Provided is a silicon crystalline material, which is manufactured by a CZ method to be used as a material bar for manufacturing a silicon single crystal by an FZ method and has a grasping section for being loaded in a crystal growing furnace employing the FZ method without requiring mechanical processing. A method for manufacturing such silicon crystalline material is also provided. The silicon crystalline material is manufactured by the silicon crystal manufacturing method employing the CZ method and is provided with the grasping section, which is manufactured in a similar way as a shoulder portion, a straight body portion and a tail portion in a silicon crystal growing step employing the CZ method, and is loaded in a single crystal manufacturing apparatus employing the FZ method to grow single crystals. A seed-crystal used in the silicon crystal manufacture employing the CZ method is used as the grasping section. The grasping section is manufactured by temporarily changing crystal growing conditions to form a protruding section or a recessed section on the outer circumference surface of the straight body section or by forming a dent on the shoulder portion of the straight body portion, at the time of manufacturing the silicon crystal by the CZ method.

Currently, silicon is typically used as a semiconductor that is widely industrially used as a device for an integrated circuit (IC) and a large-scale integrated circuit (LSI). A silicon single crystal used in the semiconductor industry and the like is manufactured from polycrystalline silicon as raw materials by the floating zone melting method (FZ method for short) in which the bar-shaped polycrystalline silicon is melted by induction heating and a single crystal is grown, or by the Czochralski method (CZ method for short) in which the polycrystal is heated and melted in a crucible, a seed crystal is immersed in a melt and withdrawn therefrom, and a single crystal ingot is grown below the seed crystal.
A manufacturing method is selected from these methods in accordance with usage of the single crystal. In general, a single crystal manufactured by the FZ method is used for high resistivity and a single crystal manufactured by the CZ method is used for low to moderate resistivity.
In recent years, reduction in parasitic capacitance is required in a semiconductor device for mobile communication and in a leading-edge C-MOS device. It is reported that signal loss in transmission and parasitic capacitance in Schottky barrier diode can be effectively reduced by using a substrate of high resistivity. Given this, a high resistivity silicon wafer manufactured by the floating zone melting method (FZ method) is used for manufacturing a power device such as a high-voltage power device, a thyristor or the like.
Meanwhile, in recent years, a large diameter silicon wafer is sought for improving performance and reducing cost of a semiconductor device. Consequently, a large diameter FZ silicon single crystal of at least 150 mm in diameter is required, and thus development of a manufacturing method thereof has been awaited.
In a case of manufacturing a large diameter silicon single crystal, particularly of at least 150 mm in diameter, by the FZ method, a polycrystalline silicon material having a diameter of at least 140 mm is considered to be preferably used as a raw material ingot. For example, for manufacturing a silicon single crystal of 200 mm in diameter, a method using polycrystalline silicon having a diameter of at least 145 mm as a silicon raw material ingot is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-55089 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1).
As described above, it is generally profitable to manufacture a silicon single crystal from a silicon raw material ingot with a diameter as large as possible, from a perspective of productivity and the like. However, since a silicon raw material ingot for polycrystalline silicon that is commercially available is manufactured by vapor phase growth, it is difficult to manufacture a large diameter polycrystalline silicon, particularly of at least 150 mm in diameter. In addition, polycrystalline silicon of a large diameter has a drawback of having a nonuniform grain boundary structure. Consequently, a problem of an extremely low yield is reported, in a case of manufacturing a silicon single crystal of 200 mm in diameter by the FZ method using a polycrystalline silicon raw material ingot of 160 mm in diameter, since a single manufacturing process by the FZ method cannot make a single crystal dislocation free and therefore the process must be repeated. Furthermore, polycrystalline silicon of a large diameter has another drawback of having a high unit cost.
On the other hand, an attempt is being made to manufacture an FZ silicon single crystal by using a large diameter CZ silicon crystal bar obtained by the CZ method (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-281076 and 2005-306653, hereinafter referred to as Patent Documents 2 and 3).

Silicon crystalline material and method for manufacturing the same


A memory device generates a select voltage and an unselect voltage on bit lines and generates a bit line select voltage having a magnitude less than the unselect voltage so that the application of the bit line select voltage to a gate of a transistor receiving the select voltage causes the transistor to conduct, and the application of the bit line select voltage to a gate of a transistor receiving the unselect voltage biases the transistor off.

This disclosure relates to generating control signals for memory devices.
A memory device, such as a flash memory, can comprise a series of bit lines arranged in columns. Each bit line, in turn, is connected to a series of memory strings, and each memory string includes several memory locations, e.g., M1 . . . Mn, that correspond to bit locations. Each memory string has one end coupled to a corresponding bit line by a bit line selector, and another end coupled to a ground selector. Typically the bit line selector and the ground selector comprise transistors.
The columnar architecture of the bit lines and memory strings results in numerous parallel memory locations. Each memory location has in input terminal, e.g., a gate, and the memory locations are grouped in a row-like fashion by connecting the respective gates of the memory locations to a corresponding word lines.
To program a selected memory location in the flash memory, a memory string that includes the selected memory location is selected by coupling the memory string to a reference voltage, e.g., a ground voltage applied to the bit line, and the input to the memory location is coupled to a program voltage applied to the word line for a period of time sufficient to program the selected memory location. Another voltage of a lesser magnitude, e.g., a pass voltage, is applied to the word lines of memory locations in the memory string that are not to be programmed. Because the memory locations are grouped by rows defined by the word line, however, memory locations in parallel memory strings will also receive the program voltage and pass voltage. To prevent programming in the parallel strings, the corresponding bit line selectors and ground selectors are kept off. The resulting high impedance of the bit line selectors and the ground selectors allows the unselected memory strings to float in response the capacitive coupling of the world line voltages. The technique known as "channel boosting," prevents the memory locations in the unselected string from being programmed.
To ensure that a memory string that shares the word line of the selected locations (e.g., a memory string on the same row as the selected memory string) is unselected, an unselect voltage, e.g., a supply voltage Vdd, is applied to the bit line to which that memory string is connected. The selected memory string, on the other hand, has a select voltage, e.g., a ground voltage. applied to a corresponding bit line. The memory strings defining other rows can have word line voltage at a reference value, e.g., ground or 0 volts, and can also have the gates of the bit line selectors at the reference value to ensure that the corresponding memory strings are unselected. On the other end, because the input of the bit line selector, e.g., a gate, on the row of the selected location also has the supply voltage applied, no forward bias is present in the bit line selector and the bit line selector is kept off. However, if the unselect voltage on the bit line is low, the bit line selector may be slightly forward biased and conduct. Such conduction can reduce the channel booting effect and cause inadvertent programming of other memory cells.


A two-stage amplifier of a first-stage amplifier 21 and second-stage amplifiers 22 and 23 is provided. A writing mode and reproducing modes are switched in the first-stage amplifier 21 by switching a parallel circuit of a feedback capacitor Cf1w and a feedback resistor Rf1w and a parallel circuit of a feedback capacitor Cf1r and a feedback resistor Rf1r. The second-stage amplifier 23 is provided with feedback resistors Rf22 and Rf23 that are connected to each other in parallel. The feedback resistor Rf23 is connected in the feedback loop by a switch transistor QSW only when reproducing a high-reflective disk. This enables an amplifier gain to be suitably set for each of writing, low-reflective disk reproducing, and high-reflective disk reproducing. As a result, desirable reproducing characteristics can be obtained for the low-reflective disk while accommodating high-speed writing with a large laser power.

In addition to conventional read-only optical disks such as CD-ROM, CD-R, and DVD-ROM, there has been increasing demand in recent years for writable optical disks, such as CD-R/RW and DVD-RAM, which are primarily used as personal computer appliances. In a recording and reproducing device of such writable optical disks, the quantity of irradiated light is much larger in writing than in reproducing, and accordingly a photo-detector amplifier circuit, which receives reflected light off the optical disk, has a large light input. In order to accommodate a difference in light input level between writing and reproducing, the photo-detector amplifier circuit adopts a system in which gains are switched between writing and reproducing.
FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an electrical structure of a common recording and reproducing device 1. A signal from a signal source 2 enters an LD driving circuit 3 that is provided with a semiconductor laser. A beam splitter 4 splits an optical signal from the semiconductor laser for entry into a photo-detector element A2 and an optical disk 5. The light that was projected on the optical disk 5 and reflected off the disk surface enters the photo-detector element A1 via the beam splitter 4 and is converted and amplified into an electrical signal before it is supplied to a second-stage circuit where signal reproduction is carried out. The photo-detector element A1 also outputs a signal that enters a laser power control circuit 6 with an output signal from a photo-detector element A2, so as to adjust output laser power.
FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an electrical structure of a photo-detector amplifier circuit 10 of a typical conventional example in the recording and reproducing device 1, in which gains are switched between writing and reproducing. The photo-detector element A1 is made up of a photodiode pd that is divided into four channel areas A through D. The photo-detector amplifier circuit 10 includes a first-stage amplifier 11 and a second-stage amplifier 12 that are individually provided for the channels A through D, and a second-stage amplifier 13 that is commonly provided for the channels A through D. The optical signal of the reflected light from the optical disk 5 is converted into a current signal isc in the photodiode pd. The current signal isc is subjected to current-voltage conversion and amplified in an amplifier a11.
The output of the amplifier all of the first-stage amplifier 11 of each channel A to D is supplied to a non-inverted terminal of a differential amplifier a21 of the corresponding second-stage amplifier 12 and to a non-inverted terminal of a differential amplifier a22 of the common second-stage amplifier 13 that is provided for collection (addition) (described later). In the differential amplifiers a21 and a22, the input is compared with their respective reference voltages before it is amplified and outputted. The output signal of the differential amplifier a21 is used for focusing and tracking servo of the optical system. The output signal of the differential amplifier a22 is used to read out signal information written in the disk.
Switching gains between writing and reproducing is carried out by the amplifier a11. For example, the current signal isc is converted into a voltage and amplified with a resistance value of a feedback resistor rf1r in reproducing. On the other hand, in writing, the current signal isc is converted into a voltage and amplified with a parallel resistance value of a feedback resistor rf1w and the feedback resistor rf1r, which are connected parallel to each other in response to closing of a switch sw1. The feedback resistors rf1r and rf1w, which are provided to set gains, are adjusted to have resistance values that do not cause the amplifier a11 to be saturated in response to expected incident light power. The gain of the differential amplifier a21 is adjusted by an input resistor rs1 and a feedback resistor rf1 by their ratio rf1/rs1. The gain of the differential amplifier a22 is adjusted by an input resistor rs2 and a feedback resistor rf2 by their ratio rf2/rs2.
The first-stage amplifier 11 further includes a dummy amplifier a12, and feedback resistors rf2r and rf2w for the dummy amplifier a12. In addition, there is also provided a switch sw2, which closes with the switch sw1 in writing to connect the feedback resistor rf2w with the feedback resistor rf2r in parallel. The output of the dummy amplifier a12 is commonly supplied to inverted terminals of the differential amplifiers a21 and a22 of the second-stage amplifiers 12 and 13, respectively, so as to create their respective reference voltages.
This structure of the dummy amplifier a12 is needed when the amplifier a11 is a grounded amplifier and when it is connected to the differential amplifiers a21 and a22 of their respective second-stage amplifiers 12 and 13, which use the externally supplied reference power as reference voltages, because the reference voltages are determined by the internal amplifier structure in this case.
FIG. 12(a) through FIG. 12(d) are waveform diagrams explaining operations of the photo-detector amplifier circuit 11 having foregoing structure. An input optical signal shown in FIG. 12(a) is converted in the photodiode pd into the current signal isc shown in FIG. 12(b). The amplifier a11 outputs a signal that was created by current-voltage conversion of the signal shown in FIG. 12(c). FIG. 12(d) shows an output waveform that is created in the differential amplifier a21 by amplifying the result of comparison between the output of the amplifier a11 and an externally supplied reference voltage. The output waveform shown in FIG. 12(d) is also obtained, for example, when the outputs of the amplifiers a11 of the channel A through D are added and amplified in the differential amplifier a22. Note that, in FIG. 12(a) through FIG. 12(d), the broken lines with reference sign r indicate waveforms of reproducing, and solid lines with reference sign w indicate waveforms of writing.
In the recording and reproducing device 1, an optical system, including the beam splitter 4, is designed and fixed, taking into account the light of laser output (a quantity of light reflected into the photo-detector element A1) in writing and characteristics (sensitivity and/or dynamic range) of the photo-detector element A1. That is, a quantity of reflected light is adjusted so as not to cause the amplifier of the photo-detector element A1 to be saturated in response to a large quantity of light in writing. In addition to the adjustment in writing, the foregoing optical design also adjusts a quantity of reflected light in reproducing. This increases the speed of writing and, with increasing laser power, reduces the optical signal that enters the photo-detector element A1 in reproducing.
In this way, the photo-detector amplifier circuit 11 switches gains in response to a large light quantity in writing, so as to prevent the differential amplifier a11 from being saturated. However, with increasing laser power in response to a faster writing speed, gains tend to decrease both in writing and reproducing.
Read-only CD-ROM, writable CD-R, and rewritable CD-R/RW are some of the examples of the CD disk media that employs the laser light with a wavelength of 780 nm. Read-only DVD-ROM, writable DVD-R and DVD-RAM, and rewritable DVD-R/RW are some of the examples of DVD disk media that uses the laser light with a wavelength of 650 nm. Different disk types have different reflectances and the quantity of reflected laser light from the disk varies between these different types of disks. Generally, the rewritable CD-R/RW and DVD-R/RW disks have reflectances that are smaller by several factors than those of the read-only ROM disks.
The faster writing speed and diversification of the disk media have created a situation where the photo-detector amplifier circuit 11 receives a small optical signal when reproducing a low-reflective disk and there is a difficulty in reproducing signals from low-reflective disks.

Photo-detector amplifier circuit for optical disk device


A notebook cooler with a pressurizing function comprises a cooler body and one or more soft sealing elements detachably disposed on the cooler body. A notebook is placed on the soft sealing element, an airtight space is defined by the bottom of the notebook, the soft selling element and the cooler body, and a cooling fan is disposed in the airtight space. The circular soft sealing element is laid on the notebook cooler, so that an airtight space is defined by the bottom of the notebook, the soft sealing element and the cooler body; a turbofan sucks air from the bottom of the cooler and presses the air into the airtight space; and the cooler can press air into the notebook via cooling holes in the bottom of the notebook to effectively accelerate air circulation in the notebook, so that elements in the notebook can be rapidly cooled.

The invention relates to the technical field of coolers, in particular to a notebook cooler with a pressurizing function.
Notebooks are designed to meet the requirement for portable mobile use and are becoming be more compact in structure and lighter and thinner in appearance with the rapid development of science and technology. High-performance notebooks commonly have the problems of excessively high temperature of the CPU and unsatisfying cooling effect when running large software. Notebook cooling is always a problem that cannot be neglected during long-term use of the notebooks. An excessively high temperature caused by poor cooling not only affects the operating experience, but also causes active frequency decrease of the CPU for the purpose of protecting the CPU against damage, which will compromise the performance of the notebooks. So, an external auxiliary device is needed to cool the notebooks sufficiently.
Existing notebook coolers cool notebooks by blowing air to the bottom of the notebooks by means of a fan and realize the cooling purpose by accelerating air circulation at the bottom of the notebooks to decrease of the temperature of the shell. However, such as cooling method cannot effectively accelerate air circulation inside the notebooks, so the cooling effect is unremarkable, the temperature of elements in the notebooks can only be slightly decreased, and heat generated during operation of the notebooks cannot be dissipated in time, thus compromising the performance of the notebooks.
In view of the above defects, the existing notebook coolers need to be improved.

Notebook cooler with pressurizing function


A buoyant support for a human comprises a plurality of sections for the head, upper back, and buttocks, respectively. The sections are hingedly connected to each other so that the unit may be folded into a compact package. At least two of the sections are longitudinally adjustable to each other to facilitate fitting individuals of different size. The device preferably is fabricated of a plastic cellular material to achieve desired buoyancy in water, light weight and cost effectiveness.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to floatation devices, and more particularly, to a portable floatation device especially adapted to support a human on the surface of a body of water.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Personal floatation devices capable of supporting a human in water, or helping a swimmer stay afloat, are generally well known. For example, a variety of such devices are shown in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,276,670 (clam shell design attached to a swimmer by straps); 4,302,860 (floating shell structure adapted to support a swimmer chest-down); 4,662,851 (rectangular float having hinged sections which permit flexing in response to wave motion); 4,964,827 (device positioned on the upper arm and having projections which can be grasped in an emergency); and 309,169 (rectangular float having a raised end portion for the head of a swimmer).
It will be seen that each of the prior patented devices mentioned above comprises a relatively bulky device, or is unnecessarily complicated and therefor relatively expensive to fabricate. It is apparent therefore that a need exists for a personal floatation device capable of efficiently supporting a human on the surface of water, yet which offers the additional advantages of being adjustable to fit swimmers of varying size, and of being foldable into a compact easy-to-carry article when not in use, all in a simple, relatively inexpensive design.
The foregoing need is met by the present invention as will be made apparent from the following description thereof. Other advantages of the present invention over the prior art also will be rendered evident.


A gradient coil of a magnetic resonance apparatus has a first conductor structure and a second conductor structure connected with one another so that windings of the gradient coil are formed. The first conductor structure is formed exclusively of planar, electrically conductive elements that are insulated from one another. The second conductor structure is formed exclusively of conductive wires insulated from one another.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a gradient coil of a magnetic resonance apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A magnetic resonance apparatus has a gradient coil system that contains three (sub-)gradient coils. For example, a magnetic field gradient is generated in the X-direction with the use of a first gradient coil while a magnetic field gradient in the Y-direction is generated with the use of a second gradient coil, and a third gradient coil generates a magnetic field gradient in the Z-direction.
The XY gradient coils are known as "saddle coils" due to the shape of their design.
It is known to design saddle coils composed of bundled individual wires. In such a coil design, conductor loops that typically include one to six bundled individual wires are fixed on a carrier (substrate) plate, for example by gluing.
The individual wires of a conductor loop are each provided with a lacquer insulation layer (typically 2 to 10 μm in thickness) and are therefore insulated from one another. A common current signal flows through the individual wires of the conductor loops in order to form the gradient field (magnetic field) in an examination region of the magnetic resonance system.
Such saddle coils enable the realization of an optimized current density in a predetermined central coil region in order to form the desired magnetic field in the examination region.
Coil windings made of individual wires offer the advantage that a high number of coil windings can be arranged in a predetermined central coil region.
A disadvantage of coils of this type is a relatively high ohmic resistance due to the individual wires that are used.
It is also known to fashion saddle coils using an electrically conductive plate. For example, elliptically running divider structures (known as traces) are milled into the electrically conductive plate. The plate is subsequently formed into the saddle shape—for example by bending the plate in the shape of a half-cylinder shell.
The traces can also be generated by cutting techniques (for example water jet cutting, laser cutting, etc.) or with the use of punching techniques.
By the curving of the plate into a saddle shape and by the effect of the separating traces, conductor structures are formed that, charged with a current signal, form a desired X-gradient field or Y-gradient field.
The magnetic field efficiency is determined by the maximum achievable current density in a central region of the plate. The requirements for a minimal insulation distance between the coil windings or conductor structures in this middle region result from this factor. Maximum conductor structure cross-sections are used for this determination.
The power consumption of a gradient system from the mains is determined by the ohmic resistance of the gradient coils. A necessity to maximize the cross-section of the respective conductor structures results from this consideration in order to be able to utilize only a limited mains power available to the customer.
Given currents of 500 A to 1000 A that are typical today, in general it is necessary to use 20 to 30 individual conductor loops per quadrant on the plate of the latter type of saddle coil.
The advantage of a gradient coil created from an electrically conductive plate is that the gradient coil has a very low ohmic resistance because a large-area conductive surface, that is reduced only by the width of the trace, is available. Depending on the technique, this trace can be very narrow—even only a few millimeters wide.
A disadvantage, however, is that a dense conductor trace population in the central coil regions can be achieved only with difficulty, because a predetermined winding distance must be maintained in order to maintain insulation stability.

Magnetic resonance gradient coil formed by two different types of conductors


A power conversion device has a series circuit of a main switching element and a sub-switching element connected to both ends of a DC power supply, an insulating transformer, and control circuits. The main switching and sub-switching elements are alternately turned on and off by the respective control circuits such that voltage generated in the secondary coil is subjected to smoothing rectification and supplied to a load. The insulating transformer includes a primary coil, and the main control circuit takes voltage of the primary coil as signal voltage to cause the main switching element to turn on and off such that DC voltage supplied to the load is constant. The sub-control circuit turns on the sub-switching element when the voltage at both ends of the sub-switching element becomes lower than a reference voltage or when the voltage of the primary coil exceeds a predetermined value. The power supply voltage of the main control circuit is taken as a voltage obtained by subjecting the voltage of the coil to smoothing rectification, and the power supply voltage of the sub-control circuit is obtained by the on operation of the main switching element.

FIG. 13 shows a conventional power conversion device similar to the switching power supply device described in Japanese Patent No. 3387456 (see paragraphs 24–37 and FIGS. 1–2 thereof). This circuit incorporates a "flyback converter," where a main switching element 2 and a sub-switching element 3 are repeatedly turned on and off alternately. The excitation energy accumulates in an insulating transformer 4 when the main switching element 2 is in the on-state and discharges when the main switching element 2 is in the off-state to supply DC power to a load.
A DC power supply 1 is obtained by subjecting the AC power supply voltage to smoothing rectification. The main switching element 2 and the sub-switching element 3 can be MOSFETs or the like. The insulating transformer 4 has coils 4a–4e. The elements 5a and 5b are diodes, and elements 6 and 10 are capacitors. A main control circuit 30 controls the main switching element 2 to turn on and off, to keep the value of an input output voltage of the device (voltage of the capacitor 6) constant. A sub-control circuit 40 controls the sub-switching element 3 to turn on and off using opposite logic of the control of the main switching element 2. The sub-control circuit 40 comprises the coil 4e of the transformer 4, capacitors 41, 45, resistors 42, 44, a bead 43 as a type of inductor, and a transistor 46. Each end of the capacitors 41, 45 is connected to both ends of the coil 4e.
This conventional technology operates as follows. During the start-up process, a voltage is applied to the gate of the main switching element 2 via a resistor (not shown) for star-up inside the main control circuit 30 to turn on the main switching element 2. Turning on the main switching element 2 generates a voltage of the same polarity in the coils 4a and 4d of the transformer, and the excitation energy is accumulated within the coil 4a. At the same time, the voltage generated in the coil 4c is subjected to smoothing rectification by the diode 5b and the smoothing capacitor 6, and then supplied to a load. When the main control circuit 30 turns off the main switching element 2, the excitation energy accumulated within the coil 4a is discharged as electrical energy via the coil 4b, and is subjected to smoothing rectification by the diode 5a and the smoothing capacitor 6, and then supplied to a load. When the whole exciting energy accumulated within the coil 4a is discharged via the coil 4b, a voltage of the same polarity as the voltage generated during the start-up process is generated in the coil 4d, and the main switching element 2 is turned off by the main control circuit 30. In this manner, the electrical energy is supplied to a load in accordance with the on-off operation of the main switching element 2.
The operation of the sub-switching element 3 follows. As the main switching element 2 is turned off, a voltage of a polarity opposite to that generated when the main switching element 2 is in the on-state is generated in the coil 4e within the sub-control circuit 40. This voltage is applied to the gate of the sub-switching element 3 via the capacitor 41, the resistor 42, and the bead 43 to turn on the sub-switching element 3. Accordingly, the capacitor 10 absorbs the energy accumulated in leakage inductance of the transformer 4, and prevents a surge voltage from applying to the main switching element 2. Furthermore, the leakage inductance of the transformer 4 and the capacitor 10 resonate serially, discharging the energy absorbed by the capacitor 10 to the load via the transformer 4, the diode 5a, and the smoothing capacitor 6.
The voltage generated in the coil 4e is applied to a series circuit of the resistor 44 and the capacitor 45 configuring a time-constant circuit, and the capacitor 45 is charged. When the voltage of the capacitor 45 reaches a threshold voltage of the transistor 46, the transistor 46 is turned on. Upon turning on the transistor 46, there is no longer the difference in potential between the gate and the source of the sub-switching element 3, the voltage applied to the gate of the sub-switching element 3 disappears from the coil 4e, and the sub-switching element 3 is turned on rapidly. Here, the time between when the voltage is generated in the coil 4e and when the voltage of the capacitor 45 reaches the threshold voltage of the transistor 46 is the time constant of the time-constant circuit made up of the resistor 44 and the capacitor 45. FIG. 14 shows a frame format of a waveform of current passing through the diode 5a in the conventional technology shown in FIG. 13.
FIG. 15 shows another conventional technology, similar to the switching power supply device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-285248 (see paragraphs 34–47 and FIGS. 1 and 3 thereof).
In FIG. 15, the transformer 4′ has only coils 4a, 4b, and 4e. The sub-control circuit 60 comprises the coil 4e, resistors 61, 63, a capacitor 62, a diode 64, a transistor 65, and a Zener diode 66. A cathode of the Zener diode 66 is connected to the gate of the sub-switching element 3. Moreover, it includes a diode bridge 50 for obtaining a DC power supply from an AC power supply via a smoothing capacitor 11. It should be noted that the control circuit (main control circuit) of the main switching element 2 is omitted from the figure.
The operation of this conventional technology is described with reference to FIG. 16. In FIG. 16, ID2 is the drain current of main switching element 2, VDS2 is drain-source voltage of the main switching element 2. Va is voltage of the coil 4e of the transformer 4′, and its polarity is such that the positive electrode is in the direction in which voltage is generated from the beginning of winding to the end of winding. VGS3 is the gate-source voltage of the sub-switching element 3, and ID3 is the drain current of the sub-switching element 3. ID0 is the current of the diode 5a. Im shown in dashed lines is the excitation current of the transformer 4′.
First, the period t=t1−t2 in FIG. 16 is a period during which the main switching element 2 is in the on-state, and the excitation energy is accumulated in the coil 4a of the transformer 4′. At the same time, negative voltage Va expressed in the following Equation 1 is generated in the coil 4e: Va=−(double-end voltage of smoothing capacitor 11)×(winding number of coil 4e)/(winding number of coil 4a)  (1).
During this period, the gate-source voltage VGS3 of the sub-switching element 3 is reversely biased to a forward voltage of the Zener diode 66, and the sub-switching element 3 is in the off-state.
Next, during the period t=t2−t3, the main switching element 2 is turned off at t2 and is in the off-state during t2−t3, where the current that has flowed in the coil 4a of the transformer 4′ is then transferred to the path of the body diode of the sub-switching element 3- capacitor 10- coil 4a. During this period, the voltage Va of the coil 4e is inverted from the negative to the positive. The value of the voltage Va at this moment is substantially expressed in the following Equation 2:Va=+(double-end voltage of smoothing capacitor 6)×(winding number of coil 4e)/(winding number of coil 4b)  (2).
As a result, a gate-source capacity of the sub-switching element 3 is charged via the resistor 63, and when the voltage VGS3 exceeds drive threshold voltage of the sub-switching element 3, the sub-switching element 3 is turned on. Moreover, the capacitor 10 absorbs the energy accumulated in the leakage inductance of the transformer 4′ during the period when the drain current ID3 of the sub-switching element 3 is negative. Thus, a surge voltage is not generated in the drain-source voltage VDS2 of the main switching element 2.
Furthermore, the leakage inductance of the transformer 4′ and the capacitor 10 resonate serially, discharging the energy absorbed by the capacitor 10 during the period when the drain current ID3 of the sub-switching element 3 is positive to the load via the transformer 4′, the diode 5a, and the smoothing capacitor 6. The time constant of the time-constant circuit made up of the resistor 61 and the capacitor 62 is set such that the transistor 65 is turned off and the sub-switching element 3 is turned off at the time when this energy is discharged completely.
During the period t=t3−t4, the transistor 65 is still in the on-state, and the sub-switching element 3 is in the off-state. During this period, the energy accumulated in the transformer 4′ during the period t1−t2 is discharged to the load via the smoothing capacitor 6 to the diode 5a. The main switching element 2 is turned on at the time t=t4, and the same operation is repeated thereafter.
The above-described conventional technologies have drawbacks in that, if the DC power supply voltage (voltage of the DC power supply 1 in FIG. 13 or voltage rectified by the diode bridge 50 in FIG. 15 (double-end voltage of the smoothing capacitor 11)) changes significantly, loss within the circuit increases, and the conversion efficiency of the device decreases. For example, in the conventional technology shown in FIG. 15, the AC input voltage can differ by countries, and if the double-end voltage of the smoothing capacitor 22 via the diode bridge 50 changes significantly, the value of the negative voltage generated in the coil 4e of the transformer 4′ as shown in Equation 1 also changes significantly. Here, the value of the resistor 63 that charges the gate-source capacity of the sub-switching element 3 needs to be set such that the gate-source voltage exceeds the drive threshold voltage during the period in which the drain current of the sub-switching element 3 flows negatively. The set value is generally in the order of several tens through hundreds ohm (Ω).
Therefore, the following problems can occur. Specifically, when the double-end voltage of the smoothing capacitor 11 is high, the current passing through the resistor 63 and the Zener diode 66 increases at the period t=t1−t2, loss generated from these parts increase, and the conversion efficiency of the device decreases. Furthermore, during the period t=t3−t4, positive voltage generated in the coil 4e of the transformer 4′ is shorted by the transistor 65 via the resistor 63, generating loss in the resistor 63 and the transistor 65, and further decreasing the conversion efficiency of the device. Another problem is that, when the drain-source voltage has not reached zero when the main switching element 2 is turned on, a surge current is generated as indicated in the drain current waveform ID2 in FIG. 16, thus increasing the noise or switching loss. The same problems can occur in the conventional technology shown in FIG. 13.
Moreover, if the voltage generated in the coil 4e changes in accordance with the DC power supply voltage, the switching frequency of each of the switching elements 2, 3 or an on-off duty ratio is changed, contributing to the increase of loss and worsening the efficiency of the device. In addition, another problem is that in the conventional technology shown in FIG. 13, the transformer 4 includes a large number of coils. Thus, it is rather difficult to reduce the size and weight of the entire device.
Accordingly, there still remains a need to improve conventional power conversion devices. The present invention addresses this need.

Fuji Electric Device Technology Co., Ltd.


The invention provides a coaxial connector wherein a bushing can be mounted to a housing more easily, poor pressure resistance and characteristic impedance due to socket displacement can be eliminated, and deformation of the front end of the socket can be prevented. The coaxial connector of the invention includes projections along the outer periphery of the bushing, and cutouts in the housing. The bushing has a cover that covers the upper portion of the socket. In addition, the bushing has a tapered intermediate portion between its base portion and its front end. The bushing is positioned around the axis, and displacement of the mounting position of the socket to the bushing and deformation of the front end of the socket are prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention broadly relates to a coaxial connector and, more particularly, to a small coaxial connector used, for example, as a component part of a portable communication device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A description will now be given of the construction of a conventional coaxial connector, with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.
Referring to FIG. 7, the conventional coaxial connector comprises a metallic housing 71, a socket 73, and a bushing 72. The housing 71 includes a cylindrical portion 74 which comes into contact with the outer conductor portion of a receptacle (not shown in FIG. 7), a cover 75 for covering an upper opening of the cylindrical portion 74, and a crimping portion 76 for gripping an outer conductor portion 78a of a coaxial cable 77 to grip the outer conductor portion 78a. The insulating bushing 72 is accommodated in the cylindrical portion 74 of the housing 71, and the socket 73 which comes into contact with the central conductor portion 78b of the receptacle is held by the bushing 72. The central conductor portion 78 of the coaxial cable 77 is connected to the socket 73.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the bushing 72 of FIG. 7, in which a socket 73 is fitted into a hole 80 formed in the bushing 72 at its central axis. As illustrated in FIG. 7, a plurality of pawls 79 extend radially outward from the socket 73, which engage the bushing 72 to prevent the socket 73 from being removed from the hole 80.
Such a conventional coaxial connector has the following problems. A cutout needs to be formed in the bushing 72 which is mounted into the housing 71 in order to insert the front end of the coaxial cable, as illustrated in FIG. 8. The coaxial cable must be mounted in the housing 71, with the cutout facing the direction of the extension of the coaxial cable. This, however, is difficult to accomplish because the bushing 72 tends to rotate around the axis.
Carelessness when fitting the socket 73 into the bushing 72 or when mounting a completed coaxial connector into the receptacle causes an abnormally high upward stress to be exerted onto the socket 73, displacing the socket 73 upward from the predetermined position. This results in a smaller distance between the socket 73 and the cover 75 of the housing 71. A smaller distance may lead to poor pressure resistance and characteristic impedance.
In addition, since the socket 73 projects below from the bottom face of the bushing 72, the front end of the socket 73 has a tendency to deform due to external forces exerted thereto during mounting of the coaxial connector into the receptacle or the like. This problem might be overcome by increasing the height of the bushing 72 so that the socket 73 does not protrude from the bottom face of the bushing 72. This, however, cannot be done because the lower portion of the bushing 72 is tapered to allow the cylindrical portion 74 of the housing 71 to be pressed inward in order to let the cylindrical portion 74 deform, as it comes into contact with the outer conductor portion of the receptacle to be mounted therein. Accordingly, when the height of the bushing 72 is increased, as mentioned above, the lower portion of the bushing 72 becomes thinner, thus making it difficult to form the bushing 72 when producing a smaller coaxial connector.


A vane damper, and a method for making the vane damper is disclosed. A casing including a space for at least one rotable vane divides the space into two parts. The spaces are variable because of the vane which rotates within the space. Further, a number of asymmetrical ducts connects the spaces separated by the vane with a gas accumulator space so that a medium within the spaces for damping motion of the vane can expand into the gas accumulator space against the force of a gas. The vane is produced by extruding aluminum or an aluminum containing alloy. The vane is sealed against the surfaces of the space as well as a bearing member supporting the vane.

The present invention relates to a method of producing a vane damper which comprises a body with a space for at least one rotatable vane which divides the space into two part spaces located on either side of the vane. Because of the rotatability of the vane, the spaces are variable. The vane is mounted in the body by means of a bearing member and operates in a working medium (hydraulic oil) which is located in the space. Via one or more passages or throttle functions, the working medium can be transferred between the variable part spaces to produce the damping characteristic of the shock damper. The invention also relates to a vane damper itself and also an arrangement for a vane damper and use of one or more extruded aluminium or alloy products which can be cut in order to produce units.
Vane damper constructions are known. For example, it is previously known, in connection with steering gear, for motorcycle handlebars for example, to use vane dampers in order to counteract forceful steering movements. In connection with toilet seats, it is also previously known to use vane dampers in connection with seats which can be raised and lowered. The known vane dampers are each provided with one or more spaces, in which one or more vanes operate. The body of the vane damper also has a bearing space for the bearing part of the vane, which part may comprise a cylindrical part, by means of which the vane can be rotated in a cylindrical recess. The cylindrical part has a projecting spindle or equivalent member which is intended to engage in a part in the vehicle or equipment which is to be damped (shock-damped) in its movements.
Problems of space often arise in connection with vehicles and equipment which are to be provided with shock dampers. In cars for example, the so-called packing problem for components is significant. Conventional shock dampers are tied to a certain given shape (elongate shape) which, in various connections, it is desirable to be able to change and vary to a great extent so that the shock dampers in the vehicle do not encroach on the passenger or baggage space, for example, or force the car constructor to depart from the shape of the external design desired. The possibility of changing or varying the external shape and dimensions of the shock damper must not be exploited at the expense of the functioning of the shock damper. The present invention aims to solve this problem.
It is moreover desirable to be able to reduce the weights of shock dampers considerably. In the case of particularly low-consumption vehicles, every reduction in weight is important. In this connection, the overall effect of reduction of the weight of the vehicle is to be taken into account. It is not only the advantages which can be achieved by weight reduction in the shock damper itself but also the resultant effects from the point of view of weight reduction which apply for the vehicle as a whole thanks to the shape of the shock damper that are to be borne in mind. As far as weight reduction on the shock damper itself is concerned, there is a requirement to be able to reduce the weight of the shock damper by 20-40%. The invention solves these problems also.
There is also a requirement to be able to make more efficient and automate to a great extent the manufacture of modern shock dampers. Shock dampers for vehicles constitute a so-called mass product which must be supplied rapidly and efficiently at the same time as the shock damper function can maintain the high level of functioning and performance aimed for. The invention solves these problems also.
In connection with the new shock dampers, it is important to be able to avoid suction cup effects between the movable vane and walls opposite the latter in the body space. Furthermore, it is to be possible to avoid the release of air and of light fractions in the working medium used. The accumulator function, permits the working medium to expand and contract according to temperature changes in the shock damper and its surroundings, must be able to function in spite of demands for new geometries and reduced external dimensions. The invention solves these problems also.
It must be possible for the mounting of vane dampers in the vehicle concerned to be clear and to function well. It must be possible to carry out machining of the interacting surfaces between the pivotable vane and the relevant surfaces of the body very easily. The interacting surfaces must be easily accessible for machining tools during manufacture and it must be possible to reduce the amount of machining/treatment itself as well as the size of the surfaces which are to be machined. The invention solves these problems also.
It is also important that the shock damper function itself can be performed in a rational manner so that the desired damping characteristics and functions can be maintained. The action of the bleed function arrangement for reducing damping forces in the case of small movements must be long-term and not easily stopped up by products in the working medium. The invention solves these problems also.
It is to be possible for the new shock dampers to operate with a long service life and require little or no service. The invention solves this problem also.
A method according to the invention can be considered to be mainly characterized in that the vane with associated bearing member is produced by means of extruding aluminium or alloy, in that the extruded product is cut for production of the respective vane with associated bearing member and in that the respective vane is provided with sealing members which establish a seal against the relevant surfaces of the space and of the bearing member.
In one embodiment of the inventive idea, the tubular side wall of the body is also made by extruding aluminium or alloy. The extruded side wall product is cut to produce the respective body side wall and side parts sealing the space are fixed to the respective cut side wall. The parts can be fixed by means of adhesive bonding, rivets, bands, welding etc. In a further embodiment, only certain parts of the surfaces of the body, which interact with the movable surfaces of the vane, are sealed. In the bottom part of the body, a recess or a groove can be formed, which makes it possible for the working medium, for the purpose of performing the bleed function, to pass between the part spaces within a first operating range of the vane. Within this operating range, the vehicle or corresponding equipment concerned is provided with damping by the shock damper when the vehicle or equivalent is subject to a small load or a small force. In a second operating range of the vane, the latter operates beyond the groove to provide stronger damping, that is to say without the bleed function, effected in the second operating range. This is advantageous in the case of loads in and great forces on the vehicle. In connection with production of the extruded product, asymmetrical ducts are formed, in the body, between the part spaces and a space which serves as a gas accumulator space, into which it is possible for the working medium to expand against the action or a gas medium located in the space and to contract with the aid of the gas medium.
A vane damper according to the present invention can be considered to be mainly characterized in that the body is, in its upper end part, designed with a second space which contains gas and in that the first and second part spaces are interconnected via one or more passages via which the working medium in the first space is afforded the possibility of expanding to the second space when the working medium expands and also the working medium in the second space has the possibility of being moved back to the first space with the aid of the gas when the working medium decreases in volume.
In a preferred embodiment, the one or more passages are designed to throttle the working medium more in a first direction from the first space to the second space than in a second direction from the second space to the first space.
A vane damper according to the present invention is mainly characterized in that, in the fully rotated position of the vane in a first direction, a first side part space remains so as to prevent adhesion effects between the mutually opposite surfaces of the vane and of the body and also release of air or light fractions in the working medium. In the fully rotated position in a second direction, a second side part space is present in order to prevent adhesion effects between the opposite surfaces in this case of the vane and of the body and also to prevent the release effects in the working medium.
A vane damper according to the invention can be considered to be mainly characterized in that there are arranged in the vane one or more continuous holes and one or more shims arranged at this or these hole(s), by means of which hole(s) a damping force/damping capacity/damping characteristic brought about by the vane can be effected. In or near the vane, one or more connections can also be arranged between the part spaces, which connections perform one or more bleed functions, for example one or more grooves arranged in the delimiting surface of the body, where different grooves and groove shapes can provide bleed functions of different nature.
An arrangement according to the invention can be considered to be mainly characterized in that only a part of the space inner surfaces undergoes machining which ensures an effective sealing function by means of sealing members.
One embodiment includes, among the space inner surface parts, a first curved space inner surface which is opposite the free end edge surface of the vane. The curved space inner surface is finished so as to ensure functionally reliable sealing by means of and via a sealing member. The sealing member is arranged at the curved surface and the front end edge surface, and is preferably fixed on the free end edge of the vane. The sealing is effected when the front edge of the vane sweeps over the curved inner space surface in the performance of its damping function/damping characteristic.
A further embodiment also includes curved inner space surfaces which are opposite an outer surface on a cylindrical bearing part belonging to the vane, by means of which part the vane is mounted in a circular space in the body. Only parts, for example between 10 and 30%, of the curved inner space surfaces are machined so as to bring about reliable sealing between the outer surface and the parts of the curved inner space surfaces with sealing strips, preferably located on or in the cylindrical bearing part, in between.
In a further embodiment, the side parts of the body, which, together with the tubular side wall of the body, are only partially machined (that is to say ground, polished etc.) to bring about reliable sealing between the upper and lower edges of the vane with sealing strips, preferably fastened to the vane, in between.
An arrangement according to the present invention can be considered to be mainly characterized in that the bearing unit of the vane is provided with a hole, in which a rotating member, for example a rotary spindle, belonging to a part (chassis, wheel, vehicle etc.) extends, the movements of which part are to be damped by the vane damper.
In one embodiment, the body is anchored in a vehicle or in a unit on or in which damping is intended to be performed by means of the vane damper, and the part which is to have its movements damped belongs to or is mounted in the vehicle/unit.
A use according to the invention can be considered to be mainly characterized in that the extruded aluminium or alloy product(s) which can be cut for production of units is characterized in that the product(s) is (are) used in order to produce as units a vane with associated bearing part, forming part of a vane damper, and/or a tubular side wall forming part of the body of a vane damper.
According to the above, a rational and functionally reliable vane shock damper can be produced at relatively low cost when the price and design of the vehicle are also taken into consideration. Great packing density can be achieved in the vehicle/equipment concerned thanks to a changed external variable geometry and often reduced external dimensions. Great reductions in weight on the shock damper itself can be achieved. Furthermore, weight reductions and design advantages can be achieved on the vehicle itself.

Method, arrangement and use for and of, respectively, a vane damper


A compound aircraft includes a convertible thruster that pivots between an anti-torque position, a forward thrust position, and intermediate positions. A pilot has two inceptors to control thruster rotor pitch in the anti-torque and forward thrust positions. A mixer mechanically blends the signals from the two inceptors during transition between the anti-torque and forward thrust positions. A transfer rod coaxial with the pivot axis of the convertible thruster conveys convertible thruster pitch commands from the pilot to a pitch control actuator. The pitch control actuator may be located partially within the rotor of an electric motor that rotates the convertible thruster rotor. The electric motor and pitch control actuator are unitary. Both the electric motor and pitch control actuator pivot with the convertible thruster. The pitch actuator output shaft is coaxial to and disposed within a hollow electric motor output shaft.

A. Field of the Invention The Invention relates to a compound aircraft having a convertible thruster that pivots between a forward thrust position, an anti-torque position, and positions intermediate to the forward thrust and anti-torque positions. In the forward thrust position, the convertible thruster provides forward thrust to the compound aircraft. In the anti-torque position and intermediate positions, the convertible thruster provides thrust to balance the torque of the main rotor and to provide control authority in yaw and trim.
The convertible thruster includes a unitary electric motor and pitch control actuator. The electric motor turns a thruster rotor. The pitch control actuator controls the pitch of the thruster rotor. The Invention relates to the control of the unitized convertible thruster for all positions, to the powering of the unitized convertible thruster, to the pivoting of the unitized convertible thruster between positions, and to the cooling of the unitized convertible thruster.
B. Statement of the Related Art
A single rotor conventional helicopter depends upon a main rotor to provide all lift and thrust in all directions and to trim pitch and roll moments. The single rotor conventional helicopter traditionally uses a tail rotor to balance the torque of the main rotor and hence control yaw. A pilot of the conventional helicopter controls the yaw of the helicopter by deflecting rudder pedals. The rudder pedals change the pitch of the blades of the tail rotor, increasing or decreasing the thrust applied by the tail rotor to the airframe. The speed of rotation of the tail rotor of the conventional helicopter is mechanically geared to the speed of rotation of the main rotor and the pilot generally does not have the option of changing the speed of rotation of the tail rotor.
A compound aircraft includes features of both a rotary-wing aircraft and of a fixed-wing aircraft. A compound aircraft may include a rotor and a wing, both of which may provide lift, and may include a thruster to provide forward thrust in addition to the forward thrust provided by the main rotor. The thruster may be a convertible thruster.
A convertible thruster is a propeller or ducted fan that can pivot between a anti-torque position and a forward thrust position. In the anti-torque position, the axis of rotation of the thruster rotor is generally normal to the longitudinal axis of the airframe. In the forward thrust position, the axis of rotation of the thruster rotor is generally coincident with the longitudinal axis of the airframe and generally passes through the aerodynamic center of the aircraft. In the forward thrust position, the convertible thruster provides forward thrust to the aircraft, as when the aircraft is flying at a high forward speed. The convertible thruster may occupy positions intermediate to the anti-torque and forward thrust positions and may provide force in those intermediate positions.

Apparatus, system and method for a convertible thruster for a compound aircraft


An ion exchange membrane is prepared from a block copolymer comprising a hydrophobic polymer segment and a polar polymer segment. The ion exchange membrane is formed by placing a film layer in steam, water or an electric field at a temperature greater than about 40° C. for sufficient amount of time to develop a bicontinuous morphology. The ion exchange membrane is also formed from a film layer comprising a block copolymer and a solvent. The film layer is placed in an electric field at an elevated temperature and dried therein. The film layer is thereby converted into an ion exchange membrane with bicontinuous morphology. The ion exchange membrane prepared according to these processes exhibits improved mechanical and electrochemical properties.

Proton conductive polymers, such as the sulfonated fluoropolymer NAFION®, have been used as solid ion exchange membrane materials in fuel cells. Although such membrane materials work reasonably well, demanding fuel cell applications, such as automotive fuel cells, require significant improvements. In such fuel cell applications, fuel cells require a large current density in a wide range of operating conditions for a long product life cycle. The membrane in those fuel cells must have high proton conductivity and minimal dimension change in a wide range of humidity and temperatures. Many random copolymers may provide high proton conductivity if sufficient hydration level and high ion exchange capacity are achieved. At high hydration level and high relative humidity, however, excessive membrane swelling cannot be avoided with random copolymers. It is difficult for random copolymers to provide high proton conductivity and excellent mechanical stability simultaneously under a wide range of fuel cell operating conditions. Certain types of block copolymers have been disclosed as improvement over random copolymers due to their ability to form different morphologies with interconnected hydrophobic domains and proton conductive domains. It is conceivable that some of the block copolymers might provide both high proton conductivity and mechanical stability in a wide range of fuel cell operation conditions. When a block copolymer is processed into a membrane, however, the block copolymer doesn't spontaneously form the most desirable morphology to afford the membrane properties required for optimal fuel cell operation. Besides, the most desirable morphology has not been taught or disclosed.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved methods of making ion conducting membranes.

Ion exchange membrane having lamellar morphology and process of making the same


A thermochromic urinal display apparatus and method for displaying a message when activated by a warm urine stream and terminating the display when the apparatus is rinsed with cool rinse water. A urinal display screen is disclosed with advertisement, slogans, public service messages either painted, printed, screened or incorporated onto the urinal display screen using thermochromic paint, ink, film or decal. The urinal display screen is placed so that the thermochromic display is above the water line in the urinal reservoir. The warm urine stream activates the thermochromic paint to induce opaqueness or clarity to reveal advertising slogans, public service messages to the user. Once flushed the cool water from the urinal rinse deactivates the thermochromic paint so that it returns to its original state thereby becoming opaque to conceal an underlying message from the next user. The message can be printed in thermochromic paint in a quiescent transparent state to become activated and visible in its active opaque state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to urinals and in particular to a urine activated thermochromic display method and apparatus for urinals.
2. Description of the Related Art
Thermochromic compositions are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,425 teaches a thermochromic opaque/transparent composition which is capable of exhibiting change in transparency together with a change in color in response to temperature variation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,550 teaches a thermochromic color-memory composition exhibiting high color contrast between high color density in a colored state and sufficiently low color density in a decolored state with a high freedom of selection of the reaction medium, and highly useful as a thermochromic material.
Moreover, urinal and toilet devices are known in the art. For example U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,863 discloses an amusement device for a toilet bowl comprising a urine detector for detecting a urine flow from a human and for providing an electric signal for activating a sensory stimulus device.
U.S. Pat. No. D0, 253,145 discloses an ornamental urinal screen and U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,008 discloses a method and apparatus for providing artificial sounds in the vicinity of a toilet.
None of these patents or any other patent known to the inventor of the present invention disclose or suggest the improvements and advantages which are provided by the present invention. With the aid of this specification, many of these improvements and advantages will become obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Method and apparatus for providing a urine-activated thermochromic display screen


A relay device includes mechanical relays, a first bus bar, a second bus bar, and a relay drive circuit. The relay includes a coil, a moving contact whose position changes according to whether the coil is energized, a load terminal conductive to the contact and connected to the first bar, and a coil terminal connected to the coil and second bar. The first bar includes a loading circuit. A current flows to an external load through the loading circuit opened/closed when the position of the contact changes. The second bar includes a coil circuit through which the coil is energized. The drive circuit is packaged on the second bar and opens/closes the coil circuit based on an operation signal. The first and second bars are stacked at predetermined intervals. The relays are between the first and second bars.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a relay device having more than one mechanical relay.
2. Description of Related Art
According to a conventional relay device described in Japanese Patent No. 4070481, mechanical relays are packaged on a bus bar. A loading circuit for passing an electric current through an external load and a coil circuit for passing an electric current through a coil of the mechanical relay are formed on this bus bar.
According to a conventional relay device described in JP-A-2005-142256, mechanical relays are packaged on a bus bar, and a control circuit for controlling energization of a coil of the mechanical relay is packaged on a printed board. A part of the bus bar is bent into many tabs and an end of the tab is connected to the printed board, so that the bus bar and the printed board are electrically connected.
However, the conventional relay device described in Japanese Patent No. 4070481 needs to use a bus bar having a thickness in accordance with a great current flowing through the loading circuit. On the other hand, an electric current flowing through the coil circuit is small. Accordingly, the coil circuit needs to be as thin as possible to decrease a space used by the coil circuit. Nevertheless, the working of the bus bar becomes difficult when the coil circuit is made thin.
In the conventional relay device described in JP-A-2005-142256, the tab connecting the bus bar and the printed board needs to be formed, and a bending process is necessary to form the tab.


A method for the use of light pressure to optically center a lens on a source of emitted light with submicron accuracy. In one aspect the method uses light pressure to optically center a lens on a source of emitted light, where the lens is then fixed in place. In another aspect the method uses light pressure to create an optically centered lens from a dielectric liquid on a source of emitted light, the shaped lens is then fixed to form an optically aligned permanent lens. By choosing the appropriate lens the light emitted from the source can be either focused or collimated.

Accurately attaching a lens to a light source such as to the core of an optical fiber is of critical importance in many applications of fiber optics, including optical communications and medicine. For example, the ease and efficiency of the coupling of light into and out of an optical fiber can be greatly improved if an appropriate lens is attached to the fiber. In communication systems, an external lens added to a fiber can be used to focus output light onto a smaller and faster detector, thus increasing the ultimate speed of the system. A lens-affixing technique would also be advantageous in other areas, such as biological or medical applications, where the accurate delivery of a small, intense beam spot is required. In all of these applications, performance is enhanced as the alignment of the optical center of the lens with an intensity maximum of the fiber is improved.
Several methods are currently available to align a lens with a laser or an optical fiber including mechanical methods, laser ablation, and the use of surface tension forces. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,818,053 and 4,079,404 describe support structures, or an "optical bench", for aligning optical components such as lasers, lenses, and optical fibers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,521 describes a mechanical method for mounting a lens on a glass plate and then mounting an optical fiber in relation to the lens and glass plate such that the emerging light is collimated. The alignment of the fiber with the glass plate and the lens is determined by monitoring the emitted light with a photodetector, while adjusting the position of the plate relative to the lens until the maximum output is produced. The elements are then fixed in place with a UV-curable adhesive. U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,989 describes the fabrication of microlenses on optical fibers through the use of a pulsed laser beam to ablate the end portion of a fiber.
A method has also been described for centering a lens on an optical fiber using the surface tension of an adhesive that has been applied to the fiber (Dakss et al., 1980, Electronics Lett., Vol 16, pp. 463-464). In this method the adhesive is applied to the fiber tip, and a micromanipulator and a low power microscope are used to aid in the centering of the fiber over a spherical lens. The fiber is lowered so that the adhesive contacts the lens. The surface tension of the adhesive then moves the lens to the center of the fiber core, and the adhesive is cured. This method permits centering of a lens on the fiber core with an accuracy of only approximately 3 microns.
It is desired to achieve an inexpensive, simple and reliable method that improves the accuracy of the centering of lenses upon optical fibers and other light sources having an intensity maximum.

Aligning and attaching a lens to a source of emitted light using light pressure force


Methods and systems for improving delayed read handling in a loop of delayed commands among a larger set of commands in a queue of commands are disclosed. In general, when commands in a delayed loop are completed out of order, “holes” are left in the command queue. Skipping over such “holes” consumes multiple clock cycles before another command can be issued, as each “hole” must be examined first in order to determine that it no longer contains a valid read command. A loop of delayed read commands can thus be created from among a larger set of commands in a queue of commands with each command entry having a pointer to the next valid command. Valid delayed read commands in the loop of commands can then be processed by automatically advancing between any two valid delayed read commands among the loop of commands. In this manner, the time to advance between any two commands in the delayed read loop is constant and PCI read performance thereof can be dramatically improved.

Many high-performance I/O interface devices possess buffers in which to establish a queue of read and write commands. Utilizing the buffer to establish the queue of I/O commands permits one or more computer system processors to which the I/O device is attached to continue other computational functions, while read and write I/O commands are processed separately. The I/O commands may be processed by a state machine or by a separate processor, which is functionally part of the I/O interface device. As a result, the main computational processing functions are not delayed while awaiting the completion of the I/O commands, and the processing functionality of the computer system is attached.
One typical use of a queue command buffer is in a bus interface device, such as a conventional PCI bus interface device, one example of which is described in the PCI 2.2 protocol specification. A PCI bus system typically interconnects a large number of electronic devices. The system must maintain, manage and communicate bi-directional data from one device to another device or several devices at once. A typical PCI bus system permits a plurality of PCI-compliant expansion cards and other PCI-based components to be installed in the computer. A PCI bus system requires the utilization of a PCI controller to provide synchronization and control over all of the system components. The PCI controller generally exchanges data with a system CPU and allows intelligent PCI compliant adapters and devices to perform tasks concurrently with the CPU.
The queue command buffer utilized in a PCI bus is typically a first-in first-out (FIFO) buffer, which contains the read and write I/O commands that are to be completed. FIFO generally relates to a method of processing a queue or buffer, in which items are removed in the same order in which they were added. Such an order, for example, is typical of a list of documents waiting to be printed. The commands in the buffer are completed in a FIFO fashion, assuring that each command will ultimately be completed. New I/O commands are written into the top of the queue of the FIFO command buffer, and when a previous command has been fully completed, the command can be unloaded from the bottom of the queue of the FIFO buffer.
Upon attempting to complete a read command from the command buffer and failing to receive data in response to that read command, a queue pointer remains at the position of the read command, which has incurred a response. A failure to unload the delayed read command from the queue of the FIFO buffer can cause the delayed read command to be retried until a response is received. This type of continued attempted completion of the delayed read command is known as a spin on single retried request. A spin on single retried request permits issuing only one read command until that read command has been completed. A spin on single retried request can be achieved by maintaining the position of the queue pointer at the delayed read command until that read command is completed, at which time the then-completed read command is unloaded from the queue of the FIFO buffer.
Another type of technique for handling delayed read commands in the queue of the FIFO buffer is known as head-of-list alternation. Head-of-list alternation involves an added capability to alternate or swap another read command within the FIFO buffer in place of the delayed read command at the head of the list in the queue. Thus, upon encountering a first delayed read command, and if the next command in the FIFO buffer is also a read command, the relative position of the first delayed command and the next read command can be alternated, so that an attempt is made to complete the next read command while the first read command is delayed. After the swap or alternation, completion of the second command is attempted.
If the second command is successfully completed, it is unloaded from the queue and completion of the first delayed read command can again be attempted. If the first read command is again delayed, the head-of-list alternation will again seek to substitute another read command following the first delayed read command, if another such read command is available in the queue. If, however, the next command in the FIFO buffer is not a read command, the first delayed read command is again retried until it is completed. This head-of-list alternation therefore functions only if two read commands are available in sequential positions in the queue of the FIFO buffer. If a command other than a read command follows a delayed read command, head-of-list alternation is not possible.
Head-of-list alternation between delayed read commands is more efficient than a spin on single retired request of the first delayed read command, because alternating between two read commands offers the opportunity to enqueue two read commands to target devices (e.g., memories or disk drives) for response. Head-of-list alternation also offers the possibility of receiving a response from one of the two enqueued commands during the waiting time that would normally be encountered while waiting for a response to only a single enqueued read command. The latency in response of a target device to a read command is spread over two target devices, and the latency is thereby diminished in relation to the number of read commands that are completed. As a consequence, the data throughput can be enhanced compared to the data throughput achieved when a single delayed read command must be retried continually before any other commands in the queue command can be completed.
Head-of-list alternation works for two sequential read commands in the FIFO buffer because there are never any gaps between read commands. If a gap between read commands exists, head-of-list alternation is not performed and instead, spin on single retried request is performed until the delayed read command is completed. Head-of-list alternation is accomplished only because of the ability to swap the two sequential read commands until one of them is completed at the top of the list and is unloaded from the FIFO buffer.
Although the PCI 2.2 protocol specification theoretically supports the concept of extending the number of delayed read commands beyond two, no specific technique has been described for doing so. Substantial complexities can be encountered when attempting to expand the number of delayed read commands beyond two, particularly in regard to handling those delayed read commands that may have been completed between the first and the last ones of a greater number of delayed read commands. The PCI 2.2 protocol specification does not specifically address a capability for adjusting the depth or content of the number of delayed read commands between the first and last delayed read commands.
Consequently, head-of-list alternation offers the possibility of completing two sequential delayed read commands, but does not extend in a straightforward manner to the possibility of attempting completion of three or more delayed read commands. In some computer systems, head-of-list alternation offers only slightly increased performance (i.e., reduced latency) compared to spin on single retried request performance because of the extent of the delays encountered in response to read commands in complex modern computer systems.
Another type of technique for handling delayed read commands in the queue of the FIFO buffer involves creating a "loop" of commands beginning with the first delayed reads and ending with the last and cycling through those reads until all are completed. When commands, however, in such a delayed read loop are completed out of order, "holes" can be left in the command queue. Skipping over such "holes" can consume multiple clock cycles before another command is issued. The present inventors thus believe that a need exists for improved methods and systems for handling delayed read commands. It is believed that such methods and systems, if implemented appropriately, can provide enhanced PCI performance.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A lithographic apparatus includes a radiation source configured to emit radiation to form a radiation beam, the radiation being of a type which can create plasma in a low pressure environment in the apparatus, and an optical component configured to condition the radiation beam, impart the conditioned radiation beam with a pattern in its cross-section to form a patterned radiation beam, project the patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of a substrate, and/or to detect radiation. The optical component is provided with a plasma quenching structure, the plasma quenching structure being configured to provide electron-ion recombination in, on and/or near the optical component.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lithographic apparatus and a method for manufacturing a device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A lithographic apparatus is a machine that applies a desired pattern onto a substrate, usually onto a target portion of the substrate. A lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In that instance, a patterning device, which is alternatively referred to as a mask or a reticle, may be used to generate a circuit pattern to be formed on an individual layer of the IC. This pattern can be transferred onto a target portion (e.g. comprising part of, one, or several dies) on a substrate (e.g. a silicon wafer). Transfer of the pattern is typically via imaging onto a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist) provided on the substrate. In general, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent target portions that are successively patterned. Known lithographic apparatus include steppers, in which each target portion is irradiated by exposing an entire pattern onto the target portion at one time, and scanners, in which each target portion is irradiated by scanning the pattern through a radiation beam in a given direction (the "scanning" direction) while synchronously scanning the substrate parallel or anti-parallel to this direction. It is also possible to transfer the pattern from the patterning device to the substrate by imprinting the pattern onto the substrate.
In the apparatus, during use, background plasma can be present. For example, during use, the radiation beam traversing a low pressure interior space of the lithographic apparatus can lead to local plasma generation, particularly, in case the radiation is EUV (Extreme Ultra Violet) radiation. Also, for example, the apparatus can comprise a plasma radiation source, to provide the radiation, wherein a small amount of plasma may escape from the radiation source, towards optical components in the lithographic apparatus.
One or more of such background plasmas can impair operation of optical components of the lithographic apparatus. For example, the background plasma can lead to sputtering of optical surfaces nearby optical components, in the case that accelerated plasma particles at least achieve a certain sputtering threshold (kinetic) energy.
WO 2005/064401 describes an apparatus, comprising a debris-mitigation system that mitigates debris particles, for example charged particles, during use of the apparatus. The debris-mitigation system is arranged to apply a magnetic field so that at least charged debris particles are mitigated. The magnetic field can bring electrons (and other charged particles) into a spiraling movement.

Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method


Voice of a user is inputted to a speech recognition section until a start of a no-voice domain from depression of a talk-switch. LPC cepstrum coefficients are calculated from the voice in an LPC analysis section and a cepstrum calculation section, and then temporarily stored in a parameter backward output section. A series of the LPC cepstrum coefficients is re-arranged to the series in which the time axis is inverted and then outputted to a collating section. The collating section calculates a degree of similarity between the LPC cepstrum coefficients and a recognition dictionary of a backward tree-structure stored in a standard pattern section through a backward collating.

A speech recognition system provides a result of recognition based on the higher degree of matching by comparing the input voice with a plurality of pattern candidates as the comparison objects stored previously. It is used for a user to input, by voice, a name of place to be set as a destination, for example, in a navigation system. Particularly, when a driver utilizes a mobile navigation system while driving, the voice input method is very safe and effective since this method does not require the driver's manipulation such as controlling buttons or watching a display.
In order to satisfy such functions, it is essential to easily designate a place in a sufficient detail level. Practically, it is required to be able to input the place up to the level of Town or Street (smallest unit of area) under the City name, exceeding the level of Prefecture and City. Moreover, when users desire, for example, to set the destination as "Showa-Town, Kariya-City, Aichi-Prefecture", it is very troublesome for users when they are requested to pronounce the destination in separation for every levels of Town, City and Prefecture such as "Showa-Town", "Kariya-City" and "Aichi-Prefecture". Therefore, it is preferable for users that they can input the series of words of the address continuously (continuous input).
In the case of an address of a place in Japan, the address is first branched, in the expression of the Japanese style, depending on the Metropolis of Tokyo, Hokkaido, Osaka-Fu, Kyoto-Fu, and 43 Prefectures which are the highest hierarchical level and the branching factors are increasing in the sequence of the voice input such as City, Town, and a house number. Therefore, it is effective to execute the speech recognition by using a recognition dictionary of a tree-structure for such recognition words. FIG. 6 shows an example of the tree-structure dictionary for the recognition of addresses in Japan. In this case, an address is first branched, as explained above, depending on the highest hierarchical level (for example, Aichi-Prefecture, Gifu-Prefecture, . . . ), then branched depending on City (Town, Village) for each of the highest hierarchical level, and then branched depending on name of Town for each City, . . . Namely, when expression of an address in the Japanese style is considered in the sequence of the voice input, as the address level becomes lower, the branching points increase more.
However, in various countries other than Japan in the world, for example, in the USA and European countries, an address often starts from a house number as the lowest hierarchical level and is then expressed in the reverse sequence of the expression in the Japanese style such as Name of Street→Name of City→Name of State. Therefore, if a recognition dictionary of tree-structure is generated for such recognition of the addresses, the recognition dictionary is formed in the so-called "Backward Tree-structure", in which the number of branching points decreases and are to be combined as the address level becomes higher. As a result, an address is branched to the next level at many branching points from the first hierarchical level (lowest hierarchical level) (for example, in the USA, such branching points increases up to about several millions from several hundreds of thousand). Therefore, it is probable that a load of the matching process increases and thereby the recognition time becomes longer.
Moreover, as a method of reducing a load of the process, it is known to introduce a "cut of branch" process to narrow down candidates in the recognition in the tree-structure dictionary. However, when such "cut of branch" process is adopted to the backward tree-structure dictionary, the possibility for cutting the branch including the word of the correct answer actually becomes high. Therefore, cut of branch cannot be effective, resulting in poor recognition performance. Accordingly, since there is no particular merit for generation of the recognition dictionary of the tree-structure, it has been difficult to apply the continuous speech recognition technique to such a voice input having a backward tree-structure.
This problem arises, in addition to the case of address, in any recognition dictionary of backward tree-structure.

Speech recognition system, program and navigation system


A chair fastening device for securing a metal bracket to a seat pan of a chair thereby enabling arms, legs or pedestal bases with or without control mechanisms to be attached to the chair. The fastening device comprises a slab base weld nut which includes a slab base head that is captured and retained by parallel raised ribs formed in the plastic of the seat pan, thereby preventing rotation of the slab base weld nut, and an elongated barrel which is inserted through angled holes in the plastic seat pan and peened over in order to form a rivet connection with the underside of the plastic seat pan. The elongated barrel of the slab base weld nut is counterbored and further includes internal threads adapted to receive a screw or bolt for use in securing a metal bracket to the plastic seat pan without inducing stress fractures in the plastic, thus creating a strong, secure attachment for chair arms, legs or pedestal bases.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a chair fastening device for attaching legs, arms and pedestal bases with or without control mechanisms to a chair and, more particularly to a slab base nut rivet for use in securing a metal bracket to a plastic seat pan of a chair without inducing stress fractures into the plastic.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fasteners are widely known in the art. The word "fastener" is a rather broad, generic term utilized so as to designate any device intended to be used in securing any article in place to another article. Various common fasteners or fastening devices include rivets, screws, bolts, nut elements, and the like which are used in connection with articles such as wood, metal, fabric, plastic and the like for any of a wide variety of diverse purposes.
It is extremely desirable to be able to install a fastener in such a manner that the fastener is incapable of relative movement with respect to the member upon which it is installed as well as resistant to torque caused by screwing a bolt into the fastener.
Previously, in the furniture industry, self-piercing "T-nuts" were utilized as fasteners in order to secure chair arms, legs or pedestal bases with or without control mechanisms to seat pans made of thin, flexible material such as plastic. However, the prongs of the "T-nut" would cause stress fractures in the plastic thus creating a rather weak attachment. Presently, weld nuts with slab base heads, commonly used as welded fastener inserts in metal products, were used in place of the self-piercing "T-nuts" but the slab base heads of the weld nuts could not be secured to the plastic seat pans without using a secondary operation such as gluing or stapling.
Consequently, there exists a need to secure a fastener such as a slab base weld nut to chair seat pans made of thin, flexible material such as plastic with drafted holes in such a way as to create a strong, secure attachment without the use of an elaborate secondary operation, while at the same time preventing torque rotation, preventing stress fractures, and resisting the entry force of screw installation into the fastener insert. It is the solution of this and other problems to which the present invention is directed.


Embodiment herein provide a method and system of reporting cluster specific CSI feedback by user equipment (UE) to a cloud system. The UE associates with the cloud using a biased association or an unbiased association. In a biased association, a ratio between the highest received power from a Macro BS and a Pico base station is determined by the UE and compared with a threshold (bias). If the ratio is greater than the bias, the UE associates with the Pico BS. The UE reports CSI for a set of dominant Macro BSs and Pico BSs within a cluster. The UE can report the IDs of the BSs which contribute to dominant interference caused by the BSs of neighboring clusters.

In next generation cloud communication technology, wireless network architecture includes a large group of Antenna Ports (ATPs) which are connected to a central processor (or a Remote Base Station (RBS)) and carries out baseband processing for the entire network.
Availability of baseband signals corresponding to all the User Equipment (UEs) in the network provides multiple benefits including simplified user scheduling, automatic load balancing and the like. As the density of the ATPs grow, transmit power of the Base Station (BS) can be reduced to low values without compromising the network performance. In conventional networks, such high density deployment may lead to frequent handovers.
In conventional systems, the base station (BS) may employ spatial multiplexing (SM) techniques using multiple antennas in downlink. Similarly, the cloud radio may be designed to handle multi-stream transmission from each TP. FIG. 1 is a high level architecture of a Cloud Radio Access Network (CRAN). In a cloud radio, the network may assign the base station identification (BS ID) number to a group of antenna ports while individual antenna ports may be given a unique antenna port number. FIG. 2 illustrates a conventional Heterogeneous networks (HetNets) Cloud Radio with a plurality of macro cells and pico cells illustrating a HetNet Cloud Radio. Third Generation Partnership (3GPP) standard introduced HetNets in Release-10 of the 4G Long-Term-Evolution (LTE) standard. This feature allows deployment of small cells (Pico cells and Femto cells). All cells can fully utilize an entire available bandwidth in universal frequency reuse-one mode. The introduction of Pico cells within the coverage area of a Macro cell may lead to mutual interference between the Macro and Pico cells.
Existing CSI feedback methods do not distinguish between BS of its own cluster and the neighboring cluster. To mitigate intra-cluster interference ones needs CSI of BSs/ATPs that belong to the same cluster. However, since the RBS uses centralized precoding to eliminate intra-cluster interference, there is no need to obtain CSI of BSs/ATPs that belong to neighboring clusters. The inter-cluster scheduling can be used to mitigate inter-cluster interference if the UE feedback the IDs of BS that are present in the neighboring clusters but can cause dominant interference to the UE.

Method and apparatus for a cluster specific CSI feedback

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY HYDERABAD


A semiconductor array with self-adjusted contacts includes a substrate having a surface, at least two mutually spaced-apart doped regions extending in a first lateral direction on the surface, and insulated regions each being associated with a respective one of the doped regions and extending in the first lateral direction on the same side. Contact surfaces each extend in the first lateral direction above a respective one of the doped regions and at least partially above the insulated region associated with the one doped region. An insulating layer has contact holes each being formed therein above a respective one of the contact surfaces for receiving a self-adjusted contact. A method for producing a semiconductor array with self-adjusted contacts includes producing one of the contact surfaces with a first fragment being a part of the contact surface extending above the doped region and a second fragment being a part of the contact surface extending above the insulated region. The first fragment is produced with a non-photolithographic process avoiding edge location errors. The second fragment extends above the first fragment and therefore above the doped region by at least a length of a maximum edge location error, as long as no edge location errors occur.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a semiconductor array with self-adjusted contacts and a method for its production.
A semiconductor array with self-adjusted contacts is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,969. The semiconductor array shown therein is distinguished by an electrode or contact surface that extends not only above a doped region to be contacted but also above an insulated region adjoining the doped region. The contact hole is offset from the doped regions above the insulated region. The result attained is that when there are two doped regions to be contacted, which are adjacent one another in a first lateral direction and one of which has a contact surface of the type described and another has a contact surface of the usual type that is merely disposed above the doped region, the doped regions can be positioned as close together as possible yet without failing to observe a minimum spacing between the respective contacts. One of the two contacts is then in fact disposed offset from the corresponding doped region in the direction remote from the other contact, above the corresponding insulated region.
The method described therein has the disadvantage of not attaining the desired success when there are more than two doped regions adjacent one another in a first lateral direction that are to be contacted, namely that a plurality of adjacent doped regions be spaced as close as possible to one another. If in fact the minimum spacing between two corresponding contacts is not to be undershot, then all that can be done in the way described is to decrease the spacing of the two corresponding doped regions. Conversely, their spacing from other doped regions adjacent them must even be increased, on the condition that the dimensions of the doped regions in the first lateral direction are not increased, and the same minimum spacings are adhered to between all of the contacts. The proposed structure of the contact surfaces thus does not make it possible, given an allowable minimum spacing between the doped regions, to place the doped regions and insulated regions in a regular structure.
That problem becomes even worse if, as proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,969, both contacts of two adjacent doped regions are each offset in opposite directions from the doped regions. Admittedly that does make it possible for two affected doped regions to be brought closer together, with the same minimum spacing between the contacts. Nevertheless, that can be done only at the expense of the spacing of those doped regions from other doped regions adjacent them.

Semiconductor array with self-adjusted contacts