A photographing apparatus for reducing the effect of shake on an image. The photographing apparatus includes an image pickup device, an image pickup device stage supporting the image pickup device and moving the image pickup device, a driving force generating portion for driving the image pickup device stage and moving the image pickup device stage, a guide portion contacting the image pickup device stage and limiting the direction in which the image pickup device stage moves, a first elastically pressing portion elastically pressing the driving force generating portion to consistently bring the driving force generating portion into contact with the operating portion of the image pickup device stage, and a second elastically pressing portion elastically pressing the image pickup device stage to bring the image pickup device stage into contact with the guide portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photographing apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a photographing apparatus for minimizing the effect of shaking on an image.
2. Description of the Related Art
Photographing apparatuses, such as still cameras and video cameras, include an image pickup device and convert light emitted to the image pickup device into an image signal.
The photographing apparatuses may include an image shake correction device to prevent shake of an image. The image shake correction device detects vibrations applied to the photographing apparatus and moves the image pickup device according to the detection result to prevent shake of an image formed on the image pickup device.
Generally, the image shake correction device makes the image pickup device move along an X-axis and a Y-axis, which perpendicularly intersect each other, according to the movement of the photographing apparatus.
An image shake correction device embedded in a photographing apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-128621 by the inventor of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a conventional image shake correction device 10. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line I-I in FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 1, a photographing apparatus includes a charge coupled device (CCD) image sensor 12, and the conventional image shake correction device 10 includes a base plate 80 fixed to a main body of the photographing apparatus, a slider 20 installed on the base plate 80, and a CCD base 90 installed on the slider 20 having the CCD image sensor 12 to be mounted thereon.
The slider 20 and the CCD base 90 constitute an image pickup device stage. The slider 20 can move in an X direction with respect to the base plate 80, and the CCD base 90 can move in a Y direction with respect to the slider 20.
Piezoelectric actuators 40 and 42, disposed in a driving force generating portion, include piezoelectric elements. When active portions, which are formed at front ends of the piezoelectric actuators 40 and 42, elliptically move, the image pickup device stage contacting the active portions moves.
The piezoelectric actuator 40 and a support portion 56 are fixedly installed on the base plate 80, the active portion is formed at the front end of the piezoelectric actuator 40 contacts a protrusion 32 protruding from the slider 20, and a ball bearing 36 is inserted between the protrusion 32 and the support portion 56.
A ball holder 60 is fixedly installed on the base plate 80, and a long-hole groove 62 (see FIG. 2) is formed in the ball holder 60 along a virtual straight line P extending from the protrusion 32.
A long-hole groove 22 is formed in a surface of the slider 20 facing the long-hole groove 62, and a ball bearing 64 is arranged between the two long-hole grooves 62 and 22. The long-hole grooves 62 and 22 and the ball bearing 64 constitute a guide portion. Accordingly, the slider 20 can move along the straight line P due to the driving force of the piezoelectric actuator 40.
The piezoelectric actuator 42 and a support portion 92 are fixedly installed on the CCD base 90, the active portion is formed at the front end of the piezoelectric actuator 42 contacts a protrusion 34 of the slider 20, and a ball bearing 38 is inserted between the protrusion 34 and the support portion 92.
A long-hole groove (not shown) is formed in the CCD base 90 along a virtual straight line Q extending from the protrusion 34. A long-hole groove 24 is formed in a surface of the slider 20 facing the long-hole groove of the CCD base 90, and a ball bearing 96 is arranged between the two long-hole grooves. The two long-hole grooves and the ball bearing 96 constitute a guide portion. Accordingly, the CCD base 90 can move along the straight line Q due to the driving force of the piezoelectric actuator 42.
A ball bearing 91 is inserted into a bearing groove 26 and disposed between the CCD base 90 and the slider 20. A ball bearing 84 is inserted into a bearing groove 97 and disposed between the slider 20 and the base plate 80.
A ball bearing 93 is inserted into a bearing groove 28 and disposed between the CCD base 90 and the slider 20. A ball bearing 86 is inserted into a bearing groove 98 and disposed between the slider 20 and the base plate 80. The CCD base 90 is attracted to the base plate 80 by a magnet 52.
According to the conventional image shake correction device 10, either the straight line P connecting an operating portion of the piezoelectric actuator 40 and the guide portion, or the straight line Q connecting an operating portion of the piezoelectric actuator 42 and the guide portion, passes over the CCD image sensor 12. As a result, since a distance between the center of the CCD image sensor 12 and the operating portions of the piezoelectric actuators 40 and 42 is shortened, the conventional image shake correction device 10 can reduce a moment caused by the CCD image sensor 12, thereby more efficiently following vibrations caused by hand shake.
However, as described hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the photographing apparatus including the conventional image shake correction device 10 may fail to capture an image in which image shake is prevented with high precision.
FIGS. 3 and 6 are plan views of the conventional image shake correction device 10. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 3. FIGS. 5 and 7 are enlarged plan views of parts of the conventional image shake correction device 10.
Referring to FIG. 3, if the slider 20 moves in a negative direction of an X-axis, the ball bearing 36 rolls in the negative direction of the X-axis, and thus an operation point of the driving force of the piezoelectric actuator 40 and a position of the ball bearing 36 do not match each other. In this case, pressure from the piezoelectric actuator 40 causes a rotating moment around the ball bearing 36 in an X-Y plane of the CCD image sensor 12.
Therefore, referring to FIG. 4, the long-hole groove 22 of the slider 20 contacts a side surface of the ball bearing 64, the pressure is further applied to the slider 20, and the slider 20 tends to climb on top of the ball bearing 64. As a result, either the slider 20 or the CCD base 90 moves along a Z-axis, which is perpendicular to the X and Y-axes, despite the magnet 52 attracting the CCD base 90 to the base plate 80.
For example, referring to FIGS. 5 and 7, each of widths of the long-hole grooves 62 and 22 along the Y-axis are slightly greater than a diameter of the ball bearing 64 so that the ball bearing 64 can rotate. Therefore, the slider 20 can move not only along the X-axis, but also along the Y-axis as much as a difference between each of the widths of the long-hole grooves 62 and 22 and the diameter of the ball bearing 64.
Accordingly, referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, when the slider 20 moves in the negative direction of the X-axis, the slider 20 also moves in a negative direction of the Y-axis with respect to the ball holder 60 according to position relations between the long-hole groove 22 of the slider 20, the long-hole groove 62 of the ball holder 60, and the ball bearing 64.
Also, referring to FIG. 6, if the slider 20 moves in a positive direction of the X-axis, the ball bearing 36 rolls in the positive direction of the X-axis, and thus the operation point of the driving force of the piezoelectric actuator 40 and the position of the ball bearing 36 do not match each other. In this case, pressure from the piezoelectric actuator 40 causes a rotating moment around the ball bearing 36 in the X-Y plane of the CCD image sensor 12. The rotating moment caused when the slider 20 moves in the positive direction of the X-axis is opposite in direction to the rotating moment caused when the slider 20 moves in the negative direction of the X-axis. Position relations between the long-hole groove 22 of the slider 20, the long-hole groove 62 of the ball holder 60, and the ball bearing 64 are shown in FIG. 7. That is, the slider 20 moves in a positive direction of the Y-axis with respect to the ball holder 60.
Comparing FIGS. 3 through 7, a position relation between the piezoelectric actuator 40 and the ball bearing 36 is reversed by the movement of the slider 20 along the X-axis, and a rotating moment around the ball bearing 36 is also reversed. As a result, the slider 20 moves either in the negative or positive direction of the Y-axis. Generally, the difference between each of the widths of the long-hole grooves 62 and 22 along the Y-axis and the diameter of the ball bearing 64 is greater than one pixel of the CCD image sensor 12 due to restrictions such as manufacturing precision. Accordingly, the conventional image shake correction device 10 cannot prevent image shake with high precision because of the movement of the slider 20 along the Y-axis.
For example, as shown in FIG. 3, if the slider 20 moves in the negative direction of the X-axis and the ball bearing 36 extremely moves in the negative direction of the X-axis, the ball bearing 36 deviates very much from the operation point of the piezoelectric actuator 40. In this case, the slider 20 is bent significantly due to the pressure from the piezoelectric actuator 40. As a result, a vibration mode caused by the bending may resonate with vibrations of the piezoelectric actuator.


The structure of the sensing element of a platinum resistance thermometer and method for manufacturing the same, in which the silicon wafer is used as a substrate. A silicon substrate is etched to form a desired wiring pattern, then a silicon dioxide layer is grown as a layer of thermal oxide on the silicon substrate by heating the etched substrate in an oxygen-containing atmosphere. After a platinum film is deposited onto the surface of the silicon dioxide layer, the platinum-coated substrate is subject to gentle polishing. The platinum membrane outside the etched groove is easily detached while the platinum layer inside the etched groove remains attached. Thus a platinum circuit with a desired circuit pattern is formed on the substrate. After heat treatment in a temperature range of 750.degree. C..about. 1500.degree. C. and further processing, the sensing element of a platinum resistance thermometer is obtained. The platinum circuit thus formed is submerged in an groove and has a substantially bulk structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the structure of the sensing element of a platinum resistance thermometer and the method for manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Resistance thermometer devices (RTD) are used for measuring temperature by relating the resistance of its "sensing element" to the temperature. An RTD sensing element comprises mainly a circuit made of a metal or alloy whose resistance changes with temperature. The resistance of a sensing element increases in an approximately linear manner with the increasing rate defined as the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of the device. In other words, a RTD with higher TCR is more sensitive than a RTD with lower TCR. It is also well known that the higher the concentration of impurities in the metal or alloy of the circuit, the lower the value of TCR.
Platinum in wire or ribbon form has long been considered as a primary resistance and temperature measuring standard because of its chemical inertness and physical stability. As platinum is used to form the circuit of the sensing element, platinum has another advantage of possessing a high TCR value which increases the sensitivity of the RTD to temperature change. In addition, the resistance of a platinum circuit increases in an almost linear manner with respect to absolute temperature within the range of -200.degree. C..about. 1000.degree. C., whereby the accurate temperature can be easily derived over a wide range of temperature. Therefore, platinum resistance thermometers are well studied and widely utilized. Standards for these platinum resistance thermometers are specifically set forth in JIS C-1604, DIN 43760, and IEC Pub.751, wherein DIN 43760 is generally used as standard which has a standard TCR value 3850 ppm (.degree. C.).sup.-1 of platinum resistance thermometer.
It is to be noted that, when comparing a thin film platinum circuit with a bulk platinum circuit, the TCR value of the former is typically lower than that of the latter, which is called "bulk effect". Therefore, a platinum RTD having a bulk platinum circuit is superior to a platinum RTD having a thin film platinum circuit in its sensitivity.
However, the conventional platinum RTDs are relatively expensive, not only because of the expansiveness of platinum, but also because of the high manufacturing costs of platinum sensing elements. A conventional platinum RTD is typically made by forming the circuit pattern of platinum sensing element on the surface of a dielectric layer. Unfortunately, pure platinum exhibits poor adhesiveness to most practical dielectric materials, and the platinum circuit pattern deposited on the surface of dielectric substrate may easily be detached from the surface. Some dielectric materials exhibit good adhesiveness to platinum, but still suffer from their own drawbacks. For example, the silicone substrate is preferred in that it is comparatively cheap, with a good smoothness, and can be easily processed, however, an platinum-silicon alloy is formed during the heat-treatment at high temperature, thus resulting in a problem related to the characteristics of sensing element. The silicon dioxide substrate is relatively cheap, but has the drawback that no sufficient adhesion with respect to platinum can be provided. The alumina substrate is inexpensive and heat-resistant and with superior adhesion to platinum, but its rough surface leads to difficulties in the formation of fine pattern. Although the surface may be smoothed by surface polishing, the polishing of the alumina substrate having a large hardness results in an extreme cost increase in the substrate material. The sapphire substrate is superior in heat-resistance, adhesion with respect to platinum, and surface smoothness; however, it is very expensive and it is difficult to be cut into small chips. Accordingly, typical platinum resistance thermometers are manufactured by forming a platinum pattern on the surface of a dielectric material using specially developed fabricating processes and/or equipment, thereby greatly increases the manufacturing cost.
To solve the aforementioned problems, a platinum RTD is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,129,848. As shown in FIG. 1A, a layer of silicon dioxide 12 is grown on the upper surface of a clean silicon substrate 11 by heating substrate 11 in an oxygen-containing atmosphere. The exposed surface of silicon dioxide layer 12 is roughened by sputtering etch to produce many microscopic pits or holes extending from the exposed surface downward but not so far as substrate 11 (FIG. 1B). Subsequently platinum layer 13 is deposited onto the surface of silicon dioxide layer 12 by sputtering deposition using a two-step process. This roughened interface between the silicon dioxide layer 12 and the platinum layer 13 increases the adhesion of the platinum layer 13 to silicon dioxide layer 12 (FIG. 1C). A quartz layer is sputtering deposited over the platinum layer 13, and then coated with a photoresist mask for chemical etching. The chemically etched quartz layer forms a quartz mask 14 having a positive pattern identical to the desired platinum circuit pattern (FIG. 1D). The exposed platinum layer 13 and part of the quartz mask 14 are then sputtering etched away, leaving the platinum protected by the quartz mask 14 in a predetermined pattern, that is, platinum circuit pattern 15. Subsequently the quartz mask 14 is removed and further procedures like heat treatment are proceeded. However, sputtering etch process tends to introduce impurities and cause the loss of definition at the edges of the platinum pattern. In detail, sputtering etch of the silicon dioxide causes deposition of the silicon dioxide molecule into the platinum as impurity, and the platinum structure is affected at its edges so that there is loss of definition. Besides, the exposed surface of the silicon dioxide layer 12 may also be etched away because of the poor selectivity of sputtering etch procedure. As mentioned earlier, a highly pure platinum circuit is required for maintaining the TCR value of a platinum sensing element, the introduced impurities changes the TCR value of the thermometer, thus dramatically affects the accuracy of the platinum RTD.
In a commercialized platinum thermometer, platinum circuit is typically disposed on the surface of a dielectric substrate like alumina having excellent adhesion to platinum. The U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,296 discloses a method for manufacturing platinum resistance thermometer, in which a platinum layer is sputtering deposited on an alumina film located on the surface of a silicon substrate, and the platinum circuit pattern is formed by sputtering etch as well. However, use of mask to etch away the platinum film in unwanted areas causes a problem that the pattern cannot reasonably be defined with desired precision and uniformity for obtaining a small size and close spacing of the strip section. In addition, the mask layers tend to deteriorate before the etching process is complete and impurities tend to be introduced into the platinum. Therefore, most patents relating to the platinum resistance thermometer (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,050,052, 4,103,275, 4,469,717, 4,627,902, and 4,649,364) describe only the processing conditions for treating the platinum and substrate, while the detailed process for forming the platinum pattern are absent.
A method for forming a platinum resistance thermometer without using a sputtering-etch mask is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,089,293, in which an alumina (or sapphire) substrate having excellent adhesiveness to platinum is employed. Referring to FIG. 2A, a silicon dioxide layer 22, which is called a liftoff medium, is deposited on the upper surface of substrate 21. A photoresist pattern 24 is formed after a desired path pattern has been exposed on the photoresist and the photoresist is developed, leaving the strip pattern in the photoresist over the surface of silicon dioxide layer 22 (FIG. 2B). The underlying silicon dioxide layer 22 is chemically etched in the areas not protected by photoresist pattern 24, thereby defines a desired path, that is, a positive pattern, on the surface of the substrate 21 for deposition of a platinum circuit pattern (FIG. 2C). After the photoresist pattern 24 has been completely removed from the remaining negative patterned silicon dioxide layer 22, the substrate 21 is ready for deposition of platinum (FIG. 2D). Platinum is then sputtering deposited on the negative patterned silicon dioxide layer 22 and on the exposed surface of substrate 21 to form a platinum layer 23, as shown in FIG. 2E. The silicon dioxide layer 22 has a thickness of at least 1.3 to 1.5 times that of the platinum layer 23. Referring now to FIG. 2F, an interconnecting section 23A, located on the side surface of silicon dioxide layer 22, interconnects between the platinum layer on the silicon dioxide layer 22 and the platinum layer on the substrate 21. The deposition condition is carefully controlled so that the interconnecting section 23A forms a porous thin-film structure. The interconnecting section 23A is sufficiently porous so that an etching solution will pass through the thin film. Hydrofluoric acid is then added to etch away the remaining parts of the silicon dioxide layer 22 within the intersectional space between the substrate 21 and the platinum layer 23. After etching all of the silicon dioxide layer 22 away, the portions of the platinum layer located on top of the silicon dioxide layer may be mechanically separated from the portions of the platinum layer deposited on the surface of substrate 21 in the region of the interconnecting section 23A. The platinum layer deposited on the surface of substrate 21 is tightly bond to the substrate surface, thus a platinum circuit pattern 25 of a resistance thermometer is formed on the surface of substrate 21 (FIG. 2G). All the materials and processing procedures are carefully chosen such that contamination to platinum is avoided.
According to the aforementioned method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,089,293, a platinum resistance thermometer having defined platinum pattern and pure platinum circuit can be obtained. However, because of their hardness, the alumina or sapphire substrate used in this prior art is difficult to handle, while the subsequent processing and further treatments are also hard to proceed. Besides, etching a hindered liftoff medium away through the porous thin platinum film requires some specialized manufacturing processes and equipment, thereby greatly increases the fabricating cost.
From the aforementioned prior arts, one can finds that the price of a platinum RTD sensing element can be lowered when the fabricating cost of this platinum RTD sensing element is greatly reduced by batch producing the platinum sensing element having purest platinum circuit with the typical procedures and equipment commonly used in the semiconductor industry. In addition, the platinum RTD sensing element and other integrated circuits can be formed on a single chip if a silicon substrate is used, thereby reduces the size and simplifies the assembling procedures of RTD.

Structure of the sensing element of a platinum resistance thermometer and method for manufacturing the same


A furnace filtration system for improving the speed and efficiency of a molten metal centrifugal impeller pump contained within a non-ferrous molten metal furnace. The system includes a filtration well located upstream of the pump well. The filtration well includes a filter having a plurality of through filter passages that are sized to prevent any solid contaminants that are larger than the pump's impeller openings from passing therethrough. By preventing any contaminants that cannot pass through the pump, the pump can be run at a higher speed. A furnaces efficiency increases with the centrifugal pump's efficiency increases with its centrifugal pump's speed along with the flow and pressure. Increased flow and pressure increases a furnace's efficiency by a) increasing the melting rate; b) decreasing the energy lost by reducing the metal temperature stratification; and c) reducing the contaminants increases the quality of the metal produced while reducing the amount of nitrogen and chlorine needed to clean the metal.

A typical molten metal facility includes a furnace with a pump for moving molten metal. During the processing of molten metals, such as aluminum, the molten metal is normally continuously circulated through the furnace by a centrifugal circulation pump to equalize the temperature of the molten bath. These pumps contain a rotating impeller that draws in and accelerates the molten metal creating a laminar-type flow within the furnace.
A well-known problem with such processes, however, is the accumulation of dross within the metal bath. Dross is a mass of solid impurities floating on and within a molten metal bath. It usually appears within molten metals or alloys having a relatively low melting point, such as tin, lead, zinc or aluminum, or by oxidation of these metals. Other impurities, such as pieces of the furnace's refractory material may also be found within such a molten metal bath.
The dross can range in size from small particles to relatively large pieces or chunks. The smaller dross material, while undesirable, does not normally pose a threat to the operation of the furnace and its circulation pump(s). However, the larger pieces of dross can, and often do, get pulled into the pump and cause the pump to become jammed, causing catastrophic failure to occur.
As a result of this problem, furnace operators frequently must run their circulation pumps at a relatively low speed, such as approximately 250-300 rpm. This slower speed, while reducing the damage to the pump components if a larger piece of dross becomes lodged therein, results in the undesirable condition of the pump motor being operated at much less than peak efficiency. That is, through the use of a frequency converter, a motor can produce the necessary torque at these lower speeds, but resulting in only using 10-15% of the available motor horsepower.
Another common solution to the pump-damaging large dross pieces within a furnace is to install larger and larger pumps having impellers that will receive and transfer all but the largest contaminants. These pumps, however, are expensive and they waste energy by continually pushing the dross through the system. Furthermore, as the dross is circulated through the furnace along with the molten metal, the dross pieces tend to accumulate together or conglomerate to create larger and larger pieces. Eventually, these growing pieces of dross may reach a size that will jam within even a very large impeller.
Currently, there are filters that are placed at the furnace discharge. These filters prevent dross from exiting the furnace—not from entering the pumps. Additionally, they do not provide for a user to collect the filtered contaminants from the system. Instead, the contaminants are left free to settle throughout the furnace.
In view of the current inefficient use of molten metal pumps, there is a need for a system for filtering the larger dross pieces in the furnace from entering a molten metal pump, thereby allowing the pump to operate at higher speeds and increasing efficiency within the system. Additionally, there is a need for such a filtering system that enables a user to quickly clean out the accumulated filtered contaminants from the furnace.

Furnace filtration system for molten metal


The present disclosure provides a method for patterning materials that are or are on top of chemically sensitive organic semiconductors. The method employs imprint lithography and a bilayer resist structure that simultaneously protects lower layers from harmful solvents and allows for cleaner liftoff by producing an undercut geometry to the resist pattern.

The present disclosure describes a method for forming high resolution patterns using nanoimprint lithography on top of or using chemically sensitive organic electronic materials. More specifically, this disclosure details a method for patterning fine metal lines on top of organic semiconductors for making high-density organic memory chips.
Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) and related hard mask patterning techniques such as Flash and Repeat Nanoimprint Lithography (S-FIL) or Jet and Flash Imprint Lithography (J-FIL) are thin-film patterning techniques that utilize a hard mask or "stamp" to impress a structure on an underlying polymer material known as a resist. Once the stamp is pressed into the resist and released, the pattern of raised areas on the stamp are replicated in the resist. The resist pattern can be transferred into the underlying material using an etch process before the resist is removed from the substrate using a stripping process, usually involving an oxygen plasma etch.
Imprint lithography is a very high-resolution technique because it doesn't suffer from the diffraction limitations of photolithography. The stamp can be made using a slower, high-resolution technique such as ebeam lithography, which limits the features to 10 nm or less, making it an attractive future lithography technique for high resolution patterning for memory and integrated circuits.
Liftoff is another process that is possible with imprint lithography, whereby a resist layer is imprinted, excess resist is removed with an etch process (descum), a material such as metal is deposited on the patterned substrate, and the resist is removed, leaving material in the "holes" of the original imprint pattern. This process is particularly good for patterning metals that do not have a favorable etch chemistry available, such as platinum.
This liftoff technique does not work well for patterning, or patterning on top of, chemically sensitive materials such as organic semiconductors. These materials, used in devices such as Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED), Organic Thin-Film Transistors (OTFT) or Organic Memory (OMEM), have need for high resolution patterning of both the semiconductors themselves (for example in high-resolution OLED pixels), or of other materials such as metals on top of these layers (e.g. source/drain electrodes for OTFTs and top electrodes for OMEM). The reasons for this limitation are the harsh solvents used for removing the resist during liftoff and the need for a descum step, which would limit the use of the liftoff process on top of the chemically sensitive materials.
Various devices are known that employ patterned organic materials aligned to features or structures on a substrate. These devices are often considered to have the potential for low cost since organic materials are typically less expensive than inorganic materials and these organic materials can be rapidly blanket coated over large substrates, permitting the formation of large, low cost devices. One example of such a device is a display employing Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs). Besides providing the potential for low cost, these displays have the potential to produce light much more efficiently and with higher visual quality than most competitive display technologies. Therefore, OLED displays have the potential to displace LCD and plasma displays in many markets. This OLED technology can additionally be employed in other devices, including lamps with adjustable color. Similar device structures can be employed using organic semiconductors to form organic photovoltaic devices, organic memory devices and organic electrical components; such as Organic Thin Film Transistors (OTFTs).
Unfortunately, OLED technology, particularly OLED display technology, has been adopted slowly. This slow adoption rate stems at least partially from the high cost of patterning these materials to form a practical display device. Various approaches to patterning organic materials to form full color OLED displays have been attempted. Patterning of different colors of material by vapor deposition of organic materials through shadow masks has proven to be effective. However these shadow masks limit the resolution of the displays, the size of the substrate that can be successfully coated, and increase the TACT time. Other approaches, such as the use of laser deposition to pattern color emitters has been demonstrated but this technology often produces displays with low yields and often results in significant residual waste. Solution printing of different colored organic emitters has also been discussed but these processes typically result in emitters with significantly lower emission efficiency as compared to emitters deposited by vapor deposition. This lower efficiency is due to increased contact resistance and the fact that polymeric materials, that are often used, often have a lower luminescent efficiency and lifetime than small molecule materials and the use of solution deposition limits the number of layers that can be deposited on one another to manage the movement of carriers through the organic layer. Other approaches to forming multicolor OLED devices have also been attempted, including the use of white emitters together with patterned color filters. However, these approaches also reduce the effective efficiency of the emitters within the OLED display. Other organic devices, including OTFTs, suffer from similar patterning issues.
One approach to avoid detailed patterning of organic materials is to adopt OLED display structures including one or blanket-coated emitting layers. For example, Miller et al in U.S. Pat. No. 7,142,179, entitled "OLED display device", issued on Nov. 26, 2006 and Cok et al in U.S. Pat. No. 7,250,722, entitled "OLED device", issued on Jul. 31, 2007, each discuss a structure having a first OLED constructed between a first and a second patterned electrode and a second OLED constructed between the second patterned electrode and a blanket-coated electrode. Within each of these documents, the first OLED must be patterned to permit the second pattern electrode to be connected to the substrate. Further the second electrode must be patterned after it is deposited over the OLED. These structures produce higher efficiency light output without patterning at least one of the layers of organic materials. However, these structures require the patterning of very small structures through an organic layer to form a via hole through the organic material, as well as the patterning of a conductive layer over an organic layer. Robust processes for providing these vias and forming the electrode pattern over an organic layer in a high speed manufacturing environment are not known in the art and therefore these device structures have not been successfully manufactured. Similar structures are also desirable for the formation of multi-layer photovoltaic and other organic devices.
In inorganic electronic devices, it is known to apply photolithographic techniques to pattern multiple thin film layers of inorganic semiconductors and inorganic electrically conductive layers with high resolution over large substrates for forming arrays of electrical components. Unfortunately, the photolithographic materials and solvents applied to form these devices are known to dissolve organic materials. Therefore, it is not possible to apply the photolithographic materials and solvents that are known to be used to manufacture inorganic solid state circuits to pattern layers of organic material, especially layers that include active semiconductor organic materials or layers that are formed on top of organic materials.
Recently photoresist materials and solvents have been discussed in the art to facilitate the use of photolithographic techniques to pattern polymeric organic semiconducting layers. For example, Zakhidov et al. in an article published in Advanced Materials in 2008 on pages 3481-3484 and entitled "Hydrofluoroethers as Orthogonal Solvents for the Chemical Processing of Organic Electronic Materials" discusses a method for patterning polymer organic material in which a fluorinated photoresist is deposited on a substrate, selectively exposed to an energy source to change the solubility of a portion of the photoresist, the photoresist is developed in a solvent including hydrofluroether to develop the pattern and remove the portion of the photoresist material that was not exposed. The solubility of the cross-linked photoresist in a hydrofluroether was then reestablished through the use of another solvent. An active organic semiconductor was then deposited over the remaining photoresist and remaining photoresist was lifted off to pattern the active organic semiconductor. As such, this paper demonstrates the patterning of a single solution-coated, polymeric, organic semiconductor on a substrate. The same general process has been discussed by Lee et al. in an article published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society in 2008 on pages 11564 through 11565 and entitled "Acid-Sensitive Semiperfluoroalkyl Resorcinarene: An Imaging Material for Organic Electronics".
Taylor et al. in an article published in Advanced Materials on Mar. 19, 2009 on pages 2314-2317 and entitled "Orthogonal Patterning of PEDOT:PSS for Organic Electronics using Hydrofluoroether Solvents" discusses the formation of a bottom contact thin film transistor in which a polymeric organic conductor (i.e., PEDOT:PSS) is formed on a substrate, a photoresist is formed and patterned over the conductor, the conductor is etched, a second photoresist is applied and patterned before an organic semiconductor (e.g., pentacene) is applied and patterned.
Each of these papers discuss patterning of solution-coated, polymeric organic materials using a modified photolithographic process and materials to create components in an electrical circuit, the use of processes and materials such as these have not been applied to OLED devices. Further, these papers discuss the application of these materials and processes for use with polymers and do not provide a method for patterning layers of small molecule organic materials. Further, according to this method, it is necessary to perform multiple photo-patterning steps, specifically one photo-patterning step for each patterned layer, to create patterns in multiple layers including at least one organic layer and a layer deposited over this organic layer, such as an electrical conductor. Certain photolithographic process steps, including the exposure of the photolithographic materials to radiation to perform the photo-patterning step, are typically performed in air. Unfortunately, air contains oxygen and moisture with which the organic materials can react. Therefore, performing multilayer photo-patterning of organic devices by forming multiple layers of photo-patternable materials, some being formed over the organic layers can result in devices with degraded performance. Further, each of these photolithographic steps are quite expensive to perform and require one full photolithographic step, including deposition of the photo-patternable material, as well as, exposure, development and liftoff of the pattern for each layer within the device.
In another approach, Katz and Dhar in International Publication Number WO 2009/126916, entitled "Patterning devices using fluorinated compounds" filed Apr. 10, 2009 discuss forming an active layer to be patterned on a substrate, providing a barrier layer of fluorinated material over the active layer, forming a photo-patternable layer over the fluorinated layer and exposing the photo-patternable to radiation within a process that permits the active layer to be patterned. However, this approach requires the deposition of multiple layers to pattern a single active layer.
In another approach, Taussig et al in U.S. Pat. No. 7,202,179 entitled "Method of forming at least one thin film device", issued on Apr. 10, 2007 discusses a method in which a 3D template is used to emboss a 3D structure over the layers of a device and the 3D structure and the underlying layers are etched to provide the final structure. This method permits different patterns to be formed in different layers of a device as the result of using a single imprint lithographic step so that alignment of multiple lithographic steps is not required, permitting this method to be applied to form devices on substrates that are not stable, for example, plastics which expand or contract during manufacturing. Unfortunately, the method provided is only useful with inorganic structures as the method applies materials and methods that are not compatible with organic semiconductor materials. Further, the method applies techniques that are not currently used in high volume manufacturing and requires strict process control to permit the patterning steps to achieve the desired result.
There is, therefore a need for a method that permits the formation of a first pattern in an organic material layer and at least a second, different pattern in a separate active material layer formed over the organic layer. This process should be robust, permit the formation of patterns at near micron resolution and not require the organic materials to be exposed to air during development. It is especially desirable that this method be compatible with vapor deposited, small molecule organic materials. Ideally, this same method would also be compatible with non-organic devices to permit multiple layers within these devices to be differently patterned in response to a single photolithographic step.

Process for imprint patterning materials in thin-film devices


A game control technique with high entertainment value is provided. In a game device, a confirmation sound output unit assigns a sound to each type of an operation input from a player; and upon the reception of the operation input from the player, the confirmation sound output unit outputs the sound assigned to the operation input. A command memory unit stores a plurality of types and patterns of the rhythms of the operation input in association with commands which is issued upon the reception of the operation inputs. A command determination unit acquires the type and rhythm of the operation input from the player and determines whether the type and rhythm of the operation input match the pattern stored in the command memory unit. A repetition unit outputs the sound corresponding to the pattern when the operation input from the player is determined to match the pattern stored in the command determination unit. A game control unit issues the command determined by the command determination unit and advances the game.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to game control techniques, and particularly to game devices for controlling games which recognize commands by a plurality of types and rhythms of operation inputs, game control methods, and game control programs.
2. Description of the Related Art
In simulation games, interfaces are commonly used in which menu screens for inputting commands are displayed and the commands to be inputted are selected when players manipulate, for example, characters.
During the display of a menu screen, the progress of a game often times needs to be interrupted temporarily. Although some games can progress during the display of the menu screens, the players are temporarily required to keep close watch on the menu screens and are detached from the game world every time the players input commands. Thus, the ethos of the game can be disturbed.

Game which recognizes commands by the type and rhythm of operation input


The invention provides for a slider for a child proof slider-zipper assembly having a leading edge, a trailing edge and a top edge with a top surface and a top frame comprising:                a pair of protrusions at the bottom of the leading edge,        a pair of protrusions at the bottom of the trailing edge, and        an opening plow protruding from the top surface of the slider, between the leading edge and trailing edge, and having height not more than the height of the slider        such that the top surface projects upwards from the top frame.

The use of re-closable flexible pouches has seen dramatic increase in the last few years. Heretofore the primary market for bags with slider zippers has been a consumer who purchases empty slider bags and then fills the slider bags with products at home. However, with the increasing popularity of slider bags most manufacturers now tend to package their food and non-food products in slider bags for sale to consumers. The slider bags are a great convenience to the consumer who purchases these product filled bags especially for products of the type where only a portion of the product is used at any given time. The product applications for which slider bags may be used are virtually unlimited.
Plastic bags having zipper closures typically consist of two substantially similar sized sheets of plastic film (usually supplied from a pair of continuous web spools or rolls) which are then sealed together at a lower end of the sheets to form a front layer and a rear layer, with the seal forming a bottom edge of the bag. Alternatively, the plastic bag may be formed by a length of bag film folded upon itself to form a front layer and a rear layer connected by an integral bottom edge defined by the fold. Side edges of the plastic bag are typically sealed using a sealing head. The zipper typically has a two opposing walls with pairs of inter locking members on each side. When the two walls of the zipper are brought together the interlocking members lock and provide a seal to the bag.
The slider device typically includes a separator or plow-type structure in the middle, or at one end, that opens a zipper closure mechanism having male and female interlocking profiled elements or closure profiles when the slider device travels in a first direction along the zipper closure. The sidewalls of the slider device are inwardly tapered from one end to the opposite end so that the sidewalls engage the closure profiles and progressively move them into engagement to close the re-closable package when the slider device is moved along the zipper closure in a direction opposite to the first direction.
The typical slider bags that are being manufactured are airtight as far as solids and powders are concerned. However, the bags currently available are not leak proof. The bags are also not child proof.
The problem of leakage is two fold in that leakage occurs due to the improper sealing of the side edges and also due to improper design of the slider and zipper.
The zipper closure itself is airtight along its length due to the releasable and reusable seal formed by the inter-locked profile. Re-closable packages that include a slider device to more easily open and close the profiles typically face problems in providing a liquid tight seal across the entire length of the zipper closure due to the fact that the slider includes a plow device used to separate the closure profiles as the slider is moved along the length of the zipper closure. Thus a portion of the zipper closure beneath the plow remains open at all times.
Another drawback of existing bags is that they offer no resistance to opening by young children. Prescription drugs, medicines, important documents and a variety of other products need to be kept out of the reach of children. Sliding the slider in the opening direction easily opens re-closable bags with slider zipper presently available.
Co-pending application 1974/DEL/04 overcomes the problem of leakage and provides for a novel slider for a re-closable bag that eliminates the gaps in the zipper at the closing end and the same is incorporated here in entirety. The application provides for a slider that has bottom protrusions at both ends of the slider such that irrespective of the direction of movement of the slider the lower pair of interlocking members of the zipper are sealed. The slider also provides for a separating means or plow that does not extend beyond the upper pair of interlocking members. The separating means is also slanted such that at the end sealing position of the slider the separating means provides an effective seal.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,754 provides for one such closure device where the separator finger extends into the closure elements without extending completely through the closure elements. The portion of the closure elements below the separator finger is occluded when the slider is at the first end of the fastening strip. The document however relies on forces acting on the two walls of the zipper due to the position of the slider and the position of the two walls before and after the slider location for this end occlusion. No satisfactory solution is provided to the drawback of the separating means keeping the upper pair of interlocking members open at the end position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,056 also relates to a slider zipper assembly that aims at eliminating the escape gaps at the edges of the zipper when the slider is in the closing position. The slider also has a separating plow that depends from the top surface and is preferably placed at the opening edge of the slider. The separating means penetrates the top pair of interlocking elements but not the bottom pair of inter-locking elements. However, the drawback of the separating plow at the closing end remains.
There is a strong requirement for a re-closable bag that is leak proof and child proof. The invention provides for such a bag.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A superconducting magnetic field generating device includes: a superconductor including an outer superconductor formed with a high temperature superconducting material in a cylindrical shape and generating a trapped magnetic field, and an inner superconductor formed with a high temperature superconducting material in a cylindrical shape and coaxially disposed with the outer superconductor on the inner circumferential side; and a cooling device cooling the outer and inner superconductors to a temperature equal to or lower than the superconducting transition temperature, wherein the inner superconductor is formed so that a ratio (Jcθ1/Jcz1) of a critical current density (Jcθ1) of the inner superconductor in the circumferential direction to a critical current density (Jcz1) of the inner superconductor in the axial direction is closer to 1 than a ratio (Jcθ2/Jcz2) of the critical current density (Jcθ2) in the circumferential direction to a critical current density (Jcz2) of the outer superconductor of the outer superconductor in the axial direction.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a resonance phenomenon of energy of a nuclear spin (magnetic moment) generated when an electromagnetic wave is applied to a sample placed in a strong magnetic field. A nuclear magnetic resonance apparatus (NMR apparatus) is a machine which analyzes a structure of a sample using such a resonance phenomenon. As magnetic field strength increases, sensitivity and resolution of an NMR signal increase, and accordingly, a magnetic field generating device for generating a strong magnetic field is included in the NMR apparatus.
As the magnetic field generating device which generates a strong magnetic field, a superconducting magnetic field generating device which generates a magnetic field by magnetizing a superconductor has been disclosed. As the superconductor included in the superconducting magnetic field generating device, it is preferable to use a high-temperature superconductor which has a high superconducting transition temperature and comparatively easily performs cooling.
A sample is placed in a magnetic field when analyzing a molecular structure of a sample using the NMR apparatus. At that time, when variation in magnetic field strength is great depending on location, the obtained NMR spectrum becomes broad and it is difficult to suitably identify the molecular structure of a sample. Accordingly, the superconducting magnetic field generating device used in the NMR apparatus is preferably configured so as to generate a strong magnetic field and to form a magnetic field (homogeneous magnetic field) having a uniform magnetic field strength in a measurement space of the sample.
Uniformity of a magnetic field equal to or smaller than 1 ppm is required for high resolution NMR measurement. In general, a magnetic field having extremely high uniformity which is equal to or smaller than 1 ppm can be achieved by adding a plurality of shim coils (magnetic field correcting coils) to the superconducting magnetic field generating device. That is, the uniformity of the magnetic field generated by the superconducting magnetic field generating device should be at least correctable ppm order using the shim coils.
The superconductor included in the superconducting magnetic field generating device used in the NMR apparatus is, for example, formed in a cylindrical shape. In this case, the magnetic field (applied magnetic field) is applied to the superconductor by an external magnetic field generating device, so that a magnetic field, through which a magnetic flux passes in an axial direction, is generated in an inner circumferential space (bore) of a cylindrical superconductor. The superconductor is cooled to a temperature equal to or lower than the superconducting transition temperature, while the magnetic field is applied thereto. After completing cooling, the applied magnetic field generated by the external magnetic field generating device is removed. By doing so, the superconductor is magnetized so as to maintain the applied magnetic field and a supercurrent is induced into the superconductor. By flowing the supercurrent into the superconductor as described above, a magnetic field (trapped magnetic field), through which a magnetic flux passes in an axial direction, is formed in the bore of the superconductor. A space (room temperature bore space) for placing a sample is formed in the bore of the superconductor in which the trapped magnetic field is formed. A weak electromagnetic wave is emitted from the sample, by applying an electromagnetic wave to the sample placed in the room temperature bore space. By detecting this electromagnetic wave, the NMR spectrum is obtained.
As shown in FIG. 21, in order to improve accuracy of analysis of the sample, the trapped magnetic field formed in the bore of the cylindrical superconductor may have an axisymmetric magnetic field strength distribution (that is, the same magnetic field strength distribution in any direction orthogonal to a central axis of the cylindrical superconductor) and may have a uniform magnetic field strength in the central portion (space where the sample is placed). In order to obtain such a trapped magnetic field, the supercurrent flowing through the magnetized superconductor should be a circular current flowing in a circumferential direction by setting the central axis of the cylindrical superconductor as a center. That is, it is necessary to form a ring-shaped and concentric circular supercurrent loop shown in a cross section which is orthogonal to the axial direction of the superconductor in the superconductor, in order to form the trapped magnetic field having the axisymmetric magnetic field strength distribution and uniform magnetic field strength in the central portion in the bore of the superconductor. However, when a material structure or superconducting characteristics of the superconductor used are not uniform, the supercurrent loop is formed in a deformed shape which is different from the concentric circular shape. That is, the supercurrent loop is disordered. When the supercurrent loop is disordered, the axial symmetry of the magnetic field in the bore of the superconductor breaks down and the uniformity deteriorates, and accordingly, it is difficult to form the trapped magnetic field having the axisymmetric magnetic field strength distribution and uniform magnetic field strength in the central portion in the bore of the superconductor. Therefore, the material structure or the superconducting characteristics of the superconductor are preferably uniform.
As the high-temperature superconductor, an RE—Ba—Cu—O based (RE is a rare earth element containing Y) superconducting bulk manufactured by a fusion method is well known. However, such a superconducting bulk has the following properties which cause disordering of the supercurrent loop (hereinafter, referred to as non-uniformity characteristics).
(1) Since the superconducting bulk is manufactured by allowing single crystal growth from a seed crystal loaded on the superconductor, the superconducting bulk has a crystal growth boundary. For example, when the superconducting bulk is manufactured by allowing crystal growth from a seed crystal loaded so that a c surface of a crystal structure comes into contact with the upper portion of the superconductor, the seed crystal grows in a cross shape in the center in a top view, and accordingly, a cross-shaped crystal growth boundary is formed in the superconducting bulk. When the superconducting bulk formed as described above is magnetized, the shape of the supercurrent loop formed in the superconducting bulk is a square which connects adjacent crystal growth boundaries. That is, the supercurrent loop is disordered due to the supercurrent flowing thus expanding outside of the crystal growth boundary portion, and the concentric circular supercurrent loop is not formed. As a result, the axial symmetry of the trapped magnetic field formed in the bore of the superconductor breaks down and the uniformity deteriorates.
(2) The superconducting bulk as the high-temperature superconductor has a structure in which a non-superconducting phase is finely dispersed in a superconducting phase of the single crystal. The non-superconducting phase forms a pinning point for trapping a strong magnetic field, but there are variations in a size or distribution of the non-superconducting phase, and the supercurrent loop formed in the superconducting bulk is disordered due to such variations.
(3) The superconducting bulk has a material structure with non-uniform characteristics such as vacancies, unnecessary precipitates, presence or absence of microcracks, or disordered crystallinity. The supercurrent loop formed in the superconducting bulk is disordered due to such a material structure with non-uniform characteristics.
(4) The superconducting bulk has local variations in superconducting characteristics (superconducting transition temperature Tc, critical current density Jc, and the like). The supercurrent loop is also disordered due to this.
Accordingly, when using the superconducting bulk in the high-temperature superconductor included in the superconducting magnetic field generating device, the supercurrent loop is disordered due to the non-uniformity characteristics described above, and thus, it is difficult to form the uniform trapped magnetic field in the bore of the cylindrical superconductor, even when the applied magnetic field is uniform.
JP 2008-034692A (Reference 1) discloses a superconducting magnetic field generating device including a cylindrical superconductor which is configured by coaxially arranging superconducting bulks having a cylindrical shape and small magnetic susceptibility on both end surfaces of a superconducting bulk having a cylindrical shape and large magnetic susceptibility. According to the superconducting magnetic field generating device disclosed in Reference 1, it is possible to form a trapped magnetic field having uniform magnetic field strength in an axial direction of the superconductor in the bore of the superconductor, by designing the superconducting bulks so that the magnetic susceptibility and the shape of the superconducting bulks satisfy certain conditions.
JP 2009-156719A (Reference 2) discloses a superconducting magnetic field generating device including a correction coil which is disposed around a circumference of a superconductor formed of cylindrical superconducting bulks. According to the superconducting magnetic field generating device disclosed in Reference 2, it is possible to form a trapped magnetic field having uniform magnetic field strength in an axial direction of the superconductor in the bore of the superconductor, by correcting the applied magnetic field using the correction coil when performing magnetizing by applying a magnetic field to the superconductor.
JP 2014-053479A (Reference 3) discloses a superconducting magnetic field generating device including a cylindrical superconductor which is formed so that an inner diameter of the central portion in an axial direction is greater than an inner diameter of an end portion. According to the superconducting magnetic field generating device disclosed in Reference 3, a magnetic field flows into the bore of the superconductor so as to offset a non-uniform magnetic field generated by magnetization of the superconductor, by setting the inner diameter of the central portion of the cylindrical superconductor in the axial direction to be greater than the inner diameter of the end portion thereof. By removing the non-uniform magnetic field as described above, it is possible to form the trapped magnetic field having uniform magnetic field strength in the superconductor in the axial direction in the bore of the superconductor.
According to the superconducting magnetic field generating devices disclosed in Reference 1, Reference 2, and Reference 3, it is possible to increase the uniformity in the magnetic field strength in the bore of the superconductor in the axial direction, but in principle, it is difficult to increase the uniformity in the magnetic field strength in a circumferential direction. Accordingly, it is difficult to set the magnetic field strength in the bore of the superconductor, particularly in the measurement space (room temperature bore space) of the sample formed in the central portion of the bore to be sufficiently uniform.

Superconducting magnetic field generating device, superconducting magnetic field generating method, and nuclear magnetic resonance apparatus


The snag-resistant fishing lure is a snag-free fishing lure designed to minimize the chances of the lure becoming ensnared. The lure has a jig and a blade attached to the blade in a configuration that limits the side-to-side movement of the blade, thereby preventing the jig from rolling to a hook-downward position prone to snagging. A centrally aligned hole is positioned close to the front edge of the blade member. An eyelet extending from the jig body is attached through an aperture in the blade. The blade is limited in its side-to-side movement by contact between the blade edge and either the jig body or the eyelet. The limited side-to-side movement of the blade creates a quick, controlled, oscillating blade action that imparts a natural swimming motion to the lure, emulating prey species movements.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fishing lures. More particularly, the invention is a snag-resistant fishing lure having a blade member uniquely attached to a weighted jig body to substantially minimize the risk of losing the lure to an underwater snag and to provide an intense vibrating action as movement through water displaces the blade from side to side. The present fishing lure may be configured to dive or to run toward the water surface on retrieval by varying the position on the blade member where the fishing line is attached.
2. Description of the Related Art
Losing a fishing lure to a snag is a common risk faced by virtually all sport fishermen. Numerous jigs are designed to create a high degree of snag-resistance by molding fiber or wire "weed-guards" in front of the hook. Weed-guards effectively lessen the number of snags, but at the expense of lessening the chances of hooking a fish when the fish strikes because the wire weed guard interferes with the fish taking the hook. The fish must first bite through the weed guard, and the pressure against the fish's mouth may be felt by the fish and discourage the fish from taking the hook.
In addition to snag-resistance, it is desirable for a fishing jig to include a blade or other feature to create motion, and to reflect light, to give the jig a simulated natural swimming motion resembling a minnow or other food source for the sport fish being sought. While many jigs are designed to attract fish in novel ways, none achieve a controlled vibrating action or address the problem of snagging without the aid of weed-guards in front of the hook point. There is a need for a lure that includes features pertaining to snag avoidance without clumsy weed guards, and which also produces an underwater movement that is attractive to fish.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,974,723, issued on Nov. 2, 1999 to J. Taibi, illustrates a weed shielding spinner type fishing lure that incorporates a wire weed guard to prevent snagging of the lure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,283, issued Apr. 7, 1997 to J. D. Perrick, discloses a fishing lure including a blade having edges that, beginning at the rear edge and going toward the front edge, first converge then diverge towards a blunt, rounded front point, with a hook dressed with feathers, winding thread or the like attached to a rounded rear edge of the blade. The blade includes a slight bend at the rear edge and a slight bend at the front edge, both bends contributing to causing a more life-like motion in the movements of the lure as it is retrieved.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,463,889, issued Mar. 8, 1949 to A. C. Lundemo, describes a fishing lure including an elongated spoon having a flat portion, an intermediate portion and a concave portion. A hook is attached to the concave portion and a staple passes through the intermediate portion for the purpose of connecting to a line. The shape of the elongated spoon causes the lure to move in a sporadic and random fashion, as opposed to a rhythmic pattern.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,948,984, issued Aug. 16, 1960 to W. Crawford, discloses a fishing lure including a concave spoon having a weighted plug attached to one end and a hook attached to the other end. The spoon also has two holes centrally and longitudinally aligned for the purpose of attaching the lure to a line. The shape of the spoon causes the lure to vibrate depending on the speed of retrieval, thereby attracting fish.
Other related patents pertaining to fishing lures include U.S. Pat. No. 1,910,742, issued May 23, 1933 to E. H. Binns (fishing lure including concave spoon and dressed hook attached); U.S. Pat. No. 2,051,978, issued Aug. 25, 1936 to A. C. Accetta (fishing lure including a concave spoon, hook, and fins); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,615, issued May 19, 1992 to A. Drachkovitch (spinning spoon fishing lure, including a blade mounted on a swivel and a flexible shaft having hooks attached).
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus, a snag-resistant fishing lure solving the aforementioned problems is desired.


A method of paging a mobile station to establish a packet-switched connection in a mobile telephone network that supports a circuit-switched connection and a packet-switched connection. To establish a mobile-terminated circuit-switched connection, the mobile telephone network sends the mobile station a page request, as a result of which the mobile station switches to standby mode for a circuit-switched connection. To save the batteries and to reduce the need of processing, the mobile station listens only to the paging channels of the circuit-switched connection. To establish a mobile-terminated packet-switched connection, the mobile telephone network sends the mobile station a page request via a circuit-switched connection and subsequently sends the mobile station the additional information commanding the mobile station to switch to a packet-switched connection. After detecting the additional information, the mobile station switches to the packet-switched connection.

The invention relates to a mechanism for establishing a call, more particularly to a mechanism for paging a mobile station supporting a circuit-switched and a packet-switched connection in order to establish a packet-switched connection. The invention also relates to a mobile telephone network and to a mobile station.
Mobile systems have been developed because it has been necessary to be able to reach people even when they are not close to a fixed telephone terminal. The use of different data transmission services in offices has increased, and different data services have been simultaneously introduced into mobile systems. Portable computers allow efficient data processing wherever the user is. Mobile networks, in turn, offer the user an efficient access network for mobile data transmission, the access network providing access to actual data networks. Because of this, different new data services are being designed for present and future mobile networks. Mobile data transmission is particularly well supported by digital mobile systems, such as the Pan-European mobile system GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication).
A General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a new service in the GSM. It is one of the items that is being standardized in GSM phase 2+ in the ETSI (European Telecommunication Standard Institute). The GPRS operational environment consists of one or more sub-network service areas that are interconnected using a GPRS backbone network. A sub-network comprises a number of packet data service nodes, which are here called GPRS support nodes (or agents) and each one of which is connected to the GSM mobile network so that it can provide packet data service for mobile data terminals via several base stations, i.e. cells. An intermediate mobile network provides circuit-switched or packet-switched data transmission between a support node and the mobile data terminals. Different sub-networks, in turn, are connected to an external data network, for example to a Public Switched Packet Data Network PSPDN. The GPRS service can thus be used for effecting packet data transmission between mobile data terminals and external data networks, when the GSM network functions as an access network. One feature of the GPRS service network is that it operates almost independently of the GSM network. One of the requirements set for the GPRS service is that it must operate together with different types of external PSPDN networks, such as the Internet and X.25 networks. In other words, the GPRS service and the GSM network should be able to serve all users, irrespective of the type of data networks that they wish to be connected to via the GSM network. This means that the GSM network and GPRS service must support and process different network addressing methods and data packet formats. The data packet processing also comprises routing of the packets in a packet radio network. In addition, the users should be able to roam from their home GPRS network to a visited GPRS network.
With reference to FIG. 1, we shall now describe a typical arrangement in a GPRS network. It should be understood that the architecture of the GPRS systems is not as advanced as that of the GSM systems. All GPRS terms should therefore be understood as being descriptive terms rather than limiting ones. A typical mobile station forming a mobile data terminal consists of a mobile station MS of a mobile network and of a portable computer PC connected to the data interface of the MS. The mobile station can be, for example, a Nokia 2110, manufactured by Nokia Mobile Phones Ltd., Finland. By means of a PCMCIA type Nokia Cellular Datacard, manufactured by Nokia Mobile Phones Ltd., the mobile station can be connected to any portable personal computer PC whatsoever that has a PCMCIA card slot. The PCMCIA card thus provides the PC with an access point that supports the protocol of the telecommunications application used in the PC, such as the CCITT X.25 or Internet Protocol IP. Alternatively, the mobile station can directly provide an access point that supports the protocol used by the PC application. Further, a mobile station 3 and a PC 4 can also be integrated to form a single unit, within which the application is provided with an access point that supports the protocol used by it. An example for such a mobile station with an integrated computer is a Nokia Communicator 9000, manufactured by Nokia Mobile Phones Ltd., Finland.
Network elements BSC and MSC are previously known from a typical GSM network. The arrangement of FIG. 1 comprises a separate Serving GPRS Support Node SGSN. The support node controls certain operations of the packet radio service on the network side. The operations include the logging on and off the system by the mobile stations MS, updating of the routing areas of the mobile stations MS, and routing of the data packets to correct destinations. In the present application, the term 'data' should be understood in the wide sense to mean any information whatsoever transmitted in a digital telecommunications system. The information can comprise speech encoded into digital form, data communication between computers, telefax data, short segments of program code, etc. The SGSN node can be located at a base station BTS, at a base station controller BSC or at a mobile switching centre MSC, or it can be separate from all these elements. The interface between the SGSN node and the base station controller BSC is called a GB interface. An area managed by one base station controller BSC is called a Base Station Subsystem BSS.
The intermediate mobile network provides packet-switched data transmission between a support node and mobile data terminal equipment. Different sub-networks, in turn, are connected to an external data network, for example to a PSPDN, via specific Gateway GPRS Support Nodes GGSN. Packet data transmission between mobile data terminals and external data networks is thus effected by means of the GPRS service, while the GSM network functions as an access network. Alternatively, the gateway node GGSN can be replaced with a router. In the following, the term 'gateway node GGSN' is also to be understood as referring to a structure in which the gateway has been replaced with a router.
In FIG. 1 the GPRS network connected to the GSM network comprises a number of serving GPRS support nodes and one gateway GPRS support node GGSN. The different support nodes SGSN and GGSN are interconnected via an intra-operator backbone network. It is to be understood that a GPRS network can comprise any number of support nodes SGSN and gateway nodes GGSN.
Each support node SGSN manages a packet data service in the area of one or more nodes in a cellular packet radio network. To achieve this, each support node SGSN is connected to a certain local of the GSM system, typically to a mobile services switching centre, but in some situations it may be preferable to connect it directly to a base station subsystem BSS, i.e. to a base station controller BSC or a base station BTS. A mobile station MS in a cell communicates with a base station BTS over a radio interface and further through a mobile network with the support node SGSN to the service area of which the cell belongs. In principle, the mobile network between the support node SGSN and the mobile station MS only transmits packets between these two. For this purpose, the mobile network can offer either a circuit-switched connection or packet-switched data packet transmission between a mobile station MS and a serving support node SGSN. An example for a circuit-switched connection between a mobile station MS and an agent is presented in Finnish Patent Application 934 115. An example for packet-switched data transmission between a mobile station MS and an agent is presented in Finnish Patent Application 940 314. It should be noted, however, that a mobile network provides only a physical connection between a mobile station MS and a support node SGSN, and that its exact operation and structure are not relevant to the present invention.
An intra-operator backbone network 11 interconnecting the operator's SGSN and GGSN can be implemented, for example, using a local area network. It should be noted that it is also possible to implement the operator's GPRS network without an intra-operator backbone network, for example, by implementing all the features in a single computer, but this does not cause any changes in the call set-up principles according to the present invention.
A gateway GPRS node GGSN connects the operator's GPRS network to the other operators' GPRS systems and to data networks, such as an inter-operator backbone network 12 or an IP network. An Interworking Function IWF can be arranged between the gateway node GGSN and the other networks, but usually the GGSN is simultaneously the IWF. The inter-operator backbone network 12 is one through which the gateway nodes GGSN of different operators can communicate with one another. The communication is needed to support the GPRS roaming between the different GPRS networks.
The gateway node GGSN is also used to store the location information of the GPRS mobile stations. The GGSN also routes mobile-terminated (MT) data packets. The GGSN also contains a database that associates the mobile station's network address, for example in an IP network or an X.25 network (or simultaneously in more than one network), and the mobile station identifier in a GPRS network. When the mobile station roams from one cell to another within the area of one support node SGSN, location updating is needed only in the support node SGSN, and the gateway node GGSN need not be informed of the change of location. When the mobile station roams from a cell of one support node SGSN to a cell of another SGSN within the area of the same or a different operator, location updating is also performed in the (home) gateway node GGSN so as to store the identifier of the new, visited support node and the identifier of the mobile station.
A GPRS register GR is used to authenticate subscribers at the beginning of a GPRS session. It contains a definition between a subscribers PDP (Packet Data Protocol) address/addresses and the subscriber's IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity). In a GSM network a subscriber is identified on the basis of the IMSI. The GR can be a separate register, or preferably it can be integrated with the home location register HLR of the mobile system. In the figure the HLR/GR is connected through an SS7 (Signalling System 7), for example to a mobile switching centre MSC and an intra-operator backbone network. Between the SS7 signalling system and the intra-operator backbone network there can be a direct connection or an SS7 gateway. In principle, the HLR/GR can exchange packet-switched messages with any GPRS node whatsoever. The HLR/GR's method of communication and its connection to the GPRS network are not, however, essential to the invention. For example, a direct connection to a node is possible, or the GR can be a node of the GPRS network.
In the above arrangement, packet-switched data (in short: packet data) can be transmitted to a mobile station over an air interface, when the mobile station, controlled by the network, has first been directed to a correct kind of channel, i.e. to a packet data transmission channel. A mobile station that supports packet data transmission can either be suited only to the transmission and reception of packet data ('GPRS only') or also to the transmission of conventional circuit-switched speech and other services ('multi-function terminal').
A 'GPRS only' mobile station can be in one of three different modes in the sense of the present application: a ready, a standby or an idle mode. A mobile station in the ready mode is connected to a data transmission channel and is ready to transmit and/or receive data packets. A mobile station in the standby mode listens to a packet data paging channel, and after receiving its paging identifier the mobile station switches to the ready mode. A mobile station in the idle mode does not support transmission nor reception of packet data.
A multi-function terminal operates in the ready and standby modes in the same was as the 'GPRS only' terminal, but in the idle mode it supports conventional circuit-switched services.
When packet data is sent to a mobile station, the data will be routed to the correct GSM-network by routing it via the gateway node GGSN to the support node SGSN in which the location of the mobile station is known. If the mobile station is in the standby mode, its location is known with the accuracy of a Routing Area RA. Correspondingly, if the mobile station is in the ready mode, its location is known with the accuracy of a cell.
A problem in the above arrangement is that when a multi-function terminal is in the idle mode, i.e. when it listens to a paging channel associated with only circuit-switched services, such as a speech service, a mobile-terminated packet-switched connection cannot be established until the mobile station has connected to a channel that supports packet data. The mobile stations are usually designed to listen to only one paging channel at a time (e.g. to prolong the life of the batteries), and the channel is usually a speech service paging channel. The mobile station will not connect to a channel allocated for packet data transmission until necessary. Due to the nature of packet data, the establishment of a packet data connection is quite separate from the establishment of a circuit-switched connection.

Paging of mobile subscriber to establish packet-switched connection


The present invention provides an information recording/reproducing device capable of ejecting an information recording medium during a process of formatting the medium or continuously writing data on the medium, characterized in that the device records a variable length of a lead-out in a lead-out area on the information recording medium; and the device allows the information recording medium to be ejected after the recording of the lead-out is completed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an information recording/reproducing device and a method of recording a lead-out on an information recording medium. The present invention is applicable to information recording/reproducing devices for recording data on an information recording medium exchangeable in a computer system, such as optical disks like CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+RW/R, magneto-optical disks like MO, magnetic disks such as HD, FD, and memory cards. The present invention is applicable to information recording/reproducing devices that can eject an information recording medium during a process of background formatting. The present invention is also applicable to information recording/reproducing devices that can record a lead-out on an lead-out area on an information recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a UDF (Universal Disc Format) system in file systems using information recording media. The UDF is employed in various devices. The recording format of the UDF can make full use of characteristics of various devices. Especially, since CD-RW or DVD+RW is capable of overwriting data, they employ the UDF that allows random recording/reproducing of data.
In the case of CD-RW, in order to record/reproduce data randomly, it is necessary to previously format the medium by recording dummy data on the whole or partial area of the medium. And also in the case of DVD+RW/-RW, it is necessary to record dummy data on the unrecorded area until some radial distance is reached, if compatibility with conventional DVD-ROM drives is required.
Further, as for CD-R/DVD-R/DVD+R as a write-once medium, although there is no formatting operation, continuous recording without an unrecorded area is needed, if compatibility with reproducing devices is to be attained. In this case, it is necessary to record something on the unrecorded area to indicate recording completion. This area is called a lead-out area.
In the above formatting process, because dummy data are recorded over the whole or designated partial area of the information recording medium, time required for formatting increases proportionally to increased capacity of the information recording medium.
In order to solve this problem, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 11-134799 "Optical disk recording/reproducing device, optical disk recording/reproducing method and computer readable recording medium" proposes an information recording/reproducing device, in which a formatting process is performed in background mode and data recording/reproducing can be carried out in a short time at user's request. Although the technology disclosed in the publication relates to background formatting for a CD-RW disk, background formatting for a DVD+RW disk is also proposed.
In the background formatting process, an unrecorded area or unformatted area is filled with dummy data during periods when no user request for data recording/reproducing is made. During the background formatting process, if a user makes a request for data recording/reproducing, then the formatting process is interrupted and data recording/reproducing begins. In this way, during the background formatting process, it is necessary to perform data recording/reproducing requested by a user and perform dummy data recording in background mode in parallel.
And during the background formatting process, it is possible for a user to remove the information recording medium from the information recording/reproducing device before completing the formatting. When removing the information recording medium, a temporary lead-out is recorded following data recording area, to allow the removed disk to be read by conventional DVD-ROM drives. The temporary lead-out indicates or marks the extent to which data have been recorded on the information recording medium. The temporary lead-out can prevent a pickup (recording/reproducing head) from unnecessarily moving to an unrecorded area and protect its optical system. The temporary lead-out needs to be of large size to some extent, because it relates to the physical operation of the device.
The temporary lead-out begins its recording at the final address in the outer radial area where the background formatting or user data recording has been completed. As for an information recording medium on which the temporary lead-out is recorded, it is possible to resume formatting from the temporary lead-out starting position at a user's request.
As mentioned above, in the conventional information recording/reproducing devices, it is possible for a user to record and reproduce data at any area during the background formatting. And it is also possible for a user to remove the disk during the background formatting. When removing the disk from the drive before completing the background formatting process, if a temporary lead-out is recorded before removing, then the disk becomes readable by conventional CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drives. The temporary lead-out is recorded following the background formatted area or data recorded area at the user's request.
However, recording such a lead-out takes a long time and consumes a large data area. And it is understood that compatibility with various CD/DVD players, recorders or other information recording/reproducing devices available in the market-place depends on the length of the lead-out. Consideration of the above situation has resulted in the present invention.

Information recording/reproducing device and a method of recording a lead-out


A novel antifouling paint composition is disclosed. The antifouling paint composition comprises a resin of 5 to 20 wt %, a solvent of 3 to 30 wt %; a polyhexamethyleneguanidine salt of the following chemical formula 1 of 0.05 to 20 wt %, a pigment of 1 to 50 wt %; and cuprous oxide of 22 to 75 wt % and/or zinc pyrithione of the following chemical formula 2 of 0.05 to 20 wt %;

A lot of oceanic life, such as blue mussels, common turtle limpets, mosses, diatoms, oysters, pearl oysters, poriferans, turban shells, sea lettuces, sea squirts, and so on, live in the seawater, and the oceanic life conglutinate on undersea equipments, ships, life belts, harbor facilities, nurseries, fishing nets, and so on, which damages the sea equipments. Particularly, if the oceanic life conglutinate on the bottom of ship, the surface of ship becomes coarse, and requires frequent repair works. In addition, when the surface of ship becomes coarse by 0.01 mm, the fuel consumption of the ship increases by 0.3˜1.0%. This may cause a more serious problem for a large vessel, in which 50% of the vessel operating costs is the fuel expenses.
To prevent such fouling of the sea equipments, an antifouling paint composition prepared by mixing a rosin, a plasticizer, and an antifouling agent with vinyl chloride resin or vinyl resin is conventionally used. However, the conventional antifouling paint composition also induces the seawater contamination because the composition includes mercury or organic tin compound as the antifouling agent. As other antifouling paint composition, U.S. Pat. No. 4,191,579 and British Patent No. 1,457,590 disclose a self-polishing antifouling paint composition in which an organic tin compound such as tributyl tin oxide binds to an unsaturated monomer such as acrylic acid or methacrylic acid to form an ester linkage therebetween. Due to the ester linkage, the antifouling paint composition is slowly hydrolyzed in seawater, and the organic tin compound is slowly released from the antifouling paint composition. The carboxylic group produced by releasing the organic tin compound forms a salt, which makes the antifouling paint to be water-soluble and to be swelled. Thereby, the surface of the antifouling paint is scaled off to reveal a new surface. Such antifouling paint composition is most commonly used for antifouling of the seawater equipments. However, the organic tin compound continuously released from the antifouling paint has a non-target toxicity, which not only induces the seawater contamination, but also destroys the ecosystem. Therefore, it is required to develop a new antifouling paint composition which is effective in preventing the fouling of the seawater equipment induced by the various oceanic life and microorganism, and does not have drawbacks in environmental and hygienic aspects.

Abstract: wherein in chemical formula 1, X can be the same or different, and at least one of X is an inorganic acid salt or an organic acid salt; R1 can be the same or different, and is a linear or branched alkyl group containing from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, a phenyl group, a chlorophenyl group, a bromophenyl group, an iodophenyl group, a benzyl group, a chlorobenzyl group, a bromobenzyl group, a iodobenzyl group, a phenethyl group, a naphthyl group or a hydrogen; and n is an integer of 1 or more.


A vehicle includes a body defining a vehicle interior, doors attached to the body and providing access to the vehicle interior, windows, sensors, and a controller. The windows are disposed in a respective one of the doors, and each includes a window actuator. The sensors include a speed sensor operable for determining a speed of the vehicle and position sensors each operable for detecting a position of a respective one of the windows. The controller programmed to execute a method by receiving input signals from the set of sensors, including the speed of the vehicle and the detected position from each of the position sensors, and transmitting a control signal to at least one of the window actuators to cause one of the windows to move to a predetermined partially-opened position above a calibrated threshold vehicle speed. This action automatically mitigates effects of wind buffeting in the vehicle interior.

Air resistance produces drag forces on an automotive vehicle body. The drag forces become more pronounced at higher vehicle speeds. Automotive vehicle bodies and externally-attached components such as side mirrors are therefore typically designed with an aerodynamic shape to help maximize fuel economy and provide a desired level of vehicle acceleration and handling. However, regardless of how aerodynamic the design might be, the smooth laminar airflow passing over and around a moving vehicle body is disrupted when the front or rear windows of the vehicle are opened. The disrupted airflow may be perceived by an occupant of a vehicle interior as pulsations of air pressure, i.e., wind buffeting.

Automatic mitigation of vehicle wind buffeting


A new variety of hybrid lily plant bearings large upfacing to outfacing flowers of excellent form and long persistence, both on the plant and as cut-flowers. The flowers of the new hybrid are particularly characterized by their large size and substance, their "open bell" form, their yellow coloration, and their fragrance. This combination is completely new in the Longiflorum hybrid divisions of lilies suited to forcing and to mass commercial cultivation. The variety of highly resistant to fusarium disease and shows tolerance of virus. The bulbs may be precooled and forced for cut-flower production. The clone is vigorous and is a good grower and propagator.

My new variety of lily plant originated as a seedling which first flowered in 1988 in Boring, Ore. The breeding efforts had as their objective the production of colored, fragrant hybrids between Lilium longiflorum (the Easter lily) and Asiatic lilies, suited to forcing into flower out of season, heretofore unknown in the lily breeding art.
I achieved the desired objective by intercrossing a slightly fertile embryo-cultured seedling from (Lithium longiflorum `Ace`.times.`Sterling Star`) with `Connecticut King.` The seed parent was the diploid form of the Dutch cultivar `Longistar` (unpatented), which had limited commercial distribution in the Netherlands and the United States. This cultivar does not normally produce fertile seed; it can be used in breeding only if its embryos are artificially cultured. The pollen parent, `Connecticut King,` although unpatented, has been extensively cultivated as a commercial cut-flower variety in the United States and the Netherlands. The embryo that produced `Yellow Fashion` was artificially cultured as well.
The flowers of my new lily are characterized by an very large, fragrant, yellow upfacing to slightly outfacing flowers with an "open bell" form with slightly clawed tepals, quite narrow at the base and broadest just below the midpoint of the bud and flower, and with tepal tips flattening but recurving only slightly. This unique flower form is intermediate between the trumpet-form of Lilium longiflorum and the "flat-faced" Asiatic hybrid form with conspicuously recurved tepal tips. The new clone possesses unusually strong, stout stems. In addition, the clone possesses to a high degree desirable characteristics of hybrid vigor. The clone is a good grower and propagator, as observed at Boring, Ore.
My new variety of lily plant has been asexually reproduced by me and under my direction at Boring, Ore. Successive generations produced by natural propagation from bulblets, by bulb scale propagation, and by tissue culturing from bulb scale explants have demonstrated that the novel and distinctive characteristics of my new variety are fixed and hold true under asexual propagation from generation to generation.


A method for detecting back-drilled holes in a PCB and a PCB panel are provided. The method comprises: forming, on a metal layer of a first inner layer of a multi-layer PCB, metal rings according to positions of the back-drilled holes during a process of forming the PCB, wherein each of the formed metal rings has an outer diameter greater than an aperture of each of the back-drilled holes; forming, at positions corresponding to the positions of the back-drilled holes, metal holes extending through an outer layer of the PCB and the formed metal rings; forming two first detection holes electrically connected with the formed metal rings; forming the back-drilling holes on the PCB, which extend through and expand the metal holes; and detecting an electrical conduction between the two first detection holes so as to determine whether a position offset exists between the back-drilled holes and the metal holes.

With the multi-functionalized, miniaturized and high-performance development of electronic products, the PCB is required to be developed with a higher level, a higher density and higher signal integrity. As such, to have the higher level and higher density, it requires that the PCB should be drilled in very high accuracy. Further, to have the higher signal integrity, it is necessary to reduce sources of signal noise as little as possible.
Currently, the signal integrity, especially, the integrity of high-frequency (HF) signal, is improved by back-drilling the PCB. The back-drilling removes extra metal from a metal hole in the PCB so as to reduce signal reflection caused by the extra metal and thus reduce the signal noise. In order to remove extra metal from the metal hole, a back-drilled hole must have an aperture greater than an outer diameter of the metal hole in the PCB. While removing the extra metal from the metal hole, it is further necessary to prevent damage to metal patterns around the metal hole for transmitting signal.
In related technologies, an alignment between the back-drilled hole and the metal hole in the PCB is detected by a way of slicing. In this way, the PCB under the detection may be scrapped, and the detecting cost is relatively high.

PCB back drill detection method and PCB plating

ZHUHAI FOUNDER TECH HI-DENSITY ELECTRONIC CO LTD.

PEKING UNIVERSITY FOUNDER GROUP CO., LTD.


The invention comprises a real-time stroboscopic acquisition protocol for a measurement of the fluorescence decay and a method and apparatus for real-time calculation of the fluorescence lifetime from that measurement.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to real-time measurement and calculation of a fluorescence lifetime.
2. Description of Related Art
Fluorescence lifetime measurement has become a significant analytical tool with clinical applications (U.S. Pat. No. 7,127,282), research applications (U.S. Pat. No. 7,183,066), and process control applications (U.S. Pat. No. 6,890,485). In all of these applications changes in the analyte are detected as changes in the measured fluorescence lifetime.
Three types of experimental methods are used in measuring fluorescent lifetimes; time correlated single photon counting, multi-phase measurement, and the stroboscopic method. (Lakowicz 1991). All of these methods can output a fluorescence decay curve. That curve is a convolution of the instrumental response function and the analyte fluorescence decay. U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,219 provides details of the stroboscopic measurement method.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,855,930, "Method and apparatus for improved time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy" is typical of the state of the art for calculating the fluorescence lifetime from the fluorescence decay curve. This method uses convolution/deconvolution with least squares minimization. In practice, the method requires acquiring many time points on the fluorescence decay curve and performing minutes of calculation to calculate a lifetime.

Method and apparatus for real-time measurement and calculation of a fluorescent lifetime