The present application relates to a non-planar semiconductor structure and a method of forming the same. More particularly, the present application relates to a semiconductor structure containing tensile strained silicon-containing fins for n-type FETs and compressive strained silicon germanium alloy fins for p-type FETs.
For more than three decades, the continued miniaturization of metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) has driven the worldwide semiconductor industry. Various showstoppers to continued scaling have been predicated for decades, but a history of innovation has sustained Moore's Law in spite of many challenges. However, there are growing signs today that metal oxide semiconductor transistors are beginning to reach their traditional scaling limits. Since it has become increasingly difficult to improve MOSFETs and therefore complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) performance through continued scaling, further methods for improving performance in addition to scaling have become critical.
The use of non-planar semiconductor devices such as, for example, semiconductor fin field effect transistors (finFETs) is the next step in the evolution of complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices. Semiconductor fin field effect transistors (FETs) can achieve higher drive currents with increasingly smaller dimensions as compared to conventional planar FETs. In order to extend these devices for multiple technology nodes, there is a need to boost the performance with high mobility channels and stressor elements.


1. Field of Invention
A casino-type game of chance utilizing dice a game board, betting pieces and dice.
2. Prior Art
There are various existing casino-type dice games. Such games often require players to select various outcomes of dice rolls by placing bets in designated areas. Although simple in nature, many of the dice games, such as craps, have complex rules and tend to attract only experienced gamblers. Therefore, there has been a need for casino-type dice games with simple rules that cater to less experienced gamblers.
This invention relates to a casino-type dice game. Preferably, the game utilizes two six-sided dice with color-coded indicia arranged on the faces of each dice cube so that each face has a different color. Other indicia may be used that permit each face of the cube to be distinguished from one another. Thus, the theme of the game is open to utilizing different indicia such as numbers, animals, sporting or business themes.
The present game is a game of chance. This is accomplished by dividing the game into three betting areas associated with different indicia combinations. Although the odds to select the correct combination are the same for all three betting areas, the stakes are modified to represent a different payout for each betting area. In addition, each betting area represents a different duration for the period a wager may remain without being lost.
The present invention involves a plurality of players and is played with at least two dice and a game board. Three betting areas are provided and each is associated with different indicia combinations that can exist when the dice are rolled. In addition, rewards are set for each betting area based on indicia combinations located therein.
The game is played by the players placing wagers next to different indicia combinations located in at least one of the three betting areas. The dice is rolled over a sequence of times. The players are rewarded after each dice roll in an amount associated with a respective betting area.
The three betting areas are distinguished as follows. In the first betting area, a first set of wagering spots represent different indicia combinations that correspond to five dice surfaces wherein each of said indicia combinations located in the first set of wagering spots comprise different indicia. In the second betting area, there is a second set of wagering spots representing different indicia combinations that correspond to a sixth dice surface matched with one of the five dice surfaces corresponding to the first set of wagering spots. Finally in the third betting area, there is a third set of wagering spots representing indicia combinations that have the same indicia.
Additional features of this invention will become apparent from the ensuing descriptions of this invention.


In order to support various safety services, a vehicle needs to observe surroundings thereof. To this end, the vehicle includes a surrounding observing device. For example, the vehicle includes a lidar sensor. The lidar sensor transmits a signal toward a front direction or the like and analyzes a feedback signal, thereby generating a video image. During this process, the lidar sensor divides upper and lower sides of the front thereof into predetermined layers and obtains the video image for each layer. That is, the lidar sensor according to the related art supports a multi-layer image.
However, since the image generated based on the multi-layer has a significant amount of data distribution to be determined to support a specific service, it has several problems. Therefore, it is necessary to converge the same object among objects for each multi-layer. In order to solve this problem, according to the related art, the image has been processed based on a state in which the objects for each layer are overlapped. However, in the case in which the image is simply processed based on the overlapped state, it is impossible to finely distinguish between the objects. This may potentially make a risk prediction of the vehicle or avoidance difficult.


Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) find wide usage in applications such as air vehicle cockpits, automobile dashboards, etc. Such LCDs generally include a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between a pair of polarizers and a pair of electrodes. Voltage is selectively applied by the electrodes across the liquid crystal (LC) layer so as to selectively portray an image to the viewer by way of the front polarizer.
FIG. 1(a) illustrates prior art liquid crystal display 3 in an air vehicle cockpit 5 occupied by pilot 7 and copilot 9. In prior art cockpit (or automobile dashboard) applications such as this, situations commonly arise where a portion of the image 13 emitted from the active matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD) 3 is reflected at point 11 off of cockpit canopy 13 toward copilot 9, while another portion of the image is transmitted through canopy 13. Air vehicle cockpit 5 as shown in FIG. 1(a) is designed so as to house copilot 9 directly behind and above pilot 7 as illustrated. Thus, when a portion 15 of the image 13 from LCD 3 is reflected off of canopy 13 at reflection point 11, it can be seen by copilot 9 when the copilot is looking out of the cockpit. The other portion or remainder of the image is transmitted through the canopy as shown at 14. This reflection 15 from point 11 is, of course, undesirable in view of the fact that copilot 9 typically wishes to locate targets and the like exterior the aircraft and does not wish to be interfered with by such display reflections. Needless to say, it is undesirable to have the pilot's or copilot's vision obstructed during flight operations due to display image reflections off of the canopy.
The above-referenced display reflection problems inside of aircraft cockpits are most severe at night when reflections 15 exceed the intensity of the light or environment outside of the cockpit, but are also present during daylight hours. The majority of undesirable reflections 15 come from the interface between the air inside of the cockpit and the material (e.g. glass or plastic) of canopy 13. Typically, the index of refraction of cockpit canopy 13 is about 1.5. Depending upon the shape of the canopy, reflections 15 may be concentrated in convex curved areas or mirror-like in flat canopy areas.
In view of the above, it is clear that there exists a need in the art for a liquid crystal display and method of implementation for reducing display reflections off of exterior mediums such as canopies of aeronautic cockpits.
FIG. 1(b) is a reflectance versus incident angle .THETA..sub.i graph from "Optics" by Eugene Hecht, 1987. As shown in FIG. 1(b), for an incoming unpolarized wave made up of two incoherent orthogonal polarization states, only the component polarized normal (R.sub.perpendicular) to the incident plane and therefore parallel to the surface of the medium will be reflected. The incident plane is defined by the line connecting the reflection point on the exterior medium and the display front surface and the medium surface normal The component (R.sub.parallel) parallel to the plane of incidence is not reflected and is transmitted through the medium as shown at 14. The particular angle of incidence for which this situation occurs is designated by .THETA..sub.p and is referred to in the art as the polarization angle or Brewster's angle, whereupon .THETA..sub.p +.THETA..sub.t =90.degree.. Therefore, from Snell's Law, EQU n.sub.i Sin.THETA..sub.p =n.sub.t Sin.THETA..sub.t
and the fact that .THETA..sub.t =90.degree.-.THETA..sub.p, it follows that EQU n.sub.i Sin.THETA..sub.p =n.sub.t Cos.THETA..sub.p
and EQU Tan.THETA..sub.p =n.sub.t /n.sub.i.
This is known as Brewster's Law. The above parameters and equations are defined in "Optics", by Eugene Hecht, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Thus, when the incident light ray or beam is in air (n.sub.i =1) and if the transmitting medium (i.e. exterior medium such as canopy 13 or the like) is glass, in which case n.sub.t =1.5, the polarization angle .THETA..sub.p is about 56.degree.. Similarly, this concept may be exemplified by the situation when an unpolarized beam strikes the surface of a pond (n.sub.t =1.33 for water) at an angle of 53.degree., the reflected beam will be completely polarized with its E-field perpendicular to the plane of incidence or, if you like, parallel to the water's surface.
For linearly polarized light having its E-field parallel to the plane of incidence, the "amplitude reflection coefficient" is defined as r.sub.parallel =(E.sub.or /E.sub.oi).sub.parallel, that is, the ratio of the reflected to incident electric field amplitudes. Similarly, when the electric field is normal to the incident plane, r.sub.perpendicular =(E.sub.or /E.sub.oi).sub.perpendicular. The corresponding irradiance ratio (the incident and reflected beams have the same cross-sectional area) is known as the "reflectance", and since irradiance is proportional to the square of the amplitude of the field, EQU R.sub.Parallel =r.sup.2.sub.parallel
and EQU R.sub.perendicular =r.sup.2.sub.perpendicular
Squaring the appropriate Fresnel equations results in ##EQU1##
The reflectance for linearly polarized light with E or a polarization direction parallel to the plane of incidence vanishes and the beam is completely transmitted when the angle of incidence .THETA..sub.i equals Brewster's angle .THETA..sub.p. This is shown in FIG. 1(b) where n.sub.t =1.5 and Brewster's angle .THETA..sub.p equals about 56.degree., so that the reflectance of R.sub.parallel is substantially zero when .THETA..sub.i substantially matches .THETA..sub.p or Brewster's angle. FIG. 1(b) is a plot for the particular case where n.sub.i =1 and n.sub.t =1.5. The middle curve corresponds to incident natural light. As shown, when the polarization direction of incoming linearly polarized light is substantially perpendicular to the plane of incidence at Brewster's angle of about 56.degree., substantial reflection results at reflection point 11. However, at Brewster's angle .THETA..sub.p of about 56.degree., when the direction of polarization of incoming light is substantially parallel to the plane of incidence (i.e. parallel to the Y-axis), the result is substantially no reflectance and nearly complete transmission at point 11. As shown by the middle curve in FIG. 1(b), when the polarization direction is mixed, reflection from point 11 results.
FIG. 1(c) illustrates incident light 16 being reflected at point 11 off of canopy 13. Reflection 15 and transmission 14 define angles .THETA..sub.r and .THETA..sub.t with the Y-axis (normal to the surface of medium 13) respectively. The angle of incidence .THETA..sub.i is also shown in FIG. 1(c).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,025,161 discloses a liquid crystal display device including a quarter wavelength retarder disposed on the front of the display so that the front polarizer is between the liquid crystal material and the retarder. The quarter wavelength retarder together with the front polarizer form a circular polarizer in the '161 patent. Unfortunately, if the liquid crystal display of the '161 patent were positioned in place of display 3 in FIG. 1(a), undesirable image reflection 15 would still occur in a substantial amount because the circularly polarized display image incident upon reflection point 11 would not be substantially polarized parallel to the plane of incidence and therefore reflection 15 toward copilot 9 would result thus inhibiting the copilot's view. In other words, circularly polarized light incident upon canopy 13 at reflection point 11 (even when .THETA..sub.i =.THETA..sub.p) in FIG. 1(a) would be reflected at 15 toward viewer 9, this, of course, being undesirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,266,859 discloses a liquid crystal display of the reflective dichroic type, including upper and lower quarter wavelength retarders. Again, the LCD of the '859 patent suffers from the same drawbacks as those discussed above with respect to the '161 patent.
In view of the above, it is clear that there exists a need in the art for a liquid crystal display designed so as to reduce image reflection off of exterior mediums (e.g. automotive windshields or cockpit canopies) at a reflection point and a method of implementing same. There also exists a need in the art for a liquid crystal display which when arranged in an appropriate manner, causes the image emitted toward a reflection point on the exterior medium to have a polarization direction substantially parallel to the plane of incidence at the reflection point and .THETA..sub.i to substantially match .THETA..sub.p so that substantially no reflection results and the image is mostly transmitted through the medium instead of being reflected thereby.
It is a purpose of this invention to fulfill the above-described needs, as well as other needs which will become apparent to the skilled artisan from the following detailed description of this invention.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the technical field of integrated circuits and, more particularly, to an engineering change order (ECO) hold time fixing method.
2. Description of Related Art
Due to a wide range of dynamic variations, e.g., supply voltage droops, process variations, temperature fluctuations, soft errors, and transistor aging degradation, the timing characterization is extremely difficult in modern IC designs. Therefore, in conventional design, designers conservatively reserve a timing guardband to ensure correct functionality even under the worst-case circumstance. However, this reserved guardband may severely degrade circuit performance, i.e., limit the clock frequency.
Accordingly, several resilient circuits have been proposed to eliminate the guardband by error detection and correction. For example, a Razor flip-flop (FF) is used as an error detection circuit (See D. Ernst et al., “Razor: a low-power pipeline based on circuit-level timing speculation” MICRO, pp.7-18, 2003). FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional Razor FF used as the error detection circuit. As shown in FIG. 1, the error detection circuit has an extra storage element, i.e., the shadow latch 110, to sample the output of a combinational logic 120 by a delayed clock clk_dly. The output of a main flip-flop 130 is compared with the output of the shadow latch by a comparator 140, i.e., an XNOR gate. When the comparison result indicates a detected timing error, a timing error signal is generated, and the error correction is performed through an instruction replay.
However, these resilient circuits require a significant hold time margin for short paths. Taking the circuit of FIG. 1 as an example, the resilient circuit may detect a false timing error if the result of the next computation is propagated through a short path and sampled by the delayed clock. To avoid such false error detection, the short paths have to exceed an error detection window w, i.e., the phase difference between the normal clock clk and the delayed clock clk_dly. The error detection window w causes an extra hold time margin requirement. This issue also exists in the resilient circuits proposed in other articles. Due to the extra hold time margin requirement, the short path padding or hold timing fixing in the resilient circuits becomes more challenging.
To resolve this padding problem, prior works typically insert buffers to lengthen the short paths.
Among the prior works, the delay padding is combined with a clock skew scheduling to minimize the clock period at the logic re-synthesis stage. The goal is to determine the padding path for each path rather than to decide where to insert the delay.
By contrast, another short path padding method determines the positions to insert the delay. This problem is solved by a linear programming proposed in N. V. Shenoy et al. “Minimum padding to satisfy short path constraints.” ICCAD, pp.156-161, 1993. However, such linear programming is time-consuming and not applicable to large-scale circuits. Hence, another prior art provides greedy heuristics. One greedy rule is to pad the gate with the largest setup slack for trying not to hurt the longest path delay. The other is to pad at the gate passed by the most hold violating paths for trying to reduce the total padding delay.
FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of integrating timing error resilient circuits into a design. Because of considering the timing guardband, based on the logic synthesis and timing analysis of conservative clock period, the target clock period and the error detection window w are determined. Moreover, the invention proposes coarse-grained and fine-grained padding allocation methods to further achieve the derived padding values at physical implementation. Sth/Hth represents a ratio of the target clock period over the conservative clock period. The timing suspicious flip-flops, whose longest path delays exceed the target clock period, can be replaced by the resilient circuits. Before the replacement, the design is re-synthesized where the suspicious flip-flops are assigned with an extra hold time margin to cover the error detection window w. After the replacement, a placement and routing is applied. Because of the significant hold time margin, the hold violations may still exist in a placed and routed design. Finally, the short path padding is performed.
In addition, it is found that the cited greedy heuristics cannot pad the short paths well. FIGS. 3A-3D show typical short path padding. FIG. 3A gives an input design, where gates g1, g2, g3 incur hold violations. After iteratively padding delay on the gate either with the largest setup slack or with the most hold violating paths, the result is shown in FIG. 3B or 3C. From FIGS. 3B and 3C, it is found that the unresolved hold violation at gate g2 exists. However, all the hold violations can be cleaned by the padding way shown in FIG. 3D. Accordingly, it is clear that the padding based only on local views cannot pad all the short paths. Moreover, even an optimal padding solution is found, it may still fail at a physical implementation because the delay offered by buffers is fixed. For example, if one buffer offers either a 0.15-unit or 0.25-unit delay, the padding task still fails on gate g2.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an improved hold timing fixing method to mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problems.


The present invention relates to fluid conductivity sensors, and more particularly to a non-contacting fluid conductivity sensor which generates essentially no external current field and thus is not influenced by nearby objects in the fluid in which the sensor is immersed.
Industrial process control systems often require the measurement of the electrical conductivity of a fluid e.g. seawater, used in the system. Sensors for fluid conductivity measurement usually fall into one of two categories, i.e, contacting sensors and non-contacting sensors. Contacting sensors rely on a direct electrical contact between the measurement electronics and the material to the fluid, while non-contacting sensors typically employ driving and sensing transformers which, respectively, induce and measure a flow of current in the conductive fluid, the measurement of the induced current being a function of the conductivity of fluid. One problem which has existed with existing non-contacting conductivity sensors is that they may be influenced by objects a considerable distance from the sensor in the body of fluid into which the sensor is immersed. This influence is caused by the fact that conventional, immersible sensors typically have an external current field which extends a substantial distance from the sensor in the fluid in which the sensor is immersed. This is a significant problem in that calibration performed initially in the calibration laboratory will not be the same as calibration in the field.


Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a system including a slave device and a master device.
Packaging technology of semiconductor elements has been continuously developed according to a demand for miniaturization and high capacity. Recently, a variety of technologies for a stacked semiconductor package capable of satisfying mounting efficiency as well as the miniaturization and high capacity are being developed.
The stacked semiconductor package may be fabricated by the following methods. First, individual semiconductor chips may be stacked, and then packaged at once. Second, individual semiconductor packages may be stacked. The individual semiconductor chips of the stacked semiconductor package are electrically coupled through metallic wires or through silicon vias (TSV).
However, in the conventional stacked semiconductor package using metallic wires, since the electrical signal exchange is performed through the metallic wires, the speed is low. Furthermore, since a large number of wires are used, electrical characteristic degradation may occur. Furthermore, since an additional area for forming the metallic wires is required in a substrate, the size of the package may increase. Furthermore, since a cap for wire bonding is required between the semiconductor chips, the height of the package may increase.
Recently, a stacked semiconductor package using a TSV has been proposed. In general, the stacked semiconductor package is fabricated by the following method. First, a via hole is formed in a semiconductor chip so as to pass through the semiconductor chip, and a through electrode called a TSV is formed by filling the via hole with a conductive material. Then, an upper semiconductor chip and a lower semiconductor chip are electrically coupled through the through electrode.
FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating a coupling state between a master device and slave devices. FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating a state in which the slave devices are stacked and coupled to the master device.
The master device 100 refers to a device which controls the slave devices, and the slave devices DEV(1), DEV(2), . . . , DEV(i), DEV(j), and DEV(k) refer to devices which are controlled by the master device 100. An example of the master device 100 and the slave devices DEV(1), DEV(2), . . . , DEV(i), DEV(j), and DEV(k) is a memory controller and memory devices such as DRAMs and flash memories. FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a memory controller as the master device 100 and memory devices as the slave devices DEV(1), DEV(2), . . . , DEV(i), DEV(j), and DEV(k).
Referring to FIG. 1B, the respective slave devices DEV(1), DEV(2), . . . , DEV(i), DEV(j), and DEV(k) are stacked and formed, and are coupled to the master device 100 through an interposer 110. Pillars formed through the stacked slave devices DEV(1), DEV(2), . . . , DEV(i), DEV(j), and DEV(k) include TSVs through which signals (data) are transmitted, that is, which form channels. The entire system illustrated in FIG. 1B may be implemented in one semiconductor chip package, and only the stacked slave devices may be implemented in one semiconductor chip package.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the channels formed as the TSVs between the master device 100 and the slave devices DEV(i), DEV(j), and DEV(k) and RLC (resistance, inductance, and capacitance) components of the channels.
Referring to FIG. 2, the respective channels have the RLC components. Therefore, the signals (data) transmitted through the channels may be delayed. The delay increases in proportional to the distance between the devices. That is, a flight time of a signal between the master device 100 and the slave device DEV(i) is longer than a flight time of a signal between the master device 100 and the slave device DEV(k). For reference, in FIG. 2, Tx represents transmission terminals provided in the master device 100 and the slave devices DEV(i), DEV(j), and DEV(k), and Rx represents reception terminals provided in the master device 100 and the slave devices DEV(i), DEV(j), and DEV(k).
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing timing variations in signal transmission between the master device 100 and the slave devices DEV(i), DEV(j), and DEV(k), which occur depending on differences in channel length.
In FIG. 3, CMD represents a command applied from the master device 100 to the slave devices DEV(i), DEV(j), and DEV(k), D represents data which the master device 100 transfers to the slave devices DEV(i), DEV(j), and DEV(k), and Q represents data which the slave devices DEV(i), DEV(j), and DEV(k) transfer to the master device 100. The data Q are generated when the slave devices DEV(i), DEV(j), and DEV(k) processes the data D according to the command D.
Referring to FIG. 3, the command and the data D transferred from the master device 100 to the slave device DEV(i) have a flight time of X(i). When the slave device DEV(i) transfers the data Q to the master device 100 in response to the command CMD and the data D, the data Q has a flight time of X(i). Therefore, while the data are exchanged between the master device 100 and the slave device DEV(i), the flight time is 2*X(i). Similarly, a flight time between the master device 100 and the slave device DEV(j) is 2*X(j), and a flight time between the master device 100 and the slave device DEV(k) is 2*X(k).
That is, the flight time of the signal may differ depending on with which device the master device 100 communicates among the slave devices DEV(i), DEV(j), and DEV(k), and the timing of transmission or reception of a specific signal (data) may be significantly varied.


Medical beds or tables used in hospitals, clinics, doctor offices or other medical environments may include a rail operatively secured to the bed for supporting various medical instrumentation. The rail may be used to secure a robotic catheter system as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 8,480,618 entitled Catheter System incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. A medical device mounted to the rail can apply a force on the rail that may cause torsional deflection of the interface between the rail and the frame of the bed or table.
It would be desirable to provide an apparatus for reacting moments on a rail of a medical bed and to provide support to the rail when the rail is used to support medical instruments.


The present disclosure relates generally to dimming controllers and dimming methods, and, more particularly, to dimming controllers suitable of receiving a dimming signal no matter it is a pulse-width-modulation (PWM) signal or a direct-current (DC) signal.
Light emitting diode (LED), due to its characteristics in high power efficiency, compact product size, and long lifespan, has been widely adapted by lighting appliances and backlight modules. Until recently, most of cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL) in the backlight modules of TV or computer display panels, for example, are replaced by LED modules.
LED modules usually need dimming controllers to perform light dimming, so as to adjust the luminance of a display panel for example. There are two different methods in the art to dim the luminance of a LED module: PWM dimming and DC dimming. PWM dimming, also named digital dimming, employs a PWM or digital signal that jumps quickly back-and-forth between levels of “0” and “1” in logic to determine the duty cycle of a LED module, the ratio of the time when the LED module emits light to the cycle time of the PWM signal. For example, when the PWM signal is “1” in logic, the luminance of the LED module is in its maximum, and when the PWM signal is “0”, it is zero, not emitting light. In other words, PWM dimming makes a LED module blinking. In contrast, DC dimming, also known as analog dimming or resistive dimming, makes a LED module emitting light continuously while the luminance of the LED module corresponds to the voltage level of a DC or analog signal.
For having more market share, a dimming controller should accommodate a dimming signal no matter the dimming signal is of PWM or of DC, and provide appropriate luminance control.


This invention relates in general to enclosures for electrical components. In particular, this invention relates to an apparatus for pivotably mounting such an electrical enclosure on a wall or other support surface.
A variety of enclosures are known in the art for protectively enclosing one or more electrical components, such as switches, circuit breakers, and the like. Such electrical enclosures are designed to protect the enclosed electrical components from unauthorized access and from external environmental conditions. A variety of standards have been promulgated for such electrical enclosures that specify their design, construction, materials, and resulting level of protection that can be expected therefrom. Some of such standards prohibit the formation of any openings through the walls of such electrical enclosures because penetration through any of these walls could reduce the level of protection that is provided thereby. Examples of such electrical enclosure standards include NEMA (National Electrical Manufacturers Association) standard types 4, 4×, and 12.
Electrical enclosures may be used to contain main control components, operator interface controls, or other devices that may need to be located on or near machinery in an industrial facility. Such electrical enclosures are usually located in close proximity to the related machinery, but should not prevent access to the machinery.
There are various systems in use today that use a group of components to allow motion of the enclosure relative to a stationary support surface. However, these systems are usually intended for use with operator interface enclosures. Some machine tool manufacturers have devised their own means of pivoting an enclosure, but these means are usually designed for a specific application and require machining, welding, or a modified enclosure to facilitate the installation. Large hinges have been used to hang boxes where the wiring was installed in flexible conduits, but, over time, the conduits can become broken due to fatigue or abuse, thus compromising the integrity of the wiring, as well as posing a safety concern. Thus, it would be desirable to provide an apparatus for pivotably mounting such an electrical enclosure on or near machinery such that the electrical enclosure can be pivoted to access to the related machinery behind the enclosure without damage or disconnection of the components contained within the electrical enclosure.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements made to lids for color cans, of the type described in FR-A-2 600 975.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
It is known from the prior art to provide a lid having a pouring spout for cans of base colors in agitator machines, which comprises:
at least one member for fastening on a color can; PA1 a pouring spout, the edge of the opening of which is strictly planar; PA1 an operating lever pivoted at its bottom end to the top wall of the lid and movable between a position of rest and a pulled operative position; PA1 a likewise plane slide slidable on said edge in such a manner as to close it leaktightly, and being pulled for pouring purposes by means of the operating lever, wherein the operating lever is provided on its front face, at a distance from the pouring spout, with a stop member securing said operating lever in the position of rest and bearing leaktightly against a vent opening formed in the top wall of the lid, the slide being fastened to said operating lever by a lever pivoted on the one hand at the top middle part of the slide and on the other hand to said operating lever at a distance from its pivot axis, while spring means return said slide under pressure against the opening edge of the pouring spout and return said operating lever to its position of rest, in which the opening edge of the pouring spout is closed by the slide. PA1 at least one member for fastening on a color can; PA1 a pouring spout, the edge of the opening of which is strictly planar; PA1 an operating lever pivoted at its bottom end to the top wall of the lid and movable between a position of rest and a pulled operative position; PA1 a likewise planar slide slidable on said edge in such a manner as to close it leaktightly, and being pulled for pouring purposes by means of the operating lever, the latter having on its front face, at a distance from the pouring spout, a stop member securing said operating lever in the position of rest and bearing leaktightly against a vent opening formed in the top wall of the lid, the slide being fastened to said operating lever by a lever pivoted on the one hand at the top middle part of the slide and on the other hand to said operating lever at a distance from its pivot axis, while spring means return said slide under pressure against the opening edge of the pouring spout and return said operating lever to its position of rest, in which the opening edge of the pouring spout is closed by the slide, in which lid the vent opening is provided on the inner face of the lid with a channel which leads out at a point close to the edge of the lid and substantially diametrically opposite the pouring spout.
This arrangement already enables the operating lever, in the position of rest, to close the vent opening of the color can, which thus becomes completely isolated from the outside atmosphere, and, in the operating position, to open this opening, by simultaneously pulling the pouring spout slide, thus permitting a regular flow of paint when the latter is poured out.
Nevertheless, since the vent opening is situated to the rear of the agitator axis, relative to the pouring spout, and relatively close to the axis, it is not possible to prevent paint from also flowing out of the vent opening when a full can of paint is sharply tipped, so that the lid is soiled and the regularity of flow of the poured paint is reduced.


Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns an electric switch device comprising separable contacts respectively disposed on a fixed contact conductive part and a mobile contact conductive part which are connected to input and output terminals of the device, an arc extinguishing chamber and a shunt conductor adapted to receive, after it has jumped a dielectric gap, one end of the arc generated on separation of the contacts and displaced towards the arc extinguishing chamber by the usual blast arrangements or phenomena.
Description of the Prior Art
Devices of this kind are described in patent FR-A-2 584 529, in which the shunt conductor shunts and consequently protects electromechanical and electronic switching units in series with the contacts concurrently with the arcing phenomenon.
Document EP-A-0 350 825 describes the combination of the shunt conductor, which in this instance includes the arc extinguishing device, with a current limiter device opening electrodynamically in the event of an overcurrent. Operation of the electrodynamically opening device is conditioned by the growth of the arc in the arc splitter plates which constitute the arc extinguishing device and therefore by the configuration and the performance of this device.
An object of the invention is, in an electromechanical switch device of the type described, to combine a reduction in the loading of the contacts by the arc and a limitation of the transient shunt current, independently of the arc extinguishing device.


This invention relates to double action presses used to draw hollow articles from a blank, and more particularly but not exclusively to long stroke double action mechanically driven presses used to redraw and wall iron a cup shaped blank, to make a can body.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,696,657 (MAYTAG) describes a press having a first action to drive a ram and second action rod for driving a blank holder to co-operate with dies to redraw and wall iron a cup to a taller can body. The blank holder is mounted on a redraw carriage which is connected to the second action rod by pivotable joints which may wear to spoil the accuracy of blank holder motion. EP-A-0536812 describes a modified "MAYTAG" press in which the weight of the second action rod is supported to reduce wear on the pivotable joints and the redraw carriage is guided by pillars mounted in the die housing. The axis of each pivotable joint is arranged perpendicular to the driving rod to act in the manner of a universal joint permitting tilt but not lateral deviation of the rod direction from the redraw carriage direction by the pillars.
Other longstroke mechanical presses for the purpose of drawing and wall ironing can bodies are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,270,544 (Maeder), 3,663,072 (Cvacho) 3,735,629 (Paramonof) and 4,173,138 (Main). These mechanical presses have served the can making industry well and improvements have permitted increase of stroking speed from about 100 stokes per minute in 1970 to over 300 strokes per minute in 1990. However, there persists a need to increase press speed and reduce lost time arising from tool changes.
In these prior art presses a long ram is urged to move towards and away from a tool support, fixed to the press frame, by a connecting coupling pivotally connected to one end of a lever which swings on a pivot fixed to the press frame. The lever is driven to swing by a connecting rod attached to a crank shaft to constitute a first action linkage. When provided a second action, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,735,629, comprises a pair of second levers pivoted on the frame and driven to swing by cams on the crank shaft to urge a cross head to move a pair of long connecting rods to move a second cross head towards and away from the tool support.
A tubular blank holder is mounted on this second cross head to cooperate with a punch on the ram to permit redrawing of a shallow drawn cup against a redrawing die in the tool support. After redrawing to reduced overall diameter and increased height of side wall, the redrawn cup is pushed through at least one ironing ring to make a can body having a side wall thinner than its bottom wall. Typically the press stroke is about 20 inches long so that the first action ram is over 40" long. Typically, the connecting rods of the second action are also about 40" long. As press speeds increase the inertia forces arising from the combined weight of second action cross heads and connecting rods also increase so an improved support of the blank holder is required. Furthermore, adjustment of the position of the blank holder in respect to the redrawing die and ironing rings required laborious adjustment of the blank holder using adjusting the second crosshead, whenever the blank holder is changed, to ensure application of a correct blank holding force in alignment with the die and rings. Incorrect alignment of the blank holder with a redrawing die gives rise to an uneven holding pressure around the blank so that the height of the redrawn cup varies around the side wall of the redrawn cup.


Businesses use contact centers that include automated systems and representatives of the business to process transactions and/or service the needs of their customers. Contact centers may use a number of communication channels to engage the customers, such as telephone, email, live web chat, and the like.
An interaction from a customer such as, for example, an inbound voice call, is routed to a contact center target, such as, for example, a contact center agent, for processing. In simplest terms, routing is a process of sending the interaction to the target, such as, for example, sending an incoming telephone call or an incoming e-mail, to an agent. In practice, many steps are taken between the arrival of the interaction and the selection and use of a target. Generally speaking, not all interactions should go to the same target; choices should be made in order to determine the best target for each interaction. Each choice-point is an opportunity to make a decision based on the current situation—with the general goal of getting the interaction delivered to the right target.


It is generally desired to identify antibodies that specifically bind to particular classes of cells (e.g. tumor cells). Such antibodies, sometimes referred to as “targeting antibodies”, can be used to specifically direct (deliver) various effector molecules (e.g. liposomes, cytotoxins, labels, etc.) to the target cell.
Targeting antibodies have been of particular interest in the study and treatment of cancer. A major goal of cancer research has been to identify tumor antigens that are qualitatively or quantitatively different from normal cells (Goldenberg (1994) Ca: A Cancer J. for Clinicians. 44: 43-64). The presence and/or quantity of such antigens could be detected by antibodies and such detection forms the basis of diagnostic and prognostic tests. In addition, the antibodies could be used to selectively kill tumor cells either directly via their effector function (Brown et al. (1989) Blood. 73: 651-661) or by attaching cytotoxic molecules to the antibody (Vitetta et al. (1987) Science. 238: 1098-1104; Brinkmann et al. (1993) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 90: 547-551).
Despite the demonstration of antigens that are overexpressed on tumor cells, antibodies have been used with limited success for diagnosis and treatment of solid tumors, (see review in Riethmuller et al. (1992) Curr. Opin. Immunol. 4: 647-655, and Riethmuller (1993) Curr. Opinion Immunol. 5: 732-739). Their utility has been hampered by the paucity of tumor specific antibodies, antibody immunogenicity, low binding affinity, and poor tumor penetration.
Nonspecific toxicity results from the failure of the antibody to bind specifically and with high affinity to tumor cells. As a result, nonspecific cell killing occurs. In addition, the foreign immunotoxin molecule elicits a strong immune response in humans. The immunogenicity of the toxin portion of the immunotoxin has recently been overcome by using the human analogue of RNase (Rybak et al. (1992) Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., USA, 89: 3165). The murine antibody portion, however, is still significantly immunogenic (Sawler et al., (1995) J. Immunol., 135: 1530).
Immunogenicity could be avoided and toxicity reduced if high affinity tumor specific human antibodies were available. However, the production of human monoclonal antibodies using conventional hybridoma technology has proven extremely difficult (James et al., (1987) J. Immunol. Meth., 100: 5). Furthermore, the paucity of purified tumor-specific antigens makes it necessary to immunize with intact tumor cells or partially purified antigen. Most of the antibodies produced react with antigens that are also common to normal cells and are therefore unsuitable for use as tumor-specific targeting molecules.


The present invention relates to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems, and particularly to the radio frequency (RF) coils used in such systems.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) utilizes hydrogen nuclear spins of the water molecules in the human body or other tissue, which are polarized by a strong, uniform, static magnetic field generated by a magnet (referred to as B0— the main magnetic field in MRI physics). The magnetically polarized nuclear spins generate magnetic moments in the human body. The magnetic moments point in the direction of the main magnetic field in a steady state, and produce no useful information if they are not disturbed by any excitation.
The generation of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) signal for MRI data acquisition is achieved by exciting the magnetic moments with a uniform radio frequency (RF) magnetic field (referred to as the B1 field or the excitation field). The B1 field is produced in the imaging region of interest by an RF transmit coil which is driven by a computer-controlled RF transmitter with a power amplifier. During the excitation, the nuclear spin system absorbs magnetic energy, and its magnetic moments precess around the direction of the main magnetic field. After the excitation, the precessing magnetic moments will go through a process of free induction decay, emitting their absorbed energy and then returning to the steady state. During the free induction decay, NMR signals are detected by the use of a receive RF coil, which is placed in the vicinity of the excited volume of the human body. The NMR signal is an induced electrical motive force (voltage), or current, in the receive RF coil that has been induced by the flux change over some time period due to the relaxation of precessing magnetic moments in the human tissue. This signal provides the contrast information of the image. The receive RF coil can be either the transmit coil itself, or an independent receive-only RF coil. The NMR signal is used for producing magnetic resonance images by using additional pulsed magnetic gradient fields, which are generated by gradient coils integrated inside the main magnet system. The gradient fields are used to spatially encode the signals and selectively excite a specific volume of the human body. There are usually three sets of gradient coils in a standard MRI system, which generate magnetic fields in the same direction of the main magnetic field, varying linearly in the imaging volume.
In MRI, it is desirable for the excitation and reception to be spatially uniform in the imaging volume for better image uniformity. In a standard MRI system, the best excitation field homogeneity is usually obtained by using a whole-body volume RF coil for transmission. The whole-body transmit coil is the largest RF coil in the system. A large coil, however, produces lower signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) if it is also used for reception, mainly because of its greater distance from the signal-generating tissues being imaged. Since a high signal-to-noise ratio is the most desirable factor in MRI, special-purpose coils are used for reception to enhance the S/N ratio from the volume of interest.
In practice, a well-designed specialty RF coil should have the following functional properties: high S/N ratio, good uniformity, high unloaded quality factor (O) of the resonance circuit, and high ratio of the unloaded to loaded Q factors. In addition, the coil device must be mechanically designed to facilitate patient handling and comfort, and to provide a protective barrier between the patient and the RF electronics. Another way to increase the S/N is by quadrature reception. In this method, NMR signals are detected in two orthogonal directions, which are in the transverse plane or perpendicular to the main magnetic field. The two signals are detected by two independent individual coils which cover the same volume of interest. With quadrature reception, the S/N can be increased by up to √2 over that of the individual linear coils.
To cover a large field-of-view, while maintaining the S/N characteristic of a small and conformal coil, a linear surface coil array technique was created to image the entire human spines (U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,162). Subsequently, other linear surface array coils were used for C.L. spine imaging, such as the technique described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,198,768. These two devices consist of an array of planar linear surface coil-elements. These coil systems do not work well for imaging deep tissues, such as the blood vessels in the lower abdomen, due to sensitivity drop-off away from the coil surface.
To image the lower extremities, quadrature phased array coils have been utilized such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,430,378 and 5,548,218. The first quadrature phased array coil, images the lower extremities by using two orthogonal linear coil arrays: six planar loop coil elements placed in the horizontal plane and underneath the patient and six planar loop coil elements placed in the vertical plane and in between the legs. Each linear coil array functions in a similar way as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,162 (Roemer). The second quadrature phased array coil (Lu) was designed to image the blood vessels from the pelvis down. This device also consists of two orthogonal linear coil arrays extending in the head-to-toe direction: a planar array of loop coil elements laterally centrally located on top of the second array of butterfly coil elements. The loop coils are placed immediately underneath the patient and the butterfly coils are wrapped around the patient. Again, each linear coil array functions in a similar way as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,162.
In MRI, gradient coils are routinely used to give phase-encoding information to a sample to be imaged. To obtain an image, it is required that all the data points in a so-called “k-space” (i.e., frequency space) must be collected. Recently, there have been developments where some of the data points in k-space are intentionally skipped and at the same time use the intrinsic sensitivity information of RF receive coils as the phase-encoding information for those skipped data points. This action takes place simultaneously, and thus is referred to as partially parallel imaging or partially parallel acquisition (PPA). By collecting multiple data points simultaneously, it requires less time to acquire the same amount of data, when compared with the conventional gradient-only phase-encoding approach. The time savings can be used to reduce total imaging time, in particular, for the applications in which cardiac or respiratory motions in tissues being imaged become concerns, or to collect more data to achieve better resolution or S/N. SiMultaneous Acquisition of Spatial Harmonics, SMASH, (U.S. Pat. No. 5,910,728 and “Simultaneous Acquisition of Spatial Harmonics (SMASH): Fast Imaging with Radiofrequency Coil Arrays,” Daniel K. Sodickson and Warren J. Manning, Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 38:591–603 (1997), both incorporated herein by reference) and “SENSE: Sensitivity Encoding for Fast MRI,” Klaas P. Pruessmann, et al., Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 42:952–962 (1999, also incorporated by reference, are basically two methods of PPA. SMASH takes advantage of the parallel imaging by skipping phase encode lines that yield decreasing the Field-of-View (FOV) in the phase-encoding direction and uses coils (e.g., coil arrays) together with reconstruction techniques to fill in the missing data points in k-space. SENSE, on the other hand, is a technique that utilizes a reduced FOV in the read direction, resulting an aliased image that is then unfolded in x-space (i.e., real space), while using the RF coil sensitivity information, to obtain a true corresponding image. Here, we make use of phase difference between signals from multiple coils to skip phase encoding steps. By skipping some of the phase encoding steps, one can achieve speeding up imaging process by a reduction factor R. Theoretically speaking, the factor R should equal the number of independent coils/arrays. In the SENSE approach, the SIR is defined as:                SNRSENSE=SNRFULL/{g√R}where SNRFULL is the S/N achievable when all the phase encoding steps are collected by traditional gradient phase encoding scheme. SNRSENSE is optimized when the geometry factor g equals 1. To obtain g of 1, traditional decoupling techniques such as overlapping nearest neighbor elements to null the mutual inductance between them shall not apply, as have been reported by others.
SENSE and SMASH or a hybrid approach of both demand a new type of design requirements in RF coil design. In SMASH, the primary criterion for the array is that it be capable of generating sinusoids whose wavelengths are on the order of the FOV. This is how the target FOV along the phase encoding direction for the array is determined. Conventional array designs can incorporate element and array dimensions that will give optimal S/N for the object of interest. In addition, users of conventional arrays are free to choose practically any FOV, as long as severe aliasing artifacts are not a problem. In contrast, when using SMASH, the size of the array determines the approximate range of FOVs that can be used in the imaging experiment. This then determines the approximate element dimensions, assuming complete coverage of the FOV is desired, as in most cases. In SENSE, the method is based upon the fact that the sensitivity of a RF receiver coil generally has a phase-encoding effect complementary to those achieved by linear field gradients. For SENSE imaging, the elements of a coil array should be smaller than for common phased-array imaging, resulting in a trade-off between basic noise and geometry factor, and adjacent coil elements should not overlap for a net gain in S/N due to the improved geometry factor when using SENSE.
For PPA applications, different types of RF coils or arrays have been used so far. However, most of them are based upon “traditional” RF coil design requirements, thus remain within the conventional coil design scheme. It has been reported, however, that since the phase information of B1 of a receive coil is very important when SENSE applications are demanded, for example, new coil design techniques such as non-overlapping adjacent coil elements may be necessary for better definition of the individual phase information associated with each RF coil used in an array, unlike traditional design scheme where two adjacent coils elements are overlapped to null the mutual inductance between the elements (U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,162). Without overlap, the coupling may be increased, but there is a net gain in S/N due to the improved geometry factor when using SENSE. As stated in the above, the use of smaller coil-elements than those for conventional imaging results in a trade-off between basic noise and geometry factor.


Voice-enabled systems help users complete assigned tasks. For example, in a workflow process, a voice-enabled system may guide users through a particular task. The task may be at least a portion of the workflow process comprising at least one workflow stage. As a user completes his/her assigned tasks, a bi-directional dialog or communication stream of information is provided over a wireless network between the user wearing a mobile computing device (herein, “mobile device”) and a central computer system that is directing multiple users and verifying completion of their tasks. To direct the user's actions, information received by the mobile device from the central computer system is translated into speech or voice instructions for the corresponding user. To receive the voice instructions and transmit information, the user wears a communications headset (also referred to herein as a “headset assembly” or simply a “headset”) communicatively coupled to the mobile device.
The user may be prompted for a verbal response during completion of the task. The verbal response may be a string of characters, such as digits and/or letters. The string of characters may correspond, for example, to a credit card number, a telephone number, a serial number, a vehicle identification number, or the like. The spoken string of characters (i.e., the verbal response) may be referred to herein as a “spoken complete value entry”.
Unfortunately, speaking the spoken complete value entry is often time-consuming and difficult to speak correctly, especially if the spoken complete value entry is long (i.e., the number of characters in the spoken string of characters is relatively large (referred to herein as a “spoken long value entry”). If errors in speaking the spoken complete value entry are made by the user (i.e., the speaker), conventional systems and methods often require that the user restart the spoken string, causing user frustration and being even more time-consuming.
Therefore, a need exists for auto-complete methods for spoken complete value entries, particularly spoken long value entries, and for use in a workflow process.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microcomputer and an electronic timepiece utilizing a microcomputer. More specifically, the present invention relates to a microcomputer employing an improved addressing system of a random access memory and an electronic timepiece utilizing such a microcomputer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional electronic timepiece employs frequency division utilizing counters. However, such conventional electronic timepiece involves an inconvenience in which the electronic circuit need be redesigned from the beginning in making modifications of the particulars of a timepiece circuit. In order to eliminate such inconvenience, an electronic timepiece utilizing a microcomputer has also been proposed and put into practical use. Such electronic timepiece utilizing a microcomputer is referred to as a microcomputer type timepiece in the present application for simplicity of description. Generally, a microcomputer type timepiece has an advantage that modifications of the particulars can be made by simply changing masks for use in fabricating a read only memory for storing a program.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional microcomputer type timepiece. The timepiece shown comprises a reference signal generating circuit 1, a clock generator 2, a switch input circuit 3, a state control circuit 4, a timer counter 5, a chronograph counter 6, a read only memory 7, a program counter 8, a stack 9, an instruction register 10, a control circuit 11, an arithmetic logic unit 12, an accumulator 13, a random access memory 14, a decoder 15, and a latch circuit 16.
The reference signal generating circuit 1 is connected to a quartz resonator 17 and makes oscillation to provide an oscillating signal the frequency of which is determined by the quartz resonator 17. The oscillating signal is frequency divided and a predetermined frequency divided signal is applied to the clock generator 2, the switch input circuit 3, the timer counter 5, the chronograph counter 6 and the like. The reference frequency generating circuit 1 is also adapted to provide an interrupt signal INT2 for the purpose of causing a time count operation at each predetermined period of time, say for every 0.5 second.
The clock generator 2 generates a system clock signal for performing an operation as a central processing unit by the use of a frequency divided signal obtained from the reference frequency generating circuit 1 and the system clock signal is applied to various portions of the circuit. The clock generator 2 is supplied with a stop signal CLKSTOP for stopping generation of the clock signal from the state control circuit 4, so that the clock generator 2 is responsive to the stop signal CLKSTOP to stop the operation. The clock generator 2 is also connected to receive from the reference signal generating circuit 1, the chronograph counter 6 and the like the interrupt signals INT0, INT1, INT2 and INT3 and the timer output TIMEROUT and to receive an operation start signal CLKSTART, so that the clock generator is responsive to these signals to restart the operation which has been stopped.
The switch input circuit 3 comprises external terminals M1 to M4 and S1 to S4 for preventing a chattering phenomenon of the switches connected thereto and for receiving the on/off data of the switches connected thereto, while the data is transferred to the data bus DB. The on/off control of the switches connected to the external terminals S1 to S4 can be designated by the switch control signal SWCON of the state control circuit 4 and can provide an operation start signal CLKSTART in response to the on/off of the designated switch. Furthermore an interrupt signal INT3 can also be obtained in response to the on/off of the switches connected to the external terminals S1 to S4. In the chronograph mode a chronograph control signal CHRCON for controlling start, lap and stop of the chronograph counter 6 is obtained in response to the on/off of the switches connected to the terminals S1 and S2.
The state control circuit 4 is controlled in accordance with the program obtained over the instruction bus IB so that the states of the various circuits are controlled in various modes and provides the switch control signal SWCON for controlling the switch input circuit 3, the timer control signal TIMCON for performing selection of the reset, start and timer time period of the timer counter 5 and the stop signal CLKSTOP for stopping the operation of the clock generator 2. Furthermore there are provided an external terminal LAMP for connection of a lamp and an external terminal ALM connected to an alarm tone generator.
The timer counter 5 can allow for setting of a timer time period in accordance with the program sent over the instruction bus IB and provides a signal TIMEROUT for starting the operation of the clock generator 2 after the lapse of the timer time period.
The chronograph counter 6 comprises a counter for counting up to 1/100 second and 1/10 second and provides an interrupt signal INT1 at every 1/10 second. The count value in the chronograph counter 6 is applied through the chronograph data bus CDB to the decoder 15.
The read only memory 7 comprises 1390.times.14 bits and stores in a fixed manner a program for performing a timing operation and various controls. To that end the read only memory 7 provides to the instruction register 10 an instruction code of 14 bits stored in the address designated by the program counter 8 of 11 bits.
The instruction register 10 stores an instruction code obtained from the read only memory 7 and provides the same on the instruction bus IB.
The program counter 8 receives the next address or jump control signal after processing of one instruction to provide to the read only memory 7 an address signal of the address to which jump is to be made.
The stack 9 has the capacity of eight levels and stores the sum of the count value in the program counter 8 plus one in the case where the operation should shift to the interrupt processing or subroutine. However, an interrupt processing is to be made after the instruction "SCP" for stopping the operation of the clock generator 2 is executed, the count value of the program counter 8 is as such stored in the stack 9 and, after the end of the interrupt processing, again the stop instruction "SCP" of the clock is addressed and the same is executed.
The random access memory 14 stores in appropriate regions the data concerning the current time, an alarm time, a timer time period and the like. The addresses of the random access memory 14 are designated by the instructions obtained from the instruction register 10 and the data stored in the designated addresses is sent to the data bus DB in response to the read/write control signal R/W obtained from the control circuit 11 or the data sent to the data bus DB is stored in the designated addresses.
The arithmetic logic unit 12 receives data sent onto the data bus DB and makes an arithmetic operation such as addition, subtraction and the like and the result is stored in the accumulator 13 and is sent again onto the data bus DB.
The decoder 15 and the latch circuit 16 constitute a display circuit. The decoder 15 converts the applied data of four bits to seven segment signals for display and provides the same to the segment bus SB. The latch circuit 16 holds the segment signals sent to the segment bus SB and provides the same to the external terminals a to g and to that end the external terminals of the number corresponding to that of the segments are provided. Which latch circuit should store the converted segment signals is determined in accordance with the program and, in the case where the data of the first digit of the current time is converted, for example, the latch circuit 16 corresponding to the display unit for displaying the first digit of the current time is designated by the program. On the other hand, the decoder 15 is also connected to the chronograph data bus CDB for supply of the output from the chronograph counter 6 as well as the data bus DB and the decoder 15 is selectively connected to either the data bus DB or the chronograph data bus in accordance with the program.
The control circuit 11 deciphers the instructions of the read only memory 7 sent over the instruction bus IB and controls the respective circuits as a function of the system clock obtained from the clock generator 2 for the purpose of performing the operation corresponding to the instructions. Furthermore, the program counter 8 and the read only memory 7 are controlled to execute the processing corresponding to the interrupt when the interrupt signals INT0, INT1, INT2 and INT3 are provided.
Now a principal operation of the FIG. 1 timepiece will be described. When a power supply is turned on, an initial clear is rendered effective and the respective circuits are reset, while the program counter 8 designates the address zero of the read only memory 7. The address zero of the read only memory 7 stores the program for initial setting and therefore "0" or predetermined data is stored in the random access memory 14 through execution of the program, whereby initial setting is performed. Then the program of mode change is executed. This program serves to determine which mode, the current time mode, the alarm mode, the timer mode or the chronograph mode, or if another function has been employed, an additional mode, has been selected in accordance with the contents of the data representing the on/off of the switch applied to the data bus DB from the switch input circuit 3.
In the case where the current time mode is selected, for example, the current time is displayed. More specifically, the minute digit, the ten-minute digit, the hour digit, and the ten-hour digit stored in the predetermined address of the random access memory 14 are in succession addressed in accordance with the display instructions of the addressable random access memory 14 and the data is sent to the data bus DB. The segment signals as converted by the decoder 15 are stored in the latch circuit 16. The decoder 15 is in advance controlled by the instructions so that the data bus DB may be connected to the decoder 15. The latch circuit 16 serves to keep providing the stored segment signals to the external terminals a to g until the new segment data is renewed.
Then a coincidence detection program for detecting coincidence of the data concerning the current time stored in the predetermined address of the random access memory 14 and the data concerning the alarm time is executed in the case where the alarm mode is selected, for example. Coincidence detection is performed in succession for the ten-hour digit, the hour digit, the ten-minute digit and the minute digit and, upon detection of coincidence in all digits, the alarm signal is obtained at the output terminal ALM of the state control circuit 4.
Meanwhile, some type of electronic timepiece is adapted to have a so-called multialarm function. By multialarm function is meant a function capable of setting a plurality of alarm times per day. For example, a plurality of alarm times such as in the morning, day and evening may be set with such electronic timepiece and thus a multialarm function is of much convenience.
A typical conventional microcomputer type timepiece having a multialarm function is adapted such that a plurality of alarm times are stored in different addresses of the random access memory and coincidence of the same with the current time is detected for each of the stored data. Accordingly, a coincidence detection program for detecting coincidence of the current time and the alarm times requires two or more programs of different addressing data, with the resultant disadvantage that the program becomes complicated and lengthy. However, coincidence detection of the current time with alarm times is common to any of the alarm times. Therefore, if an addressing scheme for different alarm times could be simplified, the coincidence detection program could be accordingly simplified.


Biofuels have a long history ranging back to the beginning on the 20th century. As early as 1900, Rudolf Diesel demonstrated at the World Exhibition in Paris, France, an engine running on peanut oil. Soon thereafter, Henry Ford demonstrated his Model T running on ethanol derived from corn. Petroleum-derived fuels displaced biofuels in the 1930s and 1940s due to increased supply and efficiency at a lower cost.
Market fluctuations in the 1970s, due the Arab oil embargo and the Iranian revolution, coupled to the decrease in U.S. oil production led to an increase in crude oil prices and a renewed interest in biofuels. Today, many interest groups, including policy makers, industry planners, aware citizens, and the financial community, are interested in substituting petroleum-derived fuels with biomass-derived biofuels. The leading motivation for developing biofuels is of economical nature, namely, the threat of ‘peak oil’, the point at which the consumption rate of crude oil exceeds the supply rate, thus leading to significantly increased fuel cost, and resulting in an increased demand for alternative fuels.
Biofuels tend to be produced with local agricultural resources in many, relatively small facilities, and are seen as a stable and secure supply of fuels independent of geopolitical problems associated with petroleum. At the same time, biofuels enhance the agricultural sector of national economies. In addition, environmental concerns relating to the possibility of carbon dioxide related climate change is an important social and ethical driving force which is starting to result in government regulations and policies such as caps on carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles, taxes on carbon dioxide emissions, and tax incentives for the use of biofuels.
The acceptance of biofuels depends primarily on economical competitiveness of biofuels when compared to petroleum-derived fuels. As long as biofuels cannot compete in cost with petroleum-derived fuels, use of biofuels will be limited to specialty applications and niche markets. Today, the use of biofuels is limited to ethanol and biodiesel. Currently, ethanol is made by fermentation from corn in the US and from sugar cane in Brazil and is competitive with petroleum-derived gasoline, exclusive of subsidies or tax benefits, if crude oil costs above $50 USD per barrel and $40 USD per barrel, respectively. Biodiesel has a breakeven price of crude oil of over $60 USD/barrel to be competitive with petroleum-based diesel (Nexant Chem Systems. 2006. Final Report, Liquid Biofuels: Substituting for Petroleum, White Plains, N.Y.).


There are many industrial processes and applications that require a continuous supply of a process fluid used for cooling purposes. The devices used to furnish this process fluid supply are ordinarily called "water chillers", even though the process fluid is most usually a mixture of water and other liquid, usually ethylene glycol, and that term is used in this specification to refer to controlled chillers using any appropriate coolant.
A water chiller must maintain the temperature of the process fluid essentially constant within a very limited tolerance range; in some instances the critical parameter may be selected as the return temperature from the process apparatus, but more frequently the supply temperature should be selected as the basis of control. The water chiller is often a self-contained unit that can be transported from one location to another, literally constituting a heat transfer system on wheels. Water chillers of this kind are most frequently employed in processes involving heat transfer where the coolant must be maintained constant at some temperature between -30.degree. F and +60.degree. F.
For the most part, the controls for water chillers have constituted conventional thermostats, freezestats, and pressure-actuated switches connected directly in the electrical actuating circuits of the pumps, compressors, and other components of the water chilling apparatus. A further control that is often used is a float switch, connected to a coolant reservoir, employed to interrupt operation whenever the water supply is inadequate. Another control frequently used is a hot-gas bypass valve, used to control cooling capacity during intermittent or partial load conditions.
For many applications, these direct acting controls are adequate. However, they do not afford the precision control essential to some sensitive manufacturing and other industrial operations. Furthermore, controls of this nature do not provide comprehensive protection for the water chiller and the process apparatus it serves relative to possible malfunctions in the chiller itself or in the process apparatus. Moreover, the inherent inertia of these conventional controls makes it difficult to control chiller operation on the basis of coolant supply temperature; it is usually necessary to use the coolant return temperature as the control parameter.


The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for controlling the gas flow between two chambers in a mass spectrometer. According to an embodiment one or both of the chambers may comprise a vacuum chamber.
Mass spectrometers often contain different regions or chambers which are at different levels of vacuum. For example, a mass spectrometer may comprise a quadrupole mass filter (“QMF”) which resides in a chamber at a pressure of approx, 1×10−5 mbar and which is followed by a collision cell at a pressure of approx. 1×10−3 to approx. 1×10−2 mbar. This in turn may be followed by a Time of Flight (“TOF”) mass analyser which may be operated at a pressure of <1×10−6 mbar.
Between these different regions there is normally an opening or differential pumping aperture which acts to limit the flow of gas from one chamber to another and through which ions must pass if they are to traverse the mass spectrometer. These openings are generally manufactured to be as thin as possible, typically 0.5 mm to 1.0 mm, so as to minimise loss of ion transmission as ions pass through the orifice. The thicker the opening is the more likely it is that some ions will strike the inner wall of the opening as they pass through the orifice and be lost.
Reducing the size of an opening (i.e. the diameter of a circular hole or the length of a slit) reduces the gas flow through it, which in turn reduces the quantity of vacuum pumping that is required to maintain the desired pressure in the different regions. This is particularly important in situations where there is a large pressure differential between vacuum chambers and hence a large gas flow, or where a small, lightweight or portable instrument is desired. However, reducing the size of an orifice makes it more difficult to focus ions through it. This can lead to ions no longer being able to pass through the orifice which in turn reduces the transmission and hence sensitivity of the mass spectrometer.
It is known to use a valve to reduce the gas flow into the initial vacuum chamber of a mass spectrometer from the atmosphere.
It is desired to provide an improved mass spectrometer and method of mass spectrometry.


It is known to use free electron laser (FEL) radiation sources to produce radiation of a desired wavelength, in which an electron beam comprising a periodic sequence of electron bunches is passed through an undulator to generate the radiation. Such sources can be used to produce radiation in a range 4 nm to 25 nm, for example extreme ultra-violet (EUV) radiation.
In known FEL radiation sources, ions are produced from residual gas in the electron beam through collisional ionization. An expected rate of ion generation in EUV FEL sources with a beam energy of a few hundred MeV and a beam current of a few tens of mA is such that, in the absence of counter-measures, the electron beam could be fully neutralized (e.g. ion charge matches electron charge per meter of electron beam) in less than 10 seconds. As a result, emittance of electron bunches at the undulator could significantly exceed 10 mm mRad and conversion efficiency would be expected to drop more than ten times, thus effectively disabling the operation of the EUV FEL.
In order to counteract ion concentration build-up several strategies have been suggested, including placing extraction electrodes along the electron beam or implementing a beam current pattern with short additional gaps between selected pairs of electron bunches (also referred to as clearing gaps). The short additional gaps can also be thought of as representing missing bunches in the sequence of electron bunches. The use of clearing gaps is intended to give ions, otherwise trapped in the potential of the bunched electron beam, some time to drift away. The use of clearing gaps according to known suggestions may not completely remove trapped ions but may allow mitigation of fast ion instability which can be detrimental for FEL operation.
Known FEL sources include LINACs for accelerating (and decelerating) electron bunches before (and after) they pass through the undulator. Energy recovery LINACs can be used, which are usually designed to operate with a balanced cavity load close to zero (e.g. currents in accelerating and decelerating beams match, and energy extracted and deposited upon acceleration and deceleration almost match).
The use of clearing gaps between electron bunches may distort operation of energy recovery LINACs. In the case of a single-pass LINAC system it has been suggested in G. H. Hoffstaetter et al, Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research A, 557 (2006), 205-212 to match clearing gaps (e.g. trains of missing bunches) in accelerating and decelerating electron beams within LINAC modules in a single pass LINAC. The matching of clearing gaps in a single pass LINAC may be relatively straightforward, given that each electron bunch circulates once around a loop and only passes through the single LINAC once when it is accelerating and once when it is decelerating, and may be achieved by a requirement that missing bunches are provided at a suitable regular rate.
It is an aim of the present invention to provide an improved, or at least alternative, FEL radiation source and method of operation of such a source that can provide for reduction of ion build-up.


This invention relates to the application of colorant in a desired pattern to an embossed electrically uncharged polymeric surface.
It is often desirable to decorate items having polymeric surfaces, such as suitcases, automobile seats, and furniture upholstery with colorants. Where a surface is smooth, these are various methods to decorate it including spraying with spray masks, lamination, printing, and the like. However, if the polymeric surface is embossed, lamination, spraying with spray masks, and printing methods are not highly desirable. Lamination and spray with spray masks will not seal against the various peaks and valleys of an embossed surface and printing methods also have disadvantages. Electrostatic printing methods normally require that the substrate, in this case the polymeric surface, be electrostatically neutral or that a uniform field can be produced between the printing screen and the substrate surface. To obtain a uniform electrical field between an embossed surface and the printing screen is difficult because of the uneven surface. Moreover, when a non-uniform electrostatic field is established between the substrate and the printing screen, the uneven surface may cause the designs to have feathered edges. Thus, designs are not as attractive and distinct as desired.
The prior art, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 3,058,444 uses a rotatably mounted magnetic roller to deposit a mixture of magnetic powder and toner to an electrophotographically formed electrostatic latent image. The necessity of charging the surface and application of electrophotographic coating to the surface requires specialized equipment with its appurtenant cost. Moreover, variations in the amount of the electrostatic charge in the latent image could vary the concentration of the deposited mixture and/or cause a feathered effect at the edge of a design. Coatings have been applied to embossed surfaces but generally an adhesive method is used, e.g., see U.S. Pat. No. 3,616,135.
The present invention has the distinct advantage of not requiring the substrate to be electrically charged. That is, the material which has a polymeric surface is electrically uncharged although alternately it may be charged if desired. The theory on which the present invention is based is that if a colorant made of a polymeric material is pressed against another polymeric surface, the friction itself will cause an electrostatic attraction known as a triboelectric effect. This triboelectric effect at least temporarily holds the colorant against the polymeric surface until it can be subsequently coated with a coating of some type such as hydroxy functional acrylic with urethane and 1,6 diacrylate.
Another apsect of this invention is the use of a roller magnet bounded by generally non-magnetic walls on both sides thereof which extend radially outwardly so that the magnetic carrier and polymeric colorant is attracted and distributed in a straight line. The wheel-shaped magnet is biased against the polymeric surface so that it presses the mixture against the surface and deposits it thereon. The walls prevent any feathering of the stripe or other desired design.
Different methods for holding a polymeric material in position on the polymeric surface are the applications of heat and resins. However, if heat and resins are not used in precise amounts, they will distort the polymeric surface. The subject invention has the advantage of less risk of damage to the surface. The coating is simply applied and permitted to dry by dehydration or by application of ultraviolet light.


An engine cooling fan and electric motor assembly is used to provide radiator and A/C condenser cooling airflow in engine compartments of many vehicles. The engine compartment itself is a high-temperature environment. To complicate matters, the motor generates its own internal heat during the normal course of operation. The internally generated heat is primarily due to Joule heating caused by electric current passing through its rotor and stator coils, and brush losses. High temperatures can greatly increase the wear of motor brushes and bearings, and significantly reduce motor life.
One solution to these problems is to provide cooling holes 44a, 44b in FIG. 4, to admit cooling air through the motor 22. The invention provides additional strategies to cool motor 22.


The present invention relates to a control device which can be fitted to a tap for regulating and cutting off a flow of combustible gas, particularly for domestic cookers.
More precisely, the invention relates to a control device of the type including a base on which a knob, which is intended to be fixed to a member for operating the tap, is rotatable to regulate the gas-flow.


1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to equipment in baseball and softball. More specifically, the invention relates to bases that are used in the games of baseball and softball.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In the United States and Canada and in many East Asian, Latin American and Caribbean countries, the games of softball and baseball are very popular.
Familiarity with the basic concepts of the rules of baseball and softball are assumed, as one of ordinary skill in the art would know the rules intimately. However, the rules of baseball and softball provide for markers known as bases that are positioned at the four corners of a diamond, up to 90 feet in distance depending upon the age level of the players or whether baseball of softball is being played. Three of the bases are commonly referred to as bags, because they are short boxes that are placed on the surface of the ground and rise up one to three inches in height. The fourth base, known as home plate, is much thinner and rises above the ground less than ½ inch.
These bases are commonly held in position in a number of ways. For example, major league teams and other organized baseball leagues generally use hollow, square metal posts or anchors located in the ground at the proper base locations. Stanchions that are attached to the bottom of the bases are placed in the hollow posts/anchors. In this manner, the bases are firmly and fixedly, yet removably positioned for play. Runners naming to the bases do not have to fear that the bases will slide as the runner slides into or steps on the base. This method requires digging a hole into the ground, placing a concrete bed in the hole, setting the anchor/post in the concrete bed and repacking the dirt around the post/anchor. This can be accomplished on a dedicated baseball field.
A second common type of base uses spikes that are driven into the ground that are attached to straps. The straps are cinched tight to the base and the spikes that hold the base in position.
A third common category of common bases is called “throwdown bases.” These bases typically are formed from a single piece or molded rubber or vinyl. These bases are generally thinner than, official bases.
Another type of base uses a magnet to secure a base having a bottom metal material. Dislodgement of the base exposes the magnet which can be poorly seen due to dirt and dust accumulating on it.
Other types of bases use either an oversized hole to receive an anchor for the base or can use protruding rubber tips which are inserted in openings formed in a substrate and trapped therein until a sufficient force is applied to the base. Such rubber tips are not able to be freely removed from the substrate.
Moreover, youth baseball leagues have recently mandated that a base is displaced from its position when a runner slides into it. Put another way, leagues are requiring a base that will move when a lateral load is applied. The difficulty is designing such a base that will not substantially move when the runner merely runs across the base, i.e. when the load applied is a combination of a lateral load and a vertical load.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for detachable/removable baseball and softball bases that will not substantially move when a runner runs across it and yet will detach when a runner slides in with sufficient force.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device of a chip-on-chip structure that has a semiconductor chip bonded with other semiconductor chips thereon, and to a method for manufacturing same.
2. Description of Related Art
There are semiconductor devices increased in integration degree, including system-on-chips (SOCs) and multi-chip modules (MCMs). In the system-on-chip, the functions conventionally realized on a plurality of ICs are integrated on one semiconductor chip. Meanwhile, the multi-chip module is structured by a plurality of semiconductor chips arranged with density on a wiring board of glass-epoxy or the like. Each of them has multiple functions as one semiconductor device and can be size-reduced as compared to a combination of a plurality of semiconductor devices realizing the equivalent functions. Meanwhile, this reduces the wiring length in the overall, enabling high-speed transmission of signals.
However, the system-on-chip is complicated in manufacture process, requiring a huge amount of capital investment and hence high manufacture cost. Meanwhile, the multi-chip-module has a plurality of semiconductor chips mutually arranged side by side on a wiring board. Because these semiconductor chips are connected by wirings, the size is greater as compared to the system-on-chip and hence integration degree lowers.
On the other hand, there is a chip-on-chip structure as one form of an integration increased semiconductor device. The chip-on-chip-structured semiconductor device has a structure having a plurality of semiconductor chips that are oppositely placed for mutual connection. Such a semiconductor device is not configured with an integration of the functions conventionally realized on a plurality of ICs (semiconductor chips) as in the system-on-chip. Consequently, the manufacture process is not so complicated as that of the system-on-chip. Therefore, there is a merit to reduce the manufacturing cost.
The chip-on-chip-structured semiconductor devices include those having a plurality of small semiconductor chips (child chips) arranged side by side on one large semiconductor chip (parent chip). Such a semiconductor device, at a glance, is similar in structure to the multi-chip module having a plurality of semiconductor chips arranged side by side on a wiring board.
In the chip-on-chip-structured semiconductor device, however, the parent chip not only serves as a wiring board to connect between the child chips but also acts itself as a semiconductor chip having functional elements. This results in higher integration degree. On the other hand, the wiring formed on the parent chip, made by a semiconductor process, is by far finer than the wiring of a wiring board of a multi-chip-module. This allows the functional elements of the semiconductor chips (parent and child chips) to be connected at a short length of wiring, whereby signal transmission speed can be increased higher as compared to that of the multi-chip module.
The chip-on-chip-structured semiconductor devices include those that a child chip has, further, one or a plurality of child chips vertically superposed thereon. Namely, such a semiconductor device has a structure connected, on a parent chip, with one or a plurality of chip blocks each having one or a plurality of superposed semiconductor chips. This structure realizes a highly integrated semiconductor device.
In such a semiconductor device, however, the wiring between arbitrary two of the semiconductor chips is provided necessarily through a wiring plane (usually, active surface) of the parent chip, thereby increasing the mean wiring length. Namely, in the case the semiconductor chip is in a position close to the top end of the chip block (position distant from the parent chip), there is an increased length of wiring between that semiconductor chip and the parent chip. Consequently, signals could not be transmitted at sufficient high speed. Meanwhile, even if the wiring length is tried to decrease throughout the entire semiconductor device, there is encountered a low freedom in design, e.g. restriction in semiconductor chip arrangement.


The wide adoption of computer networking capability and processing power in industrial environments has resulted in the increased usage of industrial automation systems. These industrial automation systems can be complex and are expected to incorporate functional cooperation between different components of the industrial automation systems. The different components might be supplied by one vendor, or in many cases, more than one vendor. Therefore, there is often limited interoperability and consistency between components. On the user side, the limited interoperability and consistency has been blamed for user dissatisfaction. On the vendor side, interoperability with components from a different vendor is not necessarily a priority.


1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a purge gas spraying plate and a fume removing apparatus having the same, and more particularly, to a purge gas spraying plate which effectively removes fumes by spraying a purge gas and a fume removing apparatus having the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, semiconductor devices are manufactured by depositing thin films for performing various functions on upper surfaces of the wafer, and patterning the thin film to form various circuit geometries.
Unit processes for manufacturing the semiconductor devices can be mainly divided into an impurity ion implantation process by which impurities such as group 3B elements or group 5B elements are implanted into an inside of the semiconductor, a thin film deposition process which forms material films on a semiconductor substrate, an etching process which forms a predetermined patterns using the material films, a planarization process such as a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process which removes step differences by polishing a surface of a wafer in a lump after depositing interlayer insulating films and the like on an upper surface of the wafer, and a cleaning process for removing residues.
Meanwhile, wafers on which the predetermined process described above is completed are not transferred as an individual wafer, but are transferred as a batch of 20 to 25 wafers, which are seated in a cassette. At this time, the wafers on which process gases used for the process and fumes which are by-products of the process are not removed and remain on surfaces of the wafers are seated in the cassette.
However, the residues described above causes the contamination of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and defects of etch patterns when a subsequent process is performed in a state in which the residues are attached to the surfaces of the wafers. As a result, since the reliability of a device is decreased, many techniques have been developed to remove the residues.
As described above, a conventional fume removing apparatus for removing fumes remaining on surfaces of wafers is disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 1444241.
As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, a cleaning apparatus 100 as a conventional fume removing apparatus is formed with a side cleaning apparatus 110 and a rear cleaning apparatus 130.
The side cleaning apparatus 110 includes wafer support members 111 and spacers 113.
The wafer support members 111 are each provided with a rib 111a and through holes 111b.
The rib 111a includes a step 111aa at an edge thereof to easily seat a wafer 5 inserted from one side thereof.
The plurality of through holes 111b are formed at equidistant intervals in a longitudinal direction to be easily coupled with a plurality of spacers 113, which will be described below using bolts BT.
The spacer 113 is provided on an upper side of the wafer support member 111.
The spacer 113 formed in a bar shape having a cross-sectional rectangular shape is provided with an inlet 113a in a longitudinal direction of one side thereof so that a purge gas sprayed from a pneumatic block flows in, and a plurality of spraying holes 113b at equidistant intervals in a direction perpendicular to a side of the inlet 113a.
The inlet 113a described above is directly connected to an outlet of the pneumatic block to enable a purge gas (N2 gas) to be individually sprayed through only the spraying holes 113b corresponding to a portion at which a wafer 5 is provided.
Through holes 113c are formed at locations respectively the same as the centers of the through holes 111b of the wafer support member 111 at equidistant intervals in a longitudinal direction of the spacer 113 to be easily coupled therewith using bolts.
As described above, a configuration of one set having the wafer support member 111 and the spacer 113 is vertically repeated as a plurality, and thus, it is possible to clean a plurality of stacked wafers 5.
In addition, the rear cleaning apparatus 130 is provided at one end of the side cleaning apparatus 110 in a rear direction, i.e., based on a direction illustrated in FIG. 1.
The rear cleaning apparatus 130 has a plurality of spraying holes 131, which are stacked and provided at a rear of the side cleaning apparatus 110 in a direction perpendicular thereto and formed at the same levels as the spraying holes 113b of the spacer 113, at equidistant intervals in a longitudinal direction.
However, since a conventional fume removing apparatus is manufactured by separately manufacturing a wafer support member 111 which supports a wafer and a spacer 113, and installing a plurality of configurations of which one set includes the wafer support member 111 and the spacer 113 sequentially stacked at an inner side of the fume removing apparatus, there are problems in that a structure of the inside thereof is complex and the cost of manufacturing equipment is increased.
In addition, since the spraying holes 113b of the spacer 113 are formed to be only disposed linearly without considering a circular shape of a wafer, there is an area having a big gap between the spraying holes 113b and the circumference of the wafer, and thus, a dead zone in which fumes remaining on the wafer cannot be removed may be generated.
In addition, since a wafer is seated on a step 111aa of the rib 111a of the wafer support member 111, there is a problem in that a contact area in which the wafer and the step 111aa are in contact with each other is increased which can cause damage to the wafer.