A method and system for providing a computer-simulated environment for displaying a selected mannequin wearing a combination of selected garments. In one aspect, three-dimensional scenes containing mannequin and garment objects are created within a three-dimensional modeling environment, and a simulation is performed using a cloth simulator within the modeling environment to model the construction, draping, and collision of the garment with the mannequin. Rendering frames corresponding to a variety of garments, mannequins, garment dimensions, garment styles, wearing patterns, viewing angles, and other parameters, are then generated from which images can be rendered and displayed in accordance with user requests.

The concept of a computerized or simulated dressing environment is a user-operated display system that generates computer-simulated images of a human figure wearing one or more selected garments. The simulated human figure thus represents a virtual model or mannequin for modeling clothes. Such an environment should ideally provide the user with the capability of viewing the mannequin and garment from a plurality of viewpoints to give a three-dimensional experience. By allowing the user to also select in some manner the particular human figure that is to wear the garment, an individualized experience is provided that allows the user to see what selected clothes look like when worn by different people.
The degree to which the system takes into account the physical forces acting on a garment as it is worn determine in large part how visually realistic the computer-generated images are. Simulation of the draping and collision of a garment object with a mannequin using a three-dimensional modeling environment (e.g., Maya, manufactured by Alias Wavefront of Toronto, Canada) allows the rendering of a two-dimensional image of the mannequin and garment that is quite realistic in appearance. It is desirable in a simulated dressing environment, however, for a user to be able to select among a variety of different mannequins and/or garments for displaying. Accordingly, a simulated dressing environment could be implemented with a three-dimensional modeling environment simply by simulating particular dressing scenes in response to user inputs and then rendering two-dimensional images directly from the simulation scene. The massive amount of computation required to perform a collision and draping simulation for any particular mannequin and garment, however, makes three-dimensional modeling an impractical way by itself in most commonly available computing environments to generate the multiple images of different mannequins and garments needed to implement a dressing environment.

System and method for displaying selected garments on a computer-simulated mannequin


A reinforcement member and reinforcement system for an article of manufacture (e.g., an automotive vehicle) are disclosed. The reinforcement member includes a carrier member and a reinforcement material and the carrier member includes one or multiple portions. The one portion or at least one of the multiples portions includes a reinforced portion that is divided into multiple sections.

It is known to structurally reinforce automotive vehicles by placing inserts into cavities defined in a vehicle body structure. Rigid carriers have a thermally expandable material carried thereon, which is expanded during exposure to heat in an automotive coating processing oven (e.g., an e-coat, clearcoat or paint bake oven).
Today's automotive vehicle designers face a number of challenges in building lightweight vehicle bodies that must resist deformation when loaded, such as in an impact situation. Advanced computing and fabricating technologies allow designers to create body designs with complex geometries that previously were impractical to fabricate on a large production scale. Further, many modern vehicle designs undergo considerable computer modeling before building and testing the vehicles to withstand loading from impacts. As a result, it has become necessary for vehicles to be retrofitted with custom inserts that are capable of improving the ability of the vehicle design to withstand impact.
One problem that arises with the use of some existing reinforcement structures is that they require complete sealing about their peripheries in order to achieve structural reinforcement. This unfortunately blocks the flow of coating materials such as e-coat, and could result in uneven coating coverage. Also, with some structures, the expandable materials are concentrated within plate structures and pose a problem when the expandable material expands. The pressure of the material during expansion, due to a high localized concentration can result in read-through effects, by which the location of the expansion deforms opposing sheet metal. It is also a problem with some parts that a large amount of expandable material is required, adding undesired weight to the part.
As another problem, these reinforcements are often located within cavities of structures where those cavities tend to have cross-sections that change along their lengths or other dimensions. As such, it can be difficult to design reinforcement members that correspond to the shape of those cavities while maintaining desired amounts of rigidity at the various locations along the length or other dimensions of the cavities or members.
The present invention addresses the one or more of the above problems, and represents an improvement to existing vehicle structural reinforcement.

Reinforcement system for an automotive vehicle


A household appliance (100) has an external casing (110) housing a rotatable drum assembly (320) and adapted to be mounted to a wall (105). The casing is shaped so as to define therein a tub (305) for rotatably accommodating the rotatable drum assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of household appliances, and in particular to laundry washing and washing/drying appliances like laundry washers and washers/dryers. Specifically, the present invention relates to a household appliance designed for wall mounting.
2. Overview of the Related Art
Household appliances designed for wall mounting are known in the art. This kind of installation is useful in those situations where space is so limited that there is no room for accommodating a floor-standing appliance, or for appliances of small size, designed with a reduced load capacity (e.g., 1.5-2 kg of cotton load), for example targeted to people living as singles, or for installation in hotel rooms, or aboard ships.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,868,998 discloses a wall-mounted tumble dryer. Other examples of wall-mounted garment dryer are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 5,568,691.
Conventionally, the household appliance is mounted to the wall by means of brackets, attached to the rear side of the appliance external cabinet, and that engage counter-brackets attached to the wall by means of screws.

Electrolux Home Products Corporation N.V.


The improvement in the soldering method of soldering a workpiece comprising the steps of forming a solder melting pot by engaging plural trowel members, supplying a solder tip having a constant volume to the solder melting pot, melting the solder tip and holding the molten solder temporarily in the solder melting pot and then separating the plural trowel members to allow the molten solder to drop onto the workpiece. The improvement comprises detecting complete melting of the solder tip by sensing the change in intensity of the light reflected by the surface of the molten solder, and heating the molten solder for an additional time period after the completion of melting of the solder tip. A soldering apparatus for use to realize the aforementioned method is also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a soldering method and soldering apparatus for dropping molten or semi-molten solder (hereinafter referred to simply as molten solder) on a workpiece to effect soldering.
2. Prior Art Statement
Japanese Patent Publication No. 34209/1971 discloses a soldering apparatus for applying molten solder onto a desired point or area of a workpiece, such as a printed circuit board, wherein a conical pot is used for melting a solid solder. A rod-shaped solder is cut and fed to the conical pot to be melted therein and the molten solder is allowed to drop through a hole provided at the bottom of the pot. However, this type soldering apparatus has a problem that some portion of the solid solder drops through the hole in the unmelted state while the other portion of the solder is dropped in the overheated condition, since it is impossible to retain the whole solid solder for a constant time, resulting in uneven and unreliable soldering.
Unexamined Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 77427/1975 discloses a soldering apparatus having a conical melting pot provided with a needle valve at the bottom of the pot. In this known apparatus, a molten mass of solder is contained in the conical melting pot, and a constant volume of the molten solder is allowed to drop through the needle valve. However, due to surface tension of the molten solder, it becomes impossible to control the volume of dropping molten solder precisely particularly when the volume of molten solder to be applied onto the workpice is relatively small, as is the case where the workpice is a printed circuit board.
In order to solve the aforementioned problems of the known apparatuses, the inventor of this invention has previously proposed an improvement in soldering in my earlier Japanese Patent Application No. 110505/1986 which is published as JP-A-62-270272. According to my previous proposal, a solder melting pot is formed by plural trowel members which engage with each other to hold a solid solder tip or piece for a pre-set time to melt the same and then they are separated to allow the molten solder to drop onto a desired point or area of a workpiece.
However, in the method according to my prior proposal, the time for falling the solid solder tip from the solder cutter to the solder melting pot cannot be controlled so that it becomes hard to control the temperature of the molten solder in the solder melting pot to a constant temperature.
To solve the aforementioned problem, the inventor of this application has proposed another method in which a solder tip cut from a rod-shaped solder to have a constant length (i.e. constant volume) is tentatively received in a cradle to hold the same in the stationary condition, and then the cradle is inverted to allow the solder tip to drop through a tubular solder tip guide into a solder melting pot (Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-182373, which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,995 and EP-0378369B).
However, even in the method according to my later proposal, there is a problem that the time costed for dropping the solder tip cannot be controlled to a constant time since the solder tip dropping from the cradle often contacts with the interior wall of the solder tip guide to change the dropping condition. Since the timing from which the solder tip begans to drop is detected and it is estimated that the solder tip is melted in the solder melting pot after the lapse of a constant time duration from that timing, the heating time for melting the solder tip is differentiated from the thus estimated time when the time costed for dropping the solder tip from the cradle to the solder melting pot is changed. This leads to temperature fluctuation of the molten solder from the optimum temperature so that false soldering, such as knotty or tubercled soldering, is resulted when the temperature of molten solder is lower than the optimum temperature or the molten solder is deteriorated in quantity when the temperature thereof is higher than the optimum temperature.

Soldering method and soldering apparatus


The present invention provides solutions containing dexpanthenol in combination with xylitol, preferably further including a viscosity-enhancing agent to make solutions viscous so that the viscous solutions are not only capable of cleaning, disinfecting, and/or rinsing a contact lens in a lens case but also capable of cleaning and lubricating the contact lens directly in an eye. Such solutions can provide to the user an ability to clean and to rewet lenses anytime anywhere even without taking them out.

Contact lenses provide a means for vision correction for a wide range of consumers. The advantages of contact lens wear are numerous. Improved convenience and improved appearance in comparison to spectacle glasses are probably the two most important advantages to most consumers. However, contact lenses require stringent care regimes in order to ensure comfort and avoid ocular infections. Proper care of contact lenses typically requires the consumer to periodically clean, disinfect, and/or rinse the lenses. Cleaning usually refers to removal of lipids, proteins or other matter which has become affixed to a lens. Disinfecting usually refers to inactivating of harmful bacteria or fungi whenever the lenses are removed from the eye, which is usually on a daily basis. Rinsing usually refers to removing debris from the lens before placing the lens in the eye.
Traditionally, disinfecting, cleaning and/or rinsing of lenses are not carried out in the eye but occur at the end of day (e.g., in the evening) by immersing a lens in an appropriate lens care solution (for example, a single- or multiple-purpose care solution) in a contact lens case. Such lens cases can be used to store contact lenses between use periods. When it is desired to treat contact lenses, the appropriate contact lens care composition is removed or dispensed from a bottle or container including the composition and passed into the contact lens case in which the contact lenses have been placed. Contact lenses are often left in the lens care solution in the lens case for an extended time, for example, overnight or at least several hours. After treatment, the contact lenses are ready for wear in the eyes of an user. In general, lens care requires the user first taking out of the lenses and then clean, disinfect, and/or rinse them.
But, users may occasionally want to clean and lubricate lenses during the day. Such occasional lens care during the day may be inconvenient for an user since the user needs to take the lenses out of the eyes and then reinsert them into the eyes after cleaning and lubricating.
In addition, a new class of high Dk soft contact lenses, which are made from high oxygen permeable silicone hydrogel materials, have been developed and are commercially available. Such soft contact lenses allow sufficient oxygen to permeate through the lens to the cornea and can have minimal adverse effects on corneal health. This new class of high Dk soft contact lenses can be worn in one of two wearing modalities: daily wear and extended wear (i.e., worn overnight and even continuously over a plurality of days, e.g., up to 30 days). With the advent of extended wear modality, conventional lens care regime and conventional lens care solutions can no longer be used to clean and lubricate lenses while worn in the eye.
It would be desirable to directly clean and lubricate the lenses in the eyes (i.e., without taking out of the lenses from the eyes). Therefore, there exists a need for a lens care solution capable of cleaning and lubricating the contact lens directly in an eye. It is to the provision of a lens care product meeting these and other needs that the present invention is primarily directed.


A casing exit joint with an easily milled and low density barrier. A casing exit joint for use in drilling a lateral wellbore outwardly from a parent wellbore includes a generally tubular window structure having a window formed through a sidewall of the structure. An outer sleeve is disposed external to the window structure, so that the sleeve overlies the window. A hardenable substance supports the sleeve against deflection toward the window. A method of drilling a lateral wellbore extending outwardly from a parent wellbore includes the steps of: providing a casing exit joint including a hardenable substance positioned in a sidewall of the casing exit joint; then installing the casing exit joint in the parent wellbore; and then cutting through the hardenable substance in order to provide access for drilling the lateral wellbore.

The present disclosure relates generally to operations performed and equipment utilized in conjunction with a subterranean well and, in an embodiment described herein, more particularly provides a casing exit joint with an easily milled and low density barrier.
The milling of casing in a subterranean well in order to form a branch or lateral wellbore results in debris from the milling operation. Due to a density of the debris and a susceptibility of such debris to become magnetized as a result of the milling operation, the debris can be difficult to remove from the well. If the debris is left in the well, it can foul downhole equipment and prevent proper operation of the equipment. However, if the debris is circulated out of the well, it can foul surface equipment.
In order to make the milling debris easier to remove, a window is sometimes cut through a casing joint (known as a "pre-milled" window) prior to installing the casing joint in the well. The joint may be provided with an outer aluminum sleeve and seals to serve as a pressure barrier for, and to prevent fluid communication through, the window. The sleeve can also provide additional strength to the casing joint, for example, to compensate for the removal of the window material, and to transmit torque through the casing joint.
Aluminum is relatively easily milled through as compared to steel (from which the remainder of the casing joint is typically made), and aluminum does not become magnetized during the milling operation. However, aluminum's strength begins decreasing at a lower temperature compared to steel, and aluminum's strength decreases at a faster rate as compared to steel. This reduction in strength can occur before a casing or liner string with a pre-milled window has been isolated from pressure or secured via cementing operations or subsequent well operations.
Therefore, it will be appreciated that improvements are needed in the art of constructing casing exit joints, and in the associated art of drilling a lateral wellbore outwardly from a parent wellbore.

Casing exit joint with easily milled, low density barrier


A stationary fluid mixer in a flow conduit (7) has at least two baffle plates (10) secured to the wall of the conduit. The baffle plates are wider on the inside of the flow conduit than along the conduit wall, and they form an angle W of 10.degree. to 45.degree. relative to the main flow direction Z. The baffle plates can be given different orientations, and the projection FZ of the baffle plates in the main flow direction through the conduit is between 5.degree. to 30.degree. of the conduit cross-section F. This provides efficient mixing of the fluid in a simple manner.

The invention concerns a stationary fluid mixer with at least two guide surfaces or baffles for use in a flow conduit. Simple stationary mixers with baffles are known, but they provide only limited mixing and homogenization and always result in relatively large pressure drops. More intricate stationary mixers; for example, those employing intersecting subchannels made of plates (available as "Sulzer SMV mixer"), have very good mixing properties, but they are often relatively expensive to manufacture.

Stationary fluid mixer with fluid guide surfaces


An apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus includes one or more processors comprising register sharing circuitry to receive meta-information indicating a number of threads that are to be disabled and provide an indication that an associated thread is disabled, a plurality of General Purpose Register Files (GRFs), wherein one or more of the plurality of GRFs is associated with one of the plurality of threads and a plurality of multiplexers coupled to the one or more GRFs to receive the indication from the register sharing circuitry and disable thread access to an associated GRF based on an indication that a thread is to be disabled.

Graphics processing units (GPUs) are highly threaded machines in which hundreds of threads of a program are executed in parallel to achieve high throughput. In some implementations, threads may be organized into a collection (e.g., 7 or 8 threads) depending on generation, and are assigned to one of several Execution Unit (EUs) within the GPU. An EU typically executes instructions from one active thread at a time. Whenever a currently active thread on an EU causes a stall, the GPU hardware switches to another thread that is ready to execute instructions, making it the active thread. This process is referred to as thread switching, and helps hide memory access latencies.
Traditionally, GPU hardware provides constant storage per thread for a register file. Compilers use register file size as part of a machine description structure. Optimizations and register sharing are performed by the compiler using this statically known constant register file size for the target architecture. For instance, each thread may have 128 general purpose registers in a General Purpose Register file (GRF) allocated statically. If a program's register usage exceeds 128 GRFs, the compiler generates spills by assigning slots in memory as home location for variables that fail to get an allocation. Thus in a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) machine, the compiler inserts a memory load (or fill) just before a spilled variable is used and a memory write (or spill) after it is written. The likelihood of stalls due to cache misses are high whenever fills are very close to the use. Thus, very little useful execution is performed whenever there are many fills in a program, resulting in the machine spending more time stalling.

Register sharing mechanism to equally allocate disabled thread registers to active threads


A clamping system for clamping aerofoils. The clamping system has pivotally mounted engagement members that engage the aerofoil mounted on a pivotally mounted arm either side of the pivotal mounting. The arm can pivot as required relative to the item, to accommodate differences in shape in the item, while providing a substantially equal clamping force by both engagement members.

Nozzle guide vanes are used for instance in gas turbine engines to guide air therethrough. Nozzle guide vanes generally comprise a pair of aerofoils extending between two spaced plates. The aerofoils have to be orientated in a particular way relative to the other aerofoil in the pair, and also relative to adjacent vanes. During manufacture of nozzle guide vanes, some manufacturing differences invariably occur, such that machining operations such as grinding have to be carried out on the vanes subsequent to casting.
Nozzle guide vanes have to be held securely during such machining operations to enable the operations to be carried out, and also to provide a reaction to any machining forces applied thereto. Because each guide vane is slightly different, it is necessary for each component to be held slightly differently.
Previously difficulties have been encountered in holding nozzle guide vanes during machining operations, and in many instances it has been necessary to remount the nozzle guide vanes between different operations. For instance, up to eight separate set ups have been used at times to hold a nozzle guide vane during grinding operations.


An obstacle-sensing system for carriers, particularly autonomous carriers such as robot vacuum cleaners, enables the carriers to disengage themselves from any obstacle or obstruction with which they come into physical contact and proceed past the obstacle or obstruction. The obstacle-sensing system is established by constructing a carrier to have front and rear sections which, normally, are in a neutral relationship with respect to one another but which move relative to one another when the front section physically engages an obstacle or obstruction. The relative movement activates a guidance and control system that maneuvers the carrier around the obstacle or obstruction.

It is well-known to provide an autonomous carrier, such as a carrier for performing a conditioning operation on the surface over which it traverses, with sensing and guidance and control systems that allow the carrier to orient itself on the surface and carry out its functions while avoiding obstacles or obstructions. Such systems are commonly used with robot vacuum cleaners. Examples of these systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,935,179, WO9526512 and Patent Abstracts of Japan, abstract of JP 9-319435. However, obstacles will not be avoided in all instances and it is desirable that the carrier possesses an obstacle-sensing capability such that the carrier will free itself when it comes into physical contact with, or bumps into, an obstacle or obstruction. It is further desirable that the obstacle-sensing capability be sensitive to even slight contacts between the carrier and an obstacle, and not depend on a forceful engagement of the two.

Obstacle sensing system for an autonomous cleaning apparatus


The control apparatus for controlling a voltage transforming apparatus having a transformer, power switching elements disposed in a primary side, and synchronous-rectifying switching elements disposed in a secondary side includes a judging circuit making a judgment as to whether or not an output current of the voltage transforming apparatus is smaller than a specified current on the basis of a primary-side current of the transformer and an inhibition circuit inhibiting the synchronous-rectifying switching elements from performing their synchronous-rectifying control operation when the judging circuit judges that the output current is smaller than the specified current. The judging circuit makes the judgment with compensating for a variation of a relationship between the primary side-current and the output current due to variation of duty ratio of the power switching elements, and variation of at least one of the DC output voltage and the DC input voltage of the voltage transforming apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control apparatus for a voltage transforming apparatus having a transformer and configured to rectify an AC voltage being transformed by the transformer by use of synchronous-rectifying switching elements which are provided in the secondary side of the transformer and are turned on and off in synchronization with power switching elements provided in the primary side of the transformer, and to smooth the rectified DC voltage.
2. Description of Related Art
It is known to provide a voltage transforming apparatus having a transformer with synchronous-rectifying switching elements instead of a diode serving as a rectifying means in the secondary side of the transformer. Since the on-resistance of the synchronous-rectifying switching elements is smaller than that of the diode, replacing the diode with the synchronous-rectifying elements makes it possible to reduce power loss of the voltage transforming apparatus.
However, it should be noted that the voltage transforming apparatus provided with the synchronous-rectifying switching elements cannot always perform their synchronous rectifying control operations, because when the output current of the voltage transforming apparatus is small, there is a fear that the output current flows back through the synchronous-rectifying elements, which lowers the performance and reliability of the synchronous-rectifying elements.
Accordingly, it has been proposed to monitor the output current of the voltage transforming apparatus on the basis of a voltage drop across a current-detecting resistor provided in the secondary side of the transformer, and to inhibit the synchronous-rectifying control operation if the voltage drop indicates that the back flow of the output current can occur.
Incidentally, in recent years, some hybrid vehicles are provided with such a voltage transforming apparatus for the purpose of stepping down a DC output voltage of a high-voltage source, and charging a low-voltage battery by this stepped-down DC voltage. In this case, since a large output current flows in the secondary side of the transformer, the current-detecting resistor produces a large amount of heat. This can cause the voltage transforming apparatus to become large in size. In addition, in this case, the current-detecting resistor is required to have a highly accurate resistance value.
It may occur that a hall element is used instead of the current-detecting resistor. However, using the hall element increases the production cost of the voltage transforming apparatus, because the hall element is expensive.
For such reasons, it has been attempted to estimate the output current flowing in the secondary side of the transformer on the basis of a current flowing in the primary side of the transformer. However, since the current flowing in the primary side of the transformer is an intermittent current, and in addition, it varies depending on the way in which a duty control of the power switching elements provided in the primary side is performed, the output voltage of the high voltage source, and the output voltage of the voltage transforming apparatus, even when the output current of the voltage transforming apparatus is kept constant. Accordingly, it has been very difficult to make the correct judgment as to whether the synchronous-rectifying control operation should be performed or stopped on the basis of the detected value of the current flowing in the primary side of the transformer.

Control apparatus for inhibiting synchronous-rectifier switching elements at low output current for a voltage transforming apparatus


A semiconductor circuit system has first, second, and third external terminals electrically separated from each other. The first external terminal is configured to receive a first power supply voltage in a normal operation. A protection circuit section is provided in the circuit system and includes a rectifier to allow a surge current to pass therethrough. The rectifier has a current passage connected between a specific terminal connected to a protection target and the third external terminal. The protection circuit section further includes a first PMOS transistor configured to trigger the rectifier, based on a surge voltage inputted into the second external terminal. The first PMOS transistor has a current passage connected between the second external terminal and a base of the NPN transistor. The first PMOS transistor has a gate connected to the first external terminal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a protection circuit section for protecting a protection target in a semiconductor circuit system from a surge. Typically, the protection circuit section employs a silicon controlled rectifier (SCR) to protect a protection target from electro-static discharge (ESD). For example, the protection circuit section is applied to a CMOS-LSI of the low power supply voltage type.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a known technique in which an ESD protection circuit is connected to the input circuit or output circuit of a CMOS-LSI to protect it from ESD breakdown. The ESD protection circuit employs a protection element, such as a diode, transistor, or SCR.
Generally, in an ESD protection circuit employing an SCR, the operation voltage of the SCR is high. When such a circuit is applied to a micro-patterned CMOS-LSI whose operation power supply is low in voltage, the SCR has to be triggered with a low voltage trigger so as to protect a MOS transistor having a low gate breakdown voltage. Under the circumstances, an example in which an ESD protection circuit employing an SCR is applied to a CMOS-LSI of the low power supply voltage type is disclosed in "A Gate-Coupled PTLSCR/NTLSCR ESD Protection Circuit for Deep-Submicron Low-Voltage CMOS IC's 1", IEEE JOURNAL OF SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS, VOL. 32, NO. 1, JANUARY 1997.
FIG. 17 is an equivalent circuit diagram showing the main part of an ESD protection circuit connected to the input circuit of a CMOS-LSI, disclosed in the publication described above. In this example (Prior Art 1), the ESD protection circuit employs an LVTSCR (Low-Voltage Triggered lateral SCR) as the SCR.
As shown in FIG. 17, a first ESD protection circuit 121 is connected between an input pad PAD, which is connected to internal circuits, and a VDD node to be supplied with a power supply potential VDD. A second ESD protection circuit 122 is connected between the input pad PAD and a ground potential VSS (GND).
In the first ESD protection circuit 121, the current passage between the anode and cathode of the LVTSCR1 used as a first SCR is connected between the VDD node and input pad PAD. The LVTSCR1 is arranged such that the base and collector of a PNP transistor Q1 are connected to the collector and base of an NPN transistor Q2, respectively. The emitter of PNP transistor Q1 comes to the anode, and the emitter of the NPN transistor Q2 comes to the cathode.
The current passage between the source S and drain D of a PMOS transistor Mp1 having a thin gate oxide film is connected between the VDD node and NPN transistor Q2. The gate G of the PMOS transistor Mp1 is connected to the VDD node.
A well layer resistance Rw1 exists from the base of the PNP transistor Q1 and the collector of the NPN transistor Q2 (N-Well) to the VDD node. A well layer resistance Rw2 exists between the emitter of the NPN transistor Q2 and the input pad PAD. A substrate resistance Rsub1 exists from the collector of the PNP transistor Q1 and the base of the NPN transistor Q2 (p-sub) to the GND.
In the second ESD protection circuit 122, the current passage between the anode and cathode of the LVTSCR2 used as a second SCR is connected between the input pad PAD and the GND. The LVTSCR2 is arranged such that the base and collector of a PNP transistor Q3 are connected to the collector and base of an NPN transistor Q4, respectively. The emitter of PNP transistor Q3 comes to the anode, and the emitter of the NPN transistor Q4 comes to the cathode.
The current passage between the drain D and source S of a NMOS transistor Mn1 having a thin gate oxide film is connected between the base of the PNP transistor Q3 and the emitter of the NPN transistor Q4. The gate G of the NMOS transistor Mn1 is connected to the GND.
A well layer resistance Rw3 exists from the base of the PNP transistor Q3 and the collector of the NPN transistor Q4 (N-Well) to the VDD node. A resistance Rw4 exists between the emitter of the NPN transistor Q4 and the GND. A substrate resistance Rsub2 exists between the base of the NPN transistor Q4 (the substrate region of the NMOS transistor TN) and the GND.
FIG. 18 is a sectional view schematically showing the LVTSCR2 as a representative of the LVTSCR1 and LVTSCR2 shown in FIG. 17.
As shown in FIG. 18, an N-well layer (N-Well) 131 is formed in the surface of a P-substrate (P-Substrate) 130. A P+-region (the emitter region of the PNP transistor Q3) 132 and an N+-region (the lead-out region of the N-well layer) 133 are formed adjacent to each other in the surface of the N-well layer (the base region of the PNP transistor Q3) 131. The P+-region 132 and N+-region 133 come to the anode of the LVTSCR (Anode).
An N+-region (the collector region of the NPN transistor Q4 and the drain region of the NMOSFET) 135 is formed in the surface including the interface between the N-well layer 131 and the P-substrate (the collector region of the PNP transistor Q3 and the base region of the NPN transistor Q4) 130. A device isolation region 134 is formed between the N+-region 135 and P+-region 132.
An N+-region (the emitter region of the NPN transistor Q4 and the source region of the NMOS transistor Mn1) 136 is formed adjacent to the N+-region 135 in the surface of the P-substrate 130. The N+-region 136 comes to the cathode of the LVTSCR (Cathode).
The gate electrode 137 of the NMOS transistor Mn1 is disposed, through a thin gate oxide film, on a channel region between the two N+-regions 135 and 136. The gate electrode 137 is connected to the cathode (the N+-region 136).
In the LVTSCR2 described above, both the PNP transistor Q3 and NPN transistor Q4 use the junction between the P-substrate 130 and N-well layer 131. It is specific that the drain region 135 of the NMOSFET is formed on a part of the junction.
The second ESD protection circuit 122 shown in FIG. 17, which employs the LVTSCR2 with the arrangement described above, operates as follows, when the input pad PAD receives a positive surge voltage. Specifically, if a voltage higher than a snap-back breakdown voltage is applied to the LVTSCR2 due to the surge voltage, the LVTSCR2 is turned on, using the snap-back current as a base current. As a consequence, the surge current is discharged to the GND, thereby protecting the input gate of the input circuit. However, if the voltage applied to the LVTSCR2, which is higher than a snap-back breakdown voltage, is higher than the gate breakdown voltage of the NMOS transistor Mn1, the internal circuits may be damaged by the surge voltage input.
FIG. 19 is an equivalent circuit diagram showing the main part of another ESD protection circuit, disclosed in the publication described above. In this example (Prior Art 2), the ESD protection circuit employs a lateral SCR, which uses a gate coupling technique and can be triggered with a still lower voltage.
As shown in FIG. 19, there is a first ESD protection circuit 151 different from the first ESD protection circuit 121 shown in FIG. 17, in the following points (1) to (4).
(1) In place of LVTSCR1 shown in FIG. 17, one PTLSCR (PMOS-Triggered lateral SCR) is used.
(2) The current passage between the source and drain of a PMOS transistor Mp1 is connected in parallel between a VDD node and the gate node of the PTLSCR (the base of an NPN transistor Q2).
(3) A resistance element Rp is connected between the VDD node and the gate of the PMOS transistor Mp1.
(4) A capacitance element Cp is connected between the gate of the PMOS transistor Mp1 and an input pad PAD.
Furthermore, there is a second ESD protection circuit 152 different from the second ESD protection circuit 122 shown in FIG. 17, in the following points (1) to (4).
(1) In place of LVTSCR2 shown in FIG. 17, one NTLSCR (NMOS-Triggered lateral SCR) is used.
(2) The current passage between the drain and source of an NMOS transistor Mn1 is connected in parallel between the gate node of the NTLSCR (the base of a PNP transistor Q3) and a cathode (the emitter of an NPN transistor Q4).
(3) A capacitance element Cn is connected between an input pad PAD and the gate of the NMOS transistor Mn1.
(4) A resistance element Rn is connected between the gate of the NMOS transistor Mn1 and a GND.
In the arrangement described above, the first ESD protection circuit 151 employing the PTLSCR operates, when the input pad PAD receives a negative surge voltage, such that the PMOS transistor Mp1 is transitionally turned on and inputs a trigger into the PTLSCR. As a consequence, the surge current flows to the VDD node, thereby protecting the input gate of the input circuit. In this case, the PMOS transistor Mp1 is turned back to the off-state in a predetermined delay time determined by the resistance element Rp and capacitance element Cp.
On the other hand, the second ESD protection circuit 152 employing the NTLSCR operates, when the input pad PAD receives a positive surge voltage, such that the NMOS transistor Mn1 is transitionally turned on and inputs a trigger into the NTLSCR. As a consequence, the surge current flows to the GND, thereby protecting the input gate of the input circuit. In this case, the NMOS transistor Mn1 is turned back to the off-state in a predetermined delay time determined by the capacitance element Cn and resistance element Rn.
As described above, the conventional ESD protection circuit employing an SCR pulls the trigger by utilizing a transitional potential change caused when an input pad connected to the SCR receives a surge voltage. This does not necessarily provide a good protection characteristic. When an ESD protection circuit employing an SCR is applied to an LSI having a low power supply voltage, it is preferable to realize a good protection characteristic with a low voltage trigger, thereby improving the reliability.

Protection circuit section for semiconductor circuit system


A shading system creates a shaded region on a structure, enabling 3D scanning techniques that rely on light detection to generate a 3D model. The shading system includes a vehicle or device that moves the shading system into place. A light, such as a laser dot or line, can be projected onto the shaded region of the structure and detected by a 3D scanner.

Determining and documenting the extent of damage to a structure can be risky for the person determining the damage. For example, in a situation where a structure has experienced roof damage, someone typically climbs onto the roof to evaluate the damage. Once on the roof, he or she may sketch the damaged area of the roof in order to document the damage. In the alternative, he or she might take a digital picture of the damaged area. Afterwards, the picture might be analyzed by someone to estimate the extent of damage to the structure. In either scenario, the person has exposed himself or herself to a risk of falling.
Further, pictures or video of a roof or structure often provide inadequate detail for thorough inspection. Poor image quality resulting from camera movement or an out-of-focus image can make it difficult to estimate the condition of a structure based on the image. Even where image quality is adequate, poor angles or bad lighting may hide or exaggerate details important to estimating the condition of the structure, leading to inaccurate assessments of the structure's condition.

Providing shade for optical detection of structural features

STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY


A Zipp Seal apparatus which is designed to detect unlawful access of oil, and also to help ensure that oil tanks are and remain properly sealed. The invention may be an injection-molded plastic or nylon unit containing a zip tie with a solid cylinder component and a tail with one-way feeding teeth. The cylinder can be inserted into a hole on an oil tank valve, and the zip tie end can be inserted into the cylinder end of the unit. This may secure the valve into a specific position. If the invention is found in a different position, employees will know that the oil has been tampered with or unlawfully accessed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of securing means and more specifically relates to zipp seal security systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Oil and other petroleum products may used to provide fuels to power consumer devices such as automobiles and to provide energy for heating buildings. Petroleum is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, which are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through drilling and pumping processes. The petroleum industry is involved in exploration, extraction, refining, transporting, and marketing petroleum products which are expensive and may be dangerous. The largest volume products of the industry are fuel oil and petrol. Petroleum is also the raw material for many chemical products, including pharmaceuticals, solvents, fertilizers, pesticides, and plastics.
Petroleum is pumped to the surface where it is processed. The petroleum is piped to storage facilities. This piping comprises pipes and joints including valves for controlling the flow or restriction of flow. It is crucial to prevent tampering or unauthorized access to the petroleum in the interest of safety, of the environment and to prevent financial losses. If oil is tampered with or unlawfully accessed, the petroleum (oil and gas) companies who own the petroleum will be in violation of federal regulation and may be penalized. Also, a petroleum tank valve that is tampered with may allow oil or gas to be easily stolen or removed from its storage tank, which can result in the loss of considerable amounts of money and royalties. It is desirable that petroleum be properly monitored from loss.
Various attempts have been made to solve the above-mentioned problems such as those found in U.S. Pat. and Pub. Nos. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,467,427; 3,717,369; 4,899,781; 2008/0041122; 2010/0117017, and 2007/0289637. This prior art is representative of securers. None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the invention as claimed.
Ideally, a zipp seal security system should be user-friendly, safe to use and secure and, yet would operate reliably and be manufactured at a modest expense. Thus, a need exists for a reliable zipp seal security system to avoid the above-mentioned problems.


A bicycle handbrake operating device is provided. The present invention utilizes a roller wheel to pull the brake wire so as to generate a longer pulling distance and to reduce the exerted force as well. The roller wheel is installed inside the handbrake operating device, and the brake wire goes around the roller wheel. When the operating lever is gripped, the brake wire slides along the roller wheel to achieve a longer pulling distance; the roller wheel's self rotation also reduces the exerted force. Additionally, the brake wire almost always remains a straight line during the pull, which makes the operation of the handbrake operating device smooth and the brake wire would undergo minimum wearing.

(a) Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to bicycle handbrakes, and more specifically to a bicycle handbrake operating device using a roller wheel for lengthening the pulling distance of brake wire.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Please refer to FIG. 6, which shows an operation scenario of a conventional bicycle handbrake operating device. As illustrate, when the operating lever is gripped for a distance S, the brake wire is pulled by the operating lever's angular torque for a distance L, which in turn causes the brake devices (not shown) to stop the bicycle.
Since the distance S is in direct proportion to the distance L, such a design is unfavorable to children, females, and seniors. For these people with weaker gripping force, the bicycle would fail or take a longer time to stop, which is a risk to the rider's safety. In addition, when the brake wire is pulled, it would undergo an angular movement θ whose friction, when the operating lever is released, would hinder the operating lever to return to its original position. The brake wire would also wear itself down and tear at the corner due to the friction after a period of use. The conventional handbrake operating device therefore requires a more effective design.


One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that formally proves the functional equivalence of pipelined designs. First, the system receives a specification for a first pipelined design, which includes a first memory system, and a specification for a second pipelined design, which includes a second memory system. Next, the system determines a correspondence between operations on the first memory system and corresponding operations on the second memory system. This correspondence enables memory operations to be represented in a combinational form based on design inputs, thereby allowing both memory systems to be logically abstracted out of their respective designs. After the memory systems have been abstracted out, the system compares the combinational outputs of the first pipelined design and the combinational outputs of the second pipelined design to verify that the designs are functionally equivalent.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to techniques for verifying a hardware design to ensure that the design operates correctly. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for formally proving the functional equivalence of pipelined designs containing memories.
2. Related Art
Advanced Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools presently make it possible to design extremely complex integrated circuits (ICs). EDA tools typically transform a high-level functional specification of a design into a more detailed register-transfer level (RTL) specification, which is in turn mapped to a set of transistor components and wires in a given fabrication technology. The components and their interconnections then go through a layout phase in which the system attempts to minimize the size of the circuit while also meeting detailed timing and power requirements. Throughout these steps, a set of verification and testing tools attempt to verify that the final result of the design process works and is true to the original functional specification.
While the design process has been automated where possible, some phases of the design effort remain manual. For example, a team of designers typically creates the RTL specification manually based on the system-level specification, and in doing so may introduce errors into the design. Some formal verification tools attempt to find such errors, for instance by proving the formal equivalence of a system-level specification for a design (e.g. written in C++) to the RTL version. However, due to the complexity of modern designs, verifying formal equivalence is a complicated and computationally expensive process. For instance, some pipelined designs may have a different number of stages in the system-level specification than the RTL specification, and may also include memories which can be read to or written from in every pipeline stage. Note that such memories can be large, and that the memory architecture and data layout may vary significantly between the two specifications. In order to determine whether two versions of such a pipelined design are equivalent, the verification tool attempts to prove that the contents of the memories are the same, which involves a prohibitively expensive sequential equivalence check.
Hence, what is needed is a method and an apparatus for verifying the functional equivalence of pipelined designs containing memories without the above-described problems.

Formally proving the functional equivalence of pipelined designs containing memories


A quick-change insert, particularly for hard alloy taps, has a seat for a square end section of the tap forming the rotational connection and a pull-out holding device. In the region of the square end section, at least one indentation is provided for the positive engagement of a locking pin, which is under the tension of a spring, mounted in the quick-change insert with limited longitudinal mobility and, in use, is blocked by an overlapping collar of the chuck body.

The invention relates to a quick-change insert, particularly for hard alloy taps, with a seat for a square end section of the tap forming the rotational connection and a pull-out holding device.
Usually, the pull-out holding device of such quick-change inserts is constructed in the form of balls, which are mounted in the wall of the quick-change insert and can be pressed into the outer surface of the drill. In so doing, they "dig" small hemispherical indentations into the drill, so that sufficient security against pulling out is achieved for all normal metal drills in this manner. However, this principle of holding does not function or at best functions very unsatisfactorily in hard alloy drills, since in this case the balls are not impressed sufficiently into the drill surface and, with that, cannot provide adequate pull-out anchoring.

Emuge-Werk Richard Glimpel Fabrik fuer Praezisionswerkzeuge vormals Moschkau & Glimpel


A pattern inspection apparatus for inspecting an abnormality in a pattern of a plurality of straight lines which are arranged in parallel in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction includes a data acquisition means for acquiring, by photoelectric conversion, first and second image data of the straight lines on first and second lines which pass first and second points at different positions along the straight lines, respectively, and are perpendicular to the straight lines, and a data processing means for detecting the abnormality in the straight lines on the basis of a difference between the first and second image data. The pattern is a pattern of, e.g., inner leads of a TAB tape. When density changes of the first and second image data at a position x along the first and second lines can be approximated by sin.sup.2 x, the data processing means can detect the abnormality by using a relationship established between a phase difference and a density difference between the two changes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for inspecting an abnormality such as a bend in a pattern of a plurality of straight lines such as the inner leads of a TAB tab (tape carrier), which are arranged in parallel in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.
2. Prior Art
Devices which require inspection of the bend of lead lines thereof include a device in which one end of each lead line 2 is released, as shown in FIG. 6, and a device is which both ends of each lead line 2 are held by a substrate 1, as shown in FIG. 7. Particularly, inner leads for TAB (Tape Automated Bonding)are cantilevered, as shown in FIG. 6, and their distal ends apt to be bent (bowed).
Conventionally, such a bend of lead lines is inspected mainly by visual inspection. In the visual inspection, however, the inspection standard or measurement value varies depending on inspectors, so no quantitative evaluation can be performed. In inspection of the bend of inner leads, detection of a bend of about 10 .mu.m is required. When the image data of inner leads is to be subjected to binarization for automatic measurement, measurement with a high resolution and a plurality of fields must be performed, resulting in a complex apparatus arrangement and a decrease in processing speed.


A computer which is capable of displaying both video and graphical data is provided with a central processing unit (10), a memory controller (14), and a display system (4). These units are all connected to a bus (16). Modular functional units (2), e.g. video codecs, TV outputs, audio subsystems, are used to provide optional additional functions for the display system. A coupling means (6, 12) is provided to link the modular functional units to the display system (4) and to the memory controller (14).

Historically, computer systems have been designed and produced without careful considerations for video and to a lesser extent audio capabilities. Many systems have been produced that add video capability to the computer system by colour keying and analogue multiplexing of the computer's graphics output. For example U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,212. Such systems generally involve multiple frame buffers holding video and graphics data separately. More recently a unified approach based on a single frame buffer of the type described in our International Patent Application No. PCT GB9202164 (published as PCT Application No. WO 93/10518 on May 27, 1993, and filed as U.S. Ser. No. 08/244,399 on Jul. 21, 1994) has been adopted. This approach treats video and graphics in exactly the same way. The single frame buffers can be based on either triple port memories or time multiplexing of video and graphics data on a common bus using suitable rate buffering and arbitration as described in the above numbered International patent application.
These techniques can be or have been used to integrate video into a computer display system. However, to date, such integration has been carried out within the constraints of the available personal computers and workstations. This has meant that such systems are costly and bulky and have limited expandability.

Computer system for displaying video and graphical data


An anatomical feature condition assessment system includes an acquisition processor for acquiring data representing the velocity and direction measurements of individual segments of an anatomical feature of a patient. A repository contains mapping data associating averaged velocity and direction measurements within a predetermined particular segment of the anatomical feature with a set of values. A data processor averages the acquired velocity and direction measurements within the predetermined particular segment of the anatomical feature and uses the mapping data to identify a set of values associated with the averaged acquired velocity and direction measurements. The data processor uses the identified set of values to derive an assessment of the condition of the anatomical feature of the patient.

Currently, assessments of anatomical features, and in particular the motion of the walls of the left ventricle of human hearts may be performed by the subjective valuation by humans of the motion of individual wall segments. That is, an ultrasound or echocardiogram video of a moving left ventricle may be recorded for later analysis and/or observed in real time. A clinician observes the video, divides the observed wall of the ventricle into segments, and evaluates the motion of each segment to produce a wall motion score. Because different clinicians may segment the wall of the left ventricle differently, and score the movement of the segments differently, there is a difficulty in accurately reproducing assessment scores by different people based on the same data.
Systems have been developed which assist clinicians in scoring wall movement. Such systems process the ultrasound video to identify portions of the video corresponding to a desired wall and then evaluate the motion of the identified wall. This may require human interaction, or may be done automatically. Some such systems automatically segment the wall and color code the wall segment according to the instantaneous motion of the segment. Other such systems calculate motion vectors, identifying motion velocity and direction, for respective points on the identified wall. A motion display is overlaid atop the ultrasound video display. The display includes a set of lines respectively corresponding to points on the identified wall. The length of the lines indicate the speed and the angle of the lines indicate the direction of the motion of the corresponding point. Such systems aid a clinician in producing a wall motion score, but subjective evaluation is still required.
Further systems have been developed to automatically generate a wall motion score. Such systems estimate the motion of segments of a left ventricle wall by comparing a maximum and a minimum displacement of the segment wall. A score for each segment is then calculated. However, the accuracy of calculating wall motion by displacement is less than that of calculating wall motion based on the motion velocity and direction of wall segments.
The inventors have advantageously recognized it is desirable to remove the subjective element in generating a wall motion score while maximizing the accuracy of such an assessment. This will result in more uniformity and reproducibility in wall motion scores and will increase the value of a series of such scores across a plurality of patients or over time relating to a single patient.

Anatomical feature condition assessment system using tissue displacement characteristics


A projection system for imaging an object field onto an image field, including at least two partial objectives (S1, S2); at least one intermediate image field between the partial objectives (S1, S2); and a concave reflector (119, 219) having a concave reflecting surface. The concave reflecting surface crosses an optical axis of the projection system proximate along the optical axis to the intermediate image field. Alternatively or in addition, the concave reflecting surface crosses an optical axis of the projection system at a position where the condition |HCR/HMR|≧2 is met, with HCR being a chief ray height and HMR being a marginal ray height with respect to the optical axis. Alternatively or in addition, the concave reflecting surface crosses an optical axis of the projection system at a position where the condition: d=y*L is met, with d being an axial distance from the concave reflecting surface to the intermediate image field, and with L being the total geometrical light path travelled by a light beam along the optical axis from the object field to the image field, wherein y ranges from 0 to 0.10.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a projection system, in particular for a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
Microlithography is used in the fabrication of microstructured components like integrated circuits, LCD's and other microstructured devices. The microlithographic process is performed in a so-called projection exposure apparatus comprising an illumination system and a projection system. The image of an illuminated mask (or reticle) is projected onto a resist-covered substrate, typically a silicon wafer bearing one or more light-sensitive layers and being provided in the image plane, in order to transfer the circuit pattern onto the light-sensitive layers on the wafer.
Generally, the image field of any optical system such as the projection system of the projection exposure apparatus is curved, and the degree of curvature is determined by the Petzval sum. The correction of the Petzval sum is becoming more and more important in view of the increasing demands to project large object fields with increased resolutions.
Various attempts to avoid curved image fields are known. Their following discussion is not exhaustive and given without prejudicial admission of prior art.
One group of approaches to overcome the problem of curved image fields includes the use of curved substrates and/or masks having a curvature which is the negative of the curvature of the optical system. Reference is exemplarily given to U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,139 (to Higuchi).
A further approach is the use of catadioptric systems, which combine both refracting elements (e.g. lenses) and reflecting elements (e.g. mirrors). While the contributions of positive-powered and negative-powered lenses in an optical system to power, surface curvature and chromatic aberration are opposite to each other, a concave mirror has positive power like a positive-powered lens, but an opposite effect on surface curvature without contributing to chromatic aberrations.
Various design alternatives for catadioptric systems are known in the prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,763 (to Singh et al.) discloses an optical system having an input subsystem (e.g. catadioptric system) which has a curved image field being the input object to a second (e.g. dioptric) subsystem the output of which is a flat image field, wherein the first subsystem is designed to compensate for the field curvature of the second subsystem to result in a substantially flat image field. The input subsystem provides an image of an object on an intermediate image surface having a curvature being substantially opposite of the field curvature of the second subsystem.
A different, single-axis projection system is disclosed in WO 01/055767 A3 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,663,350 B2 (to Shafer), said projection system being devoid of planar folding mirrors and being preferably composed, in sequence from the object side towards the image side, of a catadioptric group giving a real intermediate image, a catoptric or catadioptric group giving a virtual image and a dioptric group giving a real image.
Catadioptric designs with an outer-axially used concave field mirror are disclosed in WO 01/51979 A2 (Hudyama, Shafer et al.) and JP 2003-114387 (to Yasuhiro).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,812,028 (to Matsumoto) discloses a reflection-type reduction projection optical system comprising a first and a second subsystem which are combined to set the total Petzval sum to zero. More particular, the radii of curvatures of the first and second optical subsystems are selected such that the corresponding Petzval sums add up to zero, thereby completely correcting the Petzval sum of the entire system.
WO 03/050587 A2 (Shafer et al.) discloses a projection optical system having a catadioptric first objective part, which comprises a beam diverter device and a concave mirror, and a dioptric second objective part. The beam diverter device in the catadioptric first objective part comprises a first fold mirror surface diverting the radiation arriving from the object plane onto the concave mirror of the catadioptric first objective part, and a second fold mirror surface diverting the radiation arriving from the concave mirror to the dioptric second objective part. An intermediate image is created near the second fold mirror surface. In order to enable a design of the dioptric second objective part with relatively small lens dimensions, a positive refractive element is arranged behind the first fold mirror surface between the first fold mirror surface and the concave mirror.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,229 (to Elliott and Shafer) as well as U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,976 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,717,518 (to Shafer) disclose two-reflector configurations in a Deep-UV microlithography system, wherein an intermediate image produced by two reflectors (one being concave and one being substantially planar) is flattened by a group of refractive elements. Herein, the intermediate image is created near a central opening (aperture portion) in the concave mirror such that light from the intermediate image passes through the concave reflector to be reflected by the planar reflector onto the concave reflector and finally back to the planar reflector, in order to then pass through the same. A field lens group providing aberration correction is arranged at the position of the intermediate image or displaced relative to the same.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,600,608 B1 (to Shafer et al.), being assigned to the assignee of this invention and incorporated herein by reference, discloses an axially symmetric objective having, between two refractive partial objectives, a catoptric partial objective comprising, for making Petzval- and colour-correction, two opposite concave aspheric mirrors having two negative lenses between them and being provided with central holes, wherein said holes are arranged next to the intermediate images. A further embodiment (FIG. 3 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,600,608 B1) has a purely catoptric partial objective and a purely refractive partial objective, with the mirrors of the catoptric partial objective being purely used for Petzval correction (i.e. correction of the field-curvature) in order to relieve this burden from the refractive partial objective.
WO 2004/019128 (Omura et al.) discloses a combination of a reflection/refraction-type optical system and a configuration of a liquid-immersion optical system, in order to achieve a large image-side numerical aperture and a wide effective image forming area. For this purpose, in a lithographic immersion projection system the light is also passed through a catadioptric anastigmat comprising a concave mirror and at least one negative powered (Schupmann-) lens.

Projection system, in particular for a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus


Solvent free epoxy system that includes: a hardener compound H comprising: a molecular structure (Y1—R1—Y2), wherein R1 is an ionic moiety Y1 is a nucleophilic group and Y2 nucleophilic group; and an ionic moiety A acting as a counter ion to R1; and an epoxy compound E comprising: a molecular structure (Z1R2—Z2), wherein R1 is an ionic moiety, Z1 comprises an epoxide group, and Z2 comprises an epoxide group; and an ionic moiety B acting as a counter ion to R2. In embodiments, the epoxy compound E and/or the hardener H is comprised in a solvent-less ionic liquid. The systems can further include accelerators, crosslinkers, plasticizers, inhibitors, ionic hydrophobic and/or super-hydrophobic compounds, ionic hydrophilic compounds, ionic transitional hydrophobic/hydrophilic compounds, biological active compounds, and/or plasticizer compounds. Polymers made from the disclosed epoxy systems and their methods of used.

Traditional epoxy systems often include thermoset polymers that are widely used in dental fillings, printed circuit boards, wind turbines, lightweight vehicles, coatings, sheathing, flooring, adhesives, aerospace applications and a variety of other applications. This wide range of applications is facilitated by the availability of various curing reactions—and associated chemical compositions and structures—that provide for desired properties of hardness, flexibility, adhesion, degree of crosslinking, the nature of the interchain bond, high strength (tensile, compressive and flexural), chemical resistance, fatigue resistance, corrosion resistance and electrical resistance. Properties of uncured epoxy resins, such as viscosity, facilitate processability by appropriate selection of the monomer, the curing agents, and catalyst. Depending on the source, it is estimated that the worldwide epoxy market could increases from 6.0-7.1 USD billion in 2015 to 9.2-10.5 USD billion in 2020 with an average production of 2.5 million metric tons per year.
Traditionally, many of the remarkable properties of epoxy systems come at the cost of significant volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. Environmental Protection Agency regulations require that at least 80% of all VOCs are captured in industrial processes, resulting in a significant impact on overall operational cost together with health risks for human operators involved in manufacturing.

ARIZONA BOARD OF REGENTS ON BEHALF OF ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY


Gate trenches 108 are formed in a memory cell region M using a silicon nitride film 103 as a mask in a state in which the semiconductor substrate 100 in a P-type peripheral circuit region P and an N-type peripheral circuit region N is covered by a gate insulating film 101s, a protective film 102, and the silicon nitride film 103. A gate insulating film 109 is then formed on the inner walls of the gate trenches 108, and a silicon film 110 that includes an N-type impurity is embedded in the gate trenches 108. The silicon nitride film 103 is then removed, and a non-doped silicon film is formed on the entire surface, after which a P-type impurity is introduced into the non-doped silicon film on region P, and an N-type impurity is introduced into the non-doped silicon film on regions M and N.

The recent miniaturization of DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) cells has been accompanied by the necessity of shortening the gate length of memory cell transistors. However, short channel effects in a transistor become more severe as the gate length is shortened, and drawbacks occur whereby sub-threshold current increases. When the substrate impurity concentration is increased in order to minimize this effect, deterioration of the refresh characteristics in the DRAM is a severe drawback because of increased junction leakage.
A so-called trench-gate transistor (also referred to as a recess-channel transistor) in which a gate electrode is embedded in a groove formed on a silicon substrate has been emphasized as a means of overcoming these drawbacks (see Japanese Laid-open Patent Application Nos. H9-232535, 2001-210801, 2005-142203, H7-066297, and 2004-014696). Using a trench-gate transistor, the effective channel length (gate length) can be physically and adequately maintained, and it is possible to create precision DRAM having a minimum feature size of 90 nm or less.
It has become necessary to employ transistors having a dual-gate structure in the peripheral circuit region of DRAM in order to provide increased performance and reduced drive voltage in a device. In a dual-gate structure, a gate electrode that includes N-type polycrystalline silicon, into which an N-type impurity (phosphorus or the like) is introduced, is used as the gate electrode of an N-channel transistor, and a gate electrode that includes P-type polycrystalline silicon, into which a P-type impurity (boron or the like) is introduced, is used in a P-channel transistor.
However, such drawbacks as the following occur when transistors having the two structures described above are used jointly in a single semiconductor device. Specifically, the following drawbacks occur when a trench-gate transistor is formed in the memory cell region, and a dual-gate transistor is formed in the peripheral circuit region.
The general method for forming the gate electrodes of a trench-gate transistor and a dual-gate transistor will first be described.
A gate electrode in a trench-gate transistor is formed by a process in which a groove (gate trench) is formed in a semiconductor substrate, and a gate insulating film is formed on the inner wall of the gate trench, after which a doped silicon film as a gate electrode material is embedded in the gate trench.
On the other hand, the gate electrode of a dual-gate transistor is formed by a method in which a non-doped silicon film is formed on a gate insulating film that is formed on a semiconductor substrate, after which a region in which an N-channel transistor is formed is covered by a resist mask, and a P-type impurity is introduced into a region for forming a P-channel transistor. The region in which the P-channel transistor is formed is then covered by a resist mask, and an N-type impurity is introduced into the region in which the N-channel transistor is formed, after which the P-type silicon film and N-type silicon film are patterned in the shape of a gate electrode.
Accordingly, two methods of the type described below may be used to form a trench-gate transistor in a memory cell region and to form a dual-gate transistor in a peripheral circuit region. These two methods will be described using FIGS. 21 through 27 below. In FIGS. 21 through 27, "region M" indicates the memory cell region, and "region P" and "region N" are provided to the peripheral circuit region, wherein "region P" is a region in which a P-channel transistor provided with a gate electrode that includes P-type polycrystalline silicon is formed, and "region N" is a region in which an N-channel transistor provided with a gate electrode that includes N-type polycrystalline silicon is formed.
The first method (hereinafter referred to as the first conventional method) will be described using FIGS. 21 through 24.
As shown in FIG. 21, a gate trench 202 is first formed in region M of a semiconductor substrate 200 whose regions are separated by an STI (Shallow Trench Isolation) 201, and a gate insulating film 203 is then formed on the entire surface that includes the inner wall of the gate trench 202. A non-doped silicon film 204 is then formed on the entire surface that includes the inside of the gate trench 202, as shown in FIG. 22. As shown in FIG. 23, regions M and N are then covered by a resist mask 205, a P-type impurity (boron, for example) is ion-implanted into region P, and the resist mask 205 is removed. Then, region P is covered by a resist mask 206, and an N-type impurity (phosphorus, for example) is ion-implanted into regions M and N, as shown in FIG. 24. The silicon films 204 of each region are then patterned into the shape of a gate electrode.
However, in this first conventional method, when ion implantation is performed according to the thickness (depth) of the silicon film 204 on region N in the process shown in FIG. 24, the silicon film 204 inside the gate trench 202 cannot be adequately doped with the N-type impurity, the trench-gate electrode becomes depleted, and it becomes impossible to demonstrate adequate performance in a memory cell transistor. Conversely, when the N-type impurity is ion-implanted according to the depth of the gate trench 202, the impurity cannot be introduced at a suitable concentration into the silicon film 204 on region N, and the impurity is introduced into the silicon substrate 200 in which the channel region and source/drain region are formed. There is therefore an adverse effect on the operation of both the memory cell transistor formed in region M and the transistor formed in region N.
Another method (hereinafter referred to as the second conventional method) such as the one described below may be used to prevent the type of drawbacks encountered in the first conventional method.
After a gate trench 202 and a gate insulating film 203 are first formed in the same manner as shown in FIG. 21, an impurity-doped silicon film (doped silicon film) 304a is formed on the entire surface that includes the inside of the gate trench 202, as shown in FIG. 25. As shown in FIG. 26, the entire surface is then etched back so as to leave the doped silicon film 304a only in the gate trench 202. A non-doped silicon film 304b is then formed on the entire surface, as shown in FIG. 27, and impurities are ion-implanted into the non-doped silicon film 304b in the same manner as in FIGS. 23 and 24.
According to this method, the doped silicon film 304a is embedded in the gate trench 202, and the problem of depletion of the trench-gate electrode is therefore overcome. Ion implantation can also be performed appropriately according to the thickness of the non-doped silicon film 304b when impurities are ion implanted in the same manner as in FIGS. 23 and 24, and it is possible to prevent impurities from being introduced into the silicon substrate 200.
However, the drawbacks that occur in the second conventional method are different from those of the first conventional method. Specifically, etching back the entire surface as shown in FIG. 26 causes the gate insulating film 203 to be damaged. A heat treatment and an oxidation process must be performed in order to repair the damage to the gate insulating film 203. A high-resistance layer is therefore formed on the surface of the doped silicon film 304a following the etch-back shown in FIG. 26. Because the high-resistance layer intervenes between the doped silicon film 304a and the non-doped silicon film 304b, the gate resistance increases.

Method for forming a gate within a trench including the use of a protective film


A method is disclosed for determining a connectivity status of radios in a coverage group. Each coverage group includes radios configured to transmit and receive range messages on a channel and a timeslot. Each radio in the coverage group is configured to generate a range message and to transmit the range message to each other radio in the coverage group. Each radio in the coverage group is also configured to receive, from each other radio in the coverage group, a range message generated by each other radio. Based on the range message received from each other radio, each radio is configured to determine bi-directional connectivity between the receiving radio and the radios that sent the D-ARTS messages. The determined bi-directional connectivity status is between each radio and each of at least two other radios in the coverage group.

Private/professional radios, such as mobile radios, portable radios, and the like, may be configured to communicate (send information to and receive information from) with each other in direct mode or in repeater mode. In direct mode, radios communicate directly with one another. In repeater mode, radios communicate with one another through a repeater, wherein information is sent from a transmitting radio through the repeater to one or more receiving radios. Radios may also communicate through a dispatcher (dispatch center) that may be connected directly to a repeater via a wireline link or that may be connected to a control station (a mobile radio mounted to a desk or a rack) via a wireline link. Dispatchers are typically stationary. Each radio in communication with another radio and/or the dispatcher, either in direct mode or repeater mode, may need to be configured to alert its user when it is out of communication range from the other radio(s) with which it was previously able to communicate, or when it is out of communication range from the dispatcher. The dispatcher also may need to know when a radio is out of communication range. Accordingly, each radio that communicates with other radios through a dispatcher has to keep track of the dispatcher; the dispatcher has to keep track of each radio for which it facilitates communications; and each radio in direct communications with other radios needs to track the other radios in its direct communications range.
The following examples provide scenarios of when a radio in communication with other radios and/or the dispatcher, either in direct mode or repeater mode, needs to alert its user when it is out of communication range from the other radios and/or the dispatcher with which it was previously able to communicate. Consider an example where, as a security precaution, radios used by drivers in a fleet of armored trucks need to be in communication with each other and/or with a dispatcher at all times, either in direct mode or repeater mode. Should an incident occur that would place a first radio out of the communication range of one or more radios in the fleet of armored trucks and/or dispatcher, the dispatcher and/or the users of the other radio(s) need to be notified that the first radio has moved out of communication range. Additionally or alternatively, the first radio may need to alert its user that the first radio can no longer communicate with one or more radios in the group. In another example, to make it easier and more efficient for remote workers to remain in hassle-free contact with other remote workers, radios used by each remote worker may be configured to remain in contact with a base operation. Thus, each radio in such a configuration may be set up to notify its user when the radio moves out of communication range from the base operation. In another example, a group can be configured so that a leader can determine the status of group members by monitoring when radios used by group members move out of the leader radio's communication range.
In a conventional Auto-Range Transpond System (ARTS), when a group of radios are configured to directly communicate with each other or when the group of radios are configured to communicate through a dispatcher, each radio periodically transmits an unconfirmed "beacon" to the other radios in the group or to the dispatcher. An unconfirmed beacon is a one-way transmission with no feedback provided to the sending radio as to whether the entire message is received without uncorrectable errors. The beacon is a push-to-talk identifier associated with a transmitting radio that announces the transmitting radio's presence to other radio(s) and/or the dispatcher within the transmitting radio's communication range. Just because a receiving radio is able to receive a signal from a transmitting radio, this does not imply that the receiving radio is able to transmit information to the transmitting radio. Consider the following example where a portable radio with a lower transmitter power is able to receive a beacon sent from a mobile radio with a higher transmitter power. Radios with lower transmitter power typically have a transmit range that is more limited than the transmit range of radios with higher transmitter power. Therefore, if a radio with a lower transmitter power, in this case the portable radio, can receive a signal from a radio with a higher transmitter power, in this example the mobile radio, this does not imply that the portable radio with the lower transmitter power is also able to send information to the mobile radio with the higher transmitter power. Because the transmitted beacon is unconfirmed and no response is required or provided in ARTS, even when the portable radio can only receive information from the mobile radio, but cannot send information to the mobile radio because of the portable radio's lower transmitter power, the mobile radio and the portable radio may erroneously determine their communication status with respect to each other. The portable radio may correctly conclude that it is capable of receiving from the mobile radio, but may incorrectly conclude that it is capable of transmitting to the mobile radio. Conversely, the mobile radio may correctly conclude that it is not capable of receiving from the portable radio, but may incorrectly conclude that it is not capable of transmitting to the portable radio.
In addition, ARTS does not provide an avenue for a radio to proactively provide a bi-directional communication range status information of other radios and/or the dispatcher. ARTS also does not provide an avenue for a radio to alert its user when it can no longer transmit information to another radio before the user presses a switch, such as a push-to-talk button.
Furthermore, ARTS only operates in analog mode. Radios may operate in different modes, for example, analog or digital mode; direct, talkaround, or repeater mode; conventional or trunked mode. Accordingly, each radio needs to support different modes of operation. Although radios currently operating in trunked systems and multi-site systems may provide an "out-of-range" (OOR) indication to users to indicate that the radio is unable to receive information from a system infrastructure, the OOR indication does not provide an indication that a target radio is within communication range, does not provide a proactive indication when the radio is unable to transmit into the system, and the OOR indication is not present in direct/talkaround or single site conventional operating modes.
In one implementation, ARTS radios can transmit their beacons as frequently as every twenty (25) seconds and an ARTS beacon transmission is approximately five hundred (500) milliseconds (msec) in duration. Assuming that transmissions are perfectly scheduled for maximum utilization of a channel, this would imply that ARTS is capable of supporting approximately fifty (50) radios on an access channel. However, due to the random access nature of the channel on which radios transmit their beacons, transmissions are not typically perfectly scheduled. Therefore, ARTS is typically capable of supporting about ten (10) to fifteen (15) radios at a time. A system capable of supporting more radios is desirable.
Some radios currently include a user-initiated radio check feature that operates in a one-to-one mode, wherein a first radio queries a second radio to determine the second radio's presence. When the first radio receives a response to a query sent to the second radio, the first radio can conclude that its query was successfully transmitted to the second radio because the second radio's response was successfully received (bi-directional capability). The radio check feature therefore allows the first radio to check for bi-directional connectivity with the second radio. In other words, the radio check feature allows the first radio to determine that it can both transmit information to and receive information from the second radio. The radio check feature in conjunction with a provisioned list of radios could be modified to operate periodically and automatically. However, a single radio check transaction (between a pair of radios) on, for example, an European Telecommunications Standards Institute-Digital Mobile Radio (ETSI-DMR) channel consumes approximately six hundred (600) msec of time on the channel. The 600 msec may include, for example, channel access rules (approximately 180 msec), battery saver preambles (approximately 120 msec), the radio check control block signaling (CSBK) (approximately 60 msec), a delay through a repeater (approximately 60 msec), processing latency in the target radio (approximately 60 msec), a response from the target radio (approximately 60 msec), and another delay through the repeater (approximately 60 msec). Because radio check is fundamentally a one-to-one feature, as the number of radios in a system grows, the number of radio check operations performed in the system can be expected to grow exponentially. A high number of radio check operations may degrade the random access channels on which radios transmit their signal. Random access channel degradation and the likely forced spacing required between messages on a random access channel so that the channel can also transmit actual payload data may limit the number of radio check operations performed on the system.
In cases where radios communicate with each other and/or a dispatcher through a repeater, some radios currently include a channel access feature that permits a high speed handshake (e.g., request and grant) between a radio and the intermediary repeater. When setting up a group call, there is typically one transmitter radio and multiple receiver radios. If each receiver radio provided a response to the high speed handshake, this would result in chaos on the channel with the multiple responses possibly colliding with one another and would be inefficient. Having a repeater, when present, provide the response to the transmitting radio is more efficient. The high speed handshake between the transmitting radio and the repeater, therefore, mitigates any channel access collisions as well as confirms that the transmitting radio has in fact accessed the repeater before it commences with a voice or data transmission. Because this feature only allows handshakes with the repeater, not target radio(s), there is no confirmation of end-to-end connectivity between the transmitting radio and the target radio(s), prior to the transmitting radio starting a call. In addition, because the high speed handshake is only with the repeater, this approach cannot be used in a direct/talkaround mode. Furthermore, this feature provides information reactively, not proactively, i.e., the transmitting radio does not know any communication range status until a call is attempted.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method and apparatus for automatically and proactively determining the communication range status of communicating radios.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.

Method and apparatus for automatically determining a communication range status of communicating radios


An improved process is disclosed to prepare an amino carboxylic acid salt. According to the process, an aqueous solution of an amino alcohol is contacted with an alkali metal hydroxide in the presence of an effective amount of a Raney copper catalyst that has from about 50 parts per million to about 10,000 parts per million of an element selected from the group consisting of chromium, titanium, niobium, tantalum, zirconium, vanadium, molybdenum, manganese, tungsten, cobalt, nickel and mixtures thereof.

This invention relates to the preparation of amino carboxylic acid salts, and more particularly, relates to a method for the preparation of amino carboxylic acid salts by the reaction of amino alcohols with an alkali metal hydroxide in the presence of a Raney copper catalyst.
Amino carboxylic acid salts are useful in various applications. The glycine salt, for example, can be neutralized to glycine, which is widely used as an additive in processed meat, beverages, and in other processed food stuffs. It is also used widely as a raw material for pharmaceuticals, agricultural chemicals and pesticides. Iminodiacetic acid salt can be neutralized to iminodiacetic acid, and is used in various applications such as a raw material for the preparation of agricultural chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Nitrilotriacetic acid salt can be converted into nitrilotriacetic acid which is useful as a detergent builder. Other amino carboxylic acids that can be prepared by the process of the present invention have useful applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,782,183 to Goto et al. discloses a method for the manufacture of amino carboxylic acid salts which comprises subjecting an amino alcohol to an alkali metal hydroxide in the presence of a Raney copper catalyst.
In a patent application published by WIPO as WO 92/06069 on Apr. 16, 1992, a process is disclosed for producing glycine, iminodiacetic acid and nitrilotriacetic acid salts by contacting monoethanolamine, diethanolamine or triethanolamine with an alkali metal hydroxide in the presence of a Raney copper catalyst, wherein at least some of the Raney copper catalyst has been rejuvenated by treating the catalyst under reflux conditions with formic acid (attorney docket No 39-21(3145)).
A journal article "Structure and Activity of Chromium-Promoted Raney Copper Catalyst for Carbon Monoxide Oxidation" by Laine et al., Applied Catalysis, 44 (1-2), pages 11-22, discloses that chromium-promoted Raney copper catalysts were prepared, and their activity for the oxidation of carbon monoxide was measured. The surface area of the Raney copper catalyst was directly related to the aluminum content in the precursor alloy and to a lesser extent to the presence of chromium. Bulk cuprous oxide and cupric oxide were detected by X-ray diffraction in the Raney copper catalyst. The presence of chromium inhibited the formation of cupric oxide but not of cuprous oxide. The activity decreased as chromium content increased.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,426 to Fields et al., discloses a process for the production of N-phosphonomethylglycine by oxidizing N-phosphonomethylethanolamine or the cyclic internal ester thereof with an excess of an aqueous alkali and a copper catalyst, and thereafter heating at a temperature between 200.degree. and 300.degree. C. Thereafter, the salt is neutralized with an acid to produce the desired N-phosphonomethylglycine.
Although satisfactory results are achieved by the processes of the prior art to convert an amino alcohol to a amino acid using a copper catalyst, or even a Raney copper catalyst, it has been found that upon repeated usage of the Raney copper catalyst, the catalyst tends to agglomerate, and the activity of the catalyst decreases. Now, it has been found, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention, that the activity of the Raney copper catalyst can be extended to a significant degree, permitting more economic utilization of the catalyst.

Process to prepare amino carboxylic acid salts


A system and method of receiving data is disclosed. The system includes an analog to digital converter, registers to store a plurality of digital samples provided by the analog to digital converter, and a state machine coupled to the registers. The state machine detects jitter or drift in at least one of the digital samples and provides a digital value for the digital sample based on at least one other of the plurality of digital samples. In a particular embodiment, the samples are each comprised of a plurality of data segments, and the state machine applies a virtual frame to the data segments of the digital sample and shifts the virtual frame to include at least one data segment of the other digital sample.

Electronic devices often receive and transmit data streams to other devices. These data streams may be transmitted in a variety of formats, such as the Universal Serial Bus (USB) format. In some cases, it may be advantageous for an electronic device receiving data streams to separate the received data into frames. However, received data streams may be subject to drift, jitter, or other inconsistencies that make it more difficult to for the receiving device to accurately identify the contents of each frame. These inconsistencies can corrupt the data stream and lead to loss of data or a degradation of performance.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved system and method to receive digital data.