A signal generator detects a stage in which a central processing unit (CPU) reads an interrupt vector number from an instruction controller based on an address on an address bus and generates an address of a ROM to which the CPU makes access subsequently. The generated address is defined as a pre-reading address and this pre-reading address is supplied to the ROM via a selector before the CPU starts accessing to the ROM. In this case, an output buffer is turned off. Thereafter, when the CPU starts accessing to the ROM, the selector is switched and the output buffer is simultaneously turned on so that the address on the address bus is supplied to the ROM.

A central processing unit (CPU) which performs a pipeline processing method is known (for example, COMPUTER ORGANIZATION & DESIGN, 1999, pp 430 to 433, by David A. Patterson; John L. Hennessy). In this CPU, the processing function of reading instructions from a memory and executing the same is divided into a plurality of kinds of stages. Operations of different stages are executed in parallel thereby to partially execute a plurality of instruction processing cycles in the overlapped timings.
FIG. 5A is a schematic illustration of a computer system 101 which is formed with a CPU 102, which is connected to a ROM 104, a RAM (not illustrated), and other peripheral devices via an address bus 106 and a data bus 107.
Here, the CPU 102 will be explained as an example of a CPU which can execute ordinary pipeline processes of five stages. In this CPU 102, a process function is divided into five stages of IF (instruction fetching operation: fetch operation), DEC (instruction decoding), EXE (instruction executing), MA (memory accessing), and WB (writing back) and the pipeline process is executed in such a parallel relationship as illustrated in FIG. 5B.
Namely, in the IF stage, an instruction is read from a memory (mainly, ROM) in which programs are stored in advance, while in the DEC stage, the instructions fetched in the IF stage are decoded. In the EXE stage, arithmetic operations among registers are executed based on the contents decoded in the DEC stage. Moreover, in the MA stage, access (read or write operation) is executed based on the contents decoded in the DEC stage to the memories of ROM and RAM or the like using the results of the arithmetic operations in the EXE stage as the address. In the WB stage, data is written into registers based on the contents decoded in the DEC stage.
High speed instruction processes are realized by performing, in parallel, operations of different stages of a plurality of instruction process cycles. Specifically, when the n-th instruction is read from the memory in the IF stage of the n-th instruction process cycle and the n-th instruction is decoded in the DEC stage of the n-th instruction process cycle, the (n+1)-th instruction is read from the memory of the IF stage of the (n+1)-th instruction process cycle. Moreover, when the arithmetic operation is executed based on the n-th instruction in the EXE stage of the n-th instruction process cycle, the (n+1)-th instruction is decoded in the DEC stage of the (n+1)-th instruction process cycle and the (n+2)-th instruction is read from the memory of the IF stage of the (n+2)-th instruction process cycle.
In addition, all stage operations are executed synchronously with the system clock of the CPU (operation clock of the CPU) and one stage operation is basically completed within one period T of the system clock.
Meanwhile, in the CPU 102, the length of IF stage (namely, execution period of the IF stage) is determined depending on a response speed of a memory (ROM 104) in which programs are stored. Namely, in order to accurately read instructions from the memory, the execution time T of the IF stage must be set equal to or longer than the time required until the data on the data bus is established from change of the address on the address bus (the time required for memory access).
In addition, the time required for operations of each stage must be set equally in the pipeline process for parallel execution of all stages, and this operation time is determined in accordance with the stage which requires the longest process time. Accordingly, the CPU 102 has a problem that the processing speed of the CPU 102 (i.e. execution interval in the EXE stage) exceeding the processing speed of the ROM 104 cannot be attained. Namely, even when the processing speed of the CPU 102 is higher than the response speed of the ROM 104, the processing speed of the system which is configured with inclusion of the ROM 104 cannot exceed the response speed of the ROM 104.
On the other hand, as in the case of a computer system 101a illustrated in FIG. 6A, a high speed process may be assumed by realizing processing speed of a CPU 102a which is higher than the response speed of the ROM 104 by providing a wait control circuit 105 to adjust difference in the processing speeds of the CPU 102a and the ROM 104.
Namely, the wait control circuit 105 monitors control signals for the address bus 106 and the read and write operations not illustrated and makes the wait signal W active by as long as the predetermined number of clock cycles, upon detection of access to the ROM 104. The CPU 102a does not perform the update of stage only for the period in which the wait signal W is in the active state.
When an operation of reading the instruction from the ROM 104 in the IF stage is continuously executed, realization of high speed operation with the method described above is worthless, because the wait signal W is generated in every stage. However, in fact, a high speed operation realized with the method described above is useful when a branching instruction is executed or when an interrupt process routine is activated in accordance with the request for interrupt because the reading of instruction from the ROM 104 is interrupted for a certain period.
A practical example of such high speed operation will be described below.
FIG. 6B is a timing diagram illustrating the operations to execute the branching process in the n-th instruction process cycle. The stage execution time of the CPU 102a is expressed by (1/2)×T, the response time of the ROM 104 by T, and the time wherein the wait signal W is in the active state by (1/2)×T.
As illustrated in FIG. 6B, when the n-th instruction is read from the ROM 104 in the IF stage of the n-th instruction process cycle, since access to the ROM 104 is detected with the wait control circuit 105, the wait signal W becomes active during the period of (1/2)×T and the CPU 102a executes the IF stage for the period of T. Namely, since the response time of the ROM 104 becomes equal to the execution time in the IF stage, the CPU 102a can read the instructions from the ROM 104 without fail.
Next, the CPU 102a detects, in the DEC stage of the n-th instruction process cycle, that the instruction read from the ROM 104 is a branching instruction. Therefore, the CPU 102a then executes the pipeline control to stop execution of the IF stages of all instruction process cycles (at the (n+1)-th and (n+2)-th positions) which are located before the IF stage of the instruction process cycle to process the instruction of the branching destination (at the (n+3)-th position). However, since the IF stage of the (n+1)-th instruction process cycle is already executed, the pipeline control is performed to stop only the execution of the IF stage of the (n+2)-th instruction process cycle. Here, since the wait process is executed in the same manner as the IF stage of the n-th instruction process cycle in the IF stage of the (n+1)-th instruction process cycle, the (n+1)-th instruction is accurately read from the ROM 104 but this instruction is cancelled because this is not the instruction to be executed.
In the EXE stage of the subsequent n-th instruction process cycle, arithmetic operation of address is executed to obtain an address of the branching destination. In this timing, the DEC stage of the (n+1)-th instruction process cycle and the IF stage of the (n+2)-th instruction process cycle are not executed. Consequently, since access to the ROM 103 is not executed, the wait process is not executed and the process is executed within the ordinary stage process time (1/2)×T.
In the MA stage of the subsequent n-th instruction process cycle, since a value of a program counter which indicates the instruction reading address is updated to a value of the address of the branching destination calculated in the EXE stage, the instruction for branching to a destination is read from the ROM 104 in the IF stage of the (n+3)-th instruction process cycle. Here, the wait process is executed as in the case of the IF stage of the n-th instruction process cycle in the IF stage of the (n+3)-th instruction process cycle. Accordingly, the (n+3)-th instruction is read accurately from the ROM 104. Namely, the processing speed can be improved as much as the period of (1/2)×T in comparison with that of FIG. 5B in which the period up to completion of reading operation of the (n+3)-th instruction from the start of the reading operation of the n-th instruction is set to the period T in every stage.
FIG. 7 is a timing diagram illustrating operations to accept an interrupt request in the DEC stage of the n-th instruction process cycle. However, the ROM 104 is assumed herein to store an interrupt process routine programmed for every interrupt factor and an interrupt address table which is an aggregation of the head addresses of such interrupt process routines, and to search the interrupt address table in accordance with interrupt vector numbers read from an interrupt controller (not illustrated). Moreover, the interrupt vector number indicates an offset amount from the head address of the interrupt address table and is assigned in advance for each interrupt factor. That is, the head address of the interrupt process routine corresponding to the interrupt request generated can be acquired by adding the interrupt vector number to the head address value of the interrupt address table.
As illustrated in FIG. 7, when the interrupt request is accepted in the DEC stage of the n-th instruction process cycle, the instruction read in the IF stage of the n-th instruction process cycle is cancelled and the process related to the activation of the interrupt process routine is executed in the DEC and subsequent stages of the n-th instruction process cycle.
First, in the DEC stage of the n-th instruction process cycle, address information required to read the interrupt vector number from the interrupt controller (not illustrated) is prepared in substitution for the data prepared in accordance with the instruction read in the IF stage of the n-th instruction process cycle. Here, the IF stage of the (n+1)-th instruction process cycle is inherently unnecessary stage. However, since this IF stage is already processed when the interrupt request is accepted, the instruction is read from the ROM 104 but this instruction is cancelled without execution. In this case, the wait signal W is activated with the wait control circuit 105 and processed for the period of T. Subsequently, since the IF stages of the (n+2)-th to (n+6)-th instruction process cycles are not yet processed when the interrupt request is accepted, the instruction reading operations from the ROM 104 are never executed through operation control.
Next, in the EXE stage of the n-th instruction process cycle, the arithmetic operations are executed, when required, based on the address information prepared in the DEC stage of the n-th instruction process cycle to generate an address to read the instruction vector number from the interrupt controller (not illustrated).
Next, in the MA stage of the n-th instruction process cycle, the interrupt vector number is read, via the data bus 7, from the interrupt controller (not illustrated) in accordance with the address generated in the EXE stage of the n-th instruction process cycle. This interrupt vector number is then transferred to the DEC stage of the (n+2)-th instruction process cycle. Simultaneously, in the DEC stage of the (n+2)-th instruction process cycle, head address information of the interrupt address table is prepared.
Next, in the EXE stage of the (n+2)-th instruction process cycle, arithmetic operations of address for referring to the interrupt address table are executed based on the interrupt vector number transferred from the MA stage of the n-th instruction process cycle and the head address information of the predetermined interrupt address table.
Next, in the MA stage of the (n+2)-th instruction process cycle, data, namely the interrupt process routine start address corresponding to the interrupt request generated is read from the ROM 104 depending on the address calculated in the EXE stage of the (n+2)-th instruction process cycle and this start address is transferred to the DEC stage of the (n+4)-th instruction process cycle. Since the data is read from the ROM 104 in the MA stage of the (n+2)-th instruction process cycle, the wait signal w is activated with the wait control circuit 105 and is then processed for the period of T.
Next, in the EXE stage of the (n+4)-th instruction process cycle, the data transferred from the MA stage of the (n+2)-th instruction process cycle, namely the interrupt process routine start address corresponding to the interrupt request generated is transferred to the MA stage of the (n+4)-th instruction process cycle.
As the next step, in the MA stage of the (n+4)-th instruction process cycle, the data transferred from the EXE stage of the (n+4)-th instruction process cycle, namely the interrupt process routine start address corresponding to the interrupt request generated is set to a program counter and the top instruction of the interrupt process routine is read by the ROM 104 to start the IF stage of the (n+7)-th interrupt process cycle to execute the interrupt process routine corresponding to the interrupt requests generated in the subsequent stages.
Since the reading operation from the ROM 104 is executed in the IF stage of the (n+7)-th instruction process cycle, the wait signal W is activated with the wait control circuit 105 and is then processed for the period of T. That is, in comparison with the case wherein all stages are processed within the period of T, the time required until the reading operation of the (n+7)-th instruction is completed from the start of the reading operation of the n-th instruction can be reduced by as much as the period of 2×T(=(1/2)×T×4).
Advantages of the present invention described above are very distinctive in a microcomputer for controlling a built-in apparatus to execute the programs (namely, the programs including many branching instructions), which result in a large speed difference between the CPU and ROM, comprises many peripheral circuits to frequently generate the interrupt requests and also changes the processes in accordance with the situations or the like. However, the request for further high speed operations is still further increasing.

Memory control method and memory control apparatus for pipeline processing


A method of injection molding a container cap with a precision thread having a tamper indicating band depending from the bottom of the cap skirt. Collet jaws form at least a frangible connection between the bottom of the cap skirt and the top of the tamper indicating band, and these jaws are moved radially outward specified amounts during the molding process to provide clearance for stripping an inwardly directed retaining element on the band from the core and for ejection of the finished cap.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for forming container closures. More particularly, this invention relates to a method for injection molding threaded tamper indicating closures.
2. State of the Art
Many threaded closures, including tamper indicating closures having a threaded cap and a tamper, indicating band joined to the bottom of the cap by a frangible connection, are molded with a rounded thread so that the molding core can be stripped from the molded cap by axial movement, jumping the thread forming portion of the core over the internal cap thread.
Where a precision thread has been required having a sharply defined thread apex, axially split cores have been used mandating closure design where the cap skirt of the closure is at least twice as long as a cap having jump threads in order to accommodate unthreading splines or axially extending teeth. This can be seen in FIG. 1 of the closure described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,387 where the threaded cap 12 of closure 10 has a first skirt portion 18 having a precise internal thread 20 and a second skirt portion 24 having unscrewing teeth or spline receiving grooves 30. A splined portion of the core remains stationary, to be engaged with teeth 30, to prevent rotation of the closure as a second separate portion of the core forming the internal threads 20 is rotated in an unthreading direction.

Injection molding system for threaded tamper indicating closures


Two substrates are mechanically and electrically coupled together using a combination of a fast cure electrically non-conductive epoxy for mechanical attachment and a slow cure electrically conductive epoxy for electrical interconnects. The two epoxies are selectively applied between the two substrates as a stack, and the stack is subjected to a temperature that is sufficient to cure the fast cure electrically non-conductive epoxy in a short period of time but does not damage the substrates or components coupled thereto. In some applications, the temperature is less than 100 degrees Celsius and the time period is less than 5 seconds. The stack is removed from the heat and the slow cure electrically conductive epoxy continues to cure over a longer second period of time, such as a few hours to a day.

Using an adhesive is a common technique for securing objects together. Multi-part adhesives harden by mixing two or more components which chemically react. The individual components are not adhesive by nature. The individual components react with each other after being mixed and show full adhesion only upon curing.
Epoxy is the cured end product of epoxy resins. Epoxy is also a common name for a type of strong adhesive used for adhering objects together and covering surfaces, typically two resins are mixed together before use. Epoxy resins may be reacted either with themselves or with a wide range of co-reactants. These co-reactants are often referred to as hardeners or curatives, and the cross-linking reaction is commonly referred to as curing. Heat curing epoxies consist of a pre-made mixture of two or more components that when heat is applied the components react and cross-link.
Many electronic devices require application of an epoxy for adhering together various device components. Conductive epoxies are particularly important for additionally providing electrical interconnection between two adhered device components. Unfortunately, some electronic devices, or more particularly one or more components with an electronic device, cannot handle high temperatures, such as greater than 100 degree Celsius, necessary for curing a conductive epoxy. Attaching device components with a conductive epoxy at temperatures below 100 degrees Celsius requires longer curing time periods, which is not acceptable for high speed automated fabrication processes.

Fast cure conductive epoxy attach methodology for high speed automated processes


A printed circuit board (PCB) with a heat dissipation element, a method for manufacturing the PCB, and a semiconductor package using the PCB dissipates heat generated from the semiconductor chip and reduces a printed circuit board height. The PCB includes a heat sink panel, an alloy panel attached to one surface of the heat sink panel serving to ground and to dissipate heat, a circuit pattern layer having via holes formed on one surface of the alloy panel and electrically coupled to the alloy panel, and a cavity formed by perforating the circuit pattern layer and the alloy panel. A semiconductor chip is on the heat sink panel in the cavity and electrically coupled to the circuit pattern layer. The alloy panels with the circuit patterns can be manufactured in pairs with an insulation carrier therebetween. A plurality of dissipation protrusions can be formed on the surface of the alloy panel or the surface of the heat sink panel to couple the same.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printed circuit board (PCB), and more particularly to a printed circuit board, in which a semiconductor chip is directly mounted on a heat sink panel including an integrally formed ground plane, a method for manufacturing the printed circuit board, and a semiconductor package including the printed circuit board.
2. Background of the Related Art
Many semiconductor chips generate heat during operation. Semiconductor chips, which are used in high frequency and have large scale integrated circuits, generate a larger amount of heat during operation. The heat generated must be dissipated outside the semiconductor chip. Therefore, a heat sink is attached to an electronic package in order to dissipate the heat generated to the outside.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram that shows a package 1 using a related art printed circuit board 2. The package 1 is generally referred to as a Ball Grid Array (BGA) package. As shown in FIG. 1, the package 1 includes a semiconductor chip 3 is mounted on the printed circuit board 2. The semiconductor chip 3 is molded with a sealant 4 for protection from the surrounding environment. Solder balls 5 are attached to the lower surface of the printed circuit board 2. The solder balls 5 serve to transmit signals and power from an external device. The semiconductor chip 3 is electrically coupleed to the printed circuit board 2 by gold wires 6 to transmit electrical signals between the semiconductor chip 3 and the printed circuit board 2.
A heat sink 7 is mounted on the upper surface of the semiconductor chip 3. The heat sink 7 serves to dissipate heat generated from the semiconductor chip 3 into the outside. The heat sink 7 is made of thermally conductive metal such as aluminum or the like. A lower surface of the heat sink 7 is attached to the upper surface of the semiconductor chip 3. An upper surface of the heat sink 7 is exposed to the outside. To more effectively dissipate the heat generated into the outside, a plurality of dissipation protrusions 8 may be formed on the upper surface of the heat sink 7, which have a large surface area, to dissipate the heat into the outside.
A large number of functional devices are integrated on the small-sized semiconductor chip 3. Therefore, much heat is generated from the semiconductor chip 3 during operation. The heat sink 7 is used to dissipate the generated heat.
If the heat is not properly dissipated, electrons are excited by this heat. Then, the semiconductor chip 3 cannot exhibit its specific performance. Therefore, the heat sink 7 must be used to dissipate the heat generated from the chip 3 into the outside.
However, as described above, the related art package provided with the heat sink has various problems. Since the heat sink 7 is formed separately from the printed circuit board 2, the heat sink 7 is attached to the printed circuit board 2 to form the package 1. Therefore, the height of the package 1 is increased. Further, it is difficult to miniaturize the package 1. In manufacturing the printed circuit board 2, a ground plane for grounding circuits formed on the printed circuit board 2 must be additionally formed. The additional ground plane increases the number of layers of the printed circuit board 2 and the height of the package 1 using the printed circuit board 2.
When the printed circuit board 2 having the semiconductor chip 3 becomes multi-layered, the height of the printed circuit board 2 is increased, which increases the height of the package 1 using the printed circuit board 2. In addition, when using the multi-layered printed circuit board, through holes for coupling the solder balls to the ground plane are required. The through holes are formed by perforating the printed circuit board. The through holes are coupled to the ground plane. Therefore, the printed circuit board requires increased or large areas for forming the through holes, which also limits variety in designing the printed circuit board.
In cases where a heat dissipation layer of the multi-layered printed circuit board is not directly connected to the semiconductor chip, through holes for transmitting the heat generated from the chip to the heat dissipation layer are also required. Of course, the related art printed circuit board requires additional areas for forming the through holes for transmitting the heat, which also limits the variety in designing the printed circuit board.
The above references are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features and/or technical background.

Printed circuit board with a heat dissipation element and package comprising the printed circuit board


A power supply module includes a circuit board and a heatsink plate. The circuit board includes a first principal surface, a second principal surface, and side surfaces. Electronic components are mounted on the first principal surface. The heatsink plate includes a plate-shaped body portion that faces the first principal surface, and a plurality of fixing portions that extend at an angle from the body portion to face the side surfaces. The fixing portions are configured to come into contact with the second principal surface to secure the body portion to the circuit board.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power supply module, and particularly to a power supply module that includes a circuit board with electronic components mounted thereon.
2. Description of the Related Art
As an invention related to a power supply module of the related art, a housing for electronic components is known, which is described, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-271064. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a structure of a housing 500 for electronic components, described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-271064.
The housing 500 includes an upper case 504 and a lower case 506 and contains a printed circuit board 502. The upper case 504 is disposed on the upper side of the printed circuit board 502. The lower case 506 is disposed on the lower side of the printed circuit board 502. The printed circuit board 502 and the lower case 506 are sandwiched from above and below by the upper case 504. The printed circuit board 502, the upper case 504, and the lower case 506 are thus formed into a single unit.
The housing 500 described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-271064 requires two components, the upper case 504 and the lower case 506, and has a problem in terms of the number of components required.


A management system for a transportation carrier such as an airline is described that provides network-based management of customer data by allowing a user to form a list comprising multiple customers associated with different sets of criteria and to process customer data corresponding to customers associated with multiple lists defined by different criteria. In one embodiment, an airline management system allows a user to append additional customers to a list comprising previously selected customers without having to re-request the list with additional search criteria and re-select the previously selected customers. The airline management system also allows a user to simultaneously display multiple lists of customers that are defined by different criteria. As a result, airline personnel using the airline management system may more effectively and efficiently access and manage customer data required to provide airline services.

Airline management systems manage services provided by airlines and stations associated with those airlines. Exemplary services include registration and check-in services, interline services, flight handling, boarding services, baggage handling, passenger and baggage security, system administration, system interfaces and data reporting.
Airline employees interact with the airline management system to retrieve and view information about customers in order to provide the airline services. In general, searching for specific customers and displaying the information pertaining to the customers is a necessary preliminary step in providing many of the airline services. When searching for customers with specified attributes, an agent is often forced to view and work from a single list of customers in order to take action on the customers.
Moreover, in many situations, a complete list of the customers in which the agent is interested is not always displayed. For example, once the customer presents herself to the agent and requests services, the agent invokes a search function provided by the airline management system to locate the information pertaining to the customer. The agent then identifies the customer from the search results, and is often forced to navigate to an appropriate screen to display additional information about the customer to provide the requested airline services to the customer.

Network-based management of airline customer data


An image reading device compares pixel values of an image data, which is output when a document is not at a reading position, with a threshold and generates a first dust detection data; compares a image data, which is output while the document is passing the reading position, with a threshold and generates a second dust detection data; when dust is indicated as being present at a matching position in a main scanning direction in both the first dust detection data and the second dust detection data, generates a third dust detection data; and judges that noise is present when the third dust detection data indicates that dust is continuously present for at least a prescribed length in a sub scanning line direction.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to, for example, image reading devices which are provided with functionality for carrying documents and for reading images from the documents during carrying.
2. Related Art
Certain types of image reading devices are configured such that a document is carried by a carrying device and an image of the document, which is traveling above a contact glass, is read through the contact glass. In such image reading devices, if dust is attached to the position where images are read on the contact glass, there are cases in which noise in the form of lines is generated in the read images due to that dust.

Image reading device and noise detecting method


An internal supply voltage generation circuit includes first and second driving circuits and a resistive device. The first driving circuit receives a feedback voltage from a first node and generates a first output voltage based on first and second reference voltages to provide the first output voltage to the first node. The first output voltage is maintained between the first and second reference voltages. The second driving circuit receives a feedback voltage from a second node voltage and generates a second output voltage based on third and fourth reference voltages to provide the second output voltage to the second node. The second output voltage is maintained between the third and fourth reference voltages, and the second output voltage of the second node is provided as an internal supply voltage. The resistive device is coupled between the first and second nodes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly to a circuit and a method of generating a stable internal supply voltage in a semiconductor memory device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor memory devices are typically used for storing data, such as still images, videos, music, and so on. Random-access memory (RAM) is a type of volatile memory, and is generally used as the main memory of a computer system. Dynamic RAM (DRAM) is a kind of RAM and includes memory cells. A memory cell may include a single cell transistor and a single cell capacitor, and may store information represented as '0' or '1' in the cell capacitor.
The DRAM memory cells are coupled to a word line and a bit line. When the cell transistor included in the memory cell is turned on in response to a word line enable signal, data stored in the cell capacitor is output to the bit line, or data in the bit line is stored in the cell capacitor.
One terminal of the cell capacitor included in the memory cell is coupled to the cell transistor, and the other terminal of the cell capacitor is coupled to a cell plate. A cell plate voltage VP is applied to a cell plate, and the cell plate voltage VP is generated by a cell plate voltage generator. A capacitance of the cell capacitor is related to data preservation capability, and is determined by a physical area of the cell capacitor and a voltage between both ends of the cell capacitor.
Internal supply voltages used in a semiconductor memory device may include the cell plate voltage VP used in the cell capacitor of the memory cell, and a bit-line precharge voltage VBLP.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram illustrating a conventional internal supply voltage generation circuit, which is disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-105976. Referring to FIG. 1, the internal supply voltage generation circuit includes a reference voltage divider 10, a comparator 20 having differential amplifiers 22 and 24, and a driver 30. The internal supply voltage generation circuit generates the cell plate voltage VP of the memory cell in response to two reference voltages VRP and VRN.
Accordingly, as the DRAM devices become highly integrated, the number of memory cells to which a cell plate voltage generation device must provide the cell plate voltage is increased. Consequently, a cell plate voltage generation device capable of generating a large supply voltage is required.
Additionally, as the DRAM devices become highly integrated, the cell plate voltage may become unstable during a setup time, and the setup time may become long in the semiconductor memory device that includes the conventional internal supply voltage generation circuit.

Circuit and method of generating internal supply voltage in semiconductor memory device


A comparative visual assessment system including an input device, an output device, a computer system, the connected to the input device and the output device, the computer system having a user interface connected to a comparative visual assessment engine, the comparative visual assessment engine including assigning a plurality of weights to a corresponding plurality of components representing a subject, assigning a plurality of scores to the corresponding plurality of components representing the subject, determining a functional score for each of the plurality of components, determining an angle to be used for an output to the output device of a vector for each of the plurality of components, assigning the functional score to a length of the vector for each of the plurality of components, and displaying the vector on the output device.

Decisions. Decisions. Decisions. Each of us is faced with making decisions each and everyday as part of our family lives and our business lives. As is well known in the art, decisions have become more complicated in that even simple business decisions are influenced by a myriad of factors. As is also well known, the numerous factors that contribute to any single decision are themselves more and more complicated in that they often times do not contribute equally to the decision, i.e., some factors weigh more heavily in a decision than do others. As the number of factors involved in making any one decision has grown, and the resultant importance in achieving the `correct` decision based on an analytical approach increases, it is well known that decision makers have turned to computers to aid them in the decision making process.
As is well known, computers provide a faster and more accurate vehicle to aid in the decision making process. As is also well known in this art, objective decision making is often based on numeric data used to describe various factors, or dimensions, of possible decision choices.
In one exemplary computer approach, factors affecting a decision are weighted and entered into a computer. The computer sums the weighted factors arithmetically, and the result of the simple addition is displayed on an output device such as a printer or display unit. But as it is well known in this art, complex decisions involve numerous factors, each of the factors involving numerous sub-factors, each of the sub-factors involving sub-sub-factors, and on and on. Thus, the simple method of weighting factors and summing their numeric equivalent is inappropriate, as it does not map to the complexity of decisions.
In another approach, a "spreadsheet" computer program is used to organize numeric data and generate results on a display device or printer device based on calculations performed on input data. In this approach, the results are often displayed in the form of "pie" charts and bar graphs. With this approach it is difficult to convey descriptive data since it would involve multiple dimensions of input data.
As is also well known, quantitative analytic techniques are being also used for what has been referred to as "benchmarking" product functionality and customer requirements. Benchmarking is a way of doing business that forces an external view to ensure correctness of objective goal setting. Benchmarking is an object-oriented process, a positive pro-active process to change operations in a structured manner to achieve superior performance. Benchmarking is a process to determine the best-in-class practices and metrics, an on-going process, a discovery and learning experience, with the desired state being that of becoming "best-in-class."
In addition to the previous approaches mentioned above, another approach has been to use vectors and their corresponding lengths, directions, and widths, to measure quantitatively a number of factors used in benchmarking. With this approach, only a bias force of less than one and only a ratio of original score to weighted score is utilized.
What is needed is a simple yet more formal mathematical method of using vectors and their inherent mathematical properties to support an improved comparative visual assessment methodology.

Comparative visual assessment system and method


A sound dampening apparatus to be disposed in pneumatic connection with a respiratory support system. The respiratory support system may comprise a source of medical gas, a plurality of pneumatic connections and a patient interface. The sound dampening apparatus comprises an inlet, an outlet, and an outer case which forms a sound dampening chamber. As the medical gas flows through the sound dampening apparatus, the noise energy associated with the flow of medical gas is reduced.

The application of non-invasive ventilation ("NIV") to a patient in need of respiratory support provides the patient with benefits over the use of invasive ventilation techniques such as with an endotracheal (ET) tube. NIV reduces the trauma that a patient experiences in the application of invasive ventilation techniques, for example, intubation. The use of NIV also reduces the risk of ventilator-associated pneumonia and facilitates the weaning of a patient off of mechanical ventilation. Many types of patient interfaces exist to provide a patient with non-invasive ventilation, the most common interfaces utilize a version of a face mask. A drawback of patient interfaces that utilize a face mask is that the patient's mouth is blocked. This reduces the patient's ability to communicate. Furthermore a face mask makes it difficult for the patient to ingest nutrition and/or medication. Also, in the event that a patient vomits, a face mask presents an increased risk of a blocked airway. Finally, patients find discomfort with the use of a mask, both due to the blockage of the patient's mouth as well as the pneumatic pressure that is applied to the patient's face through the patient interface.
In order to address these issues, a pneumatic helmet has been used to deliver respiratory support to a patient. The helmet secures around the patient's neck and/or shoulders to provide a pneumatically sealed compartment about the patient's head. The helmet is typically constructed of a flexible and transparent material such that the patient retains the freedom to move his or her head and to communicate verbally and non-verbally through the material of the helmet. The benefits of the helmet include improved patient communication and a greater sense of freedom experienced by the patient.
However, it has been identified that the noise within the confined space of a non-invasive ventilation helmet can reach discomforting and even dangerous levels. Studies have measured the noise inside the helmet to exceed 100 dB. While OSHA workplace safety standards suggest limiting exposure to noises above 100 dB to less than 2 hours at a time, the patient may be exposed to these noise levels throughout the duration of the respiratory support, which may last days or weeks. This compounds any ill effects from the exposure to the loud noises. The loud noises also contribute to the discomfort that the patient associates with receiving respiratory support. Patient discomfort can lead to an overall unfavorable care experience, and can lead to adverse physiological effects such as increased heart rate or blood pressure. Furthermore excessive noise in the helmet may prevent the patient from falling asleep, and/or staying asleep, thereby reducing the patient's ability to recuperate.
The noise within the helmet has many sources within the mechanical ventilator. One source of noise is the medical gas supply source. Mechanical ventilators typically have one of two different types of systems for providing a flow of medical gas. First, the flow of medical gas may be generated by a compressor or pump that takes in ambient air and delivers it at the desired flow rate to the patient. This compressor or pump is typically loud in its operation, resulting in this noise being transmitted to the helmet. Secondly, the flow of medical gas may be received by the mechanical ventilator from a wall supply of high pressure medical gas supplied to the hospital room. In this system, a pressure regulator in the ventilator reduces the wall gas pressure to deliver a flow of medical gas at the desired flow rate. The reduction of the wall gas pressure is loud and this noise is transmitted through the breathing circuit directly to the patient via the helmet. Therefore, both sources of medical gas commonly used by medical ventilators cause noise in the NIV helmet. Alternatively, the flow of medical gas may be supplied by a different apparatus such as a stand alone CPAP device, or a manual ventilation bag. However, the noise within the patient interface is also an issue with these sources of medical gas flow. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for the plastic tubing that forms the breathing circuit to be corrugated in design to promote flexibility and reduce kinking. However, the corrugated tubing causes turbulence in the flow of medical gas, therefore creating additional noise in the breathing circuit and the NIV helmet.
Attempts have been made to reduce the noise levels within the helmet by modifying the pressure and flow rates of the medical gases provided to the patient through the helmet. However, this technique has not shown a meaningful effect on reducing the noise within the helmet. Alternatively, it has been attempted to reduce the noise in the helmet by including one or more filters, such as a heat and moisture exchange (HME) filter, in an attempt to attenuate the noise associated with the provision of medical gas to the helmet. However, this too did not produce a meaningful decrease in the noise experienced inside of the helmet.
The lack of effectiveness of these attempts to reduce noise may be due to the fact that the noise is the result of inherent features of standard mechanical ventilator components. Furthermore, the HME filter is not designed to maximize any sound-attenuating properties that the HME filter may have. While a HME filter comprises a core of foam or other filter material that the medical gas must flow through, the amount of material present is not sufficient to dampen the noise effectively. If the filter material of the HME filter were modified or the amount of the filter material increased, the HME filter would present an increased resistance to the flow of medical gas being provided to the patient. Increased resistance within the breathing circuit of a mechanical ventilation system is undesirable as this resistance must be overcome by higher pressures within the breathing circuit and the resistance affects the waveform of medical gas that is actually received by the patient.
Therefore, it is desirable in the field of non-invasive mechanical ventilation to provide a sound dampening apparatus for a mechanical ventilation system such that the sound dampening apparatus reduces the noise within a non-invasive helmet and does not substantially increase the resistance of the breathing circuit.

Apparatus and system for reducing mechanical ventilator noise


A process for creating a stop surface on a plunger rod of a syringe is disclosed. The process includes the step of providing a preformed or molded plunger rod, and the step of forming a radially-extending deformation on the molded plunger rod. The presently disclosed in-line process allows for the use of a single molding rod to form plunger rods having one or more selectively located stop positions.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a process for creating a stop surface on a syringe. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to an in-line process for creating a stop surface on the plunger rod of a syringe.
2. Background of Related Art
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, standard syringes 10 typically include a syringe barrel 12, a plunger rod 14 and a plunger tip 16 (FIG. 2). A proximal end 12a of syringe barrel 12 defines a circular opening dimensioned to slidably receive plunger tip 16 and plunger rod 14. Typically, the distal end 12b of barrel 12 defines a small diameter opening and a connector 20, e.g., a luer type connector, for securing syringe barrel 12 to a medical device, e.g., a needle 21, a catheter, a blood collection device, etc.
It is known in the syringe arts to provide limiting structure within a syringe barrel 12 and/or on a plunger rod 14 to limit or restrict the extent of movement of the plunger in relation to the barrel of the syringe. Generally, the limiting structure is integrally formed on the syringe barrel and/or plunger rod during the molding operation of the syringe barrel and/or plunger rod. As such, changing the location of the position of the limiting structure requires a different molding tool for each stop position. This can be costly and time consuming.
The present disclosure is directed to a new process for creating limiting structure, i.e., a stop member, on a syringe plunger rod. As will be described in detail below, the presently disclosed process allows the design of the plunger rod to be modified in an inline process, after the initial molding process has been completed, such that limiting structure can be provided on the plunger rod to selectively define one or more stop positions at selective locations along the plunger rod. By providing such an inline process, a single molding tool can be used to form plunger rods with one or more selectively located stop positions. Further, a single plunger rod design can be molded and inventoried and later subjected to the in-line process to make plunger rods having stop positions at a variety of different positions.

Process for creating a stop surface on a syringe plunger rod


A path-following robot, such as for creating a path to a target surgical site, includes a series of interconnected elements including a lead element at one end thereof, and a plurality of actuators each operably coupled to one of the plurality of elements. Each actuator is capable of effecting rotational and spherical motion of one element with respect to another element. The actuators are arranged to receive commands which individually control the relative position of one element compared with another element, where a position of the lead element determines a path and corresponding positions for all subsequent elements to create a path-following motion.

Endoscopes are used in surgery to view internal portions of a patient's body, typically through a narrow incision in the body exterior. A typical flexible endoscope includes a long slender insertion section to be inserted into a body cavity of a patient, and an operation section coupled to a base end of the insertion section. The insertion section has a distal portion that incorporates an imaging unit. The endoscope also has one or more internal working channels through which a variety of instruments may be inserted.
The distal portion is attached to a bending portion that includes a plurality of annular joint elements connected in series, with adjacent joint elements pivotally joined together. Inside the joint pieces there are two pairs of operation wires: one for vertical turn and the other for horizontal turn. Pushing and pulling these operation wires leads the joint pieces to turn, and thereby the bending portion as a whole to bend in the vertical or horizontal direction. Endoscopes are typically only controlled in the XY orientation in the last 20 to 30 cm of length. The Z axis is controlled by linear movement of the endoscope from the operator. Pushing on a scope by the operator from the proximal end may not result in the desired linear motion of the distal tip due to looping or coiling of the scope along the way.
Existing endoscopes have a further shortcoming in that the endoscope needs a fulcrum to gain leverage to move tissue and properly apply tension and counter-tension with its accompanying tools. The location of where the fulcrum actually occurs along the length of the endoscope is highly variable and can lead to unpredictable motion or unsatisfactory control over the distal, working end of the endoscope and the associated instruments.
Other multiple element devices exist where each element is controlled via sets of wires or by pneumatic methods, electromechanical methods, length changing polymers, shape memory materials, or other generally linear methods of controlling the relative position of each element to the next element as well as the position of the lead element of the device. However, such existing devices utilize linear actuators and combinations of linear actuators and local locking mechanisms which limit the positioning capability to that of locking one element to the next in a fixed position.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A robotic control system directs a robot to take an object from a human grasp by obtaining an image of a human hand holding an object, estimating the pose of the human hand and the object, and determining a grasp pose for the robot that will not interfere with the human hand. In at least one example, a depth camera is used to obtain a point cloud of the human hand holding the object. The point cloud is provided to a deep network that is trained to generate a grasp pose for a robotic gripper that can take the object from the human's hand without pinching or touching the human's fingers.

Robotic automation of tasks is an important developing field. Some tasks however, involve collaboration with human operators. Tasks such as personal care tasks, object handovers, or interface operations between robotic and manual tasks often involve interaction between robot and human being. One problem within the collaborative-task space is the exchange of objects between human operators and robots. As part of performing a task, exchanges may be made from robot to human and/or from human to robot. When taking an object from a human hand, the exchange can encounter difficulty if the robot selects a grasp that, while being able to reliably grip an object, interferes with the human hand. Failure can result in dropping the object and, in some cases, injuring the human operator. Therefore the development of reliable handover techniques that allow robots to receive objects from human operators is an important problem within the space of collaborative tasks.

Machine learning control of object handovers


Systems, apparatuses and methods for determining success rates for the transfer and/or utilization of transmitted applications or other communicated services. An intermediary device specifies one or more device attributes of a target device, which are received at a server. The server determines an anticipated success rate for successfully transferring the requested content to the device and/or utilizing the content at the target device, and transfers an indication of the anticipated success rate to the intermediary device. The anticipated success rate indication is received at the intermediary device, which then determines whether the received anticipated success rate indication meets threshold criteria. If so, the intermediary device notifies the server to initiate the transfer of the content from the server to the target device if the threshold criteria is met.

Advances in communication infrastructures and devices have turned standard communication devices into valuable tools. Device users can communicate with each other, and with other electronic devices, over networks ranging from Local Area Networks (LANs) to wide reaching Global Area Networks (GANs) such as the Internet. Wireless communications devices such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants and the like are often designed to interface with such networks as well as with their local surroundings using short-range wireless technologies.
Both landline and wireless computing systems are presently capable of receiving information in a variety of content types and formats, from a variety of different sources including networked sources. Landline systems, such as desktop computers, workstations, terminals, etc. generally utilize commercially-available Web browsers in order to interact with various kinds of Internet resources. This type of browser is generally a software program stored locally at the client device. In the Internet context, web content created with Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) or other language can be read by such Web browsers. Analogous technologies exist for communicating landline content via wireless devices.
There is an ever-increasing demand for the consumption of Internet or other network-sourced content on smaller devices such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants, laptop computers and the like. For example, the popularity and resulting proliferation of these portable and/or hand-held wireless devices has fueled the need to make content traditionally available to desktop and other landline computing systems also available to mobile device users. Today, these wireless devices not only facilitate voice communication, but also messaging, multimedia communications, e-mail, Internet browsing, and access to a wide range of wireless applications and services.
As a result of the proliferation of wireless technologies, a multitude of different device types having different capabilities are currently available. A vast quantity of applications and services has become available to these devices, and the quantity of such applications and services available to these devices will continue to grow. In addition to new applications/services being available to these devices, the corresponding software residing on these devices may be subject to revisions, version upgrades and the like. However, the resulting fragmentation of systems, operating systems, networks, terminal capabilities, and/or other distinctive characteristics has caused some fragmentation in the use of services. When a device user attempts to download or otherwise receive content, service applications, software, etc., the device to which such data is targeted may not always result in a successful download, and/or may not be compatible in that the downloaded data does not operate correctly on the device. Currently, the user has no way of knowing whether his or her device is likely to successfully download the data or to successfully execute/utilize the application, content or other data.
Accordingly, there is a need in the communications industry for a manner of notifying prospective data consumers of the likelihood of successfully downloading, executing or otherwise using the content, application, software or other data to which he or she is seeking to acquire. The present invention fulfills these and other needs, and offers other advantages over the prior art.

System, apparatus and method for associating an anticipated success indication with data delivery


A system and method is provided for improved interrupt handling via a micro interrupt handler. Upon an interrupt signal being sent to a processor running a task, a first part of the running task is stored to system memory via direct memory access. A micro interrupt handler is read from the system memory to begin handling the interrupt signal. A second part of the running task is stored to system memory via direct memory access. The micro interrupt handler is executed and read and the previous running task is read from direct memory access and restored. Long lag times for interrupt processing and inefficiencies in processor queues are avoided.

Most processor-based systems, including multi-processor based systems, rely on interrupts to handle high priority, system devices and I/O device requirements. In a system having multiple processing units, usually, each processing unit has its own operating system kernel. Each processor unit also includes within its logical or local store (LS) or private memory, software code called interrupt handlers that define tasks required to handle interrupts.
Generally, once an interrupt occurs, that interrupt channel is "blocked" until the interrupt handler has completed processing the interrupt. It is sometimes difficult to handle interrupts that can happen anywhere on the multi-processor system, especially given that each interrupt channel is blocked during handling of a particular interrupt.
Further, in multi-processor systems, a processor can only execute code present in its own private memory. Thus, when using traditional interrupt handling techniques, each processor must have all of the interrupt handlers necessary to handle any potential interrupt stored in its private memory. From a computer architecture standpoint, this amounts to a substantial waste of space.
Other alternative arrangements such as central handling of interrupts in one SPU can create processing bottlenecks. Still other alternatives such as copying interrupt handlers to processors as needed can create long system latency periods during copying.
These three issues: space, bottlenecks, and latency periods, demand a better solution for interrupt handling on multi-processor systems, and especially on widely distributed multi-processor systems such as the CELL architecture.


The occupation space of a chain inside an engine room can be reduced, while the necessary strength, rigidity, and durability are maintained, the sheet thickness can be decreased, the number of production steps and material waste can be reduced, stress concentration and strains during bending and fixing can be reduced, load offset during fixing and loosening of bolts or the like can be prevented, the increase in vibrations and noise during the use can be prevented, the maintenance operation load can be reduced, and utility can be increased with a simple configuration. A chain guide is provided with a base member supporting a guide shoe. The base member has a base mounting portion and base wall portions formed to sandwich the guide shoe from both sides in a width direction. The guide shoe has a guide shoe mounting portion at a position apart from the base mounting portion in the chain running direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chain guide including a guide shoe slidingly guiding a running chain and a base member supporting the guide shoe along a chain running direction.
2. Description of the Related Art
A chain guide provided with a guide shoe that slidingly guides a running chain is commonly used for stabilizing the chain that runs between sprockets and maintaining the correct chain tension.
For example, FIG. 16 shows a well-known timing system of an engine in which a transmission chain CH such as an endless suspended roller chain is caused to run between sprockets S1, S2 provided at a crankshaft and a camshaft, respectively, inside an engine room. The timing chain CH is endless suspended between the drive sprocket S1 mounted on the crankshaft inside the engine room E and a pair of driven sprockets S2 mounted on the camshaft, and the timing chain CH is guided by a swinging guide G and a chain guide 500 (fixed guide).
In such a well-known timing system, the chain guide 500 is fixed inside the engine room E by two mounting shafts B1, B2, and the swinging guide G is mounted inside the engine room such as to be capable of swinging in the suspension plane of the timing chain CH about the swinging shaft B0 as a center.
A chain tensioner T maintains the correct tension of the timing chain CH and inhibits vibrations by applying pressure to the swinging guide G.
In the chain guide used in such a well-known timing system, the running guide portion is preferably configured of a low-friction wear-resistant material, and a chain guide entirely configured of a low-friction resin material is known.
However, the fixed chain guide should be strong, rigid, and durable enough to ensure stable guiding against the tension and vibrations of the chain, and when the chain guide is configured only from a resin material, the material thickness should be increased to obtain the necessary strength, rigidity, and durability, and the space occupied by the chain guide inside the engine room increases.
Accordingly, a configuration is known (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H10-89428) in which only the running guide portion is formed from a low-friction resin material, and this resin material is supported by a material with high strength, rigidity, and durability, such as a metal, thereby reducing the occupation space, while ensuring the strength, rigidity, and endurance necessary for the chain guide as a whole.
For example, as shown in FIGS. 17 to 19, the well-known chain guide 500 includes a guide shoe 510 made from a resin and slidingly guiding a running chain and a base member 520 made from a metal and supporting the guide shoe 510 along a chain running direction.
The base member 520 is constituted by a shoe support portion 521 extending in the chain running direction and base mounting portions 522 extending vertically at positions set apart with respect to the chain running direction. The two base mounting portions 522 are formed by bending at 90° with respect to the shoe support portion 521 from an integral metal sheet.
The two base mounting portions 522 are each provided with a mounting hole 523 for inserting a fixing member such as a pin or a shoulder bolt.
The guide shoe 510 is configured such that a running guide portion 511 is supported by the shoe support portion 521 of the base member 520, and end locking pieces 512 at both ends in the chain running direction and a plurality of side locking pieces 513 provided at appropriate locations in a width direction can be fitted by locking to the shoe support portion 521 and detached.
A lip 519 for introducing the chain so that the chain could be correctly mounted along the running guide portion 511 when the chain is assembled and for controlling the chain movement in the width direction when the chain is used is provided at each side of the running guide portion 511.


Apparatuses and methods for delivering a fluid, including a viscous fluid. These apparatuses may include a fluid reservoir, two or more piston chambers, a manifold, a delivery port, and a drive assembly and may be configured to inject either a predetermined amount of fluid or a continuous stream of fluid. These apparatuses may also be configured to switch between filling, injection and aspiration modes. These apparatuses may generally be hand-held and lightweight and may provide a significant mechanical advantage to the user.

Every year, more than 600,000 knee replacements and more than 300,000 hip replacements are performed in the United States alone. Some 2.6 million people get facial cosmetic surgery. Pain medications for replacements and fillers for cosmetic surgery are delivered into multiple locations on a knee, hip or face, requiring a relatively large number of injections of significant volumes. Tissues in the knee, hip, and face, such as muscle, ligaments, and tendons, and other connective tissue are dense and fibrous and resist injection, at least in part because pain medications for replacements and fillers for cosmetic surgery are viscous. Viscous fluid typically does not flow well. Viscous fluids can be difficult to expel from a syringe (the current method for delivering these fluids. Expelling a viscous fluid or injecting a resistant tissue requires higher pressure; thus viscous solutions generally take more time to inject, and injecting large quantities of pain medications and fillers can be time-consuming. Expelling a viscous fluid from a syringe can be hard on the operator's hands, and in particular, expelling a large quantity of fluid from a syringe can be hard on the operator's hands. This difficulty may be compounded when injecting a fluid into resistant tissues.
Current methods of delivering viscous fluids using hand-held syringes suffers from these and other many drawbacks. Described herein are apparatuses and methods to deliver viscous fluids in a manner that may address these drawbacks and delivers pain medications, fillers, and other viscous fluids in a manner that is easy, safe, and fast for the benefit of both the patient and the operator providing the treatment.


A handle for a shaver includes a handle body extending along a longitudinal axis of the handle; a connector for attaching a cartridge to the handle rotatable with respect to the handle body around a rotational axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis; and an elastic tongue extending parallel with the longitudinal axis of the handle, when in a neutral position. The connector includes a cartridge end and a tongue end opposite to the cartridge end, the cartridge end of the connector being adapted to engage with the cartridge. The elastic tongue includes a first end and a second end. The first end of the elastic tongue is fixedly attached to or integral with the handle body. As the connector rotates the second end flexes towards a first extreme flexed position or a second extreme flexed position, the flexed elastic tongue biases the connector towards the rest position.

Razors are known that include a cartridge and a handle where the cartridge is configured to rotate about a first axis parallel to the blades and the handle includes a rotatable portion that rotates about a second axis perpendicular to the edge of the blade axis.
The rotatable portion will generally include a base and a retention system. Part of the retention system will include a cantilever tail having an elongate stem and a perpendicular bar. The perpendicular bar is loosely retained by a pair of offset walls which interfere with and twist the perpendicular bar such that the elongate stem flexes.
The present disclosure develops the idea of using a flexible tail in a configuration where the shortest distance between the first pivot axis and the second pivot axis is kept as low as possible, and where the first pivot axis and the second pivot axis intersect each other.
It has been studied and observed that such a system, in which two pivot axes are positioned close to or even intersect each other, require different approach and different arrangement of individual components, in order to ensure comfortable shaving and smooth operation of the whole system.
Moreover, further embodiments have been studied and developed, which increase even more the effectivity of shaving with such systems.

Handle for a shaver enabling rotational movement of a cartridge


An apparatus for introducing fluid having a volatile organic component from one container, for example, a fuel storage vessel to a receiving container such as an on-board fuel storage tank of an automotive vehicle with reduced discharge of organic vapors into the surrounding atmosphere, the apparatus including a filler cap having at least one positively sealing quick connect fitting through which fluid can be introduced which is releasable attachable with a mating fitting located on the filler nozzle of an external fluid delivery device. The apparatus also including at least one vapor conveying fitting located in the filler cap which is matingly engagable with a fitting located on an externally positionable organic vapor conveying conduit located in proximity to the fluid dispensing nozzle such that, when engaged, a circuit is completed wherein fluid is introduced into the receiving container such as the on-board fuel tank of an automotive vehicle and any organic vapors displaced during the operation are returned to the storage container without contact with the surrounding environment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to method and devices for transferring fluids such as volatile fuel materials from one container such as a remote fuel storage tank to another container such as an on-board fuel storage tank of an automotive vehicle in a safe and efficient manner with minimal or no escape of vapors and fluid to the environment. More particularly, the present invention pertains to methods and devices for introducing volatile fuels such as gasoline into an automotive vehicle in an environmentally safe manner which permits little or no discharge of hydrocarbon into the surrounding atmosphere.
2. Brief Discussion of Relevant Art
The need for transfer of fluids having a volatile component from one container to another such as from a storage container to a fluid delivery receptacle arises in many different situations. In such situations there is often a great advantage to being able to transfer the fluids with little or no contact between the fluids, vapors displaced during the transfer process and the surrounding external environment.
For example, the introduction of fuel to the on-board fuel storage tank of an automotive vehicle presents various concerns regarding environmental and user safety. Specific among these are concerns regarding spillage of liquid fuel outside of the on-board storage tank before or after refueling procedures, exposure of the individual performing the refueling operation to liquid fuel and/or fuel vapors, and introduction of hydrocarbon emissions into the atmosphere before, during and after the refueling operation.
Heretofore, great attention was focused on elimination of unwanted spillage of liquid fuel before, during and after the refueling operation. To overcome such problems, modern fuel pumping devices are equipped with various sensors and automatic shut-off devices which can prevent addition of fuel to an over-full on-board storage tank. Additionally, fuel filler nozzles are equipped with manually operable triggers which serve to regulate and control the flow of the major portion of the fuel during the refueling operation. However, such devices fail to completely prevent the spillage of residual liquid present in the nozzle.
Such devices fail to address the significant problem of gaseous hydrocarbon emissions produced and discharged before, during and after the refueling operation. In recent years, scientists and the society in general have come to appreciate the detrimental impact uncontrolled hydrocarbon emissions have had and will continue to have on the environment such as smog formation in Los Angeles. Hydrocarbon emissions may adversely impact the global environment as a whole; while, on a more personal level, long term exposure to elevated levels of hydrocarbons such as those generated during refueling operations may contribute to increased risks for health hazards such as cancer and the like.
These dangers have been well recognized and attempts have been made to combat the problem through governmentally mandated retrofits of existing fuel delivery systems under the Clean Air Act of 1990. The problem cannot be underestimated. In Chicago alone, one major gasoline supplier estimates that at least 32 tons of gasoline fumes per day are released into the atmosphere due to refueling operations at its facilities.
Many devices have been proposed to reduce or limit the emission of hydrocarbons from sources such as those generated during refueling operations. These efforts have been fostered and mandated by the promulgation of new, tougher standards for hydrocarbon emissions levels. Among the devices and methods proposed for reducing hydrocarbon emissions during refueling operations are the addition of hydrocarbon capture canisters to the filler line of each automotive vehicle. Such devices would capture hydrocarbons in an adsorptive media such as activated carbon as the gaseous hydrocarbons are emitted to prevent their escape into the surrounding atmosphere. Carbon canisters such as those proposed would be costly additions to new vehicles and can also present undesirable safety hazards. For this reason, proposed legislation mandating such measures have been vetoed and met legislation resistance for a number of years. Furthermore, in order to accomplish the sought after reduction in total refueling-related hydrocarbon emissions, carbon canisters would also have to be added to existing vehicles as costly retrofits.
Unfortunately, such adsorptive canisters will not provide maximum reduction or elimination of hydrocarbon emissions and fuel spillage. Adsorptive canisters will still permit a portion of the gaseous hydrocarbons to escape. Additionally, as the adsorptive canisters become saturated, replacement will be required at further expense to the operator of the vehicle. Because appropriate and timely replacement of spent or saturated adsorptive canisters would be necessary to achieve maximum reduction in hydrocarbon emissions, a great deal of the success of such a program would rely on operator compliance. It has been the general experience that operators in general are adverse to large expenditures related to environmental compliance. Therefore capital will have to be dedicated to "over-designing" such devices to prevent premature failure and to eliminate excessive need to replace the adsorptive canisters. Even so, it is foreseeable that governmental resources will be required to ensure that the vehicles remain in compliance with emission standards through ne emission testing and the like.
Alternately, in an attempt to avoid the cost and confusion of such service station retrofits, various modifications have been proposed in the design of the fuel dispensing nozzle employed at most commercial gas stations. In areas not targeted by the Clean Air Act, examples of such modifications can include the addition of a cowl over the fuel dispensing nozzle. The cowl has an outer edge designed to engage the surface body panel surrounding the fuel filler opening to prevent the escape of fuel vapors during refueling. Such cowl designs do not prevent the escape of significant quantities of the hydrocarbon vapors which accumulate in the cowl and are released when the fuel filler nozzle is disengaged. A second embodiment of the cowl device is a deformable disc-like flange attached to the fuel filler nozzle which is adapted to roughly fit in the body opening located in most passenger vehicles in which the fuel filler nozzle is located. This device does not capture significant portion of the emitted fuel vapors. Devices which more aggressively address the problem of emitted fuel vapors include mechanisms commonly referred to as "boots" or "bellows" generally referred to as Stage II vapor recovery controls. These systems generally include rubberized sleeves which fit over the fuel delivery nozzle and cover the fuel filler opening on an automotive vehicle to capture fuel vapors displaced during refueling operations. The vapors are conveyed back to the remote fuel storage site by one of two vapor recovery methods either a balance system or vacuum assisted recovery.
A third type of device which has been proposed are co-axial nozzle systems which include a vapor recovery channel within the fuel delivery nozzle In such systems, fuel vapors dislocated during fuel delivery are sucked into small holes located at the fuel dispensing tip of the nozzle and covered through the dispensing hose.
None of the systems which have been proposed addresses the problem of spillage prior to, during, or immediately after the refueling operation. This is particularly true with regard to spillage of residual fuel contained in the fuel filler nozzle. Regardless of the nozzle shut-off system, a few drops invariably drip from the nozzle onto the ground or other surfaces further increasing the hydrocarbon emission level achieved as a result of the total refueling operation.
Thus it is desirable to provide a device which would significantly reduce the level of gaseous hydrocarbons released before, during and after the refueling of a variety of automotive vehicles and as a result of spillage. It is also desirable to provide a refueling process and device which can essentially eliminate all hydrocarbon emissions generated as a result of refueling operations.
It is also desirable to provide a process and device which integrates the vehicle to be refueled and the refueling station into an essentially closed a system, rather than treating the refueling operation as the temporary connection of two isolated elements. It is also desirable to provide a device which can eliminate gaseous hydrocarbon emissions in an economical manner which is easy to maintain, and easy to employ on and with existing automotive equipment and in existing refueling systems and, hence, minimizing the costs of retrofitting the vehicle as well as the fuel pump.


A semiconductor memory device and a method therefor for changing an access right to access a shared memory area according to an external command and a refresh mode is provided. In one embodiment, the semiconductor memory device includes a plurality of input/output ports for inputting command signals for first or second mode refresh operation, a memory array divided into a plurality of different memory areas including a shared memory area that is accessible via at least two of the plurality of input/output ports, and a grant control block for assigning an access right to access the shared memory area in response to an external command signal. The grant control block may also generate grant control signals for preferentially assigning the access right to access the shared memory area to the input/output port for inputting the command signals for the first mode refresh operation.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a multi-port semiconductor memory device and a method for accessing and refreshing the same, and more particularly, to a multi-port semiconductor memory device and a method of performing efficient refresh and access right assignment on a shared memory area of the memory device.
2. Discussion of Related Art
DRAM (dynamic random access memory) is widely used as a semiconductor memory device for increasing integration density in a semiconductor substrate. In DRAM, one memory cell includes one select transistor and one data storing capacitor. Because charges are leaked through the storage capacitor and the select transistor, DRAM requires periodic refreshing to recharge the charges in its cells. Accordingly, semiconductor memory devices such as a DRAM need refresh control circuits for controlling operations related to refreshing the memory cells.
There are many known methods that are widely used to refresh memory cells in semiconductor memory devices such as DRAM.
First, in an RAS only refresh ("ROR") method, cells are refreshed by enabling a row address strobe (RAS) signal while a column address strobe (CAS) signal is kept at a precharge level. During this refresh operation, external refresh addresses need to be provided to a memory device, and address buses connected to the memory device are not allowed to be used for other purposes.
Another type of refresh method is an automatic refresh method, also known as a CAS Before RAS ("CBR") refresh method. In the previous mode of operation, an external RAS signal is enabled when memory cells are accessed in preference to an external CAS signal. On the other hand, in the automatic refresh method, a CAS signal is enabled in preference to an RAS signal to recognize a refresh mode. That is, the CAS signal is generated at a low level prior to the RAS signal being generated a low level. In this method, refresh addresses are internally generated by a refresh address counter in the DRAM and the refresh address counter cannot be externally controlled.
At present, DRAM provides a self refresh mode to reduce the amount of current consumed in the refresh operation. A start cycle in this mode is the same as that in the automatic refresh method. Specifically, when CAS and RAS signals are both kept at an active state (e.g., a low level) during a predetermined period of time (e.g., 100 μm), a self refresh operation is performed in which data stored in all memory cells are read and amplified during a given refresh period using a refresh timer and are then restored in the memory cells. However, during this operation, normal operations (e.g., read and write operations) are interrupted so that the refresh operation is not disrupted. In the self refresh method, a refresh timer and a refresh address counter in the DRAM automatically perform required refresh operations using their clock signals without using external clock signals. These refresh techniques are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,809,233, 4,939,695, 4,943,960, and 5,315,557.
This does not create a problem when the semiconductor memory device performing the refresh operation includes only one input/output port having various sets of input/output pins to communicate with an external processor. That is, in a single-port memory device, all memory banks constituting a memory array are accessed via the one port. Thus, the refresh operation can be performed according to command signals that are input via the port.
As mobile technology has recently been further developed, multi-port semiconductor memory devices having dual-ports or multiple ports has been introduced to meet the demands of this new technology. In multi-port semiconductor memory devices, communication is performed via a plurality of processors, and a plurality of memory cells can be simultaneously accessed via a plurality of input/output ports. However, unlike the single port devices discussed above, multi-port semiconductor memory devices may encounter problems during refresh operations because they include shared memory areas that are accessible via the plurality of input/output ports. For example, when a self refresh operation is performed through an input/output port having an access right to access the shared memory area, the shared memory area cannot be accessed via another input/output port without current access privileges. Thus, there is a need for efficient refresh and access right assignment via each input/output port.

Multi-port semiconductor memory device and method for accessing and refreshing the same


A cellular telephone accounting system includes an integrated hardware system interlinking a cellular telephone unit, a telephone interlink receiver, and a central processing unit connected to the interlink receiver. The hardware system also preferably includes a receipt printer and a credit card reader. The cellular telephone unit is equipped with an internal real time clock and calendar circuit and memory store to record the time and date of calls for reporting to the central processing unit to enable tracking and detailed accounting of calls.

This specification includes an Appendix comprising computer code listings which will be substituted by a microfische Appendix.
This invention relates to a cellular telephone accounting system to track the location and usage of cellular phones and to provide an automatic accounting system for centralized record keeping, audit or account statements. The cellular telephone accounting system is particularly useful for rental of cellular phones where mobility of the phone presents unique problems in customer billing and accounting for the location and possession of the telephone unit. Similarly, the accounting system is useful for organizations with shared resources and equipment shared by employees, as in large private companies or government agencies. Frequently, in such organizations usage of mobile cellular telephones requires monitoring to insure appropriate distribution and authorized use of the phones. In both situations means is provided for determining where the phones have been, what calls have been made and when, and to whose account usage is to be attributed. Additionally, the organizations may desire means for determining what general account such use, including any service charges from outside vendors, should be charged.
Because existing commercial cellular phones are generally sold to a user/owner, detailed accounting schemes have been avoided in part to minimize complications with the already complicated requirements for crediting national or international communication carriers, local or regional carriers, and one or more cellular network area operators. Similarly, with multiple charges from multiple carriers, with services provided in a variety of governmental jurisdictions, tax accounting becomes a complex endeavor. With the factor of periodic use by a series of multiple users added, problems arise that cannot be resolved solely by programming changes in existing telephone units or central communication systems. While some of the features of the preferred embodiment described hereafter may be of the type that could be incorporated in central telephone service systems, inertia in altering massive communication protocols for selective applications, not of benefit to all subscribers, will inhibit implementation. Although other cellular telephone rental systems have been proposed, they have been unable to provide the full features required for proper monitoring of the location and usage of a mobile telephone unit to allow adequate flexibility in setting usage criteria for an organization or appropriate charge schedules for a rental business.
The cellular phone accounting system of this invention solves the problems in expanding the capability of existing cellular phone systems by improvements in software programming and hardware additions, which are preferably integrated into a composite system that is useful for small and large organizations.


A VCR (Video Cassette Tape Recorder) deck tape loading mechanism comprising a first cam gear driven by a loading motor, and a second cam gear, and a loading gear, moving in response to the movement of the first cam gear. The first cam gear drives a pinch lever to a loading position and the second cam gear drives a take up arm so as to make it possible for the take up arm to guide the pinch lever. The loading gear drives a slant base to move along a rail on a base so that the tape is able to take the most optimum path because each moving part can move smoothly in sequence without interference from one another due to the independent movement of the pinch lever and the take up lever. A thinner model of the mechanism is made available by placing first cam gear and second cam gear on the bottom of main base and cam lever and take up lever above them.

This invention is related to a tape loading mechanism for a VCR(Video Cassette Tape Recorder)deck, particularly for a deck having two cams which drive a pinch roller and take up roller independently thereby resulting in moving each driving parts in sequence and allowing the tape to take the most optimum path and making the construction thinner.
As shown in FIG. 1, in the prior art VCR deck tape loading mechanism design, head drum(H) is placed inclined in the central part of the rear section of main base 1 and a cassette c is mounted in forward section of the main base 1 in which are contained respectively supply reel 20 on the left and take up reel 21 on the right.
Loading gears 24,25 meshing each other are provided under the head drum(H).
Loading levers 26,27 each having two levers and positioned above the loading gear 24,25 are connected to the loading gears 24,25 respectively, and, in turn, the loading levers 26,27 are connected to slant bases 1,2 respectively, thereby each slant base moves from inside of the mouth M of tape cassette to the position of loading completion in response to the rotation of the loading gears 24,25, and moves further until it comes to compress against V-stopper(not shown) upon further rotation of the loading gears.
There are provided on the main deck D, a loading motor 3 at the right corner of the rear section, a cam gear 12 in front of the loading motor, a capstan motor 23 between them, and a gear train G i.e., gears a 5, b 6, c 7 and d 8 which transmit power via a worm 4 from the loading motor 3 to the cam gear 12 on one side of the capstan motor 23.
Between the capstan motor 23 driving gear 28 and the loading gear 25, there is provided a relay lever 14 which is adapted to move in straight line in order to connect or disconnect power selectively, a pin 14a fixed at one end of the relay lever 14 and moving inside of a cam groove 12a of the cam gear 12 in response to the rotation of the cam gear 12 enabling the straight line movement and a relay gear 13 on the rear end of the relay lever 14 to connect or disconnect above capstan motor 23 driving gear 28 to the loading gear 25.
A reel ratchet 22 is movably connected by a shaft 22' and a pin 22a in one end of the ratchet is inserted in a cam groove 12a of the cam gear, so that the reel ratchet moves in response to the rotation of the cam gear 12.
A pinch arm 10 having a pinch roller 30 and a pinch lever 9 are connected by the same shaft 10' on one side of the cam gear 12, a torsion spring is placed on the shaft 10' while both ends of which are latched on a latching tips 9a, 10a of pinch lever 9 and pinch arm 10 respectively so as to keep pushing both parts close together, one side of the pinch lever 9 contacts with the cam pin 17 fixed on the upper surface of the cam gear 12, and the pinch arm 10 is connected with a tension spring 32 tending to rotate the pinch arm 10 in counter clockwise direction.
On one side of the pinch arm 10, a take up arm 11 having a guide roller 33 in the middle, is connected to a shaft 11', the shaft 11' is provided with a torsion spring 31 tending to rotate the take up arm 11 in clockwise direction, and a driving pin 34 projected upward and positioned in the middle of the loading lever 27 drives the rear 11a of the take up arm 11 forward when the slant base 2 is in loading condition.
In such a conventional mechanism, as shown in FIG. 2A, the pinch roller 30 and guide roller 33 are positioned in tape mouth M by the tension spring 32 biased on pinch arm 10 in unloaded condition.
On starting of loading in this condition, the driving motor 3 drives loading gear 24 and cam gear 12 through gear train G, as shown in FIG. 2B, the slant base 2 moves along the guide rail of main base 1 in response to the rotation of loading gear 25 and the driving pin 34 connected with slant base 2 through loading lever 27 rotates take up arm 11. Then the shaft 30' of pinch roller 30 in contact with take up arm 11 rotates pinch arm 10 so that the pinch roller 30 approaches to capstan shaft 23'. Also the cam gear 12 rotates making the cam pin 17 approach pinch lever 9.
In this condition, upon further rotation of cam gear 12, cam pin 17 further pushes pinch lever 9 so as to rotate pinch arm 10 biased by torsion spring 31 further, making the pinch roller 30 to contact closer with the capstan shaft 23' as shown is FIG. 2C.
As seen above, in the conventional mechanism, the driving guide parts are driven by one cam gear and can not be driven independently from each other. The achievement of the optimization of the tape path is difficult because the driving guide parts can not be driven on desired timing during loading.