating film 42, emitter polysilicon layer 46, n.sup.+ collector electrode drawn portion 37, emitter region 48 formed by diffusing an impurity in the emitter polysilicon layer 46 to a surface portion of the base region 27, interlayer insulating film 49, contact holes 50 and 50e formed through the interlayer insulating film 49, and aluminum electrodes 26.
The Bi-CMOS device mentioned above is manufactured by forming the n.sup.+ buried region 32 at a surface portion of the p-type semiconductor substrate 31, forming the n-type epitaxial growth layer 33, forming the n-type well 34n, the p-type well 34p and the p-type isolation layer 34pi, forming the gate insulating film 36, the gate electrodes 37, the n.sup.+ collector drawn region 38, the base region 27, the LDD 39, the source and drain 44 of the n-type MOS transistor and the source and drain 41 of the p-type MOS transistor, forming the p.sup.+ base drawn region 43, entirely forming the emitter window opening insulating film 42, etching the insulating film 42 to form the emitter window 45, forming the emitter polysilicon layer 46 and patterning the same, forming the emitter region 48 by diffusion, forming the interlayer insulating film 49, forming the contact holes 50 and 50e, and forming the electrodes 26 after flattening the upper surface by reflowing.
However, the prior art Bi-CMOS device shown in FIG. 3 has the following problems.
First, an etching depth at a portion of the interlayer insulating film 49 where the emitter contact hole 50e is to be formed is different by a thickness of the emitter window opening insulating film 42 from an etching depth at another portion of the interlayer insulating film 49 where the other contact holes 50 are to be formed. Accordingly, the emitter polysilicon layer 46 is overetched to be thinned by anisotropic etching for the formation of the contact holes 50e and 50. As a result, there is a possibility that the aluminum electrode 26 to be later formed in the emitter contact hole 50e will penetrate through the emitter polysilicon layer 46, or a variation in characteristics will occur. However, if the emitter polysilicon layer 46 is not overetched, the contact holes 50 other than the emitter contact hole 50e will not be perfectly formed, so that the upper surface of the semiconductor substrate 31 cannot be exposed.
Secondly, there is a possibility that the upper surface of the base region 27 is damaged by anisotropic etching for the formation of the gate side wall insulating film 40 which is essential to obtain a MOS transistor having an LDD structure, causing an increase in leakage current in the bipolar transistor.
That is, in the stage where the gate side wall insulating film 40 is to be formed, the base region 27 of the bipolar transistor is covered with only the gate insulating film 36 formed before the formation of the gate electrodes 37. Accordingly, it cannot be avoided that the upper surface of the base region 27 is damaged by the overetching by RIE. Such damage of the upper surface of the base region 27 causes an increase in leakage current in the bipolar transistor.
Thirdly, as previously mentioned, the thicker the emitter window opening insulating film 42, the more the emitter polysilicon layer 46 must be overetched. Therefore, it is obliged to reduce the thickness of the insulating film 42. However, the reduction in the thickness of the insulating film 42 causes an increase in emitter--base parasitic capacitance to reduce a high-speed operability. That is, the emitter polysilicon layer 46 is so patterned as to fully cover the emitter window 45 and extend laterally. Such an extended portion of the emitter polysilicon layer 46 is opposed to the upper surface of the base region 27 with the emitter window opening insulating film 42 interposed therebetween. As a result, an electrostatic capacitance is generated between the extended portion and the base region 27, causing the increase in the emitter--base parasitic capacitance.
Accordingly, it is necessary to reduce the parasitic capacitance. This is effectively attained by thickening the emitter window opening insulating film 42, but the thickening of the insulating film 42 is not permitted for the above reason.
Finally, the formation of the base drawn region 43 by the ion implantation must precede the formation of the emitter region 48 by the thermal diffusion. Accordingly, it is difficult to shallow the base drawn region.
That is, if the base drawn region 43 is formed after the formation of the emitter region 48, the ion implantation for the formation of the base drawn region 43 must be performed through the emitter window opening insulating film 42, with the result that a high dose of ions to be implanted cannot be obtained. For this reason, the ion implantation for the formation of the base drawn region 43 must precede the formation of the emitter region 48.
However, since the base drawn region 43 is formed before the formation of the emitter region 48, the base drawn region 43 previously formed is diffused to be expanded by the heating in forming the emitter region 48. This causes an increase in collector--base parasitic capacitance and hinders high integration of elements.
FIG. 4 shows an example of a very high speed Bi-CMOS device in the prior art.
Referring to FIG. 4, a semiconductor layer 52 such as an n-type epitaxial growth layer is formed at an upper portion of a semiconductor substrate 51. The semiconductor layer 52 includes a plurality of element isolating regions 53, a bipolar transistor forming region 54, an n-type MOS transistor forming region 55 of a CMOS transistor, and a p-type MOS transistor forming region 56 of the CMOS transistor. The bipolar transistor forming region 54, the n-type MOS transistor forming region 55 and the p-type MOS transistor forming region 56 are isolated from each other by the element isolating regions 53.
An NPN bipolar transistor 61 is formed in the bipolar transistor forming region 54. The NPN bipolar transistor 61 has the following structure. That is, an n.sup.+ collector buried region 62 is formed at an upper portion of the semiconductor substrate 51 and a lower portion of the semiconductor layer 52. A p-type base region 63 is formed at the upper portion of the semiconductor layer 52 above the n+collector buried region 62. An n.sup.+ emitter region 64 is formed at an upper portion of the p-type base region 63. A p.sup.+ graft base region 65 is formed at the upper portion of the semiconductor layer 52 on one side of the p-type base region 63. An n.sup.+ collector drawn region 66 connected with the n.sup.+ collector buried region 62 is formed in the semiconductor layer 52 on the other side of the p-type base region 63 so as not to be connected with the p-type base region 63.
A base electrode 67, an emitter electrode 68 and a collector electrode 69 all formed from the same polysilicon film is formed on the semiconductor layer 52 so as to be connected with the p.sup.+ graft base region 65, the n.sup.+ emitter region 64 and the n.sup.+ collector drawn region 66, respectively.
Further, a first interelectrode insulating film 70A is formed between the base electrode 67 and the emitter electrode 68, and a second interelectrode insulating film 70B is formed between the emitter electrode 68 and the collector electrode 69.
On the other hand, an n-type MOS transistor 71 Is formed In the n-type MOS transistor forming region 55, and a p-type MOS transistor 81 IIs formed in the p-type MOS transistor forming region 56. Gates 71 and 82 are formed on the n-type MOS transistor 71 and the p-type MOS transistor 81 through gate insulating films 92, respectively. The gates 71 and 82 are formed from the polysilicon film forming the electrodes 67, 68 and 69 of the NPN bipolar transistor 61. A source and drain region 73 having an LDD structure is formed at the upper portion of the semiconductor layer 52 on the opposite sides of the gate 72. Similarly, a source and drain region 83 having an LDD structure is formed at the upper portion of the semiconductor layer 52 on the opposite sides of the gate 82.
The very high speed Bi-CMOS device shown in FIG. 4 is manufactured in the following manner.
In the first step, an n.sup.+ collector buried region 62 is formed at an upper portion of a semiconductor substrate 51 such as a p-type monocrystal silicon substrate by an ordinary method. Then, a semiconductor layer 52 such as an n-type epitaxial growth layer is formed on an upper surface of the semiconductor substrate 51 by an epitaxial growth process.
Then, a plurality of element isolating regions 53 are formed at an upper portion of the semiconductor layer 52 by a LOCOS process. Then, upper surfaces of the element isolating regions 53 are flattened by an etch-back process.
Then, a first insulating film is formed on an upper surface of the semiconductor layer 52 by a thermal oxidation process.
Then, a portion of the first insulating film in a bipolar transistor forming region 54 is removed by a photolithography and etching process to form gate insulating films 92 in an n-type MOS transistor forming region 55 and a p-type MOS transistor forming region 56.
In the second step, a polysilicon film is formed on the entire upper surface of the semiconductor layer 52 so as to cover the gate insulating films 92 by a CVD process.
In the third step, a predetermined portion of the polysilicon film is removed by a photolithography and etching process to form a base electrode 67, an emitter electrode 68 and a collector electrode 69 of the bipolar transistor and gates 72 and 82 of the CMOS transistor from the polysilicon film.
In the fourth step, a second insulating film such as a silicon oxide film is formed on the entire upper surface of the semiconductor layer 52 so as to cover the electrodes 67, 68 and 89 and the gates 72 and 82 by a CVD process. Then, a predetermined portion of the second polysilicon film is removed by an etch-back process to form gate side wall insulating films 74 and 84 on side walls of the gates 72 and 82, respectively, and also form a first interelectrode insulating film 70A between the base electrode 67 and the emitter electrode 68 and a second interelectrode insulating film 70B between the emitter electrode 68 and the collector electrode 69, from the second insulating film. Thus, the interelectrode insulating films 70A and 70B of the bipolar transistor and the gate side wall insulating films 74 and 84 of the CMOS transistor are commonly formed from the second insulating film.
There have not been described the step of forming a p-type base region 63, n.sup.+ emitter region 64, p.sup.+ graft base region 65 and n.sup.+ collector drawn region 66 of the NPN bipolar transistor 61, the step of forming a p-type well region 96 of the n-type MOS transistor 71, and the step of forming source and drain regions 73 and 83 of the n-type and p-type MOS transistors 71 and 81.
However, in the bipolar transistor of the Bi-CMOS device shown in FIG. 4, the emitter electrode and the gates are formed from the same polysilicon film. Accordingly, a thickness of the emitter electrode is substantially the same as that of each gate. As a result, accumulation of holes in the emitter is increased to cause an elongation of a travel time in the emitter and therefore elongate a delay time.
Further, in the above manufacturing method, the first insulating film in the CMOS transistor forming region must be covered with a resist in removing a portion of the first insulating film in the bipolar transistor forming region. Accordingly, an impurity in the resist is diffused into the first insulating film contacting the resist, causing a deterioration in quality of the gate insulating film.
Further, the interelectrode insulating film between the emitter electrode and the collector electrode of the bipolar transistor and the gate side wall insulating film of the CMOS transistor are commonly formed from the second insulating film. Accordingly, a thickness of the interelectrode insulating film is decided by a thickness of the gate side wall insulating film, so that a distance between the emitter electrode and the collector electrode cannot be enlarged. As a result, it is difficult to ensure sufficient voltage resistance between the collector and the base of the bipolar transistor. Further, voltage resistance between the emitter and the collector is also reduced.
Additionally, in the case of forming the element isolating region by deeply forming an element isolating diffusion layer, the diffusion layer is diffused laterally to result in an increase in forming area of the element isolating region. Accordingly, high integration is hindered to lower a degree of integration, and a collector--substrate parasitic capacitance is increased to lower an element performance.
Further, an element isolating method using a trench element isolating region requires a step of forming a trench, a step of burying an insulator in the trench, and a subsequent flattening step. Thus, the number of steps is largely increased to result in an increase in manufacturing cost.

Manufacturing method for bipolar transistor


A particulate polyglycolic acid resin composition suitable as a material for various forming processes in produced through a process characterized by comprising: cooling a polyglycolic acid resin composition having a residual glycolide content of at most 0.6 wt. % in a molten state by contact with an aqueous cooling medium to solidify the composition, and pelletizing the composition.

Among aliphatic polyesters considered to give little load to the natural environment due to their biodegradability or hydrolyzability, polyglycolic acid resin has a particularly extensive decomposability, is excellent in mechanical strengths such as tensile strength and in gas-barrier property when formed into a film or sheet, and is therefore expected to be used as fishery materials, such as fishing yarns, fishery nets and culturing nets, agricultural material, or various packaging (container) materials (e.g., Patent documents 1-3 listed below). However, the severe hydrolyzability of polyglycolic acid resin has frequently provided a factor of obstructing the application thereof. For example, in the case of obtaining various forms, such as filament, film and sheet, an ordinary thermoplastic resin is generally melted, cooled, solidified and pelletized to obtain a particulate forming resin material, which is then supplied for various forming processes. However, regarding the cooling step among the above-mentioned series of steps, cooling with water has been believed impossible or impractical for polyglycolic acid resin having severe hydrolyzability. This is because polyglycolic acid resin is hydrolyzed in a stage when a melt thereof is introduced into water to be cooled, thus resulting in a polyglycolic acid resin having a lower molecular weight which slows a non-ignorable degree of lowering in moisture resistance (i.e., a further lowering in molecular weight due to further hydrolysis under the condition of use thereof and an accompanying lowering in practical strength). Incidentally, Patent document 4 listed below discloses a method of crystallization of aliphatic polyesters including a polyglycolic acid resin, comprising: causing an aliphatic polyester in a solid state, a molten state or a solution state to contact a liquid including water to solidify and crystallize the aliphatic polyester, but no working example is disclosed regarding polyglycolic acid resin. For the above-mentioned reason, the cooling subsequent to melting for formation of particulate forming material of polyglycolic acid resin has been effected by air cooling (i.e., cooling by contact with air). According to the present inventors' experience, however, when a melt-extrudate (strand) of polyglycolic acid resin is solidified by air cooling, for example, the strands after solidification are distorted and, when pelletized (e.g., into cylindrical pellets) by means of a cutter, etc., provide a particulate product having a broad particle size distribution, which is inconvenient for a subsequent product forming step. Further, when the number of strands is increased in order to increase the productivity, inconveniences, such as entanglement and adhesion of the strands, are liable to occur.    Patent document 1: WO2003/037956A1    Patent document 2: JP10-60136A    Patent document 3: WO2005/072944A1    Patent document 4: JP2000-302855A

Process for producing polyglycolic acid resin composition


A method includes disposing multiple medical probes to acquire physiological data concurrently from a living body. The data is sent from the multiple medical probes by transmitting over wireless channels respective sequences of data packets that are marked with respective packet numbers. A synchronization signal that is broadcast to the multiple probes is received in the probes. In response to receiving the synchronization signal, the packet numbers that are to be assigned in the probes to subsequent data packets in the respective sequences are reset.

Some intra-body medical probes, such as cardiac catheters, transmit data over a wireless channel in order to reduce cabling. Several methods and systems for controlling such probes are known in the art. For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication 2010/0056871, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method for device control. The method includes bringing a plurality of medical devices into contact with a body of a patient. The medical devices are coupled to communicate with a console via a digital interface. A message is transmitted over the digital interface from the console, to be received simultaneously by the plurality of the medical devices. The medical devices are synchronized with one another responsively to receiving the message. In some embodiments, signals are sampled using a respective internal clock in each of the medical devices, and the medical devices are synchronized by resetting the internal clock.


This invention relates to reducing the complexity and cost of antenna arrays and is more specifically concerned with reducing the complexity of an antenna apparatus (10). It provides an antenna array (62) made up of a vertical stack of horizontal linear structures (74) each having several groups of neighboring array antenna elements (78), the groups (74) having variable numbers of the antenna elements (78) each connected to a transmit/receive module (66). The advantage of this configuration is that less communication modules (66), such as transmit/receive modules, are required to operate the antenna array (62), reducing the weight, power consumption and cost of an antenna apparatus (10) incorporating such an antenna array (62) without significantly limiting the capability and/or performance of a system compared to a conventional solution.

Phased array antennas are well known in the art but their adoption has been limited primarily due to their high cost. This is principally because, in most current implementations, each phased array antenna element is linked to a single (expensive) transmit/receive module. Some antenna configurations are known in the art which can reduce the number of modules, but these configurations typically suffer severe limitations in performance and/or functionality.


A system for analyzing signals representative of a subject's brain activity in a signal processor for information indicating the subject's current activity state and for detecting or predicting a change in the activity state. One preferred embodiment uses a method for estimating the Hurst parameter to perform real-time analysis of the electroencephalogram (EEG) or electrocorticogram (ECoG) signals from a subject patient for information indicative of or predictive of a seizure, and to complete the needed analysis at least before clinical seizure onset. The preferred system then performs an output task for prevention or abatement of the seizure, or for recording pertinent data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of neuroscience for analyzing signals representative of a subject's brain activity including but not limited to signals indicative or predictive of epileptic seizures. More particularly, the invention concerns the automated analysis of brain activity signals to detect an activity state and transitions between states.
2. Brief Glossary of Terms and Useful Definitions
As used herein, certain terms and definitions are used as follows:
ECoG is the abbreviation for electrocorticogram which is a recording of voltage potentials obtained intracranially, e.g., directly from the cortex.
EEG is the abbreviation for electroencephalogram which is a recording of voltage potentials obtained from the scalp and encompasses any recordings outside the dura mater.
EKG is the abbreviation for an electrocardiogram.
EMG is the abbreviation for an electromyogram which is a recording of electrical muscle activity.
EOG is the abbreviation for an electrooculogram which is a recording of eye movements.
Epileptiform discharge and spike are used interchangeably herein to refer to a class of sharply contoured waveforms, usually of relatively large power, and with duration rarely exceeding two hundred milliseconds. Such spikes can form complexes with slow waves, and can occur in singlets, doublets, or in multiplets.
Epileptologist and electroencephalographer are used interchangeably.
False positive detection refers to the case of a system mistakenly detecting a non-seizure signal and classifying it as a seizure.
False negative detection describes the case in which a true seizure goes undetected by a system. Systems that have a low rate of false positive detections are called specific, while those with a low rate of false negative detections are called sensitive.
Ictal Period is the period of time during which a seizure is occurring. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the term ictal can be applied to phenomena other than seizures.
Interictal Period is the period of time when the patient is not in the state of seizure, or in transition into or out of the seizure state.
Onset of the electrographic component of a seizure is defined by the appearance of a class of signal changes recognized by electroencephalographers as characteristic of a seizure. This analysis requires visual review of signal tracings of varying duration, both before and after the perceived signal changes, using multiple channels of information and clinical correlates. The precise determination of the onset is subject to personal interpretation, and may vary based on the skill and attention level of the reviewer, the quality of data and its display. Onset of the clinical component of a seizure is the earlier of either (1) the time at which the subject is aware that a seizure is beginning (the "aura"), or (2) the time at which an observer recognizes a significant physical or behavioral change typical of a seizure.
Postictal period corresponds to the time period between the end of a seizure and the beginning of the interictal period.
Preictal period corresponds to the time of transition between the interictal and the beginning of the ictal period.
Real-time describes a system with negligible latency between input and output.
State change: Any change in the behavioral, physical or chemical features/signals of a system or of a subject leading from the current to a different state. State changes may be normal or abnormal and endogenous, e.g., onset of sleep, or exogenous, e.g., administration of an anesthetic.
3. Description of the Related Art
Humans and animals have several normal states of behavior such as wakefulness and sleep, as well as multiple sub-states such as attentive wakefulness and REM sleep.
Disorders of the nervous system affect a large segment of the world population. Nervous system disorders include brain disorders that may be neurological or psychiatric, and disorders of the spinal cord, its roots, and peripheral nerves. Examples of such disorders include, but are not limited to, epilepsy, pain, migraine, Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, dystonia, multiple sclerosis (MS), anxiety, panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, bipolar illness, such as narcolepsy, sleep apnea, obesity, and anorexia.
Epilepsy, a disabling disease, affects 1-2% of the American and industrialized world's population, and up to 10% of people in under-developed countries. Electroencephalography is the single most important ancillary test in the investigation of this disease. EEG's are recorded continuously for hours to days in an increasing number of cases with unclear diagnosis or poor response to adequate medical treatment. The amount of EEG data for analysis is extremely large (e.g., sixty-four channels of data at 240 Hz yields 1.3 billion data points/24 hr or 2.6 Gigabytes/day) and consists of complex waveforms with infinite variations.
Visual analysis of these signals remains the "gold standard" but it is impracticable to conduct continuous EEG interpretation as this is the most time-consuming part of any electrodiagnostic test and requires special training and skills which make this procedure expensive and thus of limited access and use. Valuable EEG data is often discarded unexamined. The length of recording is unnecessarily prolonged in a specially equipped hospital suite until patients have several seizures. If the patient is unaware of the seizures, which is a common occurrence, then a nurse or relative must observe and document the presence of these occurrences. As seizures are brief and previously considered unpredictable, the need for continuous observation becomes imperative thereby adding to cost in an inefficient manner.
Present methods of seizure detection are not only expensive, but rely on poorly discriminating methods, increasing the review time and nursing assistance because of the large number of false positive detections, and increasing the length of hospitalization because of false negative detections. Furthermore, these methods often "detect" the seizure well after its onset, when prevention or abatement of the seizure is no longer possible or irrelevant.
The inability to process data in real time has thwarted scientific and clinical development in the fields of epilepsy and electroencephalography. Cardiology has developed into a clinical science largely based on the power of electrocardiography to analyze the heart's electrical activity in a rapid and accurate manner. This has resulted in pacemakers, implanted defibrillators, and other devices which have saved thousands of individuals from premature death. The comparison between cardiology/EKG and epilepsy/EEG must take into account the fact that electrical brain signals are far more complex than signals originating from the heart. This explains in large part the developmental lag between these two disciplines.
Electrical brain signals, because of their spatial and temporal characteristics such as non-stationarity, have resisted accurate real-time automatic manipulation. The prior art methods presently used to characterize these states are severely limited. For example, the prior art consists of a long history of failed attempts to identify changes in EEG during certain behavioral states or tasks and to discern epi-phenomenology from phenomenology, a distinction that would help answer questions of fundamental importance. Other limitations include the inability to determine whether signal spikes are a static marker of epilepsy, or whether they are dynamically related to seizure generation.
Most existing methods of automatic EEG analysis have major limitations which render them virtually useless for widespread, safe and effective clinical applications. These limitations include:
1) Lack of speed: the time it takes most methods to analyze input signals and produce an output which detects or predicts a state change is too lengthy for use in warning, intervention/blockage, or prevention of epileptic seizures and other abnormal brain states;
2) Limited accuracy: prior art methods produce a large number of false positive detections (incorrectly identifying non-seizure activity as a seizure) and false negative detections (failure to identify a true seizure), thereby increasing the technical and financial burden of such activities;
3) Limited adaptability to subject or seizure type;
4) Lack of portability and implantability; and
5) High cost.
Attempts to accurately and reproducibly predict behavioral or biologic signal changes associated with state changes such as seizures have been largely unsuccessful.
There have been, however, important advances in real-time seizure detection in the past fifteen years, most notably in the development of the method and system for seizure detection described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,995,868 to Osorio et al., which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. However, the prior art in seizure detection and real-time quantitative analysis of brain state does not utilize the additional, complementary information that can be obtained through determination of long-range dependencies in brain signals, such as those quantified by estimating the Hurst parameter of time series such as with an EEG or ECoG.

Method and system for the prediction, rapid detection, warning, prevention, or control of changes in the brain states of a subject using hurst parameter estimation


A Christmas light apparatus has a holder, multiple electrode pads, a lamp base and an LED lamp. The electrode pads are mounted on an inner surface of the holder. The lamp base is mounted in the holder and has a top body and a bottom body. The top body has a top hole. The bottom body has multiple bottom grooves communicating with the top hole of the top body. The LED lamp is mounted on the top body and has multiple pins. The pins pass through the bottom body and are respectively bent upward along the bottom grooves of the bottom body. To assemble the Christmas light apparatus is easy and fast. The pins are respectively and tightly pressed between the lamp base and the electrode pads, such that the pins can hardly be disconnected from the electrode pads.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light apparatus, and more particularly to a Christmas light apparatus and a lamp base thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
With reference to FIG. 8, a conventional Christmas light apparatus is disclosed. The Christmas light apparatus has an LED device 50 and a holder 60. The holder 60 has a space 61 and a partition 62 formed in the space 61. The LED device 50 is mounted in the space 61 of the holder 60 and has a positive pin 51 and a negative pin 52. The positive pin 51 and the negative pin 52 are separated by the partition 62. Wires 63 are respectively welded to the positive pin 51 and the negative pin 52. The LED device 50 displays a single color. The luminance performance of the Christmas light apparatus is monotonous. In response to this drawback, an LED lamp displaying multiple colors is developed.
With reference to FIG. 9, an LED lamp that can display multiple colors is disclosed. The LED lamp has a package 70 and four pins 71. Each pin 71 has a first end and a second end. The second ends of the pins 71 are mounted in the package 70. The first ends of the pins 71 are adapted to be welded to wires. However, the LED lamp has too many pins 71, such that welding the wires to the pins 71 is highly time-consuming.
Each pin 71 of the LED lamp has its own function. If a wire is welded to a wrong pin 71, the LED lamp will be incorrectly activated with a wrong luminance color or will not be activated at all. In addition, since the wires are welded to the pins 71, the wires are not securely connected to the pins 71 and are easily disconnected from the pins 71. Hence, if the Christmas light apparatus is frequently hanged on and taken off a Christmas tree, the wires will be disconnected from the pins 71. The Christmas light apparatus is then out of order.

Christmas light apparatus and lamp base thereof


The combination of a personal electronic clock related device with a limited automatic multiple recall alarm suspension control means comprising an involuntary alarm suspension control circuit including an extended audio control means and a governing means. The personal electronic clock related device having internal audio alarm control means and internal sound emission means for allowing the emission of an audible alarm call sound to be broadcast at a set time. The extended audio control means is coupled with the internal audio alarm control means, and further coupled with the internal sound emission means interrupting the emission of the audible alarm call sound from being broadcast. The governing means is jointly coupled with the internal audio alarm control means and simultaneously activated when the audible alarm call sound is to be broadcast. The governing means including primary and secondary output control means cooperatively allowing an involuntary control signal to be discharged. The extended audio control means is further coupled in connection with and activated by the involuntary control signal for allowing the emission of the audible alarm call sound to be broadcast. The primary output control means are arranged specifically allowing the audible alarm call sound to be very infrequently momentarily broadcast for extremely brief periods of time. The secondary output control means allowing the audible alarm call sound to be continuously broadcast after the audible alarm call sound has been accordingly broadcast a preceding number of times, whereby, for consistently allowing the emission of the audible alarm call sound produced by the personal electronic clock related device to be momentarily broadcast and then involuntarily suspended for a substantially lengthy period of time for a limited number of times prior to being continuously broadcast, according to the direction of the limited automatic multiple recall alarm suspension control means. The limited automatic multiple recall alarm suspension control means may further include a means for optionally allowing the personal electronic clock related device to be independently operated.

1. Field of Invention
In recent years personal electronic clock related devices, such as personal electronic clock radio devices and alarm clocks, and the like, have continued to be made increasingly more desirable for use, at least in part, because of the many types of various electronic added control means that have been incorporated for use with such devices, which allow users a number of choices of how they may be awakened.
Many of these personal electronic clock related devices have typically allowed users to optionally be awakened by the sound of a radio playing rather than the audible alarm call sound, which may sometimes be rather harsh in nature. However, many users must depend upon being awakened by the audible alarm call sound to maintain the level of punctuality they require.
In spite of the number of electronic added control means which have been previously incorporated for use with such devices, many users may often experience some varying degree of annoyance or minor aggravation upon awakening as the emission of the audible alarm call sound proceeds to be broadcast before it can be silenced.
Therefore, the present invention is directed herein to the emission of the audible alarm call sound which may sometimes be rather harsh in nature that is broadcast by such devices, to allow users to possibly avoid the annoyance, or minor aggravation, briefly related upon which they may often experience during the use of such devices when the emission of the audible alarm call sound is broadcast.
2. Description of Prior Art
For example, some of the prior control means that may have previously been incorporated for use with such devices sometimes allow the emission of the audible alarm call sound to first be broadcast at a reduced level in sound, and then be gradually increased. However, users may still experience some degree of annoyance or minor aggravation upon awakening resulting from the ongoing emission of the audible alarm call sound, requiring the emission of the audible alarm call sound to be hastily silenced by the user. Others often allow the emission of the audible alarm call sound to be intermittently broadcast when it is invoked. However, the audible alarm call is customarily broadcast at relatively close intervals in time to allow users to be certain that they may maintain the level of punctuality they require, but in turn requiring the emission of the audible alarm call sound to be hastily silenced by the user upon awakening. Another allows the emission of the audible alarm call sound to first be intermittently broadcast before it is continuously broadcast. However, it is inclined to also be incorporated allowing the emission of the audible alarm call sound to immediately be broadcast at relatively close, or for prolonged intervals of time, which initially allows users to be highly susceptible of experiencing some varying degree of annoyance or minor aggravation upon awakening before the emission of the audible alarm call sound can be silenced by the user.
In view of the need which has continued to exist long after the arrival of these and similar types of control means, it would be desirable to provide an electronic added control means arranged specifically to allow users to possibly avoid the type of annoyance or minor aggravation which they may have often previously experienced described in the foregoing.

Personal electronic clock related device with a limited automatic multiple recall alarm suspension control means


A wheel assembly has a wheel holder seat having a hollow pivot end and two lugs, and a main seat having a reinforced main body, a hollow pivot cover, a notch, two inner flanges, an inner interior, and a post. The wheel holder seat has two laterals engaging with the inner flanges. A push rod has an upper recess hole. The push rod is inserted in the inner interior. A coiled spring has a lower portion inserted in the upper recess hole and an upper portion enclosing the post. The hollow pivot end is inserted in the hollow pivot cover. A pivot shaft fastens the hollow pivot cover and the hollow pivot end together. A pivot pin fastens a wheel between two lugs.

The present invention relates to a wheel assembly. More particularly, the present invention relates to a wheel assembly which can facilitate an adjustment of an angle of a suitcase.
A suitcase often has two front wheels and two rear wheels. However, the height of the rear wheels cannot be adjusted. When the user slants the suitcase, the front wheels will be lifted. If the ground is not smooth, the rear wheels which cannot adjust their heights will not be in balance. Therefore, the suitcase may be overturned.


In order to improve the performance of a CCD camera on a high voltage electron microscope, an electron decelerator is inserted between the microscope column and the CCD. This arrangement optimizes the interaction of the electron beam with the scintillator of the CCD camera while retaining optimization of the microscope optics and of the interaction of the beam with the specimen. Changing the electron beam energy between the specimen and camera allows both to be optimized.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to charge coupled device (CCD) cameras and more specifically to CCD cameras used in transmission electron microscopes (TEMs).
2. Description of the Related Art
Slow-scan CCDs are becoming widely used on electron microscopes, and under some conditions they provide an improvement in data quality over photographic film as well as the obvious advantages of direct digital readout. However, the CCD performance is seriously degraded on Intermediate Voltage Electron Microscopes (IVEMs) operating at 300-400 kV compared to the more conventional 100 kV microscopes. Because the IVEM is becoming more widely used, poor performance of the CCD camera is limiting.
Up until now, the performance of the CCD with high energy electrons has been significantly inferior to that of photographic film, making it impractical to use the CCD for image recording in many biological applications. High-quality image data cannot be collected directly with the CCD camera as needed for high-resolution electron crystallography of proteins and tomographic studies of cell ultrastructure.
There are numerous benefits to raising the voltage in an electron microscope. As the accelerating voltage increases, both elastic and inelastic scattering cross sections decrease, so that thicker specimens can be used. This is of particular importance with frozen hydrated preparations of larger molecules and assemblies and with embedded sections studied by tomography for three-dimensional visualization. Also the single-scattering approximations that are fundamental to much of the image interpretation and processing improve with increasing voltage, so that the data is a better representation of the specimen. The envelope function for temporal coherence improves, so it is easier to routinely obtain high resolution. Since the depth of field is larger, the area of a tilted specimen that is close to focus is larger. The diffraction-limited spot size is smaller, so spot-scan imaging can be done with a smaller illumination spot. Focus ramp correction with spot scan imaging can even ensure that the entire image will be at essentially the same focus. The gun brightness is higher, providing some improvement in coherence and/or exposure time. Each of these factors provides an incremental improvement, and taken together the difference is quite substantial. It is indeed this combination of factors that is still driving microscope manufacturers to improve intermediate and high voltage microscopes, and the voltage of what is considered the "routine" microscope continues to increase.
In biological applications, high voltage microscopes were initially used exclusively for their high penetration with thicker specimens. Stable IVEMs, operating at 300-400 kV are used for high resolution protein structure work as well. Camera resolution remains a limiting factor in using current IVEMs. In many potential applications, e.g. crystallography and the study of single molecule structures, digitization and high resolution CCD instrumentation would be highly advantageous to study the structures.
Electron microscopy would be enhanced by improved data collection and processing techniques. Among the advances that could greatly improve the efficiency of data collection is the development of the full potential of CCD cameras to electron microscopy. Slow-scan CCDs are used, and in some instances have completely replaced photographic film for data collection. Particularly with 100 kV microscopes, there are suggestions that the CCD is at least as good as film. However, virtually all of the quantitative analyses of CCD performance demonstrate that the quality of data collected with the CCD is compromised by certain of the system characteristics. This is true at any voltage but the problems increase with increasing voltage. Of particular impact is the point spread function, which is broadened by scattering (lateral straggling) of the electrons within the scintillator. This problem is especially aggravated at higher voltages, which appears to be the one disadvantage of the intermediate voltage microscopes. Given the number of advantages of high voltage, though, it is apparent that the WEM will more and more be the instrument of choice for structural studies.
A review of the literature gives a rather unfavorable picture of the potential for using a CCD on an IVEM. Daberkow et al. "Development and performance of a fast fibre-plate coupled CCD camera at medium energy and image processing system for electron holography" Ultralicroscopy 64, 35-48 (1996) have presented calculations and measurements that show a drastic falloff in the detective quantum efficiency (DQE) on going from 100 to 300 kV. To some extent the DQE loss can be avoided with a thick scintillator, but only at the cost of a rather wide point spread function (PSF); for example the PSF is wider than 60 .mu.m for any condition that provides a DQE of over 0.5 at 300 kV. The situation is not quite as bad at 200 kV, but still substantially worse than 100 kV. Faruqi et al. "A high sensitivity imaging detector for electron microscopy" Nucl. Instrum. & Methods in Phys. Res. A 367, 408-412 (1995) also used a thicker scintillator to improve sensitivity, but obtained a PSF well over 50 .mu.m (FWHM) even at 120 kV. Weickenmeier, et al. "Quantitative characterization of point spread function and detection quantum efficiency for a YAG scintillator slow scan CCD camera" Optik 99, 147-154 (1995) measured a modulation transfer function (MTF) for CCD systems that falls below 0.2 even at 120 kV. DeRuijter "Imaging properties and applications of slow-scan charge-coupled device cameras suitable for electron microscopy" Micron 26, 247-275 (1995) compared 100 and 300 kV operation, showing a loss of about a factor of two in MTF at the higher voltage, and also provides a good discussion of other noise sources that have made some MTF measurements appear anomalously favorable. The main problem is that noise within the scintillator, such as from the wide pulse height distribution of photons per incident electron, is not damped by the MTF and thus adds a finite amplitude to the power spectrum at high spatial frequencies. MTF measurements based only on the Fourier transform or autocorrelation of the input will be biased toward high values by this noise source. Van Zwet and Zandbergen "Measurement of the modulation transfer function of a slow-scan CCD camera on a TEM using a thin amorphous film as test signal" Ultramicroscopy 64, 49-55 (1996) illustrate the difference in MTF measurements made with different techniques. Results presented by Sherman et al. "Performance of a slow-scan CCD camera for macromolecular imaging in a 400 kV electron cryomicroscope" Micron 27, 129-139 (1996) are among the most favorable, but still show a strong loss of both signal and signal to noise ratio at high resolution, compared to film.

Transmission electron microscope CCD camera

The Regents of the University of California


A positive resist composition which can be suitably used in an ultramicrolithography process such as production of VLSI or high-capacity microchip and in other photofabrication processes and can ensure good sensitivity, resolution, pattern profile and line edge roughness when irradiated with actinic rays or radiation, particularly, electron beam, X-ray or EUV; and a pattern formation method using the composition, are provided, the positive resist composition comprising (A) a resin comprising a specific acryl-based repeating unit and a specific styrene-based repeating unit, which increases the dissolution rate in an alkali developer by the action of an acid, (B) a compound capable of generating an acid upon irradiation with actinic rays or radiation, and (C) a solvent; and a pattern formation method using the composition.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a positive resist composition sensitive to far ultraviolet ray, which is used for fine processing of a semiconductor device or the like. More specifically, the present invention relates to a positive resist composition for exposure with electron beam, X-ray or EUV.
2. Background Art
The integration degree of integrated circuits is recently becoming higher and higher and in the production of a semiconductor substrate such as VLSI, an ultrafine pattern having a line width of half-micron or less is demanded.
Non-Patent Document 1: Proc. SPIE, Vol. 2483, page 53 (1995) discloses a positive resist composition containing a copolymer of hydroxystyrene and tert-butyl acrylate, and Patent Documents 1 to 3: JP-A-10-53621 (the term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application"), JP-A-2002-323768 and JP-A-2003-177537 disclose a positive resist composition containing an acid-decomposable polyhydroxystyrene. Patent Document 4: JP-A-2003-322970 discloses a resist comprising a copolymer containing α-hydroxyacrylate-based monomer and hydroxystyrene.
However, along with the requirement for enhanced performance, these resists comprising a resin having an aromatic ring suitable for lithography by electron beam or the like, such as styrene skeleton, are demanded to be more improved, for example, in the sensitivity, resolution, pattern profile and line edge roughness.

Positive resist composition and pattern formation method using the same


The present invention relates to a method of preparing a composition comprising mixing a silica sol having an S-value from about 5 to about 50% and a mineral acid. The invention also relates to a composition obtainable by the method and a composition comprising a network of silica particles and mineral acid, wherein the silica particles have a particle size of from about 2 to about 7 nm. The invention also relates to the use of the composition as a gelled electrolyte.

It is known in the art to provide battery electrolytes by mixing a gelling agent with sulphuric acid. The electrolyte is in the form of a thixotropic gel which as essential constituents includes sulphuric acid and a gel-forming agent which may be e.g. a silica sol as proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,663,321. This type of gelled electrolyte involves several advantages over non-gelled liquid electrolytes such as the possibility of independent positioning while being substantially free of leaking and maintenance. However, the electrolyte disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,663,321 lacks sufficient gel strength and the time of gelling is often too long.
The present invention intends to provide a gelled composition which solves the above problems in batteries, and which also may be used for other applications.

Composition prepared from silica sol and mineral acid