A free magnetic layer contains free magnetic material layers and an intermediate layer interposed therebetween. A fixed magnetic layer contains fixed magnetic material layers and a non-magnetic intermediate layer interposed therebetween. The free magnetic material layer and the fixed magnetic material layers are formed at equivalent film positions. The magnetizations of the fixed magnetic material layers provided in a vertical direction are antiparallel to each other, and the magnetizations of the free magnetic material layers provided in the vertical direction are antiparallel to each other. By an external magnetic field, the magnetizations of the free magnetic material layer are rotated in phase to magnetization directions of the fixed magnetic material layers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to magnetic sensors in which a fixed magnetic layer is provided at least one side surface of a free magnetic layer in a track width direction with a non-magnetic material layer provided therebetween and in which current flows in a direction intersecting an interface between the free magnetic layer and the non-magnetic material layer and an interface between the fixed magnetic layer and the non-magnetic material layer. More particularly, the present invention relates to a magnetic sensor which can increase the rate of change in resistance.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, concomitant with improvement in recording density of recording media, a decrease in the gap length which is defined by the distance between a top and a bottom shield has been increasingly required. The top and bottom shield are made of a magnetic material and are provided on the top and the bottom of a magnetic sensor.
As a major structure of a reproduction magnetic head reading a signal magnetic field from a recording medium, a spin-valve type magnetic sensor has been widely used in which a free magnetic layer and a fixed magnetic layer are laminated to each other perpendicularly to the film surface with a non-magnetic material layer interposed therebetween.
However, in the structure in which a free magnetic layer, a non-magnetic material layer, and a fixed magnetic layer are laminated to each other perpendicularly to the film surface, it becomes difficult to further decrease the gap length.
Accordingly, a magnetic sensor having the following structure has been proposed in which fixed magnetic layers are provided on two side surfaces of a free magnetic layer with non-magnetic material layers provided therebetween, and in which current flows in the direction intersecting each interface between the free magnetic layer and the non-magnetic material layer and each interface between the fixed magnetic layer and the non-magnetic material layer.
FIG. 14 is a partial cross-sectional view of a magnetic sensor 1, when it is viewed from a face opposing a recording medium, in which a sense current flows in the direction intersecting the interfaces described above. In the magnetic sensor 1, a free magnetic layer 5 in the form of approximately trapezoid, which is made of a soft magnetic material such as NiFe, is formed above a lower shield layer 2 made of a magnetic material with a lower gap layer 3 of an insulating material and an underlying layer 4 provided therebetween. On the two side surfaces of the free magnetic layer 5 and on the lower gap layer 3, non-magnetic material layers 6 are formed. In addition, fixed magnetic layers 7 made of a soft magnetic material such as NiFe are formed in contact with the respective non-magnetic material layers 6. Antiferromagnetic layers 8 are provided on the respective fixed magnetic layers 7, an exchange coupling magnetic field is generated at each of interfaces between the fixed magnetic layers 7 and the antiferromagnetic layers 8, and the magnetizations of the fixed magnetic layers 7 are fixed in a Y direction in the figure. On the free magnetic layer 5 and the antiferromagnetic layers 8, an upper gap layer 9 made of an insulating material and an upper shield layer 10 made of a magnetic material are formed.
A sense current of the magnetic sensor 1 described above flows in the fixed magnetic layers 7, the non-magnetic material layers 6, and the free magnetic layer in the direction intersecting the interfaces between the fixed magnetic layers 7 and the non-magnetic material layers 6 and the interfaces between the non-magnetic material layers 6 and the free magnetic layer 5 (X direction in the figure).
The free magnetic layer 5 is placed in a single domain state in the X direction in the figure, and when an external magnetic field is applied in the Y direction in the figure, the magnetization of the free magnetic layer 5 is rotated in the Y direction in the figure. While the magnetizations of the fixed magnetic layers 7 are fixed in the Y direction in the figure, when the magnetization of the free magnetic layer 5 is rotated, the resistance of the magnetic sensor is changed. When this change in resistance is read as the change in current or the change in voltage, an external magnetic field can be detected.
Magnetic sensors as described above are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,396,668B1 and 6,411,478B1, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-319313 (p.6, FIG. 2). A magnetic sensor disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,396,668B1 is a spin-valve type GMR element, and magnetic sensors disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,411,478B1 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-319313 are tunneling MR elements.
In the magnetic sensor 1 shown in FIG. 14, a sense current flows in the direction intersecting the interfaces between the fixed magnetic layers 7 and the non-magnetic material layers 6 and the interfaces between the non-magnetic material layers 6 and the free magnetic layer 5. Accordingly, it has been believed that the change in resistance by application of an external magnetic field to the magnetic sensor 1 is primarily caused by bulk scattering of conduction electrons of the sense current in the free magnetic layer 5 and the fixed magnetic layer 7. Hence, in the magnetic sensor 1, a larger change in resistance can be obtained as compared to a related current-in-plane type magnetic sensor in which the change in resistance is caused by scattering of sense current electrons at an interface between a free magnetic layer and a non-magnetic material layer or primarily at an interface between the non-magnetic material layer and a fixed magnetic layer. In addition, since the fixed magnetic layer 7 is not provided on the top or the bottom of the free magnetic layer 5, which is a position for detecting a magnetic field, the distance between the top and the bottom shields of the free magnetic layer 5 can be decreased, and hence the decrease in gap can be achieved.
In a magnetic sensor having the structure shown in FIG. 14, when the free magnetic layer 5 and the fixed magnetic layers 7 are not formed to have a large thickness to a certain extent, diffusive scattering of conduction electrons having a longer free mean path (majority electrons, such as, up-spin conduction electrons) quickly occurs at the top or the bottom surfaces of the free magnetic layer 5 and the fixed magnetic layers 7, and as a result, the spin diffusion length (movable distance of electrons while the spin state thereof is maintained) is decreased. Consequently, the change ΔR in resistance is decreased, and a problem in that the reproduction output cannot be increased may arise in some cases.
On the other hand, when the thicknesses of the free magnetic layer 5 and the fixed magnetic layers 7 are increased, the problem described above can be solved; however, since a magnetic moment per unit area of the free magnetic layer 5 is increased, the sensitivity is decreased. In addition, since the exchange coupling magnetic field between the fixed magnetic layer 7 and the antiferromagnetic layer 8 is also decreased, a magnetization fixing force for the fixed magnetic layer 7 is decreased, and as a result, a problem in that the MR properties are degraded may arise.
Accordingly, for example, the structure of a magnetic sensor 1A shown in FIG. 15 has been proposed in which the free magnetic layer 5 is formed to have a synthetic ferrimagnetic structure composed of a first free magnetic material layer 5a, a second free magnetic material layer 5b, and a non-magnetic intermediate layer 5c interposed therebetween for solving the problems such as the decrease in reproduction sensitivity.
However, when the structure shown in FIG. 15 is formed, the following problems occur. For example, as shown in FIG. 15, the first free magnetic material layer 5a and the second free magnetic material layer 5b are magnetized in a direction to the left in the figure (as shown by the arrow) and in a direction to the right in the figure (as shown by the arrow), respectively, and the fixed magnetic layers 7 are magnetized in a height direction (Y direction in the figure). In the case in which an external magnetic field enters the magnetic sensor along the Y direction, when the magnetization of the first free magnetic material layer 5a is rotated in the Y direction shown in the figure, and the magnetization of the second free magnetic material layer 5b is rotated in a direction opposite to the Y direction shown in the figure, a magnetization direction of the first free magnetic material layer 5a and that of the fixed magnetic material layer 7 decrease the resistance, and on the other hand, a magnetization direction of the second free magnetic material layer 5b and that of the fixed magnetic material layer 7 increase the resistance. Hence, the changes in resistance are cancelled out, and as a result, a high rate of change in resistance cannot be obtained. When the fixed magnetic layer 7 is formed to have a synthetic ferrimagnetic structure as described above, the same problems as described above occur.

GMR element having fixed magnetic layer provided on side surface of free magnetic layer


One or more aspects described herein provide automatic smart contract feature analysis and risk assessment based on unique source code signatures and/or fingerprints within the smart contract. A risk assessment engine may automatically analyze a smart contract by first retrieving smart contract source code from a contract address on a blockchain where the smart contract is accessible. The risk assessment engine may generate an abstract syntax tree (AST) of the smart contract using a compiler for the smart contract source code, and then flatten the AST by removing non-differentiating elements from the AST. The flattened AST may be divided by function calls within the smart contract, and then each division may be fingerprinted, e.g., hashed using a one-way hash. The fingerprint is compared to a database of known functions to automatically identify one or more features of the smart contract with associated risk levels.

Computer source code is typically written by software programmers, i.e., human beings who, whether they want to admit it or not, are prone to make mistakes and/or possibly have less than honorable intentions. A mistake in source code that prevents it from operating correctly is referred to as a bug. Other mistakes may include algorithmic errors or errors of omission which, even though the software behaves as intended, do not yield the desired results or might not be capable of handling all possible inputs or scenarios presented to it. Yet other areas of concern might include security oversights by failing to take into consideration appropriate security precautions or underlying flaws in a programming language, thereby leaving the software subject to a security vulnerability. In other scenarios, software may behave as its original developers intended, but if the developer is malicious then the software may expose features or risks that a third party subsequently using the software might not have chosen to implement had they written or developed the software themselves. Even worse, those features or risks might not be published or well known, leaving the third party susceptible to a cyber attack by the original developer of the software. Therefore, a third-party desiring to use software written by someone else is left with no choice but to perform a manual review of the source code when that third-party wants to ensure that the software does not include malicious code or present other security risks. This is a time intensive process that can take days to weeks, depending on the length and complexity of the source code that needs to be reviewed.
Blockchains are a particular type of database software that have been under continuous development and constant improvement since Satoshi Nakamoto first published "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System" in 2008. At its essence, a blockchain is a type of database that stores data only after that data is agreed upon by computers linked in a peer-to-peer (p2p) network, and where each "block" of data must be agreed upon before another block of data can be added. Blockchain data is said to be immutable insofar as, once a block is added to the blockchain, it cannot be changed or removed. In addition, blockchain algorithms typically operate based on "trustless" protocols whereby none of the peers in the p2p network need to be affiliated with or trust each other in order for the block to be agreed upon and added to the Blockchain. To the contrary, it is actually preferable (and perhaps even required) that no single organization or entity controls greater than 50% of the peers on the network, because in such situations a majority actor could take over decision-making within many of the trustless protocols that blockchains use to add data to the blockchain. That majority actor could then add or alter data that might not otherwise be agreed upon by the entities acting reasonably when none of them has majority control. For this reason, blockchains are typically queryable by public APIs (often navigable via blockchain explorer web sites) so that their data can be readily audited, although some blockchains may remain private.
Blockchains can store any kind of data, although at their inception blockchains were primarily used to store digital tokens or cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin (as used herein, "token" can refer to a cryptocurrency, virtual currency, digital token or any similar construct stored on a blockchain). Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, however, merely use a blockchain as a means to transparently record their payment ledgers. Blockchains can also be used to immutably record any type of data, such as transaction data, votes in an election, product inventories and status, user identifications, deeds to homes, time and location information, and much more.
In order to store tokens for users, each user can have one or more wallet "addresses" on the blockchain to which tokens can be attributed. Each address is typically the public key of a public/private key pair in a PM infrastructure used by the blockchain. When one user sends some amount of tokens to another user, the sending user's wallet software generates the relevant payment information (sender, receiver, and amount), signs the data using the sending wallet's private key, and submits the transaction to the blockchain for acceptance. Once accepted, the amount of sent tokens become attributed to the receiving wallet rather than the sending wallet in the blockchain's token ledger.
As blockchains have developed, so have their capabilities. Some newer and more sophisticated blockchains allow users to run programs called smart contracts. A smart contract refers to a program that, once deployed, is stored as data on the blockchain itself and cannot be altered. Each smart contract has an associated address on the blockchain, and the source code of the smart contract defines how payments sent to the smart contract address are automatically processed and handled. Because the smart contract is stored on the blockchain itself, the source code for the smart contract can be audited by others to ensure the smart contract operates as intended or advertised. Smart contracts can be thought of as programs that act as self-executing contracts where the terms of the agreement between the buyer and the seller are directly written into lines of code. A user can send tokens directly to a wallet address associated with the smart contract, and the smart contract will execute based on the functions specified in its source code.
For example, a simple smart contract might act as a sort of flight cancellation insurance, where a user pays the smart contract 1% of the fare and receives a 100% refund if the flight is cancelled. In this example, a user might send amount of cryptocurrency to a smart contract address as the purchase fee, along with data identifying a specific airline flight (e.g., airline, flight number, and date). The smart contract records the wallet address from which the "insurance" was purchased, and then monitors the flight status of the requested flight. The smart contract might check publicly accessible APIs providing flight information and, if the flight was canceled, automatically send to the wallet from which the insurance was purchased, a refund in the amount of 100% of the fare (e.g., 100×PurchaseFee). This is just a simple example for illustrative purposes. There are an infinite number of examples of smart contracts, each of varying complexity.
Some blockchains, in addition to general smart contracts, allow users to create individual tokens that can be exchanged on the blockchain. For example, the Ethereum blockchain includes smart contracts that themselves define a new token, separate from Ethereum, that can also be exchanged and tracked on the Ethereum network. These separate tokens' behaviors may be defined by one or more standards on the Ethereum network, the most common of which is referred to as the ERC-20 standard. ERC-20 is the technical standard used for all smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain for token implementation and provides a list of rules that all Ethereum-based tokens must follow. Today there are over 350,000 different ERC-20 token contracts on the Ethereum blockchain alone. It is therefore infeasible for a human to individually analyze the features of each new token's smart contract, including any inherent security risks it exposes, on Ethereum and other blockchains.
In view of the ability of smart contracts to operate autonomously, and further in view of the inability to alter a smart contract once it is deployed on a blockchain, it can be important to ensure that the smart contract (a software program originally created by humans) is not laden with bugs, acts as intended in all instances, does not expose unwanted risks, or does not include harmful code. This is the sort of source code review that, discussed above, is quite time and resource intensive, and for which better solutions are needed.


A clamp pulse generating circuit comprising a synchronizing decision circuit for deciding whether an external synchronizing pulse is being input or not; an exclusive-OR circuit, a change-over switch and a pulse width detecting circuit for deciding whether a video signal containing a synchronizing pulse is being input or not; and a pulse generating circuit for generating a clamp pulse at the front or rear edge of the external synchronizing pulse output from a synchronizing separator circuit, and outputting the clamp pulse at the front edge selected by a selection switch when the external synchronizing pulse is being input and forcing to select and output the clamp pulse at the rear edge of the synchronizing pulse irrespective of the presence of the external synchronizing pulse when the video signal containing the synchronizing pulse is being input.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a clamp pulse generating circuit and more particularly to a circuit for generating clamp pulses used for keeping a pedestal level of a brightness signal in a video signal at constant level.
2. Description of the Related Art
Because DC component is lost in a capacitive coupling amplifier circuit and colors of color images cannot be reproduced faithfully in a video signal processing circuit, pedestal clamp in which a pedestal level of a brightness signal is clamped by clamp pulses to keep it at constant level is carried out to reproduce the DC component lost by the capacitive coupling. A circuit for generating the clamp pulses used for the pedestal clamp has been adapted to generate the pulses in a timing slightly behind a horizontal synchronizing pulse at that in general.
In a pedestal clamp circuit using the clamp pulse generating circuit constructed as described above, the pedestal level has been clamped at a back porch 6 in a horizontal blanking period 2 of a video signal 1 shown in FIG. 1, because the clamp pulse is generated in the timing behind the horizontal synchronizing pulse. However, in the field of computer displays and the like, horizontal frequency tends to be increased with the increase of the resolution and because the gap of the back porch portion 6 becomes narrow as the horizontal frequency is increased, a pulse width of the clamp pulse has to be narrowed.
Then, a problem that a power consumption increases occurs when the pulse width of the clamp pulse is set narrower because an output impedance at an output stage has to be lowered so as not to blunt the waveform of the clamp pulse in the clamp pulse generating circuit. When the blunted waveform of the clamp pulse was input to the pedestal clamp circuit on the other hand, it posed a problem that a situation in which an accurate pedestal level cannot be held or in the worst case, the pedestal clamp cannot be performed may occur.
Accordingly, it is an object, of the present invention to provide a clamp pulse generating circuit which can generate a clamp pulse having a desired pulse width in generating the clamp pulse at an external synchronizing pulse.


A game apparatus, a storage medium, a transmission medium and a program correspond to a normal screen and a wide screen. An image generation unit 150 comprises a wide image data generation unit 152, an image data conversion unit 160 and a rendering unit 154. At first, the wide image data generation unit 152 generates image data viewed from a predetermined viewpoint in an object space, as image data corresponding to the wide screen. Then, the image data conversion unit 160 performs a processing of generating image data corresponding to the normal screen, on the basis of generated wide image data. The rendering unit 154 performs a rendering processing to the generated wide image data or the generated normal image data, and finally generates an image displayed on a display unit 20.

According to an earlier development, a game apparatus conventionally generates game images for a television or a monitor (it will be typically called TV, in the following) in an aspect ratio of four to three (through the present specification, a screen in the aspect ratio of four to three will be called a normal screen).
However, the screen represented by a HDTV (High Definition Television) or an EDTV (Extended Definition Television), through which television programs are broadcasted, has the aspect ratio of sixteen to nine (the screen in the aspect ratio of sixteen to nine will be called a wide screen, in the following). Therefore, in case players enjoy playing a game with a conventional game apparatus and the TV with the wide screen, connected to the game apparatus, because the image of the normal screen is displayed on the wide screen, the image which is laterally enlarged (or which is longitudinally reduced) and distorted, is displayed.
Accordingly, at present wherein the television broadcast is changing to that for the HDTV or the EDTV, in further it is anticipated that the demand of the TV with the normal screen decreases. As a result, it is necessary that the game apparatus generates and outputs game images corresponding to the wide screen.
Further, at present wherein the TV with the normal screen and the TV with the wide screen coexist, it is desired that the game apparatus generates and outputs game images corresponding to the normal screen as well as game image corresponding to the wide screen.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a game apparatus and so on, corresponding to the normal screen and the wide screen.

Modifying game image from wide to normal screen using moving or eye direction of character


The present invention provides a method for conveniently obtaining a biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoate by a solvent extraction method. A method for producing a polyhydroxyalkanoate crystal comprises precipitating a polyhydroxyalkanoate crystal using a monohydric alcohol having 4 to 10 carbon atoms as a extraction solvent, keeping a polyhydroxyalkanoate solution containing 0.1 to 10% by weight of water relative to the total amount of the solution warm at 70° C. or higher, and cooling the solution to below 70° C.

A polyhydroxyalkanoate (hereinafter referred to briefly as "PHA") is a biodegradable and thermoplastic polyester which is synthesized and accumulated as an energy storage substance in cells of a variety of microorganisms. A PHA, which is produced by microorganisms using natural organic acids or oils as carbon sources, is completely biodegraded by a microorganism in soil or water to be taken up in the carbon cycle of the natural world. Therefore, a PHA can be said to be an environment-conscious plastic material which hardly causes adverse effects for ecological system. In these years, a synthetic plastic came into a serious social problem in view of environment pollution, waste disposal and oil resource, thus a PHA has attracted attention as an eco-friendly green plastic and its practical applications are longed for.
When a PHA is produced on a commercial scale, there is a case in which microorganisms innately producing a PHA are used, or a case in which a PHA synthetic gene is recombinated into a microorganism or a plant to obtain a transformant, which is to be used as a host for production. In both cases, since a PHA is accumulated in the biomasses, the PHA is to be produced by recovering the PHA-containing biomass, and separating and purifying the PHA from the biomass.
As regarding the separation and purification of a PHA from a biomass, a method is known as the most convenient which comprises extracting a PHA using a PHA-soluble solvent, crystallizing the resultant using a poor solvent, and recovering the PHA as a crystal. For example, there is a method comprising drying a biomass in which a PHA is accumulated, extracting the PHA from the dried biomass using a halogen-containing organic solvent such as chloroform and methylene chloride, and then mixing the extract with a poor solvent such as methanol and hexane to precipitate and recover the PHA (see Japanese Kokai Publication Sho-59-205992). With these extraction solvents, a PHA can be extracted from only a dried biomass, therefore a process for drying the biomass obtained from a culture broth is required. In addition, there is such a problem that a halogen-containing organic solvent in connection with the environmental regulation is used.
Japanese Kokai Publication Hei-02-69187 describes a method for extracting a PHB (a homopolymer of 3-hydroxybutyrate) from a wet biomass using a solvent, but all the solvents used in this publication are specific ones such as propanediol and glycerol formal, and are insufficient for commercial scale application from an economical point of view, etc.
Moreover, Japanese Kohyo Publication Hei-10-504460 discloses an extraction using a solvent having preferable water-miscibility. In this publication, methanol, ethanol and isopropanol are mentioned, but with these solvents, a PHA cannot be extracted unless the biomass is treated under pressurized condition at 100° C. or higher, which is far exceeding the boiling point. There is also concern that a significant molecular weight decrease may occur in the dissolution at a high temperature of 140° C. applied in Example 1 or 2. Furthermore, there is described that a hard and opaque gel is formed by cooling, and then the gel is compressed using a rotation roll. However, the present inventors experienced that when a polymer became a hard and opaque gel, it was no longer possible to brush away the gel from a reaction container, and it became substantially impossible to recover a PHA.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,942,597, a PHA is recovered mainly from a plant using a solvent. In this patent, the recovery is carried out at a PHA concentration of 1%, and the amount to be used of the solvent becomes huge in such low PHA concentration, thus this method is substantially difficult to be applied on a commercial scale. Moreover, the present inventors also experienced that gelation could not be prevented under the above-mentioned conditions, too.
As described above, when a PHA is extracted and recovered using a solvent, since the gelation in crystallization is severe, the solvent extraction method considered to be substantially convenient cannot be used. Alternatively, in order to prevent gelation, there is only a means to carry out dissolution and crystallization at a low PHA concentration. But in this case, since the recovery of a PHA becomes inefficient, it becomes too costly for commercial application in the actual state. As described above, the gelation of PHA is a serious problem. However, even though it has become one of the major causes for obstructing the practical application of a PHA. However, an effective solution which prevents gelation has still not been found.
Accordingly, the subject of the present invention is to provide a method for preventing a polyhydroxyalkanoate from galation, which is a state substantially incapable of being brushed away, and for obtaining its polymer in a quite easily recoverable state, when the polyhydroxyalkanoate is extracted using a solvent from a polyhydroxyalkanoate-containing biomass and the polyhydroxyalkanoate is crystallized.

Method for producing polyhydroxyalkanoate crystal


A dry etching method by which the surface of a variety of materials constituting a semiconductor device may be planarized or smoothed under clean state. Small-sized recesses existing on the surface of a layer of the material to be etched are filled with deposited free sulfur yielded from sulfur halides, such as S.sub.2 F.sub.2 or S.sub.2 Cl.sub.2, into the plasma under conditions of dissociation produced by electrical discharge. After the surface of the material to be etched is planarized in this manner, etching is carried out under conditions of simultaneously removing the small-sized projections and deposited sulfur to successfully eliminate step differences or roughness on the material surface. Etching may alternatively be carried out under the condition of competition of filling of recesses with sulfur and removal of the projections. Sulfur may easily be removed on sublimation by heating the wafer after completion of etching without producing pollution by particles. The present invention may be applied to trimming of cross-sectional shape of the trenches or connection holes, surface smoothing of the WSi.sub.x layer formed by high temperature CVD or planarization of an interlayer insulating film used for covering the step differences.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a dry etching method employed for the preparation of a semiconductor device. More particularly, it relates to a method for planarizing minute irregularities or steps produced on the surface of a silicon based or silicon oxide based material.
2. Description of Related Art
In keeping up with the recent tendency towards high integration and high performance of semiconductor devices, such as VLSIs or ULSIs, more and more strict technical demands have been raised on various preparation processes. Above all, in the field of dry etching, various effects which have not been produced under the former design rule have come to the surface, whilst minute surface irregularities or steps, which have been neglected as being not worthy of note, have been found to affect the process. For example, new problems have been raised in connection with unusual contours produced at the bottom of contact holes or trenches, deteriorations in the surface morphology of layers of a variety of materials or planarities of interlayer insulating films in multi-level interconnections. These will be discussed in sequence.
The first problem of unusual contours in contact holes or at the trench bottom has been presented as a counter-effect of the measures taken for preventing microloading effects. The microloading effects means a phenomenon in which, when there exist plural apertures of different diameters on a substrate, the etching rate is diminished significantly in smaller apertures. The conventional practice for reducing the phenomenon is to lower the gas pressure during etching. In this manner, the mean free path of the ions is extended to increase the energy of incident energy as well as the vertically incident component to lower the aperture diameter dependency of the etching rate.
However, with the etching under reduced gas pressure, an unusual cross-sectional shape known as trenching tends to be produced. This trenching is a phenomenon in which an incision known as a sub-trench is apt to be produced at a corner of the trench which is formed by etching the single crystal silicon substrate by means of an etching mask formed of a sllicon oxide layer. Although the mechanism of trenching is not known precisely, it is possibly ascribable to the presence of ions which are incident from an oblique direction due to scattering at an edge of a mask which has become receded under ion sputtering, to a deposition of etching by-products to an increased thickness at the middle of the trench bottom, and to an increased etching rate in the vicinity of the sidewall on which the amount of the deposit is small due to the increased vertically incident component thereon under a low gas pressure. If the processes of element isolation or formation of capacitor elements are to be initiated at this stage, various inconveniences would be produced, such as lattice defects within the single crystal silicon substrates during the annealing process.
Similar trenching may be produced when forming contact holes by etching a silicon oxide interlayer insulating film with a single crystal substrate as an underlying layer. If overetching should be performed in this state, the contour of the sub-trench produced at the contact hole would be reflected in the underlying single crystal silicon substrate, so that lattice defects or the like again tend to be produced.
The present Assignee has hitherto proposed techniques for trimming the trenching.
As to silicon trench etching, there is disclosed in JP Patent KOKAI Publication No. 63/491 (1988) a technique of etching a silicon substrate, using a chlorine-based gas, such as Cl.sub.2, to a depth slightly less than a desired depth, and etching to the desired depth using a gas which is the above mentioned chlorine-based gas with an addition of a deposition gas, such as CH.sub.2 F.sub.2. According to this technique, the bottom surface of the trench may be planarized because etching proceed competitively whilst the sub-trench is protected by a carbonaceous polymer.
On the other hand, as to etching of a contact hole, there has recently been proposed a technique of etching a silicon oxide interlayer insulating film, using a gas composed essentially of a compound enabling a ion mode etching, such as C.sub.3 F.sub.8 , to a point slightly before the underlying layer is exposed, allowing the carbonaceous polymer to be deposited in the sub-trench using a deposition gas such as CH.sub.2 F.sub.2, and then etching the carbonaceous polymer and the remaining portion of the silicon oxide interlayer insulating film using CHF.sub.3. Alternatively, deposition of the carbonaceous polymer and the etching of the silicon oxide interlayer insulating film may be caused to proceed competitively, even if CHF.sub.3 is used alone from the outset, subject to certain minor changes of the operating conditions.
The second problem is deterioration of the surface morphology of the layers of various materials, and is presented when forming, for example, a layer of refractory metal silicide by high temperature CVD. The layer of the refractory metal silicide has been used extensively in recent years as a gate electrode material in the form of a stacked layer with a doped polysilicon layer. Typical of the refractory metal silicide layer is a tungsten silicide (WSi.sub.x) layer making use of tungsten as refractory metal.
The method for forming the WSi.sub.x layer may be roughly classified into a low temperature CVD method and a high temperature CVD method. The low temperature CVD method is a technique of allowing WSi.sub.x to be deposited by a mixed gas of SiH.sub.4 and WF.sub.6 for example while maintaining the wafer temperature of approximately 360.degree. C. The high temperature CVD method is a technique of allowing WSi.sub.x to be deposited by a mixed gas of SiH.sub.2 Cl.sub.2 and WF.sub.6 for example while maintaining the wafer temperature of approximately 600.degree. C. As compared to the low temperature CVD method, the high temperature CVD method has such advantages that the produced WSi.sub.x layer is low in the fluorine content and exhibits strong adhesion properties with respect to the underlying doped polysilicon layer and superior step coverage as well as lesser temperature dependency of the internal stress.
However, the WSi.sub.x layer produced by the high temperature CVD method suffers from rather severe surface irregularities, as will be discussed subsequently. Since WSi.sub.x is naturally deposited during the high temperature CVD process on an alignment mark used for photomask position matching, it becomes difficult to detect the reflected light. Besides, the photoresist layer exhibits nonuniform thickness on such a WSi.sub.x layer, so that accuracy in photolithgraphy may be lowered. If the WSi.sub.x layer is etched with the severe surface irregularities remaining intact, the subsequent operating steps may be affected due to, for example, transfer of the surface irregularities onto the surface of the underlying layer.
Deterioration in the surface morphology presents problems not only in the WSi.sub.x layer produced by the above mentioned CVD method, but also in trench sidewalls used for forming capacitative elements or in polysilicon layers used for forming gate electrodes of PMOS transistors functioning as load resistor elements for SRAMs. In these cases, if the surface irregularities are left unattended, the oxide film formed thereon tends to be non-uniform and to lower the voltage resistance. Planarization is a desideratum in a large number of material layers in the preparation of semiconductor devices, and several techniques to meet the demands have been proposed.
For example, in Extended Abstracts of the 35th Sprlng Meeting (1988) of the Japan Society of Applied Physics and Related Societies, page 498, lecture number 28p-G-2, a report has been made of a technique of etching a previously trenched silicon substrate in a downflow type chemical dry etching device, using a mixed gas of CF.sub.4 and O.sub.2, for rounding trench corners and smoothing sidewall roughnesses for improving the voltage resistance of the oxide film.
Also, in Extended Abstracts of the 35th Spring Meeting (1989) of the Japan Society of Applied Physics and Related Societies, page 572, lecture number 1p-L-8, a report has been made of a technique of smoothing a polysilicon layer by a similar gas system. In this case, the voltage resistance of the oxide film produced by surface oxidation of polysilicon is improved significantly.
In these techniques, O.sub.2 is used in excess relative to CF.sub.4 for yielding a silicon oxyfluoride Si.sub.x F.sub.y O.sub.z and the silicon substrate or the polysilicon layer is smoothed by competitive processes of Si.sub.x F.sub.y O.sub.z deposition and etching reactions. It is premeditated that such smoothing is realized by a mechanism in which the vapor pressure of Si.sub.x F.sub.y O.sub.x ls low on a surface of negative curvature such as trench corners or surface recesses to suppress etching to favor deposition while the vapor pressure of Si.sub.x F.sub.y O.sub.z is high on a surface of positive curvature such as surface projections to favor etching rather than deposition.
The third problem is insufficient planarity of the interlayer insulating film. In keeping up with the accelerated progress in recent years to higher integration and higher density of semiconductor devices, an increasing area tends to be taken up by interconnections on a device chip so that multi-level interconnections are becoming indispensable for preventing a chip area from being increased. Hence, planarization of the interlayer insulating film has become more crucial for maintaining processing accuracy and step coverage of the interconnection layer in the course of the subsequent processing steps.
The commonplace practice in planarizing the interlayer insulating film has been to form a planar layer of a resist material on the surface of the interlayer insulating film and to etch back the layer of the resist material and the interlayer insulating film at an equal etchrate.
In an Extract of VLSI Multilevel Interconnection Conference (1989) pages 89 to 98, there is disclosed a method of planarizing the substrate by a B.sub.2 O.sub.3 planarizing film followed by etchback at an equal etchrate. The planarizing film may be produced in an extremely planar state by introducing trimethyl borate B(OCH.sub.3).sub.3, a liquid substance at ambient temperature, into a plasma CVD device, along with O.sub.2, to then al low B.sub.2 O.sub.3 to flow and be precipitated on the wafer surface with the wafer temperature of 390.degree. to 480.degree. C.
There is also proposed a technique of coating the interlayer insulating film with a low molecular weight styrene-chloromethylstyrene polymer solution to planarize the substrate surface to effect etchback at an equal etching rate after the drying and cross-linking steps.
Although demands have been raised for planarization and smoothing for the preparation of semiconductor devices, the conventional techniques leave much to be desired.
In the technique of allowing the carbonaceous polymer to be deposited for trimming the trench, the polymer is deposited on any components present in an etching chamber at the same time that it is deposited on a substrate, so that the risk of pollution by particles is increased. Above all, when processing a number of wafers one by one, higher levels of pollution by particles are encountered with the progress of the processing operations.
The technique of allowing Si.sub.x F.sub.y O.sub.z to be deposited for improving the surface morphology is similarly not exempt from the problem of pollution by particles.
With the technique of planarizing the interlayer insulating film by B.sub.2 O.sub.3, meticulous attention needs to be exercised in controlling the atmosphere within the etching device to complicate the operation because of the high hygroscopicity of B.sub.2 O.sub.3 and the high softening point thereof which is as high as about 460.degree. C. If the metal interconnection is of aluminum, the interconnection may be deteriorated. If a styrene-chlorostyrene polymer is used, pollution tends to be produced during drying and crosslinking, while the throughput may also be lowered.


In some examples, a brake system includes a piston configured to cause a compression of a disc stack. The piston includes a piston body configured to compress a cap face of a piston cap against a pressure plate to cause the compression of the disc stack. The cap face may define a convex surface. The piston cap may be configured such that the convex surface reduces it curvature when the cap face is compressed against the pressure plate. In examples, the piston cap is configured to elastically deform to cause the cap face to reduce the curvature when the cap face is compressed against the pressure plate.

Vehicles, such as aircrafts, may use a wheel brake system that includes a multi-disc brake system. For example, the multi-disc brake system may include a plurality of rotors engaged with a wheel and a plurality of stators interleaved with the rotors. The rotors and wheel are configured to rotate around an axle, while the stators remain rotationally stationary. To decelerate rotational motion of a rotating wheel, the brake system may displace pistons against a pressure plate to squeeze the rotating rotors engaged with the wheel against the stationary stators, therefore producing torque that decelerates the rotational motion of the wheel. In some examples, a piston may cause a cap face of the piston to compress against the pressure plate.


The present invention relates to a method for installing and adjusting a door seal device on a door leaf for the purpose of sealing off a lower door gap, the door seal device having at least one trigger on the hinge side and/or lock side and the door seal device initially being installed in such a way that the trigger has a greater projection than necessary and the door is then closed, an axial displacement of the trigger with respect to a transmission element connected to the latter occurring as a result of a floor contact pressure of a seal profile that exceeds a reference value, which leads to self-adjustment of the extent of the projection of the trigger, and the trigger then remaining in this adjusted position when the door is reopened.

The present invention relates to a method for installing and adjusting a door seal device on a door leaf for the purpose of sealing off a lower door gap, the door seal device having at least one trigger on the hinge side and/or lock side and the door seal device initially being installed in such a way that the trigger has a greater projection than necessary and the door is then closed, an axial displacement of the trigger with respect to a transmission element connected to the latter occurring as a result of a floor contact pressure of a seal profile that exceeds a reference value.
Door seal devices of the aforementioned type are installed in a door leaf by a carpenter or fitter, for example let into a groove. During installation, an adjustment must be made which ensures that the trigger projecting on the hinge side or lock side projects to such an extent that a sufficient axial displacement of the trigger takes place when the door is closed, ensuring the desired displacement of the seal profile which is lowered during closing. During this adjustment, various parameters have to be considered. Firstly, there is the matter of the required sealing height, that is to say the height of the lower gap between the door leaf and the floor. Furthermore, what is known as the rabbet clearance plays a part, that is the gap between the door leaf and the door frame in the rabbet area when the door is closed. Finally, there is the matter of what floor pressure is respectively desired for the sealing profile.
This floor pressure should not be too high, in order that the seal profile is not deformed too severely by the floor contact pressure when the door is closed. On the other hand, there must be at least a floor pressure such that the gap with respect to the floor is sealed off effectively. Since, in particular, the trigger on the hinge side ensures that the door seal is already lowered to a certain extent at a time before the door has reached its closed position, thought must also be given to the fact that the seal profile drags over the floor as a result of the floor pressure. An excessively high floor contact pressure therefore leads to wear of or damage to the seal device. The adjustment of the required floor pressure of the sealing profile is carried out by the installer via the corresponding position of the trigger. In some known seal devices, a tool is needed for this purpose, or the trigger fitting is constructed in a complicated manner with a spring to be pulled out, so that it is relatively time-consuming until the correct adjustment has been found. This is made more difficult in particular by the fact that the installer usually has to find the correct adjustment by trial and error, so that he possibly has to change the trigger position many times and, for this purpose, in each case has to open and close the door in order to monitor the result of the respective adjustment. EP-A-0841457 describes a door seal device of the generic type mentioned at the beginning in which the projection of the trigger is regulated by a threaded bolt used as a transmission element being screwed to a greater or lesser extent into an internal thread belonging to the trigger. In other known door seal devices, the adjustment is made by rotating the triggering element; in particular in the case of an angular triggering element on the lock side, it is frequently the case that a complete rotation of the trigger always has to be performed, so that no very fine adjustment is possible.
Furthermore, thought must be given to the fact that, depending on the construction of the door seal device and the formation of the transmission elements which convert the axial displacement travel of the trigger into a lowering movement of the seal, a relatively small change in the position of the trigger can lead to a much higher change in the floor lowering displacement of the seal. In particular, it is possible that the displacement of the seal profile is a multiple of the displacement of the trigger. For these reasons, it is particularly important that the most exact position of the trigger is chosen during the adjustment before the door seal is put into use.
FR 884 694 describes a door seal device of the generic type mentioned at the beginning. In order to avoid an excessively high floor contact pressure of the seal building up, the triggering mechanism is formed in two parts with a hollow rod which is connected to a lowering mechanism for a sealing bar. Within this hollow rod there is a further rod, which can be displaced axially over a certain distance in the first-named rod. In this case, a spring mechanism is provided, which has a spiral spring, which has two stops as abutments. As a result, the inner rod, which is connected directly to the projecting trigger, can slide within the outer rod when the floor contact pressure of the seal is too high. In this known door seal device, although compensation which avoids an excessively high floor contact pressure of the seal profile is produced during lowering by the spring, this is not a self-adjustment, since when the door is opened again, the trigger assumes its original position again. Therefore, if, in the case of this known door seal device, the trigger projects too far, during each closing operation, too high a pressure on the seal profile meeting the floor occurs, which leads to a dragging movement of the seal profile on the floor. Although this is then compensated for by the aforementioned spring during further closing the door, during each door closing operation, initially the excessively high loading of the seal profile occurs, and also a dragging movement on the floor. There is no optimum adjustment of the trigger, and high wear of the seal profile and of the mechanism is therefore to be expected.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method for installing and adjusting a door seal device of the generic type mentioned at the beginning which avoids wear on seal profile and mechanism, is easy to install and permits simple achievement of the optimum adjustment of the trigger in each case with regard to the floor contact pressure of the seal profile in accordance with the respective constructional conditions. Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a seal device, which can be used in a method of the aforementioned type.
This object is achieved by a method according to the invention for installing and adjusting a door seal device.


In a managed information environment, such as a storage area network, a management application typically monitors and controls a plurality of manageable entities such as storage array devices. The manageable entities may emanate from multiple providers, or vendors, each having dissimilar interfaces and parameters. A common object model operable to normalize and represent device specific parameters that define a plurality of dissimilar manageable entities such as storage array devices enables interrogation and manipulation of the dissimilar storage devices for performing management and control via the management application. The management application selects, based on the device type, a representation in the common object model enumerating the device specific parameters of the storage device. Enumeration may involve identifying corresponding attributes between the device specific parameters and the attributes of the common object model, and copying, translating, or converting the corresponding fields. In this manner, the management application normalizes and performs manipulations of the dissimilar storage devices using the common object model.

In a typical conventional storage area network, one or more storage arrays having very large amounts of data storage capacity are connected through connectivity devices, such as switches, to host computer systems that operate as servers of data to client computer systems that request the data from the storage arrays. The storage area network is thus a network that interconnects host, connectivity and storage elements in a storage environment and ensures fault-free and timely access to the data for client users via the host servers. Such a storage area network employs a conventional storage area network management application to monitor and control (i.e., to manage) the host, connectivity and storage elements in the network. Management of the storage area network by the network management application allows optimal usage and throughput in the storage area network by identifying areas of contention, reporting malfunctions, providing access control, and allocating ports and data flow paths between the host and storage devices in the storage area network.
The conventional network management application employs software components executing on, within, or in conjunction with the various manageable elements in the storage environment to effect management of these elements within the storage area network. Typically, a repository such as a database operates in conjunction with the network management application in order to map the manageable elements (e.g., host, storage devices, switches, and software processes) that comprise the storage area network environment into data structures that the network management application may employ to manage the network elements. The repository typically includes respective element definitions for each manageable entity in the storage area network. Each element definition in the repository includes or defines information such as types and attributes (characteristics) and associated attribute values of the element, relationships between that element and other elements, as well as topology, diagnostic, and historical data concerning that storage area network element, or manageable entity, as it operates within the storage area network.
The management application therefore, monitors and controls each of the storage are network elements, or manageable entities, in the storage area network by storing the type and attribute information of the various manageable entities. In a large SAN, there may be many deployable manageable entities of various types, each having type and attribute information. Developing and maintaining the conventional management application to store, manipulate, and report on the various types and attributes of the multitude of manageable entities presents a formidable endeavor, since the conventional manageable entities encompass different types having different sets of attributes, and may even be from different vendors.

System and methods for implementing an adaptive object model


A hanger harp formed of metal tubing having an upper tubing surface and an upstanding hook affixed thereto and a downwardly depending hook affixed thereto, the downwardly depending hook for positioning of a bird feeder, the harp hanger having a battery source secured thereto and connected to the harp hanger and the bird feeder, such that the distance between the hanger harp and the bird feeder would be bridged by an animal larger than a bird, and thus present an electrical shock to this animal thereby deterring this animal from invading the food supply designated for the birds.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to bird feeders, and more particularly, to a guard adapted to fit a plurality of different types of bird feeders which is electrically powered in order to shock squirrels, larger birds or animals which often eat food intended for smaller birds.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Squirrels can consume large quantities of food very rapidly and their aggressive nature intimidates the more passive birds and large aggressive birds discourage smaller birds from the appropriation of the available supply of food. Many individuals seek to attract birds in order to view birds and enjoy their habits. Squirrels and larger birds often interfere with this and, therefore, an electrified bird feeder of a portable nature for use on decks, patios or the like is needed.
There exists a large quantity of prior art with respect to the electrification of bird feeders, including U.S. Pat. No. 5,150,665 to Boaz, U.S. Pat. No. 5,191,857 to Boaz, U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,732 to Fry; U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,747 to Caldine; U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,951 to Collins; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,856,898 to Doubleday.
In all of the aforesaid prior art, the bird feeder is designed to be supported from a tree, or permanently in place support pole, thereby positioning the bird feeder off of the ground, but due to their cooperation with the support pole or the support mechanism extending downwardly from a tree, access by squirrels is still available and therefore the need developed in the prior art cited for an electrification means to prevent the squirrels from eating the feed intended for the birds.
Applicant's invention is designed for a portable guard having a harp device affixed thereon such that the bird feeder could depend downwardly from the harp device, a battery source or a power wire with a stepped down transformer would result in a positive or negative charge being directed to the harp and the opposite charge being directed towards the bird feeder, such that when dimensioned properly, a squirrel and not a bird would be of sufficient size to breach the gap and close the circuit thereby being temporarily subject to an electrical shock thereby preventing the squirrel from access to the bird feed.

Portable pest deterrent guard for bird feeders


An electric expansion valve is arranged between a first indoor heat exchanger and a second indoor heat exchanger. At a time of cooling operation, the electric expansion valve is fully opened to connect both the indoor heat exchangers to each other. At a time of dehumidifying operation the electric expansion valve is narrowed to apply a pressure reducing action across these indoor heat exchangers so that the first indoor heat exchanger acts as a reheater and the second indoor heat exchanger as an evaporator. The indoor air is cooled and dehumidified by the second heat exchanger and then reheated by the first indoor heat exchanger and blown into the room. At a time of dehumidifying operation, the temperature of the air blown into the room varies by controlling the speed of an outdoor fan. When the outdoor fan is rendered from an OFF to an ON state or from the ON to the OFF state, the opening extent of the electric expansion valve is set first to an initial opening level and then gradually varied to a target opening level. By so doing, it is possible to prevent refrigerant noise at the electric expansion valve.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air conditioning apparatus having a dehumidifying operation function for removing moisture in the indoor air.
2. Description of the Related Art
An air conditioning apparatus is known which is equipped with two indoor heat exchangers and an electric expansion valve through which these indoor heat exchangers are connected.
In this air conditioning apparatus, when the electric expansion valve is fully opened no pressure-reducing action is exerted on a refrigerant flowing between the indoor heat exchangers and, under this action, the respective indoor heat exchangers serves as one heat exchanger. When the extent of opening of the electric expansion valve is reduced a pressure-reducing action is exerted on the refrigerant flowing between the indoor heat exchangers and the respective indoor heat exchangers act as mutually different heat exchangers.
If, for example, the respective indoor heat exchangers are made to function both as evaporators with the electric expansion valve fully opened, it is possible to perform a cooling operation. If, on the other hand, the respective indoor heat exchangers are made to function both as condensers with the electric expansion valve fully opened, it is possible to perform a heating operation.
If, with the extent of opening of the electric expansion valve reduced, one of these indoor heat exchangers is made to function as the condenser (reheater) and the other indoor heat exchanger as the evaporator, then it is possible to perform a dehumidifying operation. Put it in another way, indoor air is cooled and dehumidified through the evaporator and, thereafter, reheated and blown into a room.
The air conditioning apparatus equipped with such a dehumidifying operation function is disclosed, for example, in Published Examined Japanese Patent Application No. 61-43631, Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Nos. 3-164666, 3-177755, 3-255861 and 2-203172 and Published Examined Japanese Utility Model Registration Application No. 62-40289.
At the dehumidifying operation time, an outdoor heat exchanger functions as a condenser. In cases where an amount of refrigerant heat released varies in the outdoor heat exchanger it is possible to control the air blown into the room, that is, the temperature in the dehumidified air.
In cases where the flow of the outdoor air into the outdoor heat exchanger is stopped with an outdoor fan OFF, the amount of refrigerant heat released is decreased in the outdoor heat exchanger. With a decrease the amount of refrigerant heat released, the temperature of the dehumidified air rises so that a dehumidifying operation is carried out on a somewhat "heating" side.
With the outdoor fan ON and its speed increased, more refrigerant heat is released in the outdoor heat exchanger. With an increase in the refrigerant heat released, the temperature of the dehumidified air is lowered and the dehumidifying operation is carried out on a somewhat "cooling" side.
In the dehumidifying operation with the outdoor fan kept ON, the liquefying of the refrigerant is stable in the outdoor heat exchanger in which case a liquid-phase refrigerant passes through the electric expansion valve between the respective indoor heat exchangers.
With the outdoor fan changed from an ON to an OFF state, on the other hand, the liquefying of the refrigerant becomes temporarily unstable in the outdoor heat exchanger in which case a gas-mixed refrigerant under a pressure ripple flows toward an indoor side and across the electric expansion valve. At that time, noise occurs upon mixing together of the liquid and gas refrigerants, thus imparting disturbing noise to an occupant or occupants in the room.
Even with the outdoor fan changed from an OFF to an ON state a similar phenomenon occurs, thus imparting a feeling of discomfort to the occupant in the room.
Even when a dehumidifying mode is used at a start of operation of the apparatus, the liquefying of the refrigerant becomes unstable in the outdoor heat exchanger so that a gas-mixed liquid refrigerant under a rippling pressure passes through the electric expansion valve at which time disturbing noise is produced.

Air conditioning apparatus having a dehumidifying operation function


A threshold value outputting section has a server response measurement sub-section, a time-out counting sub-section, a suspension counting sub-section, and a threshold value counting sub-section, to variably set dynamically a threshold value of the number of times of the data request based on a condition of data requests suspended in the data request transmission section, a condition of a response sent from a server computer, etc. and then output this threshold value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to, in a client server/system in which many unspecified or specified clients are connected through a packet switched network to at least one unit of server computer, a server computer protection apparatus and method for controlling data transfer by the same which is well suitable for use in the realization of a function to prevent or detect illicit access to the server computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
A client/server system is available, in which a packet switched network connects many specified or unspecified clients to at least one server computer. This system incorporates a server-protecting apparatus that can prevent or detect illicit accesses to the server computer. The server-protecting apparatus comprises a mechanism provided between and connected to the clients and the server computer. The mechanism monitors data requests that the server computer receives from any client. When any client transmits a data request to the server computer, the mechanism determines whether the server computer will be overloaded if it accepts the request, from the number of data request that the server computer received for a unit of time in a specific period in the past.
FIG. 1 is a system block diagram for showing a positional relationship among clients, a packet switched network, the server, and a server computer protection apparatus. The server computer protection apparatus has a function which, when the apparatus is connected between the client and the server, protects a web server from a hacker's attack thereto. Some of the hacker's attacks access the server at a time to thereby increase loads on the server itself, thus disabling it.
A configuration example of this type of conventional server computer protection apparatus is shown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, in the conventional configuration, a server computer protection apparatus 10 comprises network interfaces 11A and 11B and connection/transfer means 12. The connection/transfer means 12 is made up of data request reception means 13, data request transmission means 14, server data request measurement means 15, threshold value holding means 17, threshold value comparison means 16, etc.
The network interface 11A has a function to transmit a packet to and receive it from a client through a network segment (A).
The network interface 11B has a function to transmit a packet to and receive it from a server computer through a network segment (B) and a function to send a data request passed from the data request transmission means 14 to the server computer and receive data from the server computer.
In the connection/transfer means 12, the data request reception means 13 has a function to exchange a packet with the network interface 11A and receive a data request sent from a client on behalf of a server.
The data request transmission means 14 has a function to receive a comparison result from the threshold value comparison means 16 and, if the comparison result indicates that the number of times a data request has been received which is measured by the server data request measurement means 15 is not in excess of a threshold value held in the threshold value holding means 17, transfer through the network interface 11B the data request received by the data request reception means 13 to an original server computer actually requested by the client for the data transfer.
The server data request measurement means 15 has a function to measure the number of times a data request, destined for a server computer, sent from a client received by the data request reception means 13 has been received by this transfer-destination server computer within a specific period in the past.
The threshold value holding means 17 has a function to hold the predetermined number of times of the request as a threshold value.
The threshold value comparison means 16 has a function to compare the number of times of the request measured by the server data request measurement means 15 and a threshold value of the number of times of the data request held in the threshold value holding means 17 to each other and then transmit a comparison result to the data request transmission means 14.
FIG. 3 is a table for showing one example of information stored in the threshold value holding means 17 of the server computer protection apparatus 10 described above, in which case it holds a network address of each of server computers to be protected and the number of times of the data request that can be processed by each of these server computers for each unit time (one minute in this case).
In the server computer protection apparatus having this configuration, it is supposed that in the threshold value holding means 17 are there held each of such server computers as shown in FIG. 2 to be protected and threshold values which indicate the number of times of the data request that can be processed by each of these server computers. That is, in an example shown in FIG. 3, as the protection-subject server computers are there present a server computer having network address "192.168.1.31" and that having network address "192.168.1.32" and also are there held threshold values "100" and "150" of the server computers having network addresses "192.168.1.31" and "192.168.1.32" respectively as the number of processable data requests within a unit time (one minute in this case).
It is here supposed that in this condition a certain client has sent a data request to the server computer having network address "192.168.1.31".
A packet of the data request received by the network interface 11A is obtained by the data request reception means 13 on behalf of a server. The data request reception means 13 also responds to a connection request sent from clients. In this case, such a method is available that the data request reception means 13 uses as it is a network address of the server computer having network address "192.168.1.31" to thereby receive the data request sent from the client and also such a method is available that the client is explicitly notified of a different network address beforehand so that the client can send a data request destined for the server computer having network address "192.168.1.31" to this different network address to thereby permit the data request reception means 13 to receive this data request instead of the server.
The data request thus received by the data request reception means 13 is passed over to the data request transmission means 14. The server data request measurement means 15 measures beforehand the number of times the data request has been received, within a past constant period, by a server computer to which the data request is to be transferred.
In this case, it is supposed that at a moment when the data request received by the data request reception means 13 is passed over to the data request transmission means 14, the number of times the data request has been received by the server computer having network address "192.168.1.31" within a past one minute is measured by the server data request measurement means 15 is "85".
In this condition, the data request transmission means 14 makes an inquiry to the threshold value comparison means 16. The threshold value comparison means 16 compares and collates a threshold value "100" of the server computer having network address "192.168.1.31" held in the threshold value holding means 17 and the number of times of the data request of "85" measured by the server data request measurement means 15 to each other and then passes over to the data request transmission means 14 a comparison result which indicates that the measured number of times of the data request is not more than the threshold value because the number of times of the data request of "85" measured by the server data request measurement means 15 is not in excess of the threshold value "100" of the server computer having network address "192.168.1.31".
When having received from the threshold value comparison means 16 the comparison result indicating that the measured number of times of the data request is not more than the threshold value, the data request transmission means 14 sends (transfers) a packet of the data request to the server computer having network address "192.168.1.31" through the network interface 11B. In this case, the data request transmission means 14 processes also a request for connection to the server computer.
The server computer having network address "192.168.1.31" sends data corresponding to the data request received from the client through the server computer protection apparatus 10. This data thus sent from the server computer is received through the network segment (B) by the network interface 11B and then passed through the network interface 11A over to the requesting client. In this case, if the client is explicitly notified beforehand of a different address used by the data request reception means 13, the data to be sent from the network interface 11A to the client is sent thereto actually in a form of response from this different address. Furthermore, in a case where such a method is employed that the data request reception means 13 uses as it is the network address of the server computer having network address "192.168.1.31" to thereby receive a data request sent from the client, the data from the server computer having network address "192.168.1.31" received by the network interface 11B is sent to the requesting client through the network interface 11A after a header's port No., a sequence No., a check sum of a packet which carries the data are rewritten.
In such a manner, a data request sent from the client is sent to the server computer, which in turn passes data corresponding to the request over to the client.
Next, it is supposed that at another moment, when a data request received by the data request reception means 13 is passed over to the data request transmission means 14, the number of times, measured by the server data request measurement means 15, a data request has been received by the server computer having network address "192.168.1.31" within the past one minute is, for example, "103". In this condition, the data request transmission means 14 makes an inquiry to the threshold value comparison means 16. The threshold value comparison means 16 compares and collates the threshold value of "100" of the server computer having network address "192.168.1.31" held in the threshold value holding means 17 and the number of times of the data request of "103" measured by the data request measurement means 15 to each other and then passes over to the data request transmission means 14 a comparison result which indicates that the measured number of times of the data request has exceeded the threshold value because the number of times of the data request of "103" measured by the server data request measurement means 15 is in excess of the threshold value of "100" of the server computer having network address "192.168.1.31" held in the threshold value holding means 17.
When having received from the threshold value comparison means 16 the value of comparison which indicates that the measured number of times of the data request is in excess of the threshold value, the data request transmission means 14 abandons the packet of the data request received from the data request reception means 13.
The conventional server computer protection apparatus described above, however, has the following problems. That is, the conventional server computer protection apparatus needs to set as a threshold value beforehand the number of times of the data request that can be processed by each of server computers within a specific period. However, since the number of times of the data request that can be processed by the server computer within the constant period depends largely on the contents of a data request etc., it is difficult to set an appropriate threshold value, so that if a misappropriate threshold value is set, such a problem occurs that the server computer cannot be protected or, even if it can be protected, the throughput of the server cannot be utilized to the full.
Although such a server computer protection apparatus may be contemplated that, in order to set the threshold value automatically, a time lapse required to receive a response from a server computer is measured so that if no response is received within a specific time, it can be decided that the number of times of the data request that can be processed by a server is exceeded, to thus use the average number of times of the data request acquired at this moment as a threshold value or that a server is mounted thereon with means for measuring a load of a server computer so that the average number of times of the data request acquired at a moment when the load on the server computer has reached at least a constant value may be used as a threshold value, if the number of requests from a client has increased rapidly nevertheless, the average number of the data request becomes far distant in value from the number of times of the data request that can be processed by the server in the specific period, so that if the average number of times of the data request is used as the threshold value, there would occur such a problem that the throughput of the server cannot be utilized to the full or the server cannot be protected.

Server computer protection apparatus and method for controlling data transfer by the same


Adhesive bonding of eloxated aluminum to plastic, with a product having at least one layer of a latently reactive adhesive film which has a thermoplastic component having a melting point T(melting) where 35° C.≦T(melting)≦90° C. and contains functional groups that can react with isocyanate and an isocyanate-containing component dispersed in particulate form in the thermoplastic and is essentially deactivated in the region of the particle surface, the particles having a start temperature T(start) where 40° C.≦T(start)≦100° C. and where T(start)≦T(melting).

In modern consumer electronics devices it is frequently necessary for various components, having in some cases only very low strut widths to be bonded to one another. In this case, the bonding strengths of pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes are often insufficient, hence making it necessary in such cases oftentimes to fall back on reactive liquid adhesives. The use of liquid adhesives, however, entails certain disadvantages, being linked as it is with considerable odor nuisance. Moreover, liquid adhesives are awkward to handle. Consequently, adhesive systems are sought that have a low vapor pressure and are available in substantially two-dimensional form for neater processing. One option is that of heat-activatable films (HAF). Since the substrates to be bonded to one another include heat-sensitive substrates, the requirement exists to offer HAF which can be processed even at very low temperatures (T<100° C.).
A type of adhesive bond for which demand has developed increasingly in recent years particularly in the electronics segment—for example, in cellphones or so-called laptops—is the adhesive bonding of eloxed aluminum and plastic. Eloxed aluminum is becoming ever more important as a decorative material for electronic devices. So-called eloxed or else anodized aluminum, i.e., aluminum processed using the Eloxal process, is aluminum on whose surface an oxidic protective layer has been formed by anodic oxidation of the aluminum. Here, in contrast to the electroplating techniques, the protective layer is not deposited on the workpiece; instead, an oxide or hydroxide is formed by conversion of the topmost layer of metal. It therefore has a particularly good connection to the aluminum. A layer 5 to 25 μm thick is formed, which protects underlying layers from corrosion for as long as no gaps are formed in this layer, as a result of mechanical damage, for example. A disadvantage of eloxed aluminum is its thermal sensitivity. Because the aluminum oxide has an expansion coefficient different from that of the aluminum itself, and is brittle, the layer of aluminum oxide, under the effect of heat even at temperatures around 100° C., develops stress cracks—in other words, the abovementioned unwanted gaps are produced in the protective layer. Thermal stressing even in this temperature range, moreover, results in visual defects, an unwanted phenomenon for decorative elements.
For the bonding strength on a substrate, it is particularly the chemical and physical surface properties that are critical in relation to the substrate. As far as the anchoring of an adhesive layer on its surface is concerned, therefore, eloxed aluminum is more like a ceramic (aluminum oxide groups and aluminum hydroxide groups) than a metal, with the specific challenges associated with the anchoring of adhesive layers on ceramic, and tends to present fewer of the challenges associated with the anchoring of adhesive layers on metals.
The hot pressing of HAF diecuts is now established practice and is known, for example, for the adhesive bonding of chip modules into chip cards. The hot adhesive bonding of polycarbonate cell phone casings to a decorative aluminum section is described in the Applicant's DE 10 2005 035 905 A1 (=U.S. Pat. No. 7,923,510). Here, pressing temperatures of 180° C. are employed. Eloxed aluminum is too heat-sensitive for bonding temperatures of 180° C., and is therefore also not explicitly stated in the specification.
The Applicant's DE 10 2009 006 935 A1(=U.S. 2012/027986) describes heat-activatable films comprising a nonwoven carrier for the bonding of metals and plastics. Among the substrates listed is anodized (eloxed) aluminum. Preference is given to using thermoplastic materials having a melting temperature of more than 85° C. Even this temperature, however, is too high for the bonding of eloxed aluminum. Thermoplastic polyurethanes are stated, though not explicitly those obtained from aqueous dispersion. Although isocyanates can be employed as reactive resins, no particular treatment of the isocyanates is stated. This reactive-resin component is also mentioned as a component for addition to the thermoplastic polyurethane; the thermoplastic matrix itself is not a reactive system.
WO 93/25599 A1 (Thomas Abend) discloses formulations for latently reactive polyurethane systems that comprise deactivated polyisocyanates, having reactivity at temperatures above 55° C., and comprising polymers which at temperatures above 40° C. are meltable and are able to react with isocyanate. These formulations may be coated onto substrates, which can then be bonded. They may also be shaped in the form of a carrier-free film, which can then be laminated to a substrate to be bonded. Adhesive systems of this kind serve for the joining, sealing, laminating, or coating of wood, plastics, metals, glass, textiles, synthetic sheetlike structures, card, paper, and foils. These materials are not defined in any more detail. There is no mention of a plastic/metal combination. Nor is there any reference to eloxed aluminum.
J. Büchner, W. Henning, Adhäsion, 2007, 51(6), 16-21 describes drying processes for aqueous, latently reactive polyurethane dispersions, and also pressing approaches for the adhesive bonding of two substrates. Example substrates cited are PVC, leather, and MDF (medium-density wood fiberboard). There is no mention of adhesive bonding of metal/plastic combinations, and eloxed aluminum is not recited.
DE 10 2010 013 145 A1 (Lohmann) describes adhesives which are heat-activatable and latently reactive. At room temperature they have slight tack and still exhibit adhesiveness for a certain time following initial heating and cooling. These adhesives are based preferably on polyurethanes. Substrates stated for bonding include metals and plastic, without further particularization, and is there is particular reference to the application of bonding heat-sensitive plastics in the electronics industry. A plastic/metal combination is not stated; eloxed aluminum is not mentioned.
WO 99/29755 (=U.S. Pat. No. 6,348,548) (Thomas Abend) describes reactive polyurethane adhesive systems based on aqueous polyurethane dispersions. Dispersed into the matrix of a thermoplastic polyurethane, which still carries functional groups for reaction with isocyanates, are polyisocyanate particles that are deactivated on their surface. At a first temperature, the thermoplastic polyurethane melts. At a temperature above this, the deactivated particle surface dissolves and the isocyanate groups are able to react with the functional groups of the thermoplastic polyurethane. Substrates said to be suitable for the adhesive bonding are, generally, metals, plastics, glass, wood, wood composites, card, films/foils, synthetic sheetlike structures, and textiles. The possibility of combination of materials is not stated, and nor is any reference made to eloxed aluminum.
None of the stated texts offers a solution for the adhesive bonding of eloxed aluminum to plastic. The search continues, therefore, for a suitable means of adhesive bonding of eloxed aluminum to plastic, that can be provided in substantially two-dimensional form, that can be applied to a substrate (eloxed aluminum or plastic) at a low temperature above room temperature, i.e., at a temperature even below 85° C., and that in technical terms passes the so-called push-out test after thermal pressing to the second substrate (plastic or eloxed aluminum), and achieves this not only before but also after specific humidity/heat storage. These requirements are typical for the qualification of adhesive bonds in the consumer electronics segment.
The bonding of a polar plastic (e.g., polycarbonate or PMMA) to a moisture-impermeable substrate (in the present case, eloxed aluminum) harbors special difficulties. Composite laminates of this kind are severely stressed in humidity/heat storage, since the polar plastic is able to take up a considerable quantity of moisture from the environment. This moisture presses on the adhesive film surface that is in contact with the plastics substrate. To a certain degree, the adhesive film is able to take up moisture from the plastic and emit it to the environment again. In a plastic/eloxed aluminum bond, however, this moisture is unable to escape over the full surface area, instead being able to escape only via the end faces, because the adhesive film is backed by a moisture-impermeable substrate (eloxed aluminum). The risk exists of the adhesive film detaching locally and partially from the plastics surface—an unwanted phenomenon. It may therefore be concluded that an appropriate means of adhesive bonding is an adhesive which itself has a fairly low moisture content and is not obtained from water-based dispersion, with which, in spite of drying, the possibility exists of substantial residual moisture.
It has been found, moreover, that in the case of metals and particularly for eloxed aluminum, moisture may tend to creep between the surface of the eloxed aluminum, in other words the typically 5 μm to 25 μm thick ceramic layer, and the surface of the adhesive film, possibly leading to failure of the otherwise good bonding performance. The bonding of eloxed aluminum to plastic therefore imposes a particularly exacting requirement on any bonding solution that is to be found. Bonding means suitable for the aluminum metal/plastic system cannot necessarily be employed, since the aluminum oxide of the surface layer on the eloxed aluminum has entirely different properties from the metallic aluminum, being, for example, much more brittle than the latter.

Use of a latently reactive adhesive film for adhesive bonding of eloxated aluminum to plastic


A lithographic apparatus has an assembly to exchange optical elements in a pupil plane of its projection system. The optical elements may be pupil filters and may conform to the physical dimensions specified for a reticle standard, e.g. having sides substantially equal to 5, 6 or 9 inches.

A lithographic apparatus is a machine that applies a desired pattern onto a substrate, usually onto a target portion of the substrate. A lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In that instance, a patterning device, which is alternatively referred to as a mask or a reticle, may be used to generate a circuit pattern to be formed on an individual layer of the IC. This pattern can be transferred onto a target portion (e.g. comprising part of, one, or several dies) on a substrate (e.g. a silicon wafer). Transfer of the pattern is typically via imaging onto a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist) provided on the substrate. In general, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent target portions that are successively patterned. Known lithographic apparatus include so-called steppers, in which each target portion is irradiated by exposing an entire pattern onto the target portion at once, and so-called scanners, in which each target portion is irradiated by scanning the pattern through a radiation beam in a given direction (the "scanning"-direction) while synchronously scanning the substrate parallel or anti-parallel to this direction. It is also possible to transfer the pattern from the patterning device to the substrate by imprinting the pattern onto the substrate.
Efforts to keep up with the well-known Moore's law, which aims that the density of components in an integrated circuit should quadruple every three years, drive continual improvements in lithographic apparatus. The critical dimension of features that can be printed using a lithographic apparatus is proportional to the wavelength of the exposure radiation used divided by the numeric aperture (NA) of the projection system of the apparatus. Therefore there is a trend to provide projection systems with ever increasing numeric aperture. However, as the numeric aperture of the projection system increases, so does its size and complexity. Also, the depth of focus (DOF) is reduced, making imaging harder, particularly of difficult patterns such as contact hole arrays.

Lithographic apparatus, device manufacturing method and exchangeable optical element


A blank for hinged-lid packets for smoking articles comprises four panels extending side by side in pairs along a direction perpendicular to a direction of longitudinal extension of the packets obtainable from the blank; the blank is foldable along folding lines made between the pairs of panels and parallel to said direction of longitudinal extension, and an upper portion of one of the four panels is integral, on the outside of the selfsame four panels, with a portion forming the hinged lid of the respective packet. Also described is a method for making hinged-lid packets for smoking articles.

This invention relates to a blank for hinged-lid packets for smoking articles and to a method for making such packets.
More specifically, this invention relates to a blank which can be used to make substantially parallelepiped-shaped, hinged-lid packets for containing smoking articles consisting of cigarettes or cigarette packets, and to a method for making such packets.
In this specification, reference is made by way of example, and for simplicity of description, to hinged-lid cigarette packets without thereby limiting the scope of the invention.
The blanks most frequently used to make packets of the above mentioned type are made of paperboard, have their longest dimension running parallel to the vertical edges of the packets concerned and are first folded around respective groups of cigarettes wrapped in metallized paper about a plurality of folding lines perpendicular to their longest dimension. A plurality of flaps and lateral panels of these blanks are then folded about folding lines parallel to the longest dimension in order to complete packet closure. The packets thus obtained have a bottom containing body portion, which houses the cigarettes, and a hinged lid located above the containing body portion for the closing thereof. An example of blanks of this kind is shown in patent U.S. Pat. No. 2,468,543A.
A longitudinal end portion of these blanks normally consists of a reinforcement flap which is folded towards the inside of the lid in order to strengthen it and so that lower front edge of the lid visible to the smoker is defined by a folded paperboard portion and not a cut portion of the blank, considered aesthetically unattractive.
In some types of packing machines which make packets of the type mentioned above, the blanks used have their longest dimension perpendicular to the vertical edges of the packets concerned. The blanks of this kind are first folded around respective groups of cigarettes wrapped in metallized paper about a plurality of folding lines parallel to the vertical edges, and a plurality of lower and upper panels and flaps are then folded about folding lines parallel to the longest dimension in order to complete packet closure. A blank of this kind is illustrated, for example, in patent GB2063811A which protects a packing machine for making packets of the type described.
The packing machines used for handling blanks of this kind are relatively simple compared to those used for making packets from blanks of the first type described above, but the packets obtained do not have the lid reinforcement flap because the shape of the blanks is such that the edges of the lid are geometrically contained within the body of the blanks themselves and there is not enough space in the body of the blanks to make the reinforcement flap.
As a result, the lower front edge of the lid of these packets is not defined by a folded paperboard portion and instead the smoker sees a cut portion of the blank, with a relatively unpleasant visual effect.
Moreover, packets of this kind do not have what is known as the "inner frame" between the respective blanks and the groups of cigarettes wrapped in metallized paper. The inner frame, besides having an important aesthetic function, also keeps the lid well closed when the packet is not being used. The absence of the inner frame thus gives packets of this kind unpleasant aesthetic features and poor functional features.