Compositions of radiolabeled nucleic acids and methods for synthesis and use thereof are disclosed.

Oligonucleotides and polynucleotides are of interest for development of new products for diagnostics, imaging and therapy, due to their ability to hybridize specifically to oligonucleotides of complementary sequence. This property of single-stranded oligomers (i.e., to locate the complementary sequence and form a double-stranded molecule or a complex as a third strand) can be used to advantage in radiopharmaceutical development. For example, oligon, leotide DNAs are currently under investigation for antisense applications (Uhlmann E., Peyman A., Chem. Rev., 90: 543-584; 1990; and Dewanjee M. K., Diagn. Oncol., 3: 189-208, 1993.). If radiolabeled, these oligonucleotides may usefully deliver radioactivity to targeted cells or tissues. Recently, c-myc oncogene mRNA was targeted in mice with a radiolabeled antisense probe (Dewanjee M. K., Ghafouripour A. K., Kapakvanjwala M., Dewanjee S, Serafini A N, Lopez D M, Sfakinakis G N. J. Nucl. Med., 35: 1054-1063, 1994). Other possible applications include methods of radiolabeling large molecules by hybridization, pretargeting approaches based on oligonucleotides (Kuijpers W H A, Bos E S, Kaspersen F M, Veeneman G H, van Boeckel CAA., Bioconj. Chem., 4: 94-102; 1993) and the amplification of radioactivity within a tumor or other lesion by sequential administration of complementary DNAs (Hnatowich D. J., Winnard P. Jr., Virzi F. Fogarasi M., Sano T, Smith C L, Cantor C R, Rusckowski M., Proceedings, Fifth Conference on Radioimmunodetection and Radioimmunotherapy of Cancer, Princeton N.J., 1994).
Methods for labeling medically important macromolecules with metal radionuclides have been developed, but they have not yet proved generally useful because of limitations in various aspects of their use. The practitioner chooses a particular protein or nucleic acid on the basis of its properties of affinity for a particular target in a biological system, and this affinity is the basis for that molecule's potential as a therapeutic or diagnostic composition. The labeling method must preserve the native structure of that molecule to assure that the binding function is not substantially reduced. Further, the potential use is enhanced if the radionuclide as supplied to the macromolecule is not substantially further transferred to miscellaneous cells or serum proteins, causing diminishment of radioactivity delivered to a target site, and increased non-specific background radiation. The ability to retain the radiolabel is a function of several factors, including the stability of the macromolecule to endogenous enzymes, possible chemical compromise to its structural integrity following the labeling procedure, and the nature of the chemical bond between the macromolecule and the radiolabel.
Proteins have been labeled with technetium-99m (.sup.99m Tc) using the hydrazino nicotinamide (SHNH) chelator (Abrams M. J., Juweid M., tenKate C. I., Schwartz D. A., Hauser M. M., Gaul F. E., Fuccello A. J., Rubin R. H., Strauss H. W., Fischman A. J, J. Nucl. Med., 31: 2022-2028, 1990) and the label found to be stable in vitro and in vivo (Hnatowich D. J., Mardirossian G., Ruscowski M., Fogarasi M, Virzi F, Winnard P Jr., J. Nucl. Med., 34; 109-119, 1993). The SHNH chelator was initially used for oligonucleotides, however, transfer of label nonspecifically to proteins from oligonucleotides labeled in this manner was observed. The identical oligonucleotide; radiolabeled with .sup.111 In using the chelator diethylenetriamine-pentaacetic acid (DTPA) showed no tendency to bind to serum proteins under circumstances in which the .sup.99m Tc-SHNH-labeled oligonucleotide was largely protein bound (Hnatowich D. J., Winnard P. Jr., Virzi F, Fogarasi M, Sano T, Smith C L, Cantor C R, Rusckowski M., J. Nucl. Med., 36: 2306-2314, 1995). This nonspecific protein binding can be attributed to use of the SHNH chelator for coupling the nucleic acid to .sup.99m Tc.
The N-[N-[N-[(benzoylthio)acetyl]glycyl]glycyl]glycine (MAG.sub.3) chelator of .sup.99m Tc was originally developed as an alternative to radiolabeled hippuran for renal function studies (Fritzberg A R., Kasina S., Eshima D., Johnson D. L., J. Nucl. Med., 27: 111-116; 1986). This succinimide ester mercapto-acetyl tripeptide is protected against disulfide-bond formation by a benzoyl group, which must be heated to 100.degree. C. for 10 min during labeling to remove the protecting group. This benzoyl-protected chelator has also been used to radiolabel antibodies with .sup.99m Tc (Fritzberg A. R., Berninger R. W., Hadley S. W. et al., Pharmaceutical Res., 5: 325-334; 1988) and radiorhenium (Goldrosen M H., Biddle W C., Pancook S. Bakshi S., Vanderheyden J-L., Fritzberg A. R., Morgan A. C., Foon K. A., Cancer Res., 50: 7973-7978; 1990). However, past use of the chelator for protein labeling has been limited since the benzoyl protecting group requires extreme alkaline pH or boiling temperatures for sulfur deprotection. The MAG.sub.3 chelator has also been used to label antibodies by post-conjugation methods through the use of an isophthaloyl group for protection in place of the benzoyl group (Weber R. W., Boutin R. H., Nedelman M. A., Lister-James J., Dean R. D., Bioconjug. Chem 1:431-437, 1990). However, in addition to a complicated synthesis, this approach requires an additional step (deprotection) and the immediate labeling of the deprotected-conjugated antibody before disulfide bond formation can occur in solution. Accordingly, this chelator has been radiolabeled prior to conjugation (i.e. preconjugation labeling) with macromolecular polymers such as proteins or polypeptides, which cannot withstand harsh conditions. Preconjugation labeling can be a complex procedure with multiple intermediate purification steps. More importantly from the point of view of application of radionuclide-labeled macromolecules for diagnostics, imaging and therapeutics, preconjugation labeling limits the usefulness of the product: the preconjugation radionuclide-chelator complex has a short half-life, cannot be transported without necessary precautions for radioactivity, and exposes end-users to radioactivity during a number of complex synthetic steps, all required prior to end use with samples or patients.

Chelator compositions and methods of synthesis thereof


In a directional control valve device, a first passage connects a second port with a first port by using a part of a movement path of a moving valve element when the moving valve element is in a position of a first end. A second passage connects the second port with the third port by using an internal passage of the moving valve element when the moving valve element is in a second end. The moving valve element is provided with a first check valve for permitting a flow in the internal passage only in the direction from the third port to the second port. When a fluid pressure is applied to the third port, the fluid pressure presses the moving valve element toward the second end so that the first passage is closed, and the first check valve is opened to open the second passage.

Conventionally, a hydraulic cylinder is used for mold clamping in a press machine or the like. For efficient production, the mold clamping is usually performed by moving a die at high speed until the die abuts a work and then pressing the die against the work with high power. A hydraulic cylinder that is used for such a press machine needs a relatively small power for moving the die but needs a high power for pressing the die. Therefore, different hydraulic cylinders may be disposed individually for moving the die and for pressing the die. Alternatively, a ram having a small area for receiving a pressure for moving the die may be embedded in a rod so that the die can be moved at high speed.
In either case, it is necessary to supply hydraulic oil directly from a tank for compensating increase of capacity of cylinder chamber for pressing when moving the die at high speed, while it is necessary to prevent the hydraulic oil for pressing from leaking into the tank when pressing the die. In addition, it is necessary to permit a large quantity of oil in the cylinder chamber for pressing to be discharged into the tank when returning the die from a clamping position to a waiting position.
In order to satisfy these requirements, if different hydraulic cylinders are disposed for moving the die and for pressing the die individually, there is proposed a hydraulic cylinder device 8 utilizing a profile valve 81 that can obtain a large quantity of flow with little pressure drop as shown in FIG. 10, for example (non-patent document 1).
Furthermore, the applicant has proposed and disclosed a fluid pressure cylinder device that can perform both high speed drive and high power drive by one fluid pressure cylinder (patent document 1).
This fluid pressure cylinder device includes a fluid pressure cylinder, a reciprocating pump having two supply and discharge ports for supplying and discharging hydraulic fluid for driving the fluid pressure cylinder in a reciprocating manner and a motor for rotating the reciprocating pump selectively in a forward or a backward direction. The fluid pressure cylinder includes a cylinder tube, a piston that slides inside the cylinder tube, covers for closing both end faces of the cylinder tube and a rod that is connected to the piston and pass through one of the covers. A forward side cylinder chamber of the fluid pressure cylinder is divided into a high speed cylinder chamber having the same effective area for receiving pressure as a backward side cylinder chamber that is a cylinder chamber on a backward side and a high power cylinder chamber having a remaining effective area for receiving pressure. Furthermore, there is provided a valve for switching so that the hydraulic fluid supplied from the reciprocating pump is selectively supplied to the high power cylinder chamber.
[Non-patent document 1] http://www.yuken.co.jp/japanese/pdf/E407.pdf
[Patent document 1] Japanese unexamined patent publication No. 2002-147404

Directional control valve device and fluid pressure cylinder device


A system and method of duplicating CV mode of operation with a CC power includes a wire feeder designed to automatically adjust the speed of which consumable wire is delivered to a weld so as to maintain a target voltage set by a user. The wire feeder is designed to be operational on a CC power source yet automatically adjust the WFS so that a user-selected target voltage is maintained at the weld. A controller within the wire feeder is programmed to read an input from the user to the wire feeder identifying a target voltage and control the speed by which a drive assembly delivers metal filler to the weld based on the target voltage. By automatically adjusting the WFS, the user is not required to manually adjust the WFS to maintain the target voltage at the weld.

The present invention relates generally to welding systems and, more particularly, to a wire feeder connected to a constant current (CC) power source and designed to automatically adjust the speed by which consumable welding wire is delivered to a weld so as to maintain a target voltage at the weld.
Wire feeders are typically used to feed metal wire into a weld during a welding process such as Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) and other welding processes. Typical wire feeders have a drive roller assembly for driving the metal feed from a feed spindle through a welding gun for introduction to the weld. Power is supplied to the drive roller assembly by a welding power supply via a weld cable. The amperage or current generated by the power supply governs the speed in which the metal feed is fed to the weld, or the wire feed speed (WFS). Generally, the higher the amperage supplied to the wire feeder, the greater the WFS. Conversely, if voltage is used to govern the WFS, the lower the voltage, the higher the WFS. Accordingly, the speed by which the wire feeder supplies the filler metal to the weld is a direct function of the power delivered to the wire feeder and therefore, the weld. The thickness of the metal being welded determines the power required at the weld and thus the WFS necessary to deliver that power. A thicker metal requires higher power to effectively weld.
Typically, power sources, which may be designed to supply power to the wire feeder, have been constructed to operate in either a constant current (CC) mode or a constant voltage (CV) mode. For those welding applications that require a constant current input to the wire feeder, the wire feeder is connected to a CC power source. Conversely, for those welding applications that require a constant voltage at a weld, the wire feeder is connected to a CV power source. For CC mode of operation, the user is able to adjust the speed by which metal filler or consumable electrode is delivered to a weld so as to maintain a desired voltage at the weld. Conversely, for a CV mode of operation, the user may adjust the wire feed speed to maintain a target current level at the weld. Wire feed speed (WFS) and voltage at the weld are inversely related therefore to increase the arc voltage at the weld, the WFS must be decreased and to lower the voltage at the weld, the WFS must be increased. In contrast, WFS and current are directly related and, as such, an increase in WFS will cause an increase in current and vice versa.
For most GMAW welding applications, it is necessary that the wire feeder be connected to a CV power source. For example, short circuit transfer is a welding application that is characterized by a less than 21 volt arc voltage. With a CV power source, the user is able to set a desired target voltage that may be less than 21 volts and adjust the speed by which wire is delivered to the weld to control output current. Accordingly, the user may increase output current by increasing WFS while the voltage at the weld is held at the target level by the CV power source. In contrast, CC power sources are typically not usable for short circuit transfer applications.
CC power sources are designed to maintain a constant output current level. The user inputs a desired target current level on the power source and the operational circuitry of the power source operates to maintain an output current level. The user may then adjust the WFS to regulate a voltage at the weld. To increase the voltage at the weld, the WFS is decreased. To decrease the voltage, the WFS is increased. If the weld is underpowered, the weld will be insufficient to adequately join the materials being welded. On the other hand, if the weld is overpowered, it is possible to "burn through" the materials being welded. As such, the user must proactively monitor the weld and adjust the WFS accordingly.
Typically, however, the wire feeder will control the WFS within a limited range of values. As a result, when the wire feeder is operating on a CC power source, the user may be unable to get a desired voltage level at the weld. For instance, for short circuit transfer applications, an arc voltage of less than 21 volts is generally required. However, achieving an arc voltage of less than 21 volts may not be possible given the constant current level being maintained by the power source. That is, at the current level selected by the user, additional power may be needed at the weld to sufficiently fuse the materials. To increase the power at the weld, the user will decrement the WFS to increase the arc voltage. Because the wire feeder has a limited range of acceptable WFS values, it may not be possible for the user to decrement the WFS to a level needed to adequately increase the arc voltage. As a result, the weld is underpowered and the materials may not be properly fused. Similarly, to prevent "burn through" the user may seek to increase the WFS to drive the voltage downward to a level that is not permitted by the wire feeder.
Therefore, to carry out a particular short circuit transfer application, a CV power source may be required which increases equipment costs and accentuates the under-utilization of the CC power source. Additionally, multiple power sources increases the costs associated with maintenance as well as storage.
It would therefore be desirable to have a system and method capable of duplicating CV mode of operation with a CC power source.

Voltage regulated MIG welding using a constant current power source


In one embodiment of the invention, a display is provided. The display includes a light-emitting system including a plurality of light-emitting units, wherein each light-emitting unit emits light independently, a lens array including a plurality of lenses disposed on the light-emitting system, and a first liquid crystal display cell including a plurality of pixels disposed on the lens array, wherein the number of the light-emitting units of the light-emitting system is larger than that of the pixels of the first liquid crystal display cell.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a display, and in particular to a multi-view and multi-user display.
2. Description of the Related Art
With development of era and technological progress, human beings spare no effort to peruse more real image all the time; display of stereoscopic image. By parallax of human beings' two eyes, a stereoscopic display provides different images to the left and right eyes of a viewer through various technologies. Such images are then composed to produce a stereoscopic image by the brain.
Current stereoscopic image displaying technologies are spatial form technologies, in general, in addition to wearing glasses. However, the screen resolution of this form will be decreased. Additionally, conventional stereoscopic image display can only be viewed by a single viewer and it is difficult for more than one viewer to simultaneously view the display due to the limitation of the light-emitting direction of conventional backlight system.


A ceramic monoblock filter including a direct signal path defined by at least four spaced-apart through-hole resonators in combination with ground bars extending between the through-hole resonators and a separate quadruplet cross-coupling alternate signal path defined by two conductive pads located adjacent the first and fourth ones of the through-hole resonators respectively and a separate external bridge member which interconnects and couples the two pads. The bridge member is preferably made of a material having a lower dielectric constant than the block of the filter. In one embodiment, the filter is a monoblock duplexer filter comprising respective transmit and receive sections each including at least four of the through-hole resonators, the ground bars, the two pads, and the bridge member. In the duplexer embodiment, additional through-hole resonators may define shunt zeros.

Ceramic dielectric block filters offer several advantages over air-dielectric cavity filters. The blocks are relatively easy to manufacture, rugged, and relatively compact. In the basic ceramic block filter design, resonators are formed by cylindrical passages called through-holes which extend between opposed top and bottom surfaces of the block. The block is substantially plated with a conductive material (i.e., metallized) on all but one of its six (outer) sides and on the interior walls of the resonator through-holes.
The top surface is not fully metallized but instead bears a metallization pattern designed to couple input and output signals through the series of resonators. In some designs, the pattern may extend to the sides of the block, where input/output electrodes are formed.
The reactive coupling between adjacent resonators is dictated, at least to some extent, by the physical dimensions of each resonator, by the orientation of each resonator with respect to the other resonators, and by aspects of the top surface metallization pattern. These filters may also be equipped with an external metallic shield attached to and positioned across the open-circuited end of the block in order to minimize parasitic coupling between non-adjacent resonators and to achieve acceptable stopbands.
Although such RF signal filters have received widespread commercial acceptance since the 1970s, efforts at improvement on this basic design have continued to the present.
One such improvement has been the use of what is commonly referred to in the art as "capacitive cross-coupling" to increase the attenuation characteristics of a filter at frequencies below the passband thereof. An example of a filter incorporating a triplet capacitive cross-coupling design is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,559,735 to Vangala et al. in the form of a linear bypass electrode printed onto the top surface of the filter. This triplet cross-coupling design, however, cannot be used to place zeros to increase attenuation at frequencies above the passband of a ceramic monoblock filter inasmuch as the cross-coupling needs to be inductive (see, for example, "Cross-coupling in Microwave Bandpass Filters", Microwave Journal, November 2004) and thus does not lend itself to practical implementation.
Moreover, in the triplet cross-coupling design of U.S. Pat. No. 6,559,735 increased attenuation below the passband is accomplished at the expense of attenuation above the passband. Although such skewed filter response is adequate for the consumer handset-related applications, it is not adequate for the cellular infrastructure base station-related applications where a more symmetrical response is desirable.
Still further, the cross-coupling triplet design precludes the use of ground-bars or notches between adjacent resonators, i.e., a feature which allows not only fine adjustments to inter-resonator coupling, as explained in U.S. Pat. No. 4,692,726 to Green et al., but also improves the overall out-of-band attenuation level by providing inductive coupling between resonators.
Therefore, the need continues for an improved RF filter which can offer improved attenuation on both the low and high sides of the passband while also making the filter response more symmetrical without increasing the filter size or cost of manufacturing. The present invention meets these and other needs.

Ceramic monoblock filter with inductive direct-coupling and quadruplet cross-coupling


An improved laryngoscope of the type having a handle for grasping and a blade being rigid and extending from the handle for inserting into the mouth of a patient during use. The improvement includes the blade being so shaped for contacting, supporting, and displacement of the bottom of the mouth of the patient and not bearing on the lower teeth of the patient so as to avoid damage to the lower teeth of the patient during use and so as to allow the lower jaw of the patient to be opened during use and being so shaped for contacting the front of the lower jaw of the patient so as to allow the lower jaw of the patient to be thrust forwardly during use.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the class of surgery. More particularly, the present invention relates to the subclass of laryngoscopes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the course of providing patient care, particularly of an emergency nature, it is frequently necessary or desirable to visualize a portion of the mouth, the pharynx, and the larynx of a patient. Most commonly this is done for the purpose of inserting a tube through the glottis, a procedure called endotracheal intubation. In general, instruments known as laryngoscopes are widely known and used for endotracheal intubation.
The configuration of a typical prior art laryngoscope 10 can best be seen in FIG. 1, which is a diagrammatic side elevational view of a typical prior art laryngoscope in use, and as such, will be discussed with reference thereto.
The laryngoscope 10 includes two basic parts, a handle 12 and a blade 14. The handle 12 allows for grasping and the blade 14 is rigid and attached to, and extends from, the handle 12. The blade 14 is for inserting into the mouth 16 of a patient 18 to allow viewing of a portion of the mouth 16, the pharynx, and the larynx of the patient 18, who is in the so-called sniffer position, and depresses the tongue 20 and mandible in order to prevent the tongue 20 of the patient 18 from obstructing the view during examination.
One of the most common complaints of laryngoscopy, however, is damage to the teeth of the patient. Not only may there be cosmetic disfigurement, discomfort, and extensive restorative dentistry, but if the patient aspirates a dislodged tooth or fragment, there may be grave pulmonary complications.
A healthy tooth may be chipped, broken, or loosened, and a loose tooth may be avulsed. The incisors are most often injured and occasionally the canines are also.
Thus, there is a need for a laryngoscope that avoids damage to the teeth of a patient during use.
Numerous innovations for laryngoscopes have been provided in the prior art that will be described. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they differ from the present invention in that they do not teach a laryngoscope whose blade is so shaped for being supported by, and contacting, the bottom of the mouth of the patient and not the lower teeth of the patient so as to avoid damage to the lower teeth of the patient during use and so as to allow the lower jaw of the patient to be opened during use and being so shaped for contacting the front of the lower jaw of the patient so as to allow the lower jaw of the patient to be thrust forwardly during use.
FOR EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 410,286 to Tamirisa teaches the ornamental design for an intubating malleable fiberoptic laryngoscope.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 413,977 to Cranton et al. teaches the ornamental design for a laryngoscope blade.
STILL ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,565,187 to Soloway teaches a laryngoscope that consists of a plastic disposable blade that has a hollow sleeve. The blade is removably attached to either a handle or adapter. The handle or adapter has a light emitting tube that enters the hollow sleeve so that a larynx can be illuminated. The handle and adapter can be adjustable so that various angle arrangements can be formed by the blade with respect to the handle.
YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,574,784 to Soloway teaches a laryngoscope that consists of an angle adjustable adapter connected between a handle and a blade or the handle itself being angle adjustable so that various angle arrangements can be formed by the blade with respect to the handle. The laryngoscope permits interchangeability between conventional and fiber-optic lighting systems of which the components thereof assemble to form a complete mixed system.
STILL YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,896 to Bartlett teaches a laryngoscope that has a blade and a removably attached handle, which can be fixed to the blade at a desired angle. The blade has a predetermined cross-section defining a plurality of channels, including a viewing channel and a plurality of service channels. The blade also supports twin halogen lights which project light down opposing axial sides of the blade structure. Electric wires run in the service channels between the lights and batteries received in the handle. An adjustable position suction tube is entrained in the blade in another service channel, with an adjustment actuator supported on the handle. A roughened surface is formed in a tongue contact area of the blade to enhance frictional engagement of the patient""s tongue.
YET STILL ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,835 to Filli teaches an adjustable sliding laryngoscope including a blade portion including an adjustably attached spatula portion. The spatula is designed to be used as a tongue depresser to facilitate inspection of the pharynx and larynx or the insertion of anesthetic breathing tubes. The adjustable connection between the spatula portion and other portions of the blade portion is such that the length of the spatula may be adjusted to adjust for differing patient oral characteristics.
STILL YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,941 to Roberts teaches a laryngoscope for use in endotracheal intubation wherein the blade is adjustable between a straight surface and a curved surface.
YET STILL ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,827,178 to Berall teaches a laryngoscope, for use in intubating a patient""s trachea, especially in emergency situations. The laryngoscope has a camera mounted in the vicinity of a distal end of its blade to observe the patient""s trachea opening and other oral internal structures in a visual field. The camera is connected, typically via a fiberoptic cable, to a lightweight portable television screen, preferably mounted on the laryngoscope handle, for displaying the visual field to a Professional Intubator so as to enable him or her to observe continuously the trachea opening and other oral internal structures as he or she manipulates the intubating instrument. The laryngoscope with the camera and screen thereon preferably is held in one of the Professional Intubator""s hands to lift and move aside the patient""s tongue steadily and constantly. The other hand of the Professional Intubator then is free to manipulate the intubating instrument. Mounting the camera and the screen on the laryngoscope, which remains quite steady, provides the Professional Intubator with a continuous steady display of the trachea opening and other oral internal structures on the screen while the Professional Intubator also sees directly down the patient""s mouth.
It is apparent that numerous innovations for laryngoscopes have been provided in the prior art that are adapted to be used. Furthermore, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described, since they do not teach a laryngoscope whose blade is so shaped for being supported by, and contacting, the bottom of the mouth of the patient and not the lower teeth of the patient so as to avoid damage to the lower teeth of the patient during use and so as to allow the lower jaw of the patient to be opened during use and being so shaped for contacting the front of the lower jaw of the patient so as to allow the lower jaw of the patient to be thrust forwardly during use.
ACCORDINGLY, AN OBJECT of the present invention is to provide a laryngoscope that avoids the disadvantages of the prior art.
ANOTHER OBJECT of the present invention is to provide a laryngoscope that maintains the lower jaw of the patient in an open and stable position making it easier for the physician to see the patient""s epiglottic opening.
STILL ANOTHER OBJECT of the present invention is to provide a laryngoscope that improves control of the patient""s tongue so that it does not obstruct the physician""s view of the patient""s epiglottic opening.
BRIEFLY STATED, YET ANOTHER OBJECT of the present invention is to provide an improved laryngoscope of the type having a handle for grasping and a blade extending from the handle for inserting into. the mouth of the patient. The improvement includes the blade being so shaped for contacting, supporting, and displacement of the bottom of the mouth of the patient and not bearing on the lower teeth of the patient so as to avoid damage to the lower teeth of the patient during use and so as to allow the lower jaw of the patient to be opened during use and being so shaped for contacting the front of the lower jaw of the patient so as to allow the lower jaw of the patient to be thrust forwardly during use. The blade has a first portion that extends from the handle in a concave configuration relative to, and for receiving but clearing and not being supported by, the lower teeth of the patient during use. The blade further has a second portion that extends upwardly from the first portion in a convex configuration relative to, and for contacting, the front of the lower jaw of the patient so as to allow the lower jaw of the patient to be thrust forwardly during use. The blade further has a third portion that extends outwardly from the second portion in a convex configuration relative to, and for contacting and being supported by, the bottom of the mouth of the patient so as to allow the lower jaw of the patient to be opened during use.
The novel features which are considered characteristic of the present invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of the specific embodiments when read and understood in connection with the accompanying drawing.


Various embodiments provide an ion source device and a method for providing the ion source. An exemplary ion source device can include an arc chamber, a filament, a reflector, a slit outlet, a source gas inlet, and/or a cleaning gas inlet. The filament can be configured to generate thermo-electrons in the arc chamber. The reflector can be configured to reflect the thermo-electrons back to the arc chamber. The slit outlet can be configured to exit a gaseous material out of the arc chamber. The source gas inlet and the cleaning gas inlet can be located on a same sidewall of the arc chamber configured to respectively introduce an ion source gas and an inert cleaning gas into the arc chamber.

Ion implantation is a technique in semiconductor technology that is used for selectively implanting an impurity material into a semiconductor material. In ion implantation process, the impurity material is ionized in an ionization chamber. The ions are accelerated to form an ion beam with a preset energy. The ion beam bombards the surface of a wafer and enters the wafer to reach a depth associated with the energy.
An ion implanter usually transforms a gas-state or solid-state impurity material into a plasma in an arc chamber. The plasma is then guided out of the arc chamber to form an ion beam. The ion beam may undergo quality analysis to eliminate unwanted ion species and may be accelerated to have a preset energy and then be introduced to the surface of a wafer.
FIG. 1 depicts a cross-sectional view of an ion source of an existing ion implanter. The ion source includes: an arc chamber 100; a reflector 102, a filament 103, and a source gas inlet 104. The filament 103 is located on the sidewall of the arc chamber 100. When connected to a power supply, the filament 103 heats up to generate thermo-electrons. The reflector 102 is located on sidewall opposite to the filament 103. The reflector 102, when connected to a power supply, is used to reflect the thermo-electrons generated by the filament 103 in order to prevent the thermo-electrons from being lost through the body of the arc chamber 100. The source gas inlet 104 is located at the bottom of the arc chamber 100, for passing an ion source gas into the arc chamber 100. The ion source gas is ionized into a plasma by colliding with the thermo-electrons generated by the filament 103. The plasma is then guided out of the arc chamber 100 through an outlet slit 101 at the top of the arc chamber 100.
When the ion source generates the plasma, associated by-products or impurity particles are formed in the arc chamber 100 and adhered to the inner surface of the arc chamber 100. A layer of conductive film is formed on the inner surface of the arc chamber 100. The layer of conductive film may also be formed on the filament 103 and the reflector 102. The conductive film tends to cause short-circuit of the filament 103. In addition, the conductive film can be easily fallen off from the inner surface of the arc chamber 100. When the conductive film falls on or near the filament 103, the stability of the filament 103 is affected. The service life of the implanter is significantly reduced.

Ion source device and method for providing ion source

SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING INTERNATIONAL (SHANGHAI) CORPORATION


Provided is a copper foil for a printed wiring board including a roughened layer on at least one surface thereof. In the roughened layer, the average diameter D1 at the particle bottom being apart from the bottom of each particle by 10% of the particle length is 0.2 to 1.0 μm, and the ratio L1/D1 of the particle length L1 to the average diameter D1 at the particle bottom is 15 or less. In the copper foil for printed wiring board, when a copper foil for printed wiring having a roughened layer is laminated to a resin and then the copper layer is removed by etching, the sum of areas of holes accounting for the resin roughened surface having unevenness is 20% or more. The present invention involves the development of a copper foil for a semiconductor package substrate that can avoid circuit erosion without causing deterioration in other properties of the copper foil. In particular, an object of the present invention is to provide a copper foil for a printed wiring board and a method of producing the copper foil, in which the adhesion strength between the copper foil and the resin can be enhanced by improvement of the roughened layer of the copper foil.

A printed wiring board is generally produced by attaching an insulating substrate to a copper foil to form a copper clad laminate and then forming a conductor pattern on the copper foil surface by etching. Component mounting density and signal frequency have been increased, with the reduction in size and increase in need of high performance of recent electronic devices, and printed wiring boards have been required to have highly fine (fine pitch) conductor patterns and to cope with high frequencies.
Recently, the copper foil having a thickness of 9 μm or less, even 5 μm or less is demanded in accordance with fine pitches. Such an ultra-thin copper foil has low mechanical strength to readily cause tear or wrinkles during production of printed circuit boards. Thus, a copper foil with a carrier composed of a thick metal foil as a carrier and an ultra-thin copper layer electrodeposited onto the metal foil with a release layer therebetween has been developed. The copper foil with a carrier is usually used by bonding the surface of the ultra-thin copper layer to an insulating substrate by thermocompression bonding and then peeling the carrier with the release layer.
The surface of the ultra-thin copper layer of the copper foil with a carrier, i.e., the surface to be bonded to a resin, is primarily required to have a sufficient peel strength between the ultra-thin copper layer and the resin base material and to sufficiently maintain the peel strength after heating to high temperature, wet processing, soldering, chemical treatment, and other treatments.
In general, the peel strength between an ultra-thin copper layer and a resin base material is typically enhanced by allowing a large amount of roughening particles to adhere to the ultra-thin copper layer to increase the profile such as unevenness and roughness of the surface.
However, if such an ultra-thin copper layer having such an increased profile such as unevenness and roughness is applied to a semiconductor package substrate, which is a printed wiring board being particularly required to have a fine circuit pattern, unnecessary copper particles remain during circuit etching to cause defects such as insulation failure between circuit patterns.
Accordingly, a copper foil with a carrier prepared without performing roughening treatment of the ultra-thin copper layer surface has been used as the copper foil with a carrier for fine circuits such as a semiconductor package substrate. The adhesion (peel strength) to a resin of such an ultra-thin copper layer not subjected to roughening treatment is apt to decrease compared to a copper foil for a general printed wiring board due to the low profile such as unevenness, degree of roughness and roughness (see Patent Literature 8). Thus, the copper foil with a carrier needs further improvement.
The copper foil for a semiconductor package substrate is also generally referred to as a copper foil for a printed wiring board and is usually produced by the following procedure. First, a copper foil is laminated and bonded to a base material such as a synthetic resin under high-temperature and high-pressure. Next, in order to form an intended electrically conductive circuit on a substrate, a circuit corresponding to the intended circuit is printed on the copper foil with a material such as an etching resistant resin.
The unnecessary portion of the exposed copper foil is then removed by etching. After the etching, the printed portion of the materials such as the resin is removed to form an electrically conductive circuit on the substrate. The formed electrically conductive circuit is finally formed into a variety of printed circuit boards for electronic devices by soldering specified elements.
Finally, the resulting circuit board is joined to a resist or build-up resin substrate. In general, the quality requirements for a copper foil for a printed wiring board differ between the bonding surface (i.e., roughened surface) to be bonded to a resin base material and the non-bonding surface (i.e., glossy surface). Such different requirements have to be simultaneously satisfied.
The requirements for the glossy surface include (1) satisfactory appearance and no oxidative discoloration during storage, (2) satisfactory solder wettability, (3) no oxidative discoloration during high-temperature heating, and (4) satisfactory adhesion with a resist.
On the other hand, the requirements for the roughened surface mainly include (1) no oxidative discoloration during storage, (2) maintenance of sufficient peel strength with a base material after high-temperature heating, wet processing, soldering, chemical treatment, and other treatment, and (3) no laminate spots after laminating with a base material or etching.
In addition, recent finer patterns demand lower profiles of a copper foil; namely, an increase in peel strength of the roughened surface of a copper foil is necessary in accordance with it.
Furthermore, in electronic devices such as personal computers and mobile communication devices, as the speed and capacity of communication increase, the frequencies of electrical signals are increased. A printed wiring board and a copper foil that can cope with such progress are demanded. An electrical signal frequency of 1 GHz or more significantly increases the influence of a skin effect, the current flowing only on the surface of a conductor, to cause a change in current transmitting path due to the unevenness of the surface and to thereby increase the impedance to a level that is not negligible. From this point, the surface roughness of a copper foil is desired to be small.
In order to satisfy such a requirement, a variety of methods of treating a copper foil for a printed wiring board have been proposed.
In usual treatment of a copper foil for a printed wiring board, a rolled copper foil or an electrolyzed copper foil is used, and roughening treatment, in general, application of microparticles made of copper or copper oxide to the surface of the copper foil, is performed for increasing the adhesiveness (peel strength) between the copper foil and a resin. Then, in order to give properties of heat-resistant/rustproof, a heat-resistant layer, in another word, 'a barrier layer' of brass or zinc is formed.
In order to avoid surface oxidation or the like during transportation or storage, rust prevention treatment such as immersion or electrolytic chromate treatment or electrolytic chromium/zinc treatment is performed to yield a product.
Among these treatment processes, a roughened layer particularly has an important part in enhancement of the adhesiveness (peel strength) between a copper foil and a resin. Conventionally, roundish or spherical projections have been believed to be suitable for the roughening treatment. Such roundish projections are obtained by suppressing the development of dendrites. However, the roundish projections are detached at the time of etching, causing a phenomenon called "powder fall." Since the contact area between the spherical projection and a copper foil is very small compared to the diameter of the roundish or spherical projection, the phenomenon inevitably occurs.
In order to avoid this "powder fall" phenomenon, a thin copper plating layer is formed on the projections after the roughening treatment to prevent the projections from peeling (see Patent Literature 1) off. This has an effect of preventing "powder fall", but has disadvantages, that is, an increase in the number of steps and a variation in the effect of preventing "powder fall" depending on the thin copper plating.
It is also reported on a technology of forming an acicular nodular coating layer of an alloy of copper and nickel on a copper foil (Patent Literature 2). This nodular coating layer has projections in an acicular form and is thereby believed to show higher adhesion strength with a resin compared to the roundish or spherical projections disclosed in Patent Literature 1. The layer is made of a copper-nickel alloy, which is different from the component of the copper foil serving as the base, and is therefore etched at an etching rate different from that of forming a copper circuit. Consequently, such a layer is unsuitable for a stable circuit design.
In formation of a copper foil for a printed wiring board, a heat-resistant/rustproof layer is usually formed. As examples of the heat-resistant treatment layer of a metal or alloy, coating layers of Zn, Cu—Ni, Cu—Co, or Cu—Zn are applied to a large number of copper foil layers in practical use (e.g., see Patent Literature 3).
In particular, a copper foil provided with a heat-resistant treatment layer made of Cu—Zn (brass) has excellent characteristics such that lamination to a printed circuit board of, for example, an epoxy resin does not cause spots of the resin layer and that the peel strength is hardly decreased by high-temperature heating and is therefore widely used industrially.
Methods of forming the heat-resistant layer from brass are described in detail in Patent Literatures 4 and 5.
It has been proposed to improve the hydrochloric acid resistance by subjecting the surface of a copper foil to roughening treatment, rust prevention treatment with zinc or a zinc alloy, and chromate treatment and then adsorbing a silane coupling agent containing a small amount of chromium ions to the chromate-treated surface (see Patent Literature 7).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Copper foil with carrier, method of producing same, copper foil with carrier for printed wiring board, and printed wiring board


A hinge structure adapted to an electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a first body, a second body, a first cable and a second cable. The hinge structure includes a first hinge, a second hinge, a first electrical connection element and a second electrical connection element. The first hinge is fixed at the first body. The second hinge is fixed at the second body and pivoted to the first hinge along an axis. The second electrical connection element is rotatably connected to the first electrical connection element along the axis. The first cable is connected between the first body and the first electrical connection element, and the second cable is connected between the second body and the second electrical connection element.

1. Field of the Application
The invention relates to a hinge structure and an electronic device having the same, and more particularly, to a hinge structure including electrical connection elements and an electronic device having the same.
2. Description of Related Art
Benefiting from the progress of semiconductor devices and display technology, electronic devices continue to develop toward directions of small size, versatile functions and easy carrying. Common portable electronic devices include tablet PC, smart phone, and notebook computer. Taking the notebook computer for instance, it is mostly composed by assembling a host and a display that are pivotally connected to each other. A user may close the notebook computer through the relative rotation between the host and the display for easy carrying, and then the user may open the notebook computer for performing operation when desired.
In general, the host and the display of the notebook computer are configured with a hinge therebetween, so that the host and the display are adapted to rotate in relative to each other to be opened or closed through the hinge, and a cable of the notebook computer can be connected between the host and the display through the hinge. In the process of assembling the cable, the cable often has to be bended several times in the vicinity of the hinge so as to be fixed, and this usually increases the difficulty in assembling and dissembling the cable. In addition, when the host and the display are to rotate in relative to each other through the hinge, the cable is easily being damaged or cracked due to being pulled, twisted or rubbed against other components, and if an angle of relative rotation between the host and the display is too large, the cable may easily be cracked.

Hinge structure and electronic device having the same


A method is provided in one example embodiment that includes monitoring a first interface, monitoring a second interface, and taking a policy action if the second interface is not executed before the first interface. In more particular embodiments, monitoring the second interface may include walking a call stack associated with the first interface. Moreover, a program context for calling code associated with the second interface may be identified and acted upon.

Information systems have become integrated into the daily lives of people and businesses on a global scale, and the field of information security has likewise become increasingly important in today's society. However, such wide scaled integration has also presented many opportunities for malicious operators to exploit these systems. Once malicious software has infected a host computer, it can perform any number of malicious actions, such as sending out spam or malicious emails from the host computer, stealing sensitive information from a business or individual associated with the host computer, propagating to other host computers, and/or assisting with distributed denial of service attacks. In addition, for some types of malware, a malicious operator can sell or otherwise give access to other malicious operators, thereby escalating the exploitation of the host computers. Thus, the ability to effectively protect and maintain stable computers and systems continues to present significant challenges for component manufacturers, system designers, and network operators.

System and method for indirect interface monitoring and plumb-lining


A DC-DC converter includes a control circuit for generating a pulse width modulated signal based on a voltage of an output node. A first switch is connected to conduct during pulses, and a second switch conducts between pulses. The first switch is connected to an internal power node and the second is connected to a current return node. There is a common node between the first switch and the second switch. The voltage of the common node is supplied to an output node. An input power switch supplies voltage to the internal power node. An over-voltage protection circuit is connected to receive an over-voltage fault signal from the control circuit, and it is connected to control a bias of the control terminal of the input power switch to cause the input power switch not to conduct during an event causing an over-voltage fault signal, whereby a load connected to the output node is protected.

The present invention is directed to a DC-DC converter and, more particularly, a DC-DC converter having over-voltage protection to protect a load of the DC-DC converter.
DC-DC converters are extensively employed in many electronic devices such as desktop computers, laptops, and servers, as well as more sophisticated equipment, such as telephone central office switching offices, cellular telephone base stations, data storage systems, etc. In particular, it is common practice to employ a DC-DC converter to supply a highly-regulated voltage to integrated circuits, such as a microprocessor, in such computing equipment.
A type of DC-DC converter which is extensively employed employs two switches connected in bucking relationship. One is connected to a supply voltage line and the other to ground or an equivalent return path. A common node connects the two switches, and the voltage of the common node is filtered and supplied to the load. The two switches are alternatively turned on and off based on a pulse width modulated signal. The voltage of the output node is varied and controlled by the width of the pulses.
FIG. 1 is an illustration of a prior art DC-DC converter which employs metal oxide field effect transistors (MOSFETS). A control circuit 21 provides a pulse width modulated signal to MOSFET driver 22 for the MOSFETS 13 and 14. MOSFET 13 is connected to a substantially constant voltage, for example, to voltage supply node 10. MOSFET 13 is also connected to the common node 15 (denoted in FIG. 1 as a "phase node"). MOSFET 14 connects the common node 15 to ground. The MOSFET driver 22 provides shoot-through protection so that MOSFET 14 never conducts at the same time as MOSFET 13, because that would short the supply voltage on node 10 to ground. The voltage supplied to common node 15 is filtered by inductor 16 and capacitor 17 to stabilize the output voltage on OUTPUT node 18. The output voltage supplied to node 18 is for supplying power to load 19. Feedback line 60 feeds the output voltage back to the control circuit 21, which responds to the output voltage by adjusting the width of the pulses and thus controls the output voltage. Capacitor 12 minimizes the voltage ripple on node 10 caused by the switching current through the MOSFET 13. A sensed current signal is connected to the control circuit 21 through resistor 20.
In many cases, the load energized by such a converter is quite expensive, and such a DC-DC converter has an unfortunate failure mode in which the switch connecting supply voltage to the common node fails closed. In that event, the supply voltage is connected directly to the load, thus damaging or destroying the load
FIG. 2 is a schematic based on oscilloscope traces of voltages during failure of switch 13, in which it fails in the conducting mode. Curve 55 represents the voltage of the common (or "phase") node 15. The left side of the figure illustrates the normal situation in which common node 15 is alternatively connected to node 10 and to ground through switches 13 and 14, respectively. The right side of the figure illustrates the failure mode, in which it is only connected to the voltage supply node 10. Curve 58 illustrates the voltage of the output node 18. As can be seen from the figure, the voltage of the output node 18 rises continuously toward the voltage of the voltage supply node 10.
To prevent the type of failure mode illustrated in FIG. 2, various circuit arrangement for clamping or otherwise preventing the voltage on output node 18 from exceeding a preset limit have been proposed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,873,191 provides a circuit for clamping the voltage of the common node and hence the output voltage. To accomplish this, the common node is connected through a resistor to the gate of the MOSFET that connects the common node to ground. When the voltage of the common node increases, the resistive connection to the gate of the MOSFET increases the voltage of the gate and causes the MOSFET to conduct. This defeats the shoot through protection, and shorts the supply voltage to ground. Thus, the load is protected from excessive voltage.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,731,486 has a voltage protection circuit connected to the gate of the transistor which connects the common node to ground. In the event of an over-voltage, the voltage protection circuit causes the transistor to conduct. Like the preceding patent, this defeats the shoot through protection, and the supply voltage is shorted to ground.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,751,531 employs a clipping device such as a zener diode to limit the voltage applied to an output. As with the two preceding patents, this is done by providing a low resistance path to ground.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,132 has a zener diode which breaks down in the event of an over-voltage condition, whereby the operating point of the circuit is shifted.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,091,818 has an over-voltage protection circuit which has a voltage clamping transistor to clamp the power supply voltage to a voltage of less than the rated voltage.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,727,308 has an over-voltage protection circuit in which excess voltage is bypassed to ground through a flywheel field effect transistor. This results in a surge in input current, which opens a fuse in the input to the converter.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,737,725 is a circuit over-voltage protector. The circuit has a zener diode which breaks down in the event of an over-voltage. Heavy current through the zener diode causes a circuit breaker or fuse to open.
While the preceding patents have interesting features, it is believed that an improved over-voltage protection principle is needed for a DC-DC converter.

DC-DC converter with over-voltage protection


A compaction system and method including a forklift apparatus that engages a compaction weight. The compaction weight is lifted by the forklift apparatus over the open top of a roll off container. Thereafter, the weight is lowered into the roll off container to compact the refuse within the roll off container.

The present invention relates to a compacting method and apparatus, and, in particular, a compacting method and apparatus employing the use of a forklift.
A major concern of metropolitan areas is refuse collection. Typically, industries within these areas incur significant expenses to collect and remove refuse. Currently, there are three main forms of refuse collection systems. One involves the use of roll-off containers, whereby the containers themselves are transported offsite and emptied of refuse at a disposal site. The second involves the use of front-end load containers, whereby the containers full of refuse are emptied onsite by a refuse collection vehicle and thereafter transported to a disposal site. And third involves a hydraulic compactor or packing ram which compacts refuse horizontally into an enclosed container and the container is transported to a disposal site whereby it is emptied and returned. Because of the hassle and inconvenience involved in refuse collection, these refuse collection systems are typically operated by independent contractors that will charge a fee based on various parameters, including the amount of trips that must be made either onsite to empty the front-end load containers or to transport the roll off or enclosed containers to the disposal sites.
In the case that a refuse collection fee is directly related to the amount of pickups and the amount of filled roll off containers being picked up, it becomes desirable to pack as much refuse as possible into the containers. Accordingly, a device sometimes used in refuse collection systems is a hydraulic packing ram. Although packing rams generally function to compact the refuse in containers, these rams tend to be very expensive and must be permanently installed and occupy valuable space. Additionally, packing rams require maintenance and electric service.
Accordingly, there remains a need for an inexpensive and effective refuse collection system.


A valve actuation system for an internal combustion engine is disclosed. The engine has a first set of cylinders having a first set of exhaust valves and a second set of cylinders having a second set of exhaust valves. The valve actuation system for the exhaust valves includes one or more first cams having a compression-release lobe and a main exhaust lobe adapted to transfer valve actuation motion to the first set of exhaust valves, and one or more second cams having an early exhaust valve opening (EEVO) lobe and a main exhaust lobe adapted to transfer valve actuation motion to the second set of exhaust valves. The valve actuation system may provide any combination of (i) main exhaust valve actuation with or without compression release actuation with (ii) main exhaust valve actuation with or without EEVO for the two sets of cylinders.

Engine combustion chamber valves, such as intake and exhaust valves, are typically spring biased toward a valve closed position. In many internal combustion engines, the engine valves may be opened and closed by fixed profile cams in the engine, i.e., by a valve train element. More specifically, valves may be opened or closed by one or more fixed lobes which may be an integral part of each of the cams. In some cases, the use of fixed profile cams may make it difficult to adjust the timings and/or amounts of engine valve lift. It may be desirable, however, to adjust valve opening times and/or lift for various engine operating conditions, such as positive power operation versus engine braking operation, or for different engine speeds during positive power and engine braking operation.
A method of adjusting valve timing and lift given a fixed cam profile, is to incorporate a "lost motion" device in the valve train linkage between the engine valve and the cam. Lost motion is the term applied to a class of technical solutions for modifying the valve motion dictated by a cam profile with a variable length mechanical, hydraulic, or other linkage means. The lost motion system may comprise a variable length device included in the valve train linkage between the cam and the engine valve. The lobe(s) on the cam may provide the "maximum" (longest dwell and greatest lift) motion needed for a range of engine operating conditions. When expanded fully, the variable length device (or lost motion system) may transmit all of the cam motion to the valve, and when contracted fully, transmit none or a reduced amount of cam motion to the valve. By selectively decreasing the length of the lost motion system, part or all of the motion imparted by the cam to the valve can be effectively subtracted or "lost."
Hydraulic-based lost motion systems may provide a variable length device through use of a hydraulically extendable and retractable piston assembly. The length of the device is shortened when the piston is retracted into its hydraulic chamber, and the length of the device is increased when the piston is extended out of the hydraulic chamber. Alternatively, a hydraulic-based lost motion system may utilize a hydraulic circuit including a master piston and a slave piston which is selectively charged with hydraulic fluid to actuate an engine valve. The master and slave circuit may be depleted of hydraulic fluid when it is desired to "lose" the valve actuation motion input to the master piston, and the circuit may be charged with hydraulic fluid when it is desired to transfer the motion from the master piston to the slave piston and the engine valve. One or more hydraulic fluid control valves may be used to control the flow of hydraulic fluid into and out of the hydraulic chamber or hydraulic circuit.
One type of lost motion system, known as a Variable Valve Actuation (VVA) system, may provide multiple levels of lost motion. Hydraulic VVA systems may employ a high-speed control valve, referred to herein as a trigger valve, to rapidly change the amount of hydraulic fluid in the hydraulic chamber or circuit between the master and slave lost motion pistons. The trigger valve may be capable of rapidly draining hydraulic fluid from the chamber or circuit, thereby allowing the lost motion system to selectively lose a portion of an engine valve event to provide variable levels of valve actuation.
In the lost motion system of U.S. Pat. No. 5,680,841, an engine cam shaft may actuate a master piston which displaces fluid from its hydraulic chamber into a hydraulic chamber of a slave piston. The slave piston in turn acts on the engine valve to open it. The lost motion system may include a solenoid trigger valve in communication with the hydraulic circuit that includes the chambers of the master and slave pistons. The solenoid valve may be maintained in a closed position in order to retain hydraulic fluid in the circuit when the master piston is acted on by certain of the cam lobes. As long as the solenoid valve remains closed, the slave piston and the engine valve respond directly to the hydraulic fluid displaced by the motion of the master piston, which reciprocates in response to the cam lobe acting on it. When the solenoid is opened, the circuit may drain, and part or all of the hydraulic pressure generated by the master piston may be absorbed by the circuit rather than be applied to displace the slave piston and the engine valve.
Engine benefits from lost motion systems can be achieved by creating complex cam profiles with extra lobes or bumps to provide auxiliary valve lifts in addition to the conventional main intake and exhaust events. A number of unique modes of engine exhaust valve actuation may be produced by a lost motion system that includes multi-lobed cams. The lost motion system may be used to selectively cancel or activate different combinations of valve lifts made possible from the assortment of lobes provided on the exhaust cams. As a result, significant improvements may be made to both positive power and engine braking operation of the engine.
One particular engine valve actuation enabled by lost motion systems and methods operating in accordance with embodiments of the present invention is compression release engine braking operation. During engine braking, the exhaust valves may be selectively opened to convert, at least temporarily, an internal combustion engine into an air compressor. This air compressor effect may be accomplished by partially opening one or more exhaust valves near piston top dead center position for compression-release type braking, or by maintaining one or more exhaust valves in a partially open position for much or all of the piston motion for bleeder type braking. In doing so, the engine develops retarding horsepower to help slow the vehicle down. This can provide the operator increased control over the vehicle and substantially reduce wear on the service brakes of the vehicle. A properly designed and adjusted engine brake can develop retarding horsepower that is a substantial portion or even in excess of the level of operating horsepower developed by the engine in positive power.
Another engine valve actuation that may be provided using lost motion systems and methods in accordance with embodiments of the present invention is Early Exhaust Valve Opening (EEVO) during positive power operation of an engine. EEVO denotes the process of opening an engine exhaust valve for the exhaust stroke of the engine at a time that is earlier than the time the exhaust valve is normally opened for the exhaust stroke of the cylinder piston. Embodiments of the present invention contemplate selectively opening one or more engine exhaust valves for EEVO, starting as early as immediately after top dead center (TDC) position for the engine piston on the exhaust stroke, and as late as 90° crank angle degrees past TDC on the exhaust stroke. During positive power operation, EEVO operation may provide one or more benefits, including but not limited to: (i) providing combustion energy to the downstream exhaust path to enhance turbocharger speed and reduce turbo lag for improved transient performance and (ii) to provide higher torque production at lower engine speeds by increasing boost pressure, and (iii) sending exhaust energy (heat) to the engine after-treatment system to warm it up more quickly, (or maintain an elevated temperature),which may increase the efficiency of the after-treatment system and thus be able to reduce its required size and cost. Therefore there is a need for a valve actuation system that is capable of selectively providing EEVO in response to engine operation conditions.
System and method embodiments of the present invention recognize that the ability to provide both compression release engine braking and EEVO using engine exhaust valves would be advantageous. Accordingly, there is a need for a lost motion system, and in particular a variable valve actuation lost motion system, that utilizes a single control valve, preferably a trigger valve, for control of more than one engine valves to provide compression release engine braking and EEVO, and/or potentially other engine valve actuations.
Space and weight considerations are also of considerable concern to engine manufacturers. Accordingly it is desirable to reduce the size and weight of the engine subsystems responsible for valve actuation. Some embodiments of the present invention are directed towards meeting these needs by providing a simple on-off lost motion system for selectively providing EEVO during positive power engine operation and compression-release braking during engine braking operation.
Various embodiments of the present invention may meet one or more of the aforementioned needs and provide other benefits as well. Additional advantages of the invention are set forth, in part, in the description that follows and, in part, will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from the description and/or from the practice of the invention.

Engine system and operation method using engine braking mechanisms for early exhaust valve opening


A flange section 12b protruding in a radial direction of a ball screw shaft 6a is formed at a lower end portion of the ball screw shaft 6a, and a protrusion stopper 12a which abuts on the flange section 12b to prevent the ball screw shaft 6a from protruding out of the rod 7 is formed in a hollow section of the rod 7. On the lower side of the hollow section of the rod 7, there is formed a retraction stopper 13a which abuts on a lower end portion 13b of the ball screw shaft 6a to limit the retraction of the rod 7.

Heretofore, there has been known an electromotive spot welding gun which allows a movable electrode tip to advance to and retreat from a fixed electrode tip. For example, in Patent Document 1, there is disclosed a welding gun which allows a rod including a movable electrode tip at a front edge thereof and inserted into a hollow rotor of a motor to advance to and retreat from a gun main body by a rotating movement of a feed screw mechanism coupled to the hollow motor.
Meanwhile, to prevent failure of the welding gun at the failure of a controller of the welding gun, the input of a wrong set value into the controller by an operator, or the like, there is required a stopper mechanism which regulates an advancing/retreating movement of the rod out of a stipulated region.
For example, when the rod projects out of the stipulated region and drops down from the gun main body, the welding gun cannot be restored. Therefore, to regulate the projecting of the rod, a flange section is formed at an upper end of the rod, and a stopper ring is disposed in a hollow housing of the motor. In consequence, when the rod projects out of the stipulated region, the flange section abuts on the stopper ring to prevent the rod from protruding.
Moreover, when the rod retracts out of the stipulated region to collide with the bottom surface of the hollow rotor of the motor, the feed screw mechanism fails. Therefore, to regulate the retraction of the rod, stoppers are arranged at an upper end of the gun main body and an upper end of a fixing portion of the movable electrode tip fixed to the rod, respectively. In consequence, when the rod retracts out of the stipulated region, these stoppers abut, whereby the further retraction movement of the rod is prevented.


Systems and methods are provided for providing stability support. The system may include a movable foundation that moves on a surface, and a base rotatably mounted to the movable foundation. A leveling platform may be adjustably mounted to the base and can pivot around a pivoting axis intersecting the base. A control arm connects the leveling platform and the base, and can effect the pivoting of the leveling platform by adjusting the length of the control arm. An alternative system may include a supporting scaffold that is adjustably connected to a movable foundation by at least three control arms. The at least three control arms can change length such that an angle of the supporting scaffold from the movable foundation changes.

Providing stability support for structures on a movable object is important during travelling of the movable object. For instance, when a vehicle is traveling on an uneven surface (e.g., on a slope or over a bump), the center of gravity may change and thus may cause side tipping. Structures with stability support may prevent the vehicle from side tipping during movement, and thus improve the stability of the vehicle. Camera shooting can also benefit from structures with stability support to achieve steady and smooth footage.

Systems and methods for providing stability support


The present invention is a method of increasing particle surface area and decreasing the concentration of over-sized particles in a process for making metal oxide particles, particularly nanoparticle TiO2, in an inlet-fed, plug flow, plasma reactor by vapor phase reaction of titanium tetrachloride and oxygen in the presence of a source of hydrogen to form titanium dioxide particles.

Scientific and commercial potential of nanoparticle materials currently attracts much attention. This fact is true in the case of nanoparticle titanium dioxide. Methods of making nanoparticle titanium dioxide include colloidal precipitation, mechanical grinding and gas phase nucleation and growth.
Gas phase synthesis offers advantages over both colloidal precipitation and mechanical processes, but in gas phase synthesis (sometimes called an aerosol process) continues to face challenges in control of particle size distribution and degree of aggregation and agglomeration.
Various methods have been taught to control nano particle primary particle size and particle size distribution. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,935,293 and 5,749,937 to Detering et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,788,738 and 5,851,507 to Pirzada et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,935,293 to Rao et al., all teaching methods related to rapid quench or expansion of product gases.
Applicant's own U.S. application Ser. No. 60/434,158 teaches a flow homogenizing device that provides a nearly 1-dimensional flow and concentration profile in the reaction zone as a means to narrow particle size distribution.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2002/0004029 A1 to Jang et al. teaches a flame hydrolysis in which hydrogen is one of five reactants fed into a reactor to produce titanium dioxide from reaction of titanium tetrachloride. Russian Patent SU (11) 1043154 teaches a flame hydrolysis of titanium tetrachloride in an oxygen-containing gas and hydrogen, and Japanese Kokai Patent Application Hei 5[1993]-84948 teaches a vapor phase hydrolysis reaction of titanium tetrachloride. Each of these publications teach a method to make titanium dioxide from titanium tetrachloride that involves the presence of hydrogen, but in each case a hydrogen oxygen reaction is the source of the flame.

Plasma synthesis of metal oxide nanoparticles


A thermal ink jet with a body having an ink firing chamber and an orifice. An electrically activated heating element is connected to the body in thermal communication with the firing chamber, and includes a contoured surface portion coextensive with at least a portion of the heating element. The contoured surface portion of the firing chamber has a plurality of recesses.

This invention relates to thermal ink jet printing, and more particularly to heater elements for thermal ink jet printheads.
Ink jet printing mechanisms use pens that shoot droplets of colorant onto a printable surface to generate an image. Such mechanisms may be used in a wide variety of applications, including computer printers, plotters, copiers, and facsimile machines. For convenience, the concepts of the invention are discussed in the context of a printer. An ink jet printer typically includes a printhead having a multitude of independently addressable firing units. Each firing unit includes an ink chamber connected to a common ink source, and an ink outlet nozzle or orifice. A transducer within the chamber provides the impetus for expelling ink droplets through the nozzles.
In thermal ink jet pens, the transducer is a resistive heater element that provides sufficient heat to rapidly vaporize a small portion of ink within the chamber, forming a bubble. The bubble displaces a droplet of liquid ink from the nozzle. For uniform and precise printer output, it is desirable that the timing, magnitude, rate, shape, and position of the bubble formation be as uniform as possible. Uniformity is desired from firing unit to firing unit, and between sequential droplets originating from the same nozzle.
A particular uniformity concern relates to the boiling properties of fluids. Heterogeneous nucleate boiling, or bubble nucleation, normally occurs at defect sites on the surface of a heating element, or other heated surface. These defects may be cracks, discontinuities, and edges and vertexes where surfaces meet at angle. Heterogeneous nucleate boiling occurs more readily than homogenous or film boiling, which occurs after additional heat energy is added when sufficiently sized nucleation sites are not present. Therefore, it is the heterogeneous nucleation that has the greatest effect during the rapid and uniformity-sensitive boiling process that occurs during thermal ink jet printing.
Existing thermal ink jet printheads have at least partially controlled the heterogeneous nucleate boiling process by providing each firing chamber with a heating element shaped with a single small recessed basin having sharp edges that provide nucleation sites. The basin is smaller than the respective orifice, and registered therewith so that all potential nucleation sites are directly below an open portion of the orifice. This avoids the risk that some firing chambers may lack any nucleation sites and require a higher energy to achieve homogeneous nucleation. The deliberate positioning of the sites in registration with the orifices also reduces the chance that an unintended defect offset from the centerline will generate off axis droplet ejection. However, these improved systems have not achieved ideal uniformity of performance.
The uniformity disadvantages of prior art systems are reduced or overcome by providing a thermal ink jet with a body having an ink firing chamber and an orifice. An electrically activated heating element is connected to the body in thermal communication with the firing chamber, and includes a contoured surface portion coextensive with at least a portion of the heating element. The contoured surface portion of the firing chamber has a plurality of recesses.

Ink jet pen with a heater element having a contoured surface


In the method, the received spread-coded signal sequence rk(i) is first of all correlated with the spread-coded training symbol sequence in a correlator (24) so as to counteract the influence of the transmitted training symbols. The signal sequence which results from the correlation process is then despread in a despreading apparatus (21, 22). The despread signal sequence is integrated over a number (N_MF) of signal values, with the number (N_MF) being set as a function of the channel dynamic range (λ). The sequence of data symbols produced in this way is filtered with fixed or variable filter coefficients in a digital filter (25) in order to produce channel estimation values ({tilde over (H)}(l)).

In mobile radio systems, the signals are propagated via two or more propagation paths between a transmitter and a receiver. The influence of this multipath propagation on the signal can be described in the form of a linear, time-variant transformation. The signal distortion which is caused by the multipath propagation makes it impossible to correctly detect the transmitted data without a correction mechanism. This correction mechanism, which is known as adaptive equalization and which can also be carried out in a RAKE receiver, is based on continuously repeated measurement of the channel characteristics of the transmission channel (channel estimation). The information about the transmission channel determined during the channel estimation process is used for equalization of the received signal.
In order to allow channel estimation in the receiver, the transmitter transmits symbols which are known in the receiver. These symbols which are known in the receiver are referred to as pilot or training symbols. The receiver receives the distorted pilot symbols which have been transmitted via the channel, and compares them with the transmitted pilot symbols. The channel coefficient which is applicable to the relevant propagation path at that time is then obtained from the comparison process which, for example, can be carried out by forming the quotient of the pilot symbols as received via a specific propagation path divided by the known pilot symbols.
With optimum channel knowledge, it is possible to compensate for the rotation and change in magnitude of the received complex-value symbol that occur in the transmission path. This allows the data to be detected with a lower bit error rate.
Various known algorithms are available for channel estimation. One known detection method which, however, may be used for channel estimation only in exceptional cases is matched filtering (MF), which requires no knowledge about the statistical characteristics of the channel and uses a maximum signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio as the optimality criterion. The known channel estimation methods, such as maximum likelihood estimation methods, use statistical characteristics of the channel. The Wiener filtering is one example of a channel estimation algorithm which takes account of statistical characteristics of the channel in the estimation process, as are described by a corresponding stochastic channel model. Wiener filtering minimizes the mean square estimation error MMSE (minimum mean square error) as the optimality criterion.
The channel estimation process is carried out as follows in practice. The sequence of transmitted complex pilot symbols for a single transmission path is denoted by p1, p2, . . . in the following text. The transmission channel multiplies the pilot symbol pk by the complex channel coefficient ck. This has additive noise nk superimposed on it, so that the symbol which is received via the propagation path under consideration has the form yk=pk*ck+nk, k=1, 2, . . . k is the index for the discrete time at the symbol clock rate. The channel estimation process is normally carried out in two steps. The first step comprises correlation of the received pilot symbol with the transmitted pilot symbol, for example in a calculation of the quotient zk=yk/pk. When there is no noise (nk=0), then zk=ck. The quotient zk can be regarded as unfiltered estimated value. However, the correlation process may also be carried out differently. In a second step, the sequence of unfiltered channel estimation values xk is filtered in order to produce final channel estimation values {tilde over (H)}(l).
FIGS. 1 and 2 show one known method for channel estimation for the transmission of spread-coded signals in a CDMA system.
Both so-called "Common Pilot" symbols (Common Pilots) and "Dedicated Pilot" symbols (Dedicated Pilots) are transmitted in the UMTS system in order to allow channel estimation. As is normal in the spread-coded transmission systems, these symbols are spread in the transmitter using a sequence which is known to the receiver. During the transmission process, the symbols then comprise SF chips whose duration is Tc, which is considerably shorter than the duration of the original data symbol Ts. The original data symbols or training symbols can be recovered by despreading in a receiver.
One such receiver (a RAKE receiver) is illustrated in FIG. 2. The RAKE receiver in FIG. 2, one designed in the normal way, has two or more RAKE fingers RF, whose outputs are passed to a combiner COM. A digital signal 1 is supplied to the input of the RAKE fingers RF, only one of which is illustrated schematically in FIG. 2, in a basic form by way of example, with this digital signal 1 having been produced in the normal manner (not illustrated) by down-mixing an antenna signal to an intermediate frequency band or to baseband and by sampling the down-mixed signal at a sufficiently high sampling frequency. The digital signal 1 is passed to a delay element DEL, whose task is to compensate for the path delay measured for a specific propagation path. A multiplier M1 for despreading the delay-compensated digital signal is located in the signal path downstream from the delay element DEL.
For this purpose, the signal that is emitted from the delay stage DEL is multiplied by a spread code PN (pseudo noise).
An integrate and dump unit INT is located in the signal path downstream from the despreading stage M1. The integrate and dump unit INT integrates a number of SF values (chips), and in the process produces one symbol. SF is the spreading factor of the CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) channel under consideration.
The symbol sequence 2 which is emitted from the integrate and dump unit INT is passed to a further multiplier M2. The further multiplier M2 multiplies each symbol by an estimated channel coefficient {tilde over (H)}(l), which is passed to the multiplier M2 via a signal connection 3. As already mentioned, the output from the multiplier M2 is passed to the combiner COM. Based on the known functional principle of a RAKE receiver, the combiner COM combines the signal outputs from those RAKE fingers which demodulate those signal components of one and the same signal which are transmitted via different transmission paths. The signal which is produced at the output 4 of the combiner COM thus comprises signal contributions which have been obtained from two or more transmission paths. The process for signal combination as described above is, however, only one possible implementation. Real maximum ratio combining (MRC) may also be provided as an alternative to this.
The RAKE receiver is followed by a data detector, in a manner which is not illustrated. The simplest form of data detection is for a decision maker to compare each combined symbol value that is obtained with a threshold value (for example 0.5), and to use the comparison result to decide whether the symbol is a 0 (signal value ≦0.5) or a 1 (signal value ≧0.5).
The aspect which is important for the present invention relates to the calculation of the channel coefficients {tilde over (H)}(l). In order to calculate the channel coefficients {tilde over (H)}(l), the signal 2, whose symbol values are denoted by yk, is passed to a correlator KOR. The correlator KOR compares the received symbol values yk of pilot symbols with the pilot symbols which are known in the receiver. As already explained, this comparison can be carried out by forming the quotient zk=yk/pk of the received pilot symbols yk divided by the transmitted pilot symbols pk, which are known in the receiver. The channel estimation values z(1) are also referred to as unfiltered channel coefficients.
The unfiltered channel coefficients z(1) are passed via a data link 5 to a digital filter F. The digital filter F may be in the form of an FIR (finite impulse response) filter with a specific filter length, or an IIR (infinite impulse response) filter. The filter is designed on the basis of one of the optimality criteria which are known from statistical signal theory. The filter coefficients of the FIR filter are calculated on the basis of this optimality criterion, and are defined in a corresponding manner. For this purpose, the digital filter F has a control input 6, via which the filter coefficients of the digital filter F can be predetermined. The transfer function H(z) of the digital filter F is dependent on the filter coefficients which are supplied via the control input 6. The filtered channel coefficients {tilde over (H)}(l) are produced at the output of the digital filter F. A number of different sets of filter coefficients may be stored in the memory MEM.
As already mentioned, a number SF of the received chips are multiplied by the known spreading sequence in complex-conjugate form, and are integrated over the number SF of chips in order to produce a data symbol. In this case, the assumption is made that the channel to be estimated is approximately constant over the time period of SF symbols. This assumption is not as valid when SF is very large and/or there are high relative speeds between the mobile station and the base station as when SF is small and/or the relative speeds are low. The influence of the transmitted pilot symbols is then reversed in the correlator KOR, resulting in the complex vectors z(1). These values z(1) correspond to discrete sampling of the channel. The final channel estimation values {tilde over (H)}(l) are produced by filtering in the digital filter F. The best results are achieved by means of a digital filter based on variable estimation methods, which take account of the statistical parameters of the channel. One of these parameters is the variance of the noise which is interfering with the estimation symbols, and this is obtained from the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) or the signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR) and the spreading factor (SF). This variance falls as the integration period increases, provided that the assumption of a quasi-stationary channel does not become invalid. A further important parameter is the dynamic range λ of the channel, which is expressed in the following manner by means of the Doppler frequency fd normalized with respect to the data symbol length Ts:λ=Ts×fd.
The narrower the channel dynamic range λ, the better is the channel estimation that can be achieved. However, very long filter lengths are required in order to achieve the potential estimation improvement when the values of λ are low. Filter sets which are optimized for nominal values λopt of the channel dynamic range based on λopt=Ts×fd,opt are normally used for channel estimation. Provided that the relationship λ≦λopt is valid, the estimation method can be used to achieve good results, in which case % opt should always be chosen to be as low as possible. The already mentioned Wiener filter is particularly highly suitable for the estimation methods described here, since it may be in the form of an FIR filter with variable coefficients. Moreover, in principle, the Wiener filter can also be optimized for the respective SINR. The sensitivity of the estimator to this parameter is low, however, provided that the SINR that is used for optimization is better than the actual SINR.
In the conventional method for channel estimation, two or more filter sets must be provided for the digital filter, which have been optimized for a specific number of possible speeds and SNR or SINR values. In this case, the sensitivity of the estimation result to the accuracy of the speed which is assumed for the estimation process is relatively high, that is to say as many filter sets as possible must be provided for different speeds, so that it is necessary to use a filter with variable coefficients. The major disadvantage of the known methods is that the length of the digital filter must be chosen to be very long in order also to actually achieve the theoretical estimation gains at low relative speeds. This long filter length is necessary in particular in order to reduce the influence of the noise on the estimated channel coefficient by means of adequate averaging.

Adaptive channel estimation by means of variation of the integration length during the despreading of spread-coded training symbol sequences


A method is provided for generating test vectors to detect bridge faults in a semiconductor device. In one version of the invention, the method includes the steps of creating a net name data structure from a structural description of the semiconductor device which includes data representing the instance names for the nets to be tested, identifying a pair of nets in the net name data structure, and generating at least one test vector for the pair of nets such that, when the vectors impress on the nets, the state of the nets of the pair will change relative to each other such that logic, coupled to the pair, produces a signal which indicates whether a bridge fault exists between the nets of the pair.

Semiconductor devices, such as application specific integrated circuits ("ASIC's"), are thoroughly tested to ensure proper performance before being shipped to a customer. Automatic test pattern generating ("ATPG") tools are used to generate test patterns, or vectors, necessary to test the devices. Generally, a semiconductor device is designed with either a schematic design tool, which allows transistor level design, or a synthesis tool which allows a circuit to be designed from various modules which are linked into and accessible by the tool. In either case, the resulting design data is then supplied to an ATPG tool. The ATPG tool also receives input from a script file which contains various commands, such as conditioning for inputs, which inform the tool of the various conditions and states for which the device is to be tested.
From these inputs, the ATPG tool then generates the test vectors which will be used by automatic test equipment ("ATE") to test the device. Suitable ATE is well known in the art and examples include wafer probing equipment such as the ST212 manufactured by Creedence Systems, Inc. The ATE then tests the device by supplying the test vectors generated by the ATPG tool to the inputs of the device and recording the outputs of the device in response. The outputs generated by the device should match the outputs predicted by logic simulation of the design. If not, then the device may be considered defective and disposed of.
Generally, the vectors are chosen to test the transistors in the device in both the on and off state. While complete coverage of all the transistors in the device is not always obtainable, it is still desirable to test at least a high percentage of them. However, there are other types of defects which can occur in the device which are not necessarily detectable by vectors which are designed for checking transistor states. For example, short circuits can occur between two wires which are adjacent on the chip. This type of defect is referred to as a "bridge fault" and may escape undetected by present automatic test pattern generators because ATPG tools are typically not provided with information about the physical location of the wires on the device and, consequently, are unable to generate appropriate test vectors. It is therefore, one object of the present invention to provide a method for testing for bridge faults in semiconductor devices. Further objects and advantages will become apparent in view of the following disclosure.

Method for detecting bus shorts in semiconductor devices