Patents Examined by Tai V Nguyen
  • Patent number: 7293352
    Abstract: An origin detection method for a component placement head includes setting an axial origin for each elevation nut section, of the component placement head, by detecting a rotational angle of a drive section corresponding to the elevation nut section. The elevation nut sections are then individually moved down from the axial origin so that light emitted from a light-projecting section is received by a light-receiving section without being interrupted. Then, it is confirmed that the axial origin of each elevation nut section is an origin of elevation by detecting interruption of light, emitted from the light-projecting section, by the elevation nut section at a position corresponding to the elevation nut section having been lowered from the axial origin by a prescribed light interruption dimension.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2007
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Osamu Okuda, Kazuo Kido, Hideki Uchida
  • Patent number: 6920688
    Abstract: A method of making an integrated circuit device using an encapsulated semiconductor die, having leads extending therefrom and attaching a heat spreader to each of the major outer encapsulant surfaces thereof, is disclosed. One or both of the heat spreaders has a pair of end posts configured for allowing further encapsulation of portions thereof and insertion into through-holes in a substrate to position and support the device during and following the outer lead solder reflow step at board assembly. The heat spreaders provide high heat dissipation and EMR shielding, and may be connected to the substrate ground to become ground planes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2002
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2005
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: David J. Corisis
  • Patent number: 6766567
    Abstract: A liquid droplet ejection device, which includes a number of liquid ejection nozzles, a liquid supply layer including porous material, with the liquid supply layer featuring holes related to the nozzles, and a number of transducers related to the holes for ejecting liquid droplets out through the nozzles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2002
    Date of Patent: July 27, 2004
    Assignee: Aprion Digital Ltd.
    Inventor: Haggai Karlinski
  • Patent number: 6735839
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a multilayer piezoelectric component includes the step of providing a compact and sintered ceramic body including a piezoelectric ceramic material and having opposite first and second sides. First and second external electrodes are respectively provided on the first and second sides of the compact ceramic sintered body. A plurality of internal electrodes are stacked in the ceramic sintered body so as to overlap each other with ceramic layers disposed therebetween in the thickness direction. The internal electrodes are arranged to be electrically connected to the first or second external electrode. A dummy electrode is provided between an end of at least one of the internal electrodes opposite to the end connected to one of the external electrodes, and the other external electrode not connected to the at least one internal electrode at the height where the at least one internal electrode is located.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2004
    Assignee: Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Mitsuru Sube, Yoshiaki Kohno
  • Patent number: 6722025
    Abstract: A method for adjusting an electrical length of a coaxial cable and a plug connector with an adjustable length that facilitates the adjustment of the electrical length of the cable are disclosed. With the method, both ends of the coaxial cable are terminated with a respective coaxial plug connector wherein at least one of the plug connectors has an adjustable length. One of the coaxial plug connectors is connected with a phase measurement device, and the other coaxial plug connector having the adjustable length is electrically shorted with a short-circuit plug. A pressing force is applied in an axial direction between the short-circuit plug and an outer conductor of the coaxial plug connector, until the phase measurement device indicates that the electrical length has reached a predetermined value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2004
    Assignee: Spinner GmbH Elektrotechnische Fabrik
    Inventors: Peter Siegfried Bohmer, Reiner Richter
  • Patent number: 6718605
    Abstract: A high sensitivity, Z-axis, capacitive microaccelerometer having stiff sense/feedback electrodes and a method of its manufacture on a single-side of a semiconductor wafer are provided. The microaccelerometer is manufactured out of a single silicon wafer and has a silicon-wafer-thick proof mass, small and controllable damping, large capacitance variation and can be operated in a force-rebalanced control loop. One of the electrodes moves with the proof mass relative to the other electrode which is fixed. The multiple, stiffened electrodes have embedded therein damping holes to facilitate force-rebalanced operation of the device and to control the damping factor. Using the whole silicon wafer to form the thick large proof mass and using thin sacrificial layers to form narrow uniform capacitor air gaps over large areas provide large-capacitance sensitivity. The manufacturing process is simple and thus results in low cost and high yield manufacturing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 13, 2004
    Assignee: The Regents of the University of Michigan
    Inventors: Navid Yazdi, Khalil Najafi, Arvind Salian
  • Patent number: 6711793
    Abstract: A method to produce a piezoelectric device having one or more piezoelectric thin film layers and two or more electrode layers. The method comprises forming an amorphous electrode layer, forming a least one amorphous piezoelectric thin film layer over the amorphous electrode layer and forming a second electrode layer over at least one piezoelectric thin film layer. Then, the amorphous piezoelectric thin film layers and the amorphous electrode layers are crystallized by hydrothermal synthesis. The hydrothermal synthesis is not performed until all of the amorphous layers are deposited.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2004
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Kouji Sumi
  • Patent number: 6698096
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a piezoelectric film element with increased durability is disclosed. The method of manufacturing the piezoelectric film element includes the steps of thermally treating a first film, and thermally treating a second film formed over the first film; whereby a dislocation layer is formed in the second film in a vicinity of an interface between the first film and the second film. Additionally, an ink-jet recording head including a pressure room substrate, a pressure room, and a piezoelectric film element is disclosed. The method of manufacturing the ink-jet recording head includes the steps of forming a pressure room in a pressure room substrate and manufacturing a piezoelectric film element at a position which makes it possible to press the pressure room.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 2, 2004
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Souichi Moriya, Qiu Hong, Kouji Sumi
  • Patent number: 6681463
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing piezoelectric components involves using a plurality of divided hard masks to form a highly accurate electrode pattern without degradation of electrical characteristics while increasing mask strength. The method is for forming vibration electrodes, terminal electrodes, and lead electrodes for connecting the vibration and terminal electrodes on a piezoelectric substrate and includes the step of preparing a first hard mask having openings corresponding to the vibration electrode and lead electrodes and a second hard mask having openings corresponding to the terminal and lead electrodes. The first and second hard masks are arranged such that the openings of the first and second hard masks are partially overlapped, and the overlapped portion is located at a position that is spaced from the vibration electrode by at least about three times the thickness of the piezoelectric substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2004
    Assignee: Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Nobuyuki Hori
  • Patent number: 6655004
    Abstract: A method of making a composite powder metal disk for a rotor assembly in a surface permanent magnet machine. The method includes filling inner and outer annular regions of a disk-shaped die with soft and hard ferromagnetic powder metals, compacting the powders, and sintering the compacted powders. By this method, a disk is formed that includes permanent magnets on the surface of an inner ring of magnetically conducting powder metal compacted and sintered to a high density. In one embodiment, non-ferromagnetic powder metal is filled into regions of the die such that the permanent magnets are separated by magnetically non-conducting powder metal compacted and sintered to a high density. The method may also include forming a rotor assembly by stacking a plurality of the composite powder metal disks axially along a shaft with their magnetic configurations aligned.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2003
    Assignee: Delphi Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Tom L. Stuart, Frederick B. Reiter, Jr.
  • Patent number: 6651317
    Abstract: A method for producing an electrical ribbon cable wherein at least two bare electrical conductors are arranged in parallel and spaced at a distance from each other between two foils of an insulating material that are firmly joined together while enclosing the conductors and fixing them in position. To save the costly adhesive that is typically used, the two foils are ultrasonically welded to each other and to the conductors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 25, 2003
    Assignee: Nexans
    Inventor: Andreas Pedimonte
  • Patent number: 6643902
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a piezoelectric/electrostrictive device comprises a pair of mutually opposing thin plate sections, a movable section, and a fixation section for supporting the thin plate sections and the movable section. Piezoelectric/electrostrictive elements are arranged on the pair of thin plate sections. A hole is formed by the inner walls of the pair of thin plate sections, an inner wall of the movable section, and an inner wall of the fixation section. A through-hole having a rectangular cross section is formed over a range from a forward end surface of the movable section to the hole to realize a light weight of the movable section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2003
    Assignee: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yukihisa Takeuchi, Tsutomu Nanataki, Koji Kimura
  • Patent number: 6643924
    Abstract: A distributed constant filter capable of being connected to a wiring pattern and the like while simultaneously achieving miniaturization, stable performance and assurance of the reliability and a manufacturing method of the distributed constant filter are provided. In a triplate structure band-pass filter, in place of a high impedance pattern which is, in the prior art, formed on the same face as that of a low impedance pattern in an inner layer, conductor patterns extending in the thickness direction of a stacked substrate are formed. Each of the conductor patterns functions as a via pattern connecting the low impedance pattern in the inner layer and a wiring pattern in the surface layer and also functions as a high impedance line. As long as the filtering characteristic is the same, the line overall length (distance in a plane) of the conductor patterns can be made shorter than the conventional line overall length and the area occupied by the conductor patterns can be reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2003
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Takayuki Hirabayashi
  • Patent number: 6643921
    Abstract: A system for mounting a plurality of circuit components on a circuit substrate, including a substrate supporting device which supports the circuit substrate, a component mounting device which mounts each of the circuit components on the circuit substrate supported by the substrate supporting device, a testing device which tests an actual state in which the each circuit component is mounted on the circuit substrate by the component mounting device, and a control device which controls the component mounting device to mount the each of the circuit components on the circuit substrate and controls the testing device to test, each time one of the circuit components is mounted on the circuit substrate by the component mounting device, an actual state in which the one circuit component is mounted on the circuit substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2003
    Assignee: Fuji Machine Mfg. Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Koichi Asai, Seigo Kodama, Shinsuke Suhara
  • Patent number: 6625883
    Abstract: Disclosed is a bump structure, which has a hollow body, for electrically connecting a first member and a second member. Also disclosed is a method for making a bump structure, which has the steps of: preparing a molding plate with a concave mold to mold a bump-forming member; forming a conductive thin film so as to form a predetermined cavity in the concave mold of the molding plate; preparing a substrate to which the conductive thin film is to be transferred; and transferring the conductive thin film formed on the molding plate to the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2003
    Assignee: NEC Corporation
    Inventors: Koji Soejima, Naoji Senba
  • Patent number: 6606787
    Abstract: A method for producing a coaxial cable structure that involves removing jacket layers in the vicinity of a cut end portion of the coaxial cable structure to expose shielding layers and cutting the shielding layers to a determined length to expose the dielectric layers. The exposed shielding layers are then put between metal ground bars so that the cut ends of the exposed shielding layers are not projected from the metal ground bars. The metal ground bars are then fixed with solder onto the shielding layers and the dielectric layers arranged at determined intervals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2001
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2003
    Assignee: Nissei Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hideo Okumura, Yasushi Tsutsui, Yukinori Tominaga
  • Patent number: 6594899
    Abstract: An inkjet printing device employs an inkjet printhead with a plurality of drop generators to eject drops of ink. Each drop generator includes a planar heater resistor, a protection layer having a first heating surface on the heater resistor and a second heating surface entirely surrounding the first heater surface on the heater resistor, and an ink ejection nozzle. The drop generator vaporizes ink at the first heating surface and ejects a drop of ink of a first mass from the nozzle when a first range of energies is applied to the heater resistor. The drop generator vaporizes ink at the first heating surface and the second heating surface and ejects a drop of ink of a second mass from the nozzle when a second range of energies is applied to the heater resistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2001
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2003
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Robert C. Maze, Todd A. Cleland, Arun K. Agarwal, Mark A. Buonanno
  • Patent number: 6594875
    Abstract: A method for forming a piezoelectric/electrostrictive actuator in which a piezoelectric/electrostrictive file is formed on a vibrating plate or lower electrode by applying a layer of a ceramic paste theron and baking the paste layer at a low temperature in a range below 300° C. to form the film to its final thickness all in one step.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2001
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2003
    Assignee: Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co.
    Inventors: Kwang Kyun Chang, Sang Kyeong Yun, Dong-Hoon Kim
  • Patent number: 6581271
    Abstract: A manufacturing method is provided for manufacturing thin film magnetic heads through the use of a thin-film magnetic head material, the head material including: a plurality of rows of head-to-be sections to be thin-film magnetic heads; an inter-row cutting section provided to be a position at which adjacent ones of the rows are to be separated; and an intra-row cutting section provided to be a position at which adjacent ones of the head-to-be sections in each of the rows are to be separated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 24, 2003
    Assignee: TDK Corporation
    Inventors: Yoshitaka Sasaki, Hiroyuki Itoh
  • Patent number: 6574842
    Abstract: A method for producing an ultrasound transducer having piezoelectric or electrostrictive ceramic elements (11) embedded in plastic, with reduced production costs. The ceramic elements (11) are ceramic rods (20) provided with a plastic jacket (21) of a constant thickness, and the jacketed ceramic rods (20) are organized, while standing upright, in a container (31) that is open on one side and is vibrated. The container (31), with the jacketed ceramic rods (20) is filled with a plastic, such as resin or PU. After hardening, the resulting composite body (12) is removed from the container (31), and its top side and/or underside (121, 122) is ground down until the ceramic rods (20) possess a length stipulated by the necessary transducer frequency. Electrodes contacting all or only groups of the ceramic rods (20) are subsequently mounted to the topside and underside (121, 122) of the composite body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2002
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2003
    Assignee: STN Atlas Elecktronic GmbH
    Inventors: Alex Brenner, Rainer Busch