1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to computer-implemented systems for optimal query execution in relational database processing systems and particularly to a system for optimizing query ordering requirements by normalization of relational order specifications to accommodate predicates and functional dependencies before order detection in a query compiler system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A relational database management system (RDBMS) is a computer-implemented database processing system that uses relational techniques for storing and retrieving data. Relational database management systems are computerized information storage and retrieval systems in which data in the form of tables (formally denominated "relations") are typically stored for use on disk drives or similar mass data stores. A "relation" includes a set of rows (formally denominated "tuples" or "records") spanning several columns (formally denominated "attributes"). Each "attribute" in a relation includes "restrictions" on the data contents thereof, which may include designation as a primary or foreign key. A "tuple" expresses a mathematical relation between its "attributes" (column elements), while a "record" does not. Reference is made to C. J. Date, An Introduction to Database Systems, 6th Edition, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Reading, Mass. (1994) for a general treatment of the relational database art.
A relational database processing system is structured to accept commands to store, retrieve and delete data using high-level query languages such as the Structured Query Language (SQL). As used herein, a "query" refers to a set of user commands for retrieving data from a stored database. The query language requires the return of a particular data set (relation) in response to a particular query but the method of query execution employed by the database management system is not specified by the query. The method of query execution is herein denominated the "Query Execution Plan (QEP)" and there are typically many different useful QEPs for any particular user query, each of which returns the required data set. For large databases, the execution plan selected to execute a query must provide the required data return at a reasonable cost in time and hardware resources. Most RDBPSs include a query compiler to translate queries into a QEP, which includes a query optimizer to select an efficiently executable QEP.
Among many well-known SQL commands, a SQL query may include the ORDER BY clause. For instance, the following SQL query example returns a list of movie titles, in alphabetical order, from a relation keyed to movie stars:
SELECT DISTINCT MOVIE.sub.-- TITLE
FROM MOVIE.sub.-- STARS PA1 ORDER BY MOVIE.sub.-- TITLE ASC;
In this example, only one attribute or column is used for ordering. ASC requires an ascending order, as opposed to DESC for descending order. This query imposes an "order requirement" that must be satisfied by the query compiler when it generates a QEP. Moreover, the query compiler itself may generate internal order requirements arising from combinations of other SQL operations. For example, the internal procedures used to satisfy GROUP BY and DISTINCT clauses generally require an input record stream with an "order property". The sort-merge join operation is known in the art to require an "order property" in each of its record stream inputs. Also, where VIEW specifications are used, an order requirement may arise for the intermediate results of a query as well as for the final query data return. As used herein, the terms "order property" and "order requirement" refer to two order specifications imposed on a group of records in a relation. Such order specifications list one or more "attributes" (columns) within each record on which the records are ordered.
A typical RDBPS puts records in order by either sorting the records on their "order requirement" attributes or, when possible, by scanning an existing index that already provides the required ordering. Sorting is a costly operation that is avoided when possible, so the typical query compiler first searches for an existing index that satisfies the order requirement. As used herein, an "index" is a user-defined relation that maintains a certain order of records. Each relation may be associated with any number of indexes or with no index. When no index can be found, sorting is unavoidable and the query compiler then attempts to minimize the number of sort "attributes" to optimize execution plan efficiency. Thus, as it generates an execution plan, a query compiler must detect whether a sort can be avoided and, if unavoidable, how many attributes in the "sort requirement" may be eliminated during actual sorting. This process is herein denominated "order detection". The following example illustrates the "order detection" problem known in the art:
SELECT SALARY, NAME
FROM EMP
WHERE SALARY=50,000
AND DEPTNO=:HV
ORDER BY 1,2;
In this SQL example, each execution plan must produce a stream of records in the order specified by the ORDER BY clause. Consequently, the query compiler must satisfy the order requirement (SALARY, NAME), with SALARY being the major ordering attribute. If an ascending index exists on attributes (SALARY, NAME), then an index scan produces the required "order property" without sorting. Alternatively, an unordered table scan followed by a sorting process may be employed to produce the required "order property" in the final relation. Typically, a query compiler considers both plans and chooses the less expensive to execute.
In the above example, if an ascending index also exists on the NAME attribute, then such index could also be used to produce the requisite order property without sorting. No sorting is actually then required because the SALARY attribute is bound to a constant by the predicate SALARY=50,000. Accordingly, the SALARY attribute does not affect the order property because all qualifying records have the same SALARY attribute (the same value in the SALARY column). Similarly, where an unordered table scan and sort are used, the sort need only be on the NAME attribute. Finally, if an index is found for (DEPTNO, NAME), it also satisfies the order requirement without sorting because, like the SALARY attribute, the DEPTNO attribute is bound to a constant (in this case to a host variable value).
The above-described example shows how the order detection process could improve execution efficiency if it could be aware of which relation attributes are "bound" to constants by way of predicates during execution plan generation. Order detection could also improve efficiency if it could be aware of keys and any functional dependencies arising therefrom, as illustrated by the following example:
SELECT E.EMPNO, E.NAME, D.DEPTNO
FROM EMP E, DEPT D
WHERE E.DEPTNO=D.DEPTNO
ORDER BY 1,2,3;
In this SQL query example, the query compiler must satisfy the order requirement vector (E.EMPNO, E.NAME, D.DEPTNO), which includes the first, second and third attributes in each record. If the EMPNO attribute is a key of the EMP relation, then sorting on EMPNO alone is sufficient to meet this order requirement. Alternatively, using an index ordered on EMPNO is sufficient without sorting. The skilled database practitioner can appreciate the reason for this sufficiency, which arises because the primary key EMPNO creates a "functional dependency" between the EMPNO attribute and all other attributes within the relation. This functional dependency combined with the predicate E.DEPTNO=D. DEPTNO means that E.EMPNO "functionally determines" both E.NAME and D.DEPTNO, which in turn implies that sorting on E.EMPNO is sufficient to create the three-attribute order property specified by the above example. Until now, the sort detection processes in the art have not been aware of these relationships.
Succinctly, a "functional dependency" herein denotes a relationship between two attributes where "A functionally determines B" when every record in a relation that has a particular value for attribute A has an unchanging value for attribute B. In the art, this functional dependency is denoted by the standard notation A.fwdarw.B. An attribute B is "functionally dependent" on a set of attributes or columns C={C.sub.1, C.sub.2, . . . , C.sub.n } if, for any two records with the same values for the columns C, the value of column B is the same. Equivalently, it is said B is functionally determined by C, which is denoted as C.fwdarw.B. As is known in the art, key attributes are actually a special case of functional dependency referred to as a "key dependency". A key dependency functionally determines all columns of the record stream for which it is a key. Any remaining dependencies are denoted "non-key dependencies". Functional dependencies usually arise from keys, whether primary or foreign. Joins and other relational operations can transform a key dependency into a non-key dependency. Relational operations such as DISTINCT and GROUP BY can add key dependencies to derived relations. For the purposes of this disclosure, it is assumed that means are available to determine whether C.fwdarw.B is true.
Reference is made to Hugh Darwen et al. (RELATIONAL DATABASE WRITINGS 1989-1991, C. J. Date with Hugh Darwen, Chapter 10: The Role of Functional Dependencies in Query Decomposition for a description of the semantic concept of functional dependencies. Darwen et al. suggest algorithms for deriving functional dependencies from base relations and for propagating functional dependencies across derived relations. Darwen et al. also consider a variety of uses for functional dependencies by a RDBMS query compiler, but they neither consider nor suggest how to accommodate functional dependencies during order detection.
As is known in the art, a query compiler for a relational database processing system translates a high-level query into a query execution plan (QEP), which is then interpreted by a database engine at run time. Conceptually, a QEP is viewed in the art as a data flow graph of operators, whese each node in the graph corresponds to a set of output records arising from a relational operation such as "join" or a lower-level operation such as "sort". FIG. 2 shows a query execution plan (QEP) for the following exemplary SQL qudry.
SELECT NAME, ADDRESS
FROM EMP E, DEPT D
WHERE E.DNO=D.DNO AND MGR=`Haas`
Note that the QEP in FIG. 2 is a directed graph of LOw LEvel Plan OPerators (LOLEPOPs), herein formally denominated "relation nodes". Note that the data-flow arcs exemplified by arc 12 point toward the source of the record stream and not in the direction of data-flow. For instance, the SORT node 14, representing a relational SORT operation, receives a record stream from the ACCESS node 16 along the directed data-flow arc 18 and produces a directed record stream along arc 12 to the JOIN node 20. For the purposes of this disclosure, notice that each relation node in FIG. 2 is coupled to one or more other relation nodes by data-flow arcs (herein formally denominated "directed record streams") exemplified by directed record streams 12 and 18. With the notation used herein, each relation node N.sub.i consumes one or more incoming record streams {R.sub.ji } and produces at least one output record stream R.sub.ik that is directed to one or more other nodes (k and j may each assume more than one value). In the example shown in FIG. 2, each relation node produces only one output record stream routed as an input record stream to one other relation node.
Reference is made to Guy M. Lohman ("Grammar-like Functional Rules for Representing Query Optimization Alternatives", A CM SIGMOD International Conference on Management of Data, 1988, pp. 18-27) for a detailed discussion of the "properties" associated with relation nodes or operators in a QEP. Every relation node is associated with a set of properties that summarizes the work accomplished in the relation thus far in the dataflow path from bottom (base-tables) to top (TOP node). Lohman et al. discuss these properties in terms of the query execution cost model and notes that all properties are handled uniformly as elements of a "property vector", which is easily extended to include more properties. The "property vector" includes the "attributes property", herein denominating the columns of a record stream, which may include columns from base-relations and those derived from expressions. The "attributes property" is used to track the record stream columns.
Examples of properties include the set of attributes that make up each record or tuple in the stream, represented by the head of each node. Other examples include the set of predicates that are applied to the incoming records within the node body, the specification of which attributes form unique keys and/or functional dependencies (if any), the order specification for the record stream, and the like. Each relational operator node in a QEP determines the properties of its output record stream.
The properties of an output record stream from a node are a function of the node input streams and the internal operations applied within the node. For example, a sort operation passes on all of the properties of its input stream unchanged except for the order property. A query compiler typically constructs a QEP from the bottom up, operator by operator, computing and updating properties as it proceeds. Depending on the implementation, some properties may be stored in QEP operators (within "nodes") while others may be recomputed when needed to save space.
Each node in a QEP receives one or more directed record streams each having an "order property". By virtue of operations within the node, each node produces an output record stream according to an "order requirement". As discussed above, the ORDER BY, GROUP BY, and DISTINCT specifications create order requirements. Moreover, the query compiler may generate order requirements, depending on the alternative execution plan characteristics. An example of an execution strategy is the "sort merge join" operation, which requires certain order properties in the incoming record streams. There may be multiple order requirements imposed within any given SQL query. Both order properties and order requirements are represented by an order specification and are herein referred to generally as order specifications. As a simple example, ORDER BY C.sub.1, C.sub.2, C.sub.3 gives rise to the order requirement vector (C.sub.1, C.sub.2, C.sub.3). In the case of the GROUP BY and DISTINCT clauses, any permutation of the order specification suffices. For example, GROUP BY C.sub.1, C.sub.2 is represented by either of the order requirements (C.sub.1, C.sub.2) and (C.sub.2, C.sub.1). The order requirement of the GROUP BY operation is satisfied if either order requirement is satisfied. In some query compilers, these two order requirement vectors can be represented as a single order requirement specification. For the purposes of this disclosure and without loss of generality, it is assumed that each record stream must satisfy only a single order requirement. In the general case, many order requirements may be imposed on a single record stream, which might benefit from additional procedures to "compact" multiple order requirements into a single order specification.
As a QEP is constructed, order requirements must be satisfied. That is, for instance, when an ORDER BY operator is added to the QEP, the "order detection" procedure examines the "order property" of the vector associated with the input stream to determine whether it satisfies the "order requirement" imposed by relational operations in the local relation node. If the "order property" of the incoming record stream does not satisfy the "order requirement" imposed by the receiving relation node, then the query compiler adds a sort operator to the QEP, representing an additional operation internal to the receiving relation node. This sort operator adds substantial cost to the resulting QEP and it is a desired function of the "order detection" procedure to avoid adding sort operators wherever possible.
Initially, the properties of stored base tables and access methods are determined from the system catalogs. At first, no predicates are applied and no cost has been incurred in the query. The "order property" is unknown unless the base relation is known to store records in some order or if an index is used to access the relation in which case the order is defined by the set of attributes on which the records are ordered.
During compilation, the predicates in a SQL query are usually broken down into conjunctive normal form. This permits each conjunct to be applied as an independent predicate. When a predicate or conjunct is applied to an input record stream, each record in the resulting output record stream is imprinted with the "property" that it satisfies the predicate. Herein, the term "predicate property" denominates the property used to track all predicates that have been applied to a record stream.
The "order property" for a record stream represents the physical ordering of the stream's records. An order property is denoted by listing the attributes or columns of the order in major to minor sequence. Such representation is herein denominated an "order specification vector". For example, (C.sub.1, C.sub.2, C.sub.3) is an "order specification vector" with C.sub.1 as the most major ordering column and C.sub.3 is the most minor ordering column. Column C.sub.2 is in a "more major" position relative to C.sub.3 and in a "more minor" position relative to C.sub.1. Two records are ordered with respect to an "order requirement" vector by comparing attribute values in most major to most minor sequence until order is determined (ISO-ANSI, "ISO-ANSI Working Draft: Database Language SQL2 and SQL3; X3H2; ISO/IEC/JTC1/SC21/WG3, 1993"). A record stream can acquire an "order property" because of an index access or a sort operation while other operations may preserve the order of an input record stream. For example, a nested-loop join operation preserves the order of the outer relation.
The "functional dependency" property specifies a collection of functional dependencies that hold for the attributes of the record stream. For base relations, these are typically the key dependencies of the base relations. Operations that remove duplicates can add key dependencies as described above. Key dependencies survive joins as non-key functional dependencies. The above-cited Darwen et al. reference describes the functional dependency derivation and propagation for relational operations. For the order detection process, the "functional dependency" property permits enumeration of all functional dependencies holding for the record stream.
There is an untilled need in the art for a sort detection process that permits the query compiler to understand and exploit the effects of both predicates and functional dependencies during order detection. The failure in the art to account for these effects causes the query compiler to inject unnecessary sorts or to sort on more attributes than necessary. This in turn causes the compiler to generate suboptimal query execution plans. The desire to reduce QEP cost in large database systems motivates the need for any useful method that avoids unnecessary sort operations during execution plan generation.
Practitioners in the relational database art generally appreciate the absence of a solution to this problem. For instance, Boykin et al. ("Order Class Detection", IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 32, no. 52, pp. 283-285, October, 1989) discuss the continuing need to improve order detection during query optimization. Boykin et al. propose a process for recognizing when special combined order classes can be constructed to satisfy the order requirements arising from more than one order specification in a query. An order class is a list of attributes or columns, each having the attribute "ascending", "descending", or "either". The combined order classes are used to locate indexes or to specify the sorting operation necessary to satisfy the order requirements. As used herein, the "order class" is denominated an "order specification vector", which may be an "order property vector O.sub.Pi " or an "order requirement vector O.sub.Ri ". By combining the "order specification vectors" within a query, Boykin et al. permit the query compiler to insert a single sort to satisfy two separate ordering requirements, but do not consider the effects of functional dependencies or predicates on sort specifications.
L. W. Yongren ("Dynamic Ordering of Joined Rows using Fields from Multiple Tables", IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 36, no. 11, pp. 363-366, November 1993) disclose a method for ordering joined "live" data (dynamic views) without producing a temporary result table. Yongren proposes maintaining indexes that can be updated responsive to updates to the underlying base-relations. By providing for a "composite index", Yongren is able to avoid resorting operations during the maintenance of dynamic VIEW tables, but he neither considers nor suggests methods for eliminating sort operations or index scans by exploiting functional dependencies.
Similarly, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,241,648, Cheng et al. propose a hybrid method for joining tables that relies on maintaining indexes to speed the nested join procedure. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,369,761, Conley et al. speed the table join operation by selectively "denormalizing" the base-relations to avoid joining unnecessary attributes. Neither Conley et al. nor Cheng et al. consider or suggest methods for eliminating sort operations by detecting redundancy arising from functional dependencies.
There is a need in the art for an order detection process that fully assimilates and exploits the effects of both predicates and functional dependencies to avoid sorting whenever possible. The absence in the art of any process for exploiting predicate and functional dependency effects during query order detection reduces query execution plan efficiencies. These unresolved problems and deficiencies are clearly felt in the art and are solved by this invention in the manner described below.


1. Field
The present disclosure relates to computer systems and methods in which data resources are shared among data consumers while preserving data integrity and consistency relative to each consumer. More particularly, the disclosure concerns implementations of mutual exclusion mechanisms such as reader-writer locking.
2. Description of the Prior Art
By way of background, reader-writer synchronization is a mutual exclusion technique that is suitable for use in shared memory multiprocessor computing environments to protect a set of shared data. One type of reader-writer synchronization, known as reader-writer locking, allows read operations (readers) to share lock access in order to facilitate parallel data reads, but requires write operations (writers) to obtain exclusive lock access for writing the data. The technique is well suited to shared memory multiprocessor computing environments in which the number of readers accessing a shared data set is large in comparison to the number of writers, and wherein the overhead cost of requiring serialized lock acquisition for readers would be high. For example, a network routing table that is updated at most once every few minutes but searched many thousands of times per second is a case where serialized read-side locking would be quite burdensome.
Reader-writer locks are conventionally implemented using a single global lock that is shared among processors. This approach requires readers and writers to contend for one global lock on an equal footing, but produces memory contention delays due to cache line bouncing of the lock between each processor's cache. Insofar as reader-writer locks are premised on the existence of a read-intensive processing environment, readers may be unduly penalized, especially if their critical sections are short and their lock acquisition frequency is high. A distributed reader-writer lock approach is presented in Hsieh and Weihl, “Scalable Reader/Writer Locks for Parallel Systems”, 1991. It requires the readers to acquire only a local per-processor reader/writer lock that will usually reside in the memory cache of the processor that hosts the acquiring reader. However, the writers must acquire all of the local reader/writer locks, which degrades writer performance due to memory contention, and in some cases due to new readers being allowed to starve a writer while the latter is waiting for one of the local reader/writer locks. A further disadvantage associated with both non-distributed and distributed reader-writer locking is that lock acquisition imposes a burden on readers, even in the absence of a writer. Reader-writer locks are typically implemented as semaphores, mutex locks and spinlocks. Acquiring each of these lock types often imposes the cost of atomic instructions and/or memory barriers. In a read-mostly computing environment, the overhead associated with these operations falls mostly on readers.
Improved read-side performance is provided by the locking technique disclosed in commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 7,934,062, which requires no read-side lock acquisition except when a writer announces its intention to acquire the reader-writer lock. However, the write-side performance of this method can be degraded in systems with many processors. This is because writers must wait for a grace period to elapse before acquiring the reader-writer lock. All processors must pass through a quiescent state that guarantees each reader will have an opportunity to note the writer's locking attempt, and thereby synchronize on the reader-writer lock.
The present disclosure introduces techniques for reducing writer latency in large multiprocessor systems that employ data synchronization mechanisms, such as the grace period-based reader-writer locking approach disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,934,062 or the distributed locking scheme proposed by Hsieh and Weihl. A technique for reducing writer latency in a multithreaded user-mode embodiment of the Hsieh and Weihl distributed locking method is also disclosed. The techniques disclosed herein are also useful for other synchronization operations, such as expedited grace period detection in multiprocessor systems implementing read-copy update (RCU) synchronization.


This invention is directed to a wrench of the locking type which will grip objects of various sizes and hold these objects without the necessity of the wrench operator constantly applying force to the handles of the wrench. An over-center toggle type linkage is used to hold a lower pivoted jaw relative to an upper fixed jaw.
The primary object of this invention is to provide a wrench that automatically self-adjusts itself to various size objects. The wrench operator does not have to adjust a screw or other adjustment means before gripping an object.
Another object of this invention is to provide a wrench that in addition to self-adjusting to various sizes is also capable of gripping objects with a wide variation in clamping force. The degree of force applied to an object is controlled each time the wrench is closed or used by merely applying pressure on a special force control lever provided on the wrench.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a wrench that lends itself to one hand operation. In one variation the wrench is provided with a force control lever on the top forward part of the upper handle, where it can be operated with ones thumb, while the wrench handles are closed by using ones hand and fingers. In standard manually adjusted wrenches of this type (A well-known brand or trade name of these standard wrenches is Vice-Grip.), the adjustment screw must be adjusted and often re-adjusted prior to use, and/or the adjustment screw must be turned with one hand while some force is applied to the wrench handles with the other hand to thereby arrive at a reasonable adjustment. In many circumstances (such as when parts must be held) this type of manual adjustment is very difficult or impossible.


The present disclosure relates to a light-emitting device and a method of manufacturing the same.
In a laser light source, realizing high power is a major task. Therefore, semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOA) have been studied as devices that amplify light from a laser light source as well as realizing high power of semiconductor laser devices. Here, an optical amplifier is a device that directly amplifies light without converting an optical signal into an electrical signal. The optical amplifier has a laser structure having no resonator and amplifies incident light with an optical gain of the amplifier.
Since optical amplifiers have been developed mainly for optical communication, semiconductor optical amplifiers of a 405 nm band have rarely been put to a practical use. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 5-067845 discloses a semiconductor optical amplifier of a 1.5 μm band which has a tapered ridge stripe configuration in which a GaInAsP-based compound semiconductor is used. According to the technology disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 5-067845, in the semiconductor optical amplifier, a mode field is expanded along an optical waveguide width by gradually widening the optical waveguide width in a tapered shape from an optical waveguide serving as a narrow incident side, which satisfies single-mode conditions, to an optical waveguide serving as an output side. Thus, the highest output of the semiconductor optical amplifier is designed to be improved.
In general, semiconductor laser devices or semiconductor optical amplifiers have a layer (In the field of laser diode, the word “layer” is used instead of lamination) structure formed on a base substrate. Here, the layer structure includes n-type compound semiconductor layers (specifically, an n-type clad layer and an n-type light guiding layer) doped with n-type impurities, an active layer, and p-type compound semiconductor layers (specifically, a p-type light guiding layer and a p-type clad layer) doped with p-type impurities generally formed from the side of a base substrate.


(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for processing a silver halide color photographic material and a color photographic developing composition used in the method, and more particularly to a method for processing a silver halide color photographic material in which the stability and the color-forming property of a color photographic developing solution are improved, and the increased fogging problem in continuous processing is lessened; and a color developing composition which can afford the color developing solution.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Color developing solutions containing an aromatic primary amine color developing agent have long been used for forming color images, and they now play a main role in methods of forming color photographic images. However, it is well known that these color developing solutions have the disadvantage of oxidizing easily with air or metals, and if color images are formed using oxidized color developing solution there is increased fogging or the sensitivity or gradation changes, thus interfering with the desired photographic properties.
Accordingly, hitherto various means of improving the preservative property of color developing solutions were studied, and, in particular, means using both hydroxyl amine and sulfite ions are most generally practiced. However, since hydroxyl amine when decomposed releases ammonia, which causes fogging, and since sulfite ions disadvantageously hamper, for example, the color-forming property when used as a competing compound in a developing agent, it is difficult to consider them preferable compounds (preservatives) to improve the preservative property of color developing solutions.
Although sulfite ions, in particular, have long been used to improve the preservative property of various developing agents or to prevent hydroxyl amines from decomposing, they greatly hamper the color-forming property and markedly lower the color density. Especially when the sulfite ion is used in a system free of benzyl alcohol which is desirable to avoid the solution-preparation and environmental pollution problems involved with benzyl alcohol.
As compounds that can substitute for sulfites were suggested alkanolamines, described in Japanese Patent Application (OPI) No. 3532/1979, and polyethyleneimines, described in Japanese Patent Application (OPI) 94349/1981. Even if these compounds are used, however, they do not achieve enough desirable effects.
To improve the stability of color developing solutions, various preservatives and chelating agents have hitherto been studied. For example, as preservatives can be mentioned aromatic polyhydroxy compounds described, for example, in Japanese Patent Application (OPI) Nos. 49828/1977, 160142/1984, and 47038/1981 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,746,544, hydroxycarbonyl compounds described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,615,503 and British Patent No. 1,306,176, .alpha.-aminocarbonyl compounds described in Japanese Patent Application (OPI) Nos. 143020/1977 and 89425/1978, metal salts described in Japanese Patent Application (OPI) Nos. 44148/ 1982 and 53749/1982, and hydroxamic acids described in Japanese Patent Application (OPI) No. 27638/1977. As chelating agents can be mentioned amino polycarboxylic acids described in Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 30496/1973 and 30232/1969; organic phosphonic acids described in Japanese Patent Application (OPI) No. 97347/1981, Japanese Patent Publication No. 39359/1981, and West German Patent No. 2,227,639; phosphonocarboxylic acids described, for example, in Japanese Patent Application (OPI) Nos. 102726/1977, 42730/1978, 121127/1979, 126241/1980, and 65956/1980; compounds described, for example, in Japanese Patent Application (OPI) Nos. 195845/1983 and 203440/1983 and Japanese Patent Publcation No. 40900/1978; and organic phosphonic acid type chelating agents described in Research Disclosure Nos. 18837 and 17048.
Satisfactory results, however, have not yet been obtained, because if organic phosphonic acid type chelating agents of the present invention and the above technique are used, the preservative property is not enough and the photographic characteristics are adversely affected.
Further, it is described in Japanese Patent Application (OPI) Nos. 95345/1973 and 232342/1984 that color photographic materials containing a silver chlorobromide emulsion with a high chlorine content are liable to cause fogging when the materials are color-developed. If such an emulsion is used it is essential to use a preservative that dissolved less in the emulsion and has better preservative performance, and in this sense satisfactory preservatives have not yet been found.


The invention relates to a side strut for a lower steering arm of a three-point attaching device of a tractor. The strut includes a first articulating telescopic member secured to the tractor and a second articulating telescopic member secured to the lower steering arm. The two telescopic members are adjustable relative to one another along an axis of adjustment between an inserted position and a maximum extracted position. The side strut further includes a locking pawl which is attached to one of the two telescopic members. The pawl is pivotable around an axis intersecting the axis of adjustment at right angles. The pawl includes two parallel cheeks arranged at the sides of the two telescopic members and connected to one another by a bridge. The side strut also includes two locking stops which extend transversely relative to the axis of adjustment. The stops project from the other of the two telescopic members and are form-fittingly embraced by locking recesses when the locking pawl is in a locking position.
Side struts are known from DE 41 18 683 C1, issued May 27, 1992. In the case of the embodiment described therein, the movement between the telescopic members is limited by a longitudinal slot in the two cheeks of the locking pawl.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fully-automated washing machine for performing a laundry washing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, in a conventional washing machine, as illustrated in FIG. 1, a body 1 of a washing machine is disposed with a tub 5 having a washing/spin-drying drum or tank 3 therein and a decelerater 9 is disposed underneath a center of the tub 5 for agitaing the laundry tossed into the washing/spin-drying drum by rotating clockwise and counter-clockwise the stirring blades 7 of a pulsator and the like installed on a floor within the drum 3.
The decelerator 9 is designed to receive a power in order to rotate the stirring blades 7 from a driving means 11 fixed to one end of a lower external side of the tub 5 through a power transfer means 13.
A drainage means 16 such as a solenoid valve and the like is disposed on a middle of a drainage pipe 15 underneath the tub 5 in order to discharge the laundry water in the washing/spin-drying drum to the outside.
Furthermore, on top surface area la of the body 1 of the washing machine, there is a lid 2 for covering an opening for insertion and removal of the laundry, and at the same time, on a rear side of the lid 2, in other words, on a lower rear side of a control panel 17, there is a detergent intake device 19 for dissolving and discharging a detergent into the drum 3.
In the washing machine thus constructed, when it is used by opening the lid 2 formed on the top surface area 1a of the body 1 and tossing the laundry into the drum 3, the water is supplied into the drum 3 and at the same time, the dissolved detergent is thrown into the drum from the detergent intake device 19.
When a predetermined quantity of water and detergent is supplied into the drum 3, the driving means 11 starts to operate. At this moment, a turning effect of the driving means 11 is transferred to the decelerator 9 through the power transfer means 13 and pulleys 12 and 14 to thereby rotate the decelerator 9 in opposite directions, so that the washing is performed by way of the currents of water formed by the oscillation of the stirring blades 7 attached to a driving axis of the decelerator 9.
Meanwhile, after the washing is finished, in accordance with an operation of the drainage means 16 attached to the drainage pipe 15, the water is discharged to the outside of the body 1, and in sequence, a washing cycle comprising another intermediate spin-dry, rinse, spin-dry and the like is automatically executed to thereby perform the laundry washing.
However, in the washing machine thus constructed to perform the washing by way of the water currents, organic or inorganic materials attached to the laundry can be separated to some extent, but insoluble organic or inorganic materials such as dirt, fat and the like can hardly be separated from the laundry solely by water currents.
Therefore, these kinds of insoluble foreign objects are separated by the detergent, in other words, by an assistance of a surface active agent for changing respective surface tensions of the water, fabrics and the foreign objects, to thereby be washed out. However, the foreign objects stuck to underwears, socks and other white-colored fabrics can not be washed thoroughly with the detergent, so that such laundry is first boiled in a separate container.
However, because a boiled washing method thus described is performed after the laundry, the detergent and the water are poured into a separate container to which heat is applied by gas, electricity and the like, a special attention should be always paid to avoid a burning of the laundry or danger of fire.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vacuum processing system and a method of operating thereof, and more particularly to a vacuum processing system having an exhaust system configured to exhaust the vacuum processing system and optionally exhaust a gas injection system coupled to the vacuum processing system.
2. Description of Related Art
Typically, during materials processing, when fabricating composite material structures, a plasma is frequently employed to facilitate the addition and removal of material films. For example, in semiconductor processing, a dry plasma etch process is often utilized to remove or etch material along fine lines or within vias or contacts patterned on a silicon substrate. Alternatively, for example, a vapor deposition process is utilized to deposit material along fine lines or within vias or contacts on a silicon substrate. In the latter, vapor deposition processes include chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD).
In PECVD, a plasma is utilized to alter or enhance the film deposition mechanism. For instance, plasma excitation generally allows film-forming reactions to proceed at temperatures that are significantly lower than those typically required to produce a similar film by thermally excited CVD. In addition, plasma excitation may activate film-forming chemical reactions that are not energetically or kinetically favored in thermal CVD. The chemical and physical properties of PECVD films may thus be varied over a relatively wide range by adjusting process parameters.
More recently, atomic layer deposition (ALD), and plasma enhanced ALD (PEALD) have emerged as candidates for ultra-thin gate film formation in front end-of-line (FEOL) operations, as well as ultra-thin barrier layer and seed layer formation for metallization in back end-of-line (BEOL) operations. In ALD, two or more process gases, such as a film precursor and a reduction gas, are introduced alternatingly and sequentially while the substrate is heated in order to form a material film one monolayer at a time. In PEALD, plasma is formed during the introduction of the reduction gas to form a reduction plasma. To date, ALD and PEALD processes have proven to provide improved uniformity in layer thickness and conformality to features on which the layer is deposited, albeit these processes are slower than their CVD and PECVD counterparts.


Electronic devices connected via a network typically require electrical connectors to be connected to the network or other relevant electronic devices.
A conventional electrical connector typically requires an adapter terminal to realize electrical connection between a PCB board and an input terminal or an output terminal, so it has a complicated structure, and requires complicated assembling processes, which leads to a poor network transmission performance.
The above information disclosed in the BACKGROUND is only for a better understanding of the background of the present disclosure, and therefore, it may include information that does not constitute known prior art to those skilled in the art.


1. Field of Endeavor
The present application relates to gas spectroscopy and more particularly to a fiber optic coupled multipass gas minicell.
2. State of Technology
This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,309,929 for tunable photonic cavities for in-situ spectroscopic trace gas detection includes the following information: “Gas analysis is conventionally performed using laboratory analytical techniques, e.g., gas chromatography or mass spectrometry (GC-MS), which do not satisfy current device and material constraints for unattended, flexible ground sensors, or for lightweight, highly sensitive systems for avionic operations. Absorption spectroscopy is a powerful alternative approach for gas in-field detection and identification, and several interesting techniques have been developed including tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS). Typically, this occurs in the infrared (IR) region of the spectrum. Recently, micromechanically tunable vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) have been implemented in such fashion for near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. Unfortunately, many existing TDLAS systems exhibit drawbacks that limit their deployment, including the need for cryogenic cooling, a requirement for a bulky multipass cell, or a long hollow or porous fiber with a relatively slow time response.”
Tunable Absorption Spectroscopy is a common technique for gas detection and simply provides the chemical fingerprint of components by the absorption of the light at the wavelengths which resonate with the molecules inducing vibrations and rotations. By simply shining light through a volumetric gas sample on a detector, when the wavelengths is right, quench will occur and a dip in the power will be recorded at the detector.
In order to improve sensitivity various approaches are taken, from increasing the number of passes of light through the volume (thus increasing the absorption in discrete defined spaces) to implementing modulation techniques to remove background and noise.
Applicants have developed an extremely small and robust cell in which a very small volumes of gas is sampled while maintaining high sensitivity and specificity by combining it with highly tunable VCSELs (to provide various absorption lines of one specie and capture varies elements at once) and wavelength modulation spectroscopy (to extract high harmonics which are not affected by the 1/f noise).


(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of forming a trench for semiconductor device isolation and, more particularly, to a method of forming a shallow trench for semiconductor device isolation which exhibits good performance characteristics, and is well adapted for serving in device miniaturization.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Generally, a local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) technique has been used for device isolation purpose in the semiconductor fabrication process.
In the LOCOS technique, the silicon wafer itself is thermally oxidized while using a nitride for a mask, and requires only a small number of processing steps. For this reason, the resulting oxide involves lower degree of stress, and exhibits good insulating characteristics.
However, in the application of the LOCOS technique, the device isolation area takes a large volume that limits device miniaturization as well as involves occurrence of the so-called bird""s beak.
In order to solve the above problems, a shallow trench isolation (STI) technique has been suggested.
In the STI technique, a shallow trench is made in the silicon wafer, and filled with an insulating material. In this structure, the device isolation area is small, and hence the resulting trench can be well adapted for device miniaturization.
FIGS. 1A to 1D schematically illustrate the steps of processing a trench for device isolation according to a prior art.
As shown in FIG. 1A, a silicon wafer 1 is thermally oxidized so that a pad oxide 2 with a thickness of 100-200 xc3x85 is grown at the silicon wafer 1. A nitride 3 with a thickness of 1000-2000 xc3x85 is deposited onto the pad oxide 2 through low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD). The pad oxide 2 and the nitride 3 are patterned through photolithography, and the exposed silicon wafer 1 is etched such that a shallow trench is formed at the device isolation area.
As shown in FIG. 1B, the silicon wafer 1 is thermally oxidized so that a liner oxide 4 is grown at the inner wall of the trench. A trench-filling oxide 5 with a thickness of 8000-11000 xc3x85 is deposited onto the entire surface of the silicon wafer 1 through atmospheric chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) such that the trench is completely buried by the trench-filling oxide 5. The silicon wafer 1 is then annealed at 900-1000 xc2x0 C. for 20-50 minutes under a nitrogen gas (N2) atmosphere to thereby density the trench-filling oxide 5.
As shown in FIG. 1C, the densified trench-filling oxide 5 is patterned through photolithography such that it is left only at the trench area.
As shown in FIG. 1D, the trench-filling oxide 5 at top side of the trench is removed through chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) while utilizing the nitride 3 as a stopping layer during the polishing. That is, the trench-filling oxide 5 is planarized such that the top portion of the trench-filling oxide 5 is level with the nitride 3. In this way, the formation of a shallow trench for device isolation is completed.
However, the above-described trench formation technique bears complicated processing steps. Furthermore, when the trench-filling oxide 5 is planarized through the CMP, the top edge portion of the trench-filling oxide 5 cracks so that the trench-filling oxide 5 remaining after the planarization is torn (usually called the xe2x80x9ctorn oxidexe2x80x9d), causing serious device failures.
Furthermore, among the impurities used in the CMOS transistor, boron-like components that exhibit a high diffusion property at high temperatures are diffused toward the trench during annealing or thermal oxidation and can induce an electrical short or leakage, deteriorating device reliability.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of forming a trench for device isolation which has simplified processing steps, avoids the tom oxide phenomenon, and ensures device reliability.
These and other objects may be achieved by a method of forming a trench for semiconductor device isolation including the following steps. A trench is first made at a device isolation area of a silicon wafer by etching the silicon wafer through a mask pattern. A liner oxide is then formed on the silicon wafer and within the trench through thermal oxidation, and a nitride layer is formed on the liner oxide through low pressure chemical vapor deposition. The nitride is anisotropically dry-etched such that the nitride is left only at the sidewall of the trench. A trench-filling oxide is then deposited onto the entire surface of the silicon wafer through high pressure chemical vapor deposition, and annealed. The trench-filling oxide is planarized through chemical mechanical polishing until the top surface of the trench-filling oxide layer is positioned slightly over the liner oxide on the silicon wafer. The silicon wafer is then wet-cleaned, and thermally oxidized such that a pad oxide is grown at the surface of the silicon wafer.
The thickness of the liner oxide is established to be 150-400 xc3x85, and that of the nitride to be 300-1000 xc3x85. The thickness of the pad oxide is 100-200 xc3x85.


1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a keyboard apparatus used in electronic keyboard instruments such as an electronic organ, an electronic piano, and a synthesizer, or in electric keyboard instruments.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a keyboard apparatus used in electronic keyboard instruments such as electronic organs and electronic pianos, there has conventionally been provided a comb-teeth shaped keyboard apparatus such as that disclosed in, for example, JP H06-342281 A. This keyboard apparatus is structured such that a plurality of key main bodies to which a key depression operation is performed are coupled via thin coupling parts to a common key support part extending in a key arrangement direction and are supported to be pivotable in a key depression direction, and they are integrally formed of resin to form a comb-teeth shaped key unit. For example, in each one octave key range, a white key unit consisting of four alternate white keys, a white key unit consisting of the remaining three white keys, and a black key unit consisting of five black keys are separately formed, the respective common key support parts are integrally stacked, and the integrated key unit is fixed to a key mounting part of a keyboard frame with screws. Such integrated key units in number corresponding to a necessary key range are connected, whereby a keyboard apparatus is structured.
With this structure, since it is not necessary to provide fulcrum parts in the keyboard frame and the plural keys are integrated as a unit, the less number of components are required and the assembly maintenance are easy, which is extremely effective for reducing manufacturing cost.
However, it has been necessary to provide a key guide for each key in order to restrict the key arrangement direction position of each key and to prevent yawing at the time of key depression.
Therefore, there has been proposed a comb-teeth shaped keyboard apparatus requiring no key guide as disclosed in JP H07-92963 A. In the keyboard apparatus, a total width in a key width direction of a coupling part in each key unit as described above is larger than a width of a rear end of a key main body, thereby realizing sufficient flexibility in a key depression/release direction yet increasing a sectional secondary moment against a force in the key width direction (lateral direction). Accordingly, it is possible to restrict yawing in the key width direction of the key main bodies without using any key guide, resulting in reduced manufacturing cost of the keyboard apparatus.
Further, a keyboard apparatus of an electronic musical instrument as disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,834,668 B has been conventionally in use. In this keyboard apparatus, in order to provide a heavy key touch feeling comparable to a key touch feeling of an acoustic musical instrument such as a piano, mass members such as hammers are provided for respective keys. Each of these hammers pivots in linkage with a depression operation of each key to produce a force depending on its movement, and the force works as a counter force against a key depression force, thereby providing a desired key depression touch feeling.
However, the comb-teeth shaped keyboard apparatus as disclosed in JP H06-342281 A requires the key guides for the respective keys, which has posed a problem that the structure of the whole keyboard apparatus cannot be sufficiently simplified and it takes time to adjust the positions of the key units and the key guides.
Here, structuring the key units as disclosed in JP H07-92963 A maybe disuse the key guides. However, it is necessary to make the coupling parts sufficiently wide in the key width direction so that the coupling part of each key partly overlap in plane with the coupling parts of the adjacent keys when the keyboard apparatus is assembled by stacking the common key support parts of the plural key units. Otherwise, key guides need to be provided on a key free end side. Therefore, the shape of the key units and the structure of the keyboard become complicated, resulting in increased molding cost and design restrictions.
Moreover, in a case of a mini keyboard whose keys are shorter than keys in a standard keyboard, such a structure with the wide coupling parts can sufficiently restrict yawing of key main bodies, but in a case of a standard keyboard, it is difficult to sufficiently restrict yawing of key main bodies (especially, white keys) only by the wide coupling parts since the key main bodies are long, which poses a problem of bad performability such as difficulty in playing glissando.
Further, in the keyboard apparatus having the mass members operating in linkage with the respective keys as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,834,668 B, a large number of members such as key guides and key switches for the respective keys, mechanisms for linking the keys and the mass members (hammers), and upper/lower limit stoppers of the mass members have to be provided under the keys, which imposes many restrictions on the shape, arrangement, movable range, and so on of the mass members, and therefore it has been extremely difficult to design the keyboard apparatus providing a desired touch feeling and being low cost.


1. Field of Technology
The present application relates to a device for locking an equipment item onto a locking track attached to the floor of a cabin, including two parallel retaining edges divided by a longitudinal slot and a number of spatially separated openings, wherein the device has on its upper side means for locking the equipment item and on its lower side includes at least two locking projections the size and the arrangement of which are adapted to at least two adjacent openings, and wherein by shifting the locking projections in the longitudinal direction of the locking track until the locking projections are located between two adjacent openings, a positive connection between the device and the locking track can be produced.
2. Brief Description of Related Art
Such a device is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,871,318, for example, and is used in particular for the longitudinal shifting of aircraft seats along locking tracks that are attached onto the cabin floor of an aircraft. In order to fasten the aircraft seats onto the locking tracks, the device is initially aligned such that a support component with molded projections is aligned with the circular openings, so that this can be moved through the longitudinal slot in the locking track. The support component is then moved by half the distance between adjacent openings in the longitudinal direction of the track, wherein the T-shaped cross-sectional projections engage behind the retaining edges on both sides of the locking track and prevent the support component from coming out of the locking track. In a third step, locking parts having a corresponding contour are then moved down by the support component, so that these are retained in the openings which are now located below. In this context, the locking parts are pushed against the retaining edges, which results in locking the support component and thus the seat attached to it in the track.
In this case it is disadvantageous that the support components, after having been inserted into the locking track, must be moved as accurately as possible by half the distance of the opening, so that the locking parts engage into the openings and thus making secure locking possible. Since several seats are normally combined in one row and are arranged on one seat support, it is necessary that this entire row of seats must be moved. This process requires some time for assembly, particularly if the distance by which the row of seats is shifted deviates too greatly from the setpoint, and locking is not possible initially until some fine alignment has been done. This shifting process can also result in some tilting and can thus produce jamming.


Floor lamps, desk lamps and table lamps are all very well known in the lighting industry. Many of such lamps contain multi-position switches for changing the level of illumination provided by the general area lighting means incorporated within such lamps. Low light level lamps, commonly referred to as night lights, are also well known in the lighting industry and are constructed having many different configurations. It is also known in the prior art to incorporate a low light level light bulb into a table lamp, floor lamp or desk lamp. In many instances, the incorporation of the low light level light bulb accomplishes the additional function of providing a more decorative appearance to the body of the lamp. The present invention is specifically directed to a lamp, which can be a desk lamp, table lamp or floor lamp, of the type which also incorporates as an integral part thereof one or more low light level bulbs housed within the body of the lamp to provide decoration as well as a night light function. In such prior art structures, it is extremely difficult to replace the low light level light bulb when it has burned out. Prior art lamps of this type generally require extensive dismantling of the lamp to gain access to the interior of the lamp to replace the low light level light bulb. In one such prior art lamp the base had to be removed to replace the bulb. One lamp which solves the foregoing problems is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,916,108 by the same inventor and assigned to the same assignee as this application and the present invention is an improvement thereon.
Therefore, there is need in the lighting industry for a lamp which incorporates both a general area lighting means and low light level light bulbs (night light) which also provides a means for ready access to the interior of the body so that the night lights may be easily changed when such is required.


This invention is concerned with the improvements in and relating to an information recording method of recording video information on an information storage medium and an information reproducing method of reproducing the video information from the information storage medium, and more particularly to those suitable for a case where the video information recorded on the information storage medium is the digital video information compressed according to the MPEG (Moving Picture Image Coding Experts Group) standards.
In recent years, systems for playing back an optical disk on which video (or moving picture) information and audio information have been recorded have been developed. They have been widely used in the form of, for example, LDs (Laser Disks) or video CDs (Compact Disks) for the purpose of reproducing movie software or karaoke.
In this connection, the DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) standard employing the internationally standardized MPEG-2 scheme and the AC (Audio Compression)-3 or other audio compression schemes has been proposed. The DVD standard covers playback-only DVD video (or DVD-ROM (Read-Only Memory)), write-once DVD-R (Recordable), rewritable DVD-RAM (Random Access Memory) (or DVD-RW (Rewritable)).
The DVD video (DVD-ROM) standard supports MPEG-2 for moving picture compression scheme and not only liner PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) but also AC-3 audio and MPEG audio for audio recording scheme.
The DVD video standard further supports sub-picture data obtained by run-length compressing the bit map data for subtitles and reproduce control data (navigation data) for data searching by fast-forward playback or fast-rewind playback.
Furthermore, the DVD video standard supports ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 9660 and UDF (Universal Disk Format) to allow computers to read data.
For DVD video (DVD-ROM) optical disks, a 12-cm diameter single-sided single-layer disk has a storage capacity of about 4.7 GB (Giga Bytes); a 12-cm diameter single-sided double-layer disk has a storage capacity of about 9.5 GB; and a 12-cm diameter double-sided double-layer disk has a storage capacity of about 18 GB, provided that 650-nm (nanometers) wavelength laser light is used for reading.
On the other hand, for DVD-RAM (DVD-RW) optical disks, at the present time, a 12-cm diameter single-sided disk has a storage capacity of about 2.6 GB and a 12-cm diameter double-sided disk has a storage capacity of about 5.2 GB. Namely, DVD-RAM optical disks in practical use have a smaller storage capacity than DVD-ROM disks of the same size.
In playback-only DVD video (DVD-ROM), like a hierarchical file structure used by a general-purpose computer operating system, the directory structure of information (data files) recorded on an information storage medium is such that a subdirectory of video title set VTS and a subdirectory of audio title set ATS are connected to a root directory as shown in FIG. 1.
In the subdirectory of video title set VTS, various video files (including VMGI, VMGM, VTSI, VTSM, and VTS) are so arranged that the individual files can be managed in order. A specific file (for example, a specific VTS) can be accessed by specifying a path from the root directory to the file.
Specifically, the root directory of a DVD video disk includes a subdirectory called video title set VTS. The subdirectory can contain various management data files including VIDEO_TS.IFO or VTS—01—0.IFO, backup files, including VIDEO_TS.BUP and VTS—01—0.BUP, for backing up the information in those management data files, and a video data file VTS—01—1.VOB managed on the basis of the contents of the management data files and used to store digital video information. The subdirectory can also contain menu data files (including VMGM and VTSM) for storing specific menu information.
A DVD video disk is composed of a video manager VMG and at least one or up to 99 video title sets VTSs. The video manager VMG is composed of control data VMGI, VMG menu video object set VMGM_VOBS, and backup control data VMGI_BUP. Each data is recorded on an information storage medium as a single file.
As shown in FIG. 1, on the DVD video disk, the individual video title sets (e.g., video title set VTS #1 and video title set VTS #2) have to be recorded in separate files. In each video title set (e.g., video title set VTS #1), control data VTSI, VTS menu video object set VTSM_VOBS, and backup control data VTSI_BUP are recorded in separate files. Additionally, title video data VTS—01—1.VOB and VTS—01—2.VOB in the VTS are recorded in plural files.
The DVD-RAM disk uses a UDF file system, not a FAT (File Allocation Table) file system. The details of UDF will be described in details later. Like FAT, UDF enables a hierarchical structure of files and records data in files on an information storage medium. In the prior art, both of the UDF file and the FAT file are filled with data and have no unrecorded area in them.
The contents will be explained in detail using one example. For example, when a statement has been written using word processor software (such as Ichitaro, Word, or Amipro) running on a PC (Personal Computer), the written statement is recorded on an information storage medium as a file. In this case, all the file is filled with text data. Even if a space area or a continues enter mark portion with no sentence continues long in the middle of the written sentence, that portion in the stored file will be filled with space data and enter data and therefore there will be no fully unrecorded area in the file.
Even when the user reads the document file and stores the data after deleting the middle of the sentence, an unrecorded area is never defined in the stored information and is recorded on the information storage medium as a file with the data items before and after the deleted portion putting together. As a result, the size of the file recorded on the information storage medium decreases by the amount of data in the deleted portion.
With application software running on an ordinary PC, a file read from an information storage medium for editing is transferred as it is to a buffer memory (semiconductor memory) on the PC. The edited data is stored temporarily in the buffer memory on the PC. Once the user has given an instruction to store the file, the edited data stored in the buffer memory on the PC is written over the whole file on the information storage medium. As described above, with the conventional file system, such as a FAT or UDF file system, when the file data is changed, all the data in the file is changed at a time in the overwrite process. This is different from the present invention where the data in only a part of the file is changed.
FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate examples of reproducing video information using program chains PGCs on a DVD video disk. As shown in FIG. 2A, the playback data is divided into cells and playback sections from cell A to cell F are specified. In the individual program chains PGC #1 to #3, PGC information is defined as shown in FIG. 2B. Specifically, the table in FIG. 2B reads as follows.
1. Program chain PGC #1 shows an example of being made up of cells specifying consecutive playback sections. The playback sequence is:
Cell A→Cell B→Cell C.
2. Program chain PGC #2 shows an example of being made up of cells specifying intermittent playback sections. The playback sequence is:
Cell D→Cell E→Cell F.
3. Program chain PGC #3 shows an example of being made up of cells specifying disorderly playback sections, regardless of the direction of playback or repetitive playback. The playback sequence is:
Cell E→Cell A→Cell D→Cell B→Cell E
By defining different program chains PGCs as described above, different display sequences can be realized for the same cells. In a DVD video disk, all the cell information is not necessarily displayed by a single program chain PGC because of the freedom of program chain PGC setting.
What has been explained above is about the data structure of the video information recorded on a playback-only DVD video disk. An information storage medium capable of recording and reproducing video information using a DVD-RAM disk or a DVD-RW disk is now being developed as one form of the DVD family.
It is desirable that the video information recording format on the information storage medium capable of video recording and reproducing should have a continuity and a relation with the data structure of a DVD video disk. In addition, a UDF file system is used for DVD-RAM disks or DVD-RW disks, as in the playback-only DVD video disk.
When the data structure of the aforementioned DVD video disk is used directly as the data structure on a recordable (videorecordable) information storage medium and the above conventional UDF (or FAT) file system is used, the following problems arise:
1. Since the control data and video data are recorded in such a manner that they are distributed over plural files, when having deleted a file by mistake, the user is unaware of the position of the error until trying to reproduce the deleted file in the course of playback. For the playback-only DVD video disk, there is no possibility that the user will delete a file. In the case of recordable/erasable information storage mediums, however, there is a danger that the user will delete a file by mistake.
2. Since the control data and video data are recorded in such a manner that they are distributed over plural files and the data structure has the same hierarchical structure as that of the computer data, it is difficult for the family user unfamiliar with the computer to understand the deleted place or the recorded place. Specifically, knowing only the VTR (Video Tape Recorder) as a medium capable of recording video information, the family user wonders which part of the single tape the place where the picture has been recorded or deleted has occupied. Therefore, showing the user small files of record or the result of erasing as they are would throw the user into confusion.
As shown in FIG. 1, in the DVD video disk, information is recorded in such a manner that it is divided into separate files by video title set VTS. Thus, when plural video title sets (VTS#1 and VTS#2 in FIG. 1) have been recorded on the information storage medium, the user familiar with only the VTR has no idea about the playback procedure.
3. With a method of allowing the family user to select a specific cell corresponding to a program chain PGC for the recorded information, some user is liable to fall into confusion. Specifically, knowing only the VTR as a medium capable of recording video information, the family user will probably wonder which part of the single tape the place where the picture has been recorded or deleted has occupied. Therefore, it would be difficult for the user to understand the concept of selecting cells by a program chain PGC on a playback-only DVD video disk.
4. In a data file recorded using the conventional UDF or FAT, there is no unrecorded area. Therefore, when part of a specific data item in a file has been deleted or a few pieces of video information have been added, the data items in front of and behind the deleted portion are squeezed together and connected or the pieces of information are added to the end of the existing data. Each time data is deleted or added, the size of the whole data file has to be changed and all the changed data file has to be recorded on the information storage medium again. As a result, it take a very long time to complete the editing process.
Specifically, with the conventional UDF or FAT, since a file has no unrecorded area, the following processes cannot be carried out:
(a) The process of changing the erased place to an unrecorded area when part of the data in a file has been deleted.
(b) The process of recording additional data on an unrecorded area in a file without changing the entire file size.
Therefore, each time the data is deleted partially or added, the file size has to be changed.
As a result, the entire file has to be recorded again on the information storage medium. In the case of a video file in which video information has been recorded, the size of a single video file is as large as more than several hundreds of megabytes (MB). If a file as large as several hundreds of megabytes is all recorded again on the information storage medium each time a slight change has been made, it will take an extremely long time to change the contents of the file.
For a further description of the prior art, reference may be made to:
Japanese Patent Application No. 040876 (filed on Feb. 23, 1998)
Japanese Patent Application No. 040877 (filed on Feb. 23, 1998)
Japanese Patent Application No. 040879 (filed on Feb. 23, 1998).


Conference calls are commonly used to connect a group of participants together through voice and/or video data in real time. The quality of the conference call data is important for capturing accurate data to reflect the discussions performed during the conference call. For example, a conference call may be recorded and the voice recording may be used to generate a textual transcription of the words spoken by the participants during the conference call.
Conventionally, a transcriptionist may be present during the call to hear and type the words spoken by the participants. Other ways to capture the content of the conference call may be to record the voice and use a digital software program application to convert the voice or speech into text. Voice recognition software programs may be used to convert human speech into text so that the words spoken by the conference call participants may be later referenced by others to review the content of the conference call.
Currently, a conference call is recorded by a single recording effort, which is stored in a single recorded file. A transcription of the recording may then be enacted via a speech-to-text software application that identifies the words spoken by the conference call participants and converts the words into text. Another option may be to use a human transcriptionist, or a combination of both a human transcriptionist and a software application to convert the speech into text.
Current software applications are limited to a single recording of a conference call with limited ability to distinguish between different speakers. Such applications have a low percentage of accuracy due to the limited capabilities of the software application. For example, the software application may not be capable of distinguishing the different voices from one another. Also, the different recorded voices may be overlapping, and some voices may be louder than other recorded voices. These various shortcomings of a single data recording may cause interference when attempting to transcribe the audio content of the voices of the conference call participants.


In the current market of products for infusion, such as coffee, barley coffee, tea, camomile and the like, the use of single-dose “pods” has increased considerably and nowadays a very popular way of making hot beverages is to use such pods in specially designed machines, even for household or office use (that is, for small to medium quantities).
Normally, these pods are of the single-dose type, used to brew a single serving of the beverage. This type of pod, to which the present specification refers but without thereby restricting the scope of the inventive concept, usually consists of two portions of filter paper placed one over the other and sealed to enclose a single product dose of substantially circular shape.
A prior art packaging machine for making pods of this kind is described and illustrated in European Patent No. EP 432.126, where the pods are formed according to a process which comprises the steps of: feeding a first web or length of filter paper to a station where suitable means cause the filter paper to be wrinkled or crinkled; moving the web of filter paper along the surface of a forming drum, provided with circular pockets and with suction means which force spaced areas of the filter paper into the pockets in the drum in such a way as to form a succession of substantially circular pouches in the filter paper; filling a dose of product into each pouch by means of a dosing station located downstream of the suction drawing belt in the direction of rotation of the pouch forming drum and consisting of a second revolving drum synchronised with the pouch forming drum; and, lastly, joining the first web of filter paper, with the product-filled pouches in it, to a second web of filter paper fed at a respective sealing station located downstream of the filling station, again relative to the direction of rotation of the forming drum.
The method embodied by the machine described in the aforementioned European Patent has several major disadvantages, especially in connection with the steps of drawing the filter paper by suction to form the pouches.
Indeed, although the method includes a complex step of preparing the web of filter paper in a specific station that crinkles the filter paper to make it suitable for forming the pouches, many of the suction drawn pouches formed in the filter paper in this way are in actual fact faulty, in that they have creases or folds made in them. These creases not only prevent the infusion product subsequently filled into the pouch from spreading uniformly in the pouch itself but may also result in poor seals between the first and second webs.
As a result, the pods made are often defective and have to be rejected since they contain insufficient quantities of infusion product or have improperly sealed parts that create gaps through which the infusion product can escape.
The aim of the present invention is therefore to provide an apparatus for making pods for products for infusion that is free of the disadvantages of the prior art described above and that is capable of consistently making high quality pods.


Multicast communications have grown increasingly important and complex in networking architectures. Multicasting generally refers to a scenario in which multicast packets are routed to multiple destinations and generally replicated an appropriate number of times. Each particle of a multicast packet generally includes a reference count, which offers some information about the number of intended targets for the data. As a particle is created an element may operate to set the reference count, whereby once the particle's reference count reaches ‘0’ it is generally freed by the system. When a target identifies itself as ready to receive a portion of data, the data needs to be accessed and read from a memory location. In some environments, a problem is presented when a multicast packet or a data segment is stored in some memory unit and then recalled by multiple targets simultaneously. This may also present a problem in cases where the target does not yet know the correct value of the reference count or what other potential targets may also be attempting to access the data. The time interval required to adequately modify the reference count must be kept to a minimum, as such an operation generally inhibits system speed.
In cases where the target opts to wait to receive the data before modifying the reference count, another target may also access the data concurrently and thus retrieve an invalid reference count. In addition, other problems may be presented where the modified reference count is corrupted when written back to the memory unit by either the first target seeking access to the data or a subsequent target. These problems may result in corrupted data segments, inferior data communication speeds, inefficient uses of networking resources, and poor performance characteristics for associated multicasting operations.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for conveying products and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for conveying documents in a high-speed electronic finishing system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the electronic finishing field, multi-page documents such as insurance policies and contracts are printed on high-speed laser printers and then finished on an electronic finishing system which assembles the document and adds any desired inserts (such as prefolded advertising brochures or other solicitations) to the document to create a product which are sometimes folded in manner set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,554,094. Then, the product is inserted into a standard envelope to create a package ready for mailing. These steps are done at high speed while the accuracy of the document assembly is verified through use of a printed bar code on each sheet of the document.
The prior art conveyors used to convey documents under the insert feeders are complicated and are difficult to adjust to accommodate different size documents. The prior art adjustable conveyors are inadequate because they often leave gaping holes in the conveyor path allowing products to sag or drop below the conveyor path.
Another problem with prior art conveyors is that the guiding rails are adjustable but the pusher path is fixed whereby, as the rails are adjusted wider for wider products, the pusher integrity become less stable. Thus, as the product gets wider in relation to the pusher path, the conveyor is the less reliable at advancing the product in a controlled manner.
Yet another shortcoming of the prior art conveyors is that the hold down devices are fixedly positioned such that they will prove adequate for the range of applications intended. However, when additional hold-down requirements arise, it often left up to the ingenuity of the operator or technician to solve the requirements.
Finally, all of the components which overhang the prior art conveyors make them difficult to access to clear jams and clean.
The present invention is designed to overcome the above limitations that are attendant upon the use of xe2x80x9cprior artxe2x80x9d devices, and toward this end, it contemplates the provision of a novel apparatus and method for the high-speed conveying of products and the provision of inserts to be combined with the products as they are conveyed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method utilizing adjustable spring loaded collapsible pusher fingers to move the product though the conveying system.
Yet another object is to provide an apparatus and method which accomplish the desired provision of inserts at high speeds.
A further object is to provide an apparatus that is compatible with conventional electronic finishing systems and is generally compatible in physical size, form and configuration with such systems, to be readily adaptable for the same use without disadvantage.
It is a general aim of the invention to provide such an apparatus which may be readily and economically fabricated and will have long life in operation and significantly greater flexibility in use.
It has now been found that the foregoing and related objects can be readily attained in an apparatus and method in accordance with the present invention which conveys a product along a product conveying path, permits products of different widths to be conveyed and easily adds inserts as desired.
According to t he invention, a conveyor system for conveying the product along the product conveying path utilizes six primary assemblies: pusher assembly, inner rail assembly, outer rail assembly, strap-ramp assembly, hold-down strap assembly and stop finger assembly. Insert feeders are spaced above the conveyor system to feed inserts onto the conveyor system so as to be combined with the product as the product is conveyed a long the product conveyor path.
In the pusher assembly, there are a plurality of pusher devices. Each pusher device has a plurality of pushers for engaging at railing end of the product to propel the product along the product conveying path. At least two of the pushers on each pusher device are spaced from one another transversely across the conveying path and moveable between first and second positions transversely across the conveying path. These pushers are closer to one another in the first position than in the second position thereby being adjustable to convey products of different widths. A mechanism is provided for moving the pusher devices so that the pushers move along the product conveying path to propel the product engaged at the trailing end thereof along the product conveying path.
For the inner and outer rail assemblies, pairs of inner opposed rails support the product as it is propelled along the product conveying path. The inner opposed rails are adjustable between at least two distinct positions to permit conveying products of different widths. Pairs of outer opposed rails cooperate with the pairs of inner opposed rails for supporting the product as it is propelled along the product conveying path. The outer opposed rails being adjustable relative to and independent of the pair of inner opposed rails to permit conveying of products of different widths. Each of the outer opposed rails having a base portion for supporting the product as it is propelled along the product conveying path and an upstanding portion for guiding the product as it is propelled along the product conveying path.
With the strap-ramp assembly, a strap support device has a plurality of straps to support the product being propelled along the product conveying path. The straps are spaced from one another transversely across the product conveying path. At least some of the straps are moveable between first and second positions. In the first position, these straps are located to support the product being propelled along the product conveying path. In the second position, these straps are not located so as to support the product being propelled along the product conveying path. Desirably, a mechanism is provided for moving these straps of the strap support device between the first and second positions.
In the hold down assembly, at least one hold down support device extends over the product conveying path and at least one hold down strap is removeably mounted on the hold down support device. The hold down device holds the product flat on the conveyor path and helps decelerate the product at each indexing movement of the product.
To stop the product accurately at each station following each indexing movement of the product, the stop finger assembly includes a stop finger support device cantilevered over the product conveying path with at least one stop finger removeably mounted on the stop finger support device. The stop finger support device is moved so that the at least one stop finger moves into the product conveying path to engaged the product at a leading end thereof following each indexing movement of the product and moves out of the product conveying path to begin each indexing movement of the product.
To feed at least one insert onto the conveyor system so as to be combined with the product as the product is conveyed along the product conveyor path, a plurality of insert feeders are spaced above the conveyor system. Conveniently, each of the insert feeders is pivotally mounted adjacent the product conveyor path whereby the insert feeder can be rotated between an operative position spaced above the conveyor system for feeding at least one insert onto the conveyor system so as to be combined with the product as the product is conveyed along the product conveyor path and a raised inoperative position spaced farther from the product conveyor path to provide access to the product conveyor path.
The invention will be fully understood when reference is made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


Subscribers to broadcast television sometimes desire to view television programming at times other than when the programming is broadcast. While digital video recorders (DVRs) such as the TIVO® system are used to record and time shift television programs, they are cumbersome to set up and use, particularly where the subscriber has to interconnect the DVR with a television, set top box or other television accessories. In addition, while DVRs provide a benefit to consumers, they may reduce the effectiveness of broadcast commercials if consumers fast forward through the commercials when they are viewing recorded programming. A particular challenge for subscribers to Internet protocol television (IPTV) is that not all channels are simultaneously received by the subscriber as they are in over-the-air or cable television broadcast systems. Therefore, the subscriber's ability to record live television broadcasts is limited to only those channels they can receive at one time.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the packaging of electronic components. More particularly, the present invention relates to a shielded electronic component package and method of fabricating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the art moved to smaller, lighter weight, and higher frequency electronic devices such as cellular telephones, integrated circuit packages utilized in these electronic devices were increasingly placed closer to other electronic components and structures. Due to this reduced spacing, radiation such as electromagnetic or radio frequency (RF) radiation emanating from an integrated circuit package had a greater probability of interfering with the normal operation of an adjacent electronic component and vice versa. However, such interference was unacceptable depending upon the particular application.
Further, to prevent interfering with the normal operation of adjacent electronic devices, e.g., radio receivers, it was important to prevent the integrated circuit package from emanating unwanted radiation to the ambient air. Similarly, to prevent interfering with the normal operation of the integrated circuit package, it was important to protect the electronic component(s) of the integrated circuit package from radiation emanating from adjacent electronic devices, e.g., radio transmitters. Stated generally, it was important to prevent unwanted radiation from electronic component(s) of the integrated circuit package from reaching the surrounding air and vice versa.
To prevent unacceptable electromagnetic interference, a shielding system was used. Typically, an electrically conductive metallic enclosure was placed around the integrated circuit package after the integrated circuit package was mounted to the larger substrate such as the printed circuit mother board. However, fabricating such a metallic enclosure and separately attaching the metallic enclosure to the printed circuit mother board was relatively cumbersome, complex, and costly.


This disclosure relates to user interfaces (UI's) for touch input devices, and more specifically for touch input displays used with electronic devices such as tablets, smart phones, touch laptop computers, touch enabled display monitors and the like. Many devices provide user control over various operating parameters of the device. In many instances, a UI is operated by a user to increase or decrease a value or quantity associated with a software application the device is running. A UI may be provided for controlling volume or manipulating tone controls of an audio software application such as a streaming audio application. UI's are also used to control various other quantities where progressive increasing or decreasing of a quantity or variable, or directional scrolling through a list of data elements is desired. Previous examples of touch controls have difficulty in proving both gross (i.e. large) and fine grain control in a single control. All examples and features mentioned below can be combined in any technically possible way.


As a magnetic memory device using a magnetoresistive effect element of the above-mentioned kind, there has been known a magnetic random access memory (hereinafter also referred to as “the MRAM”). The MRAM stores information using a combination (parallel or antiparallel) of the respective magnetization directions of two ferromagnetic materials included in the magnetoresistive effect element. On the other hand, reading of the stored information is carried out by detecting a change in the resistance value of the magnetoresistive effect element (i.e. a change in electric current or voltage), which changes depending on whether the magnetization directions of the two ferromagnetic materials are parallel or antiparallel to each other.
MRAMs currently operative make use of a giant magnetoresistive (GMR) effect. An MRAM using GMR elements capable of providing the GMR effect is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,422. In this case, the GMR effect is intended to mean a phenomenon that the resistance value becomes minimum when the magnetization directions of two magnetic layers parallel to each other along the easy axis of magnetization are parallel to each other, whereas when the magnetization directions of the two magnetic layers are antiparallel to each other, the resistance value becomes maximum. As MRAMs using the GMR element, there are a coercive force difference type (pseudo spin valve type) MRAM and a switching bias type (spin valve type) MRAM. The coercive force difference type MRAM uses a GMR element having two ferromagnetic layers and a non-magnetic layer sandwiched therebetween, and makes use of the coercive force difference between the two ferromagnetic materials to thereby have information written therein and read out therefrom. Now, assuming that a GMR element is composed e.g. of “nickel-iron alloy (NiFe)/copper (Cu)/cobalt (Co)”, the rate of change in resistance of the element assumes a small value of approximately 6 to 8%. On the other hand, the switching bias type MRAM uses a GMR element having a fixed layer whose magnetization direction is fixed by exchange-coupling with an antiferromagnetic layer, a sensitive magnetic layer whose magnetization direction is changed by an external magnetic field, and a non-magnetic layer sandwiched therebetween, and makes use of the difference between the respective magnetization directions of the fixed layer and the sensitive magnetic layer to thereby have information written therein and read out therefrom. For example, assuming that a GMR element is composed e.g. of “platinum manganese (PtMn)/cobalt iron (CoFe)/copper (Cu)/CoFe”, the rate of change in resistance of the GMR element assumes a value of approximately 10%. This value is larger than the rate of change in resistance of the coercive force difference type MRAM, but insufficient to further enhance the recording speed and the access speed of the GMR element.
To solve the above problems, there has been proposed an MRAM which uses magnetoresistive effect elements (hereinafter also referred to as “the TMR elements”) 120 constructed as shown in FIG. 11 for utilizing a tunnel magnetoresistive effect (hereinafter also referred to as “the TMR effect”), as storage cells. As shown in FIG. 12, this MRAM is comprised of a plurality of bit lines 105 arranged in parallel to each other, a plurality of write word lines 106 arranged in parallel to each other, and at the same time orthogonal to the bit lines 105, a plurality of read word lines 112 arranged along the write word lines 106, and a plurality of TMR elements 120 arranged at orthogonally crossing portions (intersections) where the bit lines 105 and the write word lines 106 orthogonally intersect with each other, in a manner sandwiched therebetween. In this case, as shown in FIG. 11, each TMR element 120 is comprised of a first magnetic layer 102, a tunnel barrier layer 103, and a sensitive magnetic layer 104 as a second magnetic layer, which are sequentially deposited in the mentioned order.
In this case, the TMR effect is intended to mean an effect that a tunnel current flowing through the tunnel barrier layer 103 varies with a relative angle between the respective magnetization directions of the first magnetic layer 102 and the sensitive magnetic layer 104 as two ferromagnetic layers sandwiching the tunnel barrier layer 103 as a very thin insulating layer (non-magnetic conductive layer). More specifically, the resistance value becomes minimum when the magnetization directions of the first magnetic layer 102 and the sensitive magnetic layer 104 are parallel to each other, whereas when they are antiparallel to each other, the resistance value becomes maximum. Further, in the MRAM making use of the TMR effect, when the TMR element 120 is composed e.g. of “CoFe/aluminum oxide/CoFe”, the rate of change in resistance of the MRAM assumes a high value of approximately 40%, and the resistance value thereof is large, and hence it is easy to match the MRAM with a semiconductor device, such as a MOSFET or the like, when they are combined with each other. This makes it possible to easily obtain a higher output compared with the MRAM including the GMR element, and enhancement of the storage capacity and the access speed is expected. The MRAM making use of the TMR effect stores information by changing the magnetization direction of the sensitive magnetic layer 104 of the TMR element 120 to a predetermined direction, using current magnetic fields generated by electric current caused to flow through the bit lines 105 and the write word lines 106. On the other hand, to read out information stored in the MRAM, electric current in a direction perpendicular to the tunnel barrier layer 103 is caused to flow through the TMR element 120 via the bit lines 105 and the read word lines 112, to thereby detect a change in the resistance of the TMR element 120. It should be noted that the MRAM utilizing the TMR effect is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,922, or in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. H09-91949.