Author: claimsbot

1. An equivalent material constant calculation system that calculates an equivalent material constant of a structure constituted by a plurality of materials, comprising:
a shape data input portion that inputs shape data that expresses the shape of each material constituting the structure,
a material data input portion that inputs material constant data that expresses a material constant of at least one of the materials constituting the structure,
a dividing portion that divides the structure into a plurality of small regions,
a representative material determining portion that determines a material positioned in a position that is predefined in each of the plurality of the small regions as a material that represents each of the plurality of the small regions,
a material constant selection portion that selects the material constant of the material that represents the respective small regions from the material constant data, and
a combining portion that calculates an equivalent material constant for a region in which a plurality of the small regions that are adjacent are combined with respect to at least one direction, by combining the material constant of the representative material of the plurality of adjacent small regions in at least one direction.
2. The equivalent material constant calculation system of claim 1, further comprising:
a small region interior calculation portion that calculates constituent ratios of the materials included in the small regions based on the shape data, and calculates equivalent material constants in the small regions based on the constituent ratios and the material constant data.
3. The equivalent material constant calculation system according to claim 2, wherein the combining portion obtains the equivalent material constant for a region in which a plurality of the small regions that are adjacent are combined, by deeming the equivalent material constant for each of the plurality of small regions to be a mutually connected resistance, and obtaining a combined resistance.
4. A design system that includes the equivalent material constant calculation system according to claim 2, comprising:
a storage portion that stores design data of the structure including the shape data and the material constant data,
an analysis portion that analyzes and outputs the flow of heat, stress distribution, electromagnetic fields, or hydrokinetics of the structure, by simulation based on the equivalent material constant of the structure calculated by the equivalent material constant calculation system and the design data, and
a design modification portion that modifies the design data of the storage portion based on a command to modify the design data from a designer.
5. The equivalent material constant calculation system according to claim 1, wherein the combining portion obtains the equivalent material constant by deeming the material constant of the material that represents the respective small regions in the plurality of adjacent small regions to be a mutually connected resistance, and obtaining a combined resistance.
6. The equivalent material constant calculation system according to claim 1, wherein the structure is an electronic circuit board, and the dividing portion divides the structure into small regions whose maximum width is not greater than the minimum width of wire formed on the electronic circuit board.
7. A design system that includes the equivalent material constant calculation system according to claim 1, comprising:
a storage portion that stores design data of the structure including the shape data and the material constant data,
an analysis portion that analyzes and outputs the flow of heat, stress distribution, electromagnetic fields, or hydrokinetics of the structure, by simulation based on the equivalent material constant of the structure calculated by the equivalent material constant calculation system and the design data, and
a design modification portion that modifies the design data of the storage portion based on a command to modify the design data from a designer.
8. An equivalent material constant calculation method that calculates an equivalent material constant of a structure constituted by a plurality of materials using a computer, comprising:
a shape data input step in which a shape data input portion provided by the computer inputs shape data that expresses the shape of each material constituting the structure,
a material data input step in which a material data input portion provided by the computer inputs material constant data that expresses a material constant of at least one of the materials constituting the structure,
a dividing step in which a dividing portion provided by the computer divides the structure into a plurality of small regions,
a representative material determining step in which a representative material determining portion provided by the computer determines a material positioned in a position that is predefined in each of the plurality of the small regions as a material that represents respective small regions for each of the plurality of small regions,
a material constant selection step in which a material constant selection portion provided by the computer selects the material constant of the material that represents the respective small regions from the material constant data, and
a combining step in which a combining portion provided by the computer calculates an equivalent material constant for a region in which a plurality of the small regions that are adjacent are combined with respect to at least one direction, by combining the material constant of the representative material of the plurality of adjacent small regions in at least one direction.
9. The equivalent material constant calculation method according to claim 8, further comprising,
a small region interior calculation step in which a small region interior calculation portion provided by the computer calculates a constituent ratio of the materials included in the small region based on the shape data, and calculates an equivalent material constant for the small region based on the constituent ratio and the material constant data.
10. A structure manufacturing method that, using a computer that can access a storage device in which a plurality of design data of a structure constituted by a plurality of materials is stored, manufactures the structure, comprising:
a calculating step in which the computer calculates an equivalent material constant of the structure by the equivalent material constant calculation method according to claim 9,
an analysis step in which an analysis portion provided by the computer analyzes the flow of heat, stress distribution, electromagnetic field, or hydrokinetics of the structure, by simulation based on the equivalent material constant and the design data,
a design data selection step in which a design data selection portion provided by the computer selects design data from among the plurality of design data based on the analysis results obtained by the analysis step for a structure expressed by the plurality of design data stored in the storage device, and
a manufacturing step in which a CAM, connected such that data communications is possible with the computer, manufactures a structure based on the design data selected by the design data selection portion.
11. A structure manufacturing method that, using a computer that can access a storage device in which a plurality of design data of a structure constituted by a plurality of materials is stored, manufactures the structure, comprising:
a calculating step in which the computer calculates an equivalent material constant of the structure by the equivalent material constant calculation method according to claim 8,
an analysis step in which an analysis portion provided by the computer analyzes the flow of heat, stress distribution, electromagnetic field, or hydrokinetics of the structure, by simulation based on the equivalent material constant and the design data,
a design data selection step in which a design data selection portion provided by the computer selects design data from among the plurality of design data based on the analysis results obtained by the analysis step for a structure expressed by the plurality of design data stored in the storage device, and
a manufacturing step in which a CAM, connected such that data communications are possible with the computer, manufactures a structure based on the design data selected by the design data selection portion.
12. A storage medium storing an equivalent material constant calculation program that allows a computer to execute processing that calculates an equivalent material constant of a structure constituted by a plurality of materials, the processing comprising:
shape data input processing that inputs shape data that expresses the shape of each material constituting the structure,
material data input processing that inputs material constant data that expresses a material constant of at least one of the materials constituting the structure,
dividing processing that divides the structure expressed by the shape data into a plurality of small regions,
representative material determining processing that determines a material positioned in a position that is predefined in each of the plurality of the small regions as a material that represents respective small regions for each of the plurality of small regions,
material constant selection processing that selects the material constant of the material that represents the respective small regions from the material constant data, and
combining processing that calculates an equivalent material constant for a region in which a plurality of the small regions that are adjacent are combined with respect to at least one direction, by combining the material constant of the representative material of the plurality of adjacent small regions in at least one direction.
13. The storage medium storing an equivalent material constant calculation program that allows a computer to execute processing that calculates an equivalent material constant of a structure constituted by a plurality of materials according to claim 12, the processing further comprising:
small region interior calculation processing that calculates constituent ratios of the materials included in the small region based on the shape data, and calculates an equivalent material constant for the small region based on the constituent ratio and the material constant data.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. An unevenness inspection system comprising:
an image pickup section configured to acquire a picked-up image of an inspection target;
an image generation section configured to generate a color-unevenness inspection image and a luminance-unevenness inspection image, based on the picked-up image;
a calculation section configured to use both of the color-unevenness inspection image and the luminance-unevenness inspection image to calculate an evaluation parameter; and
an inspection section configured to use the calculated evaluation parameter to perform unevenness inspection, wherein
the image generation section performs image separation processing to separate a color component and a luminance component on the picked-up image, to generate a color-component image and a luminance-component image, and individually performs filter processing taking account of visual spatial frequency characteristics on the color-component image and the luminance-component image to respectively generate the color-unevenness inspection image and the luminance-unevenness inspection image, based on the filter-processed color-component image and the filter-processed luminance-component image, and
the calculation section calculates the evaluation parameter in consideration of unevenness visibility with respect to both of color and luminance.
2. The unevenness inspection system according to claim 1, wherein
the calculation section uses the color-unevenness inspection image to calculate a color-unevenness evaluation parameter and uses the luminance-unevenness inspection image to calculate a luminance-unevenness evaluation parameter, and weights and adds the color-unevenness evaluation parameter and the luminance-unevenness evaluation parameter to calculate an integrated evaluation parameter as the evaluation parameter.
3. The unevenness inspection system according to claim 2, wherein
the integrated evaluation parameter E is represented by following expression (1), and weighting coefficients A and B are determined in consideration of the unevenness visibility,
E=A\xd7Ec+B\xd7El\u2003\u2003(1)
where Ec represents the color-unevenness evaluation parameter, El represents the luminance-unevenness evaluation parameter, and A and B represent the weighting coefficients.
4. The unevenness inspection system according to claim 2, wherein
the inspection section determines that a degree of unevenness in the inspection target is large, based on increase of the integrated evaluation parameter, and determines that the degree of unevenness in the inspection target is small, based on decrease of the integrated evaluation parameter.
5. The unevenness inspection system according to claim 1, wherein
the image generation section performs correction processing taking account of difference of color-unevenness visibility depending on colors, on the filter-processed color-component image, and then generates the color-unevenness inspection image.
6. The unevenness inspection system according to claim 5, wherein
the image generation section calculates chroma after performing the correction processing, in each unit region of the filter-processed color-component image, and uses the calculated chroma to generate the color-unevenness inspection image.
7. The unevenness inspection system according to claim 6, wherein
the image generation section calculates values (a*, b*) in CIELAB color space in each unit region of the filter-processed color-component image, and performs gain correction processing that is represented by following expression (2) as the correction processing, on the calculated value a*, and then calculates chroma C with use of following expression (3),
a*\u2032=(\u03b1\xd7a*) (for a*>0: gain \u03b1>1, f or a*\u22660: gain \u03b1=1)\u2003\u2003(2)
C={(a*\u2032)2+(b*)2}12\u2003\u2003(3)
8. The unevenness inspection system according to claim 2, wherein
as the color-unevenness evaluation parameter, at least a chroma edge area ratio that is an area ratio of a chroma edge region to entire region of the inspection target and a color-unevenness area ratio that is an area ratio of a color-unevenness region to the entire region of the inspection target are used.
9. The unevenness inspection system according to claim 8, wherein
as the color-unevenness evaluation parameter, the chroma edge area ratio, the color-unevenness area ratio, and a maximum chroma in the entire color-unevenness region are used.
10. The unevenness inspection system according to claim 9, wherein
the calculation section uses the color-unevenness inspection image to calculate the chroma edge area ratio, the color-unevenness area ratio, and the maximum chroma, and weights and adds the chroma edge area ratio, the color-unevenness area ratio, and the maximum chroma to calculate the color-unevenness evaluation parameter.
11. The unevenness inspection system according to claim 2, wherein
as the luminance-unevenness evaluation parameter, at least a luminance edge area ratio that is an area ratio of a luminance edge region to entire region of the inspection target and a luminance-unevenness area ratio that is an area ratio of a luminance-unevenness region to the entire region of the inspection target are used.
12. The unevenness inspection system according to claim 11, wherein
as the luminance-unevenness evaluation parameter, the luminance edge area ratio, the luminance-unevenness area ratio, and a maximum luminance difference are used, the maximum luminance difference being a maximum value of an absolute value of a difference between luminance in the entire luminance-unevenness region and average luminance of a white image.
13. The unevenness inspection system according to claim 12, wherein
the calculation section uses the luminance-unevenness inspection image to calculate the luminance edge area ratio, the luminance-unevenness area ratio, and the maximum luminance difference, and weights and adds the luminance edge area ratio, the luminance-unevenness area ratio, and the maximum luminance difference to calculate the luminance-unevenness evaluation parameter.
14. The unevenness inspection system according to claim 1, wherein
one or more of the image generation section, the calculation section, and the inspection section are provided in a single server, and
the image pickup section is provided in each of one or a plurality of image pickup apparatuses that are directly or indirectly connected to the server through network.
15. The unevenness inspection system according to claim 14, wherein
the image pickup apparatus is provided for every plurality of steps in manufacturing the inspection target, and
unevenness inspection by the inspection section is performed individually for every plurality of steps.
16. The unevenness inspection system according to claim 15, further comprising
a management section connected to the network and configured to collectively manage results of the unevenness inspection performed for every plurality of steps.
17. The unevenness inspection system according to claim 14, wherein
the image generation section, the calculation section, and the inspection section are provided in the server, and the image pickup section is provided in each of the one or the plurality of image pickup apparatuses, and
the picked-up image is supplied from the image pickup apparatus to the server through the network, and result data of the unevenness inspection is supplied from the server to the image pickup apparatus through the network.
18. The unevenness inspection system according to claim 1, wherein
the inspection target is a display screen of a display unit performing color picture display.
19. An unevenness inspection method comprising:
a step of acquiring a picked-up image of an inspection target;
a generation step of generating a color-unevenness inspection image and a luminance-unevenness inspection image, based on the picked-up image;
a calculation step of using both of the color-unevenness inspection image and the luminance-unevenness inspection image to calculate an evaluation parameter; and
an inspection step of using the calculated evaluation parameter to perform unevenness inspection, wherein
in the generation step, image separation processing to separate a color component and a luminance component is performed on the picked-up image to generate a color-component image and a luminance-component image, and filter processing taking account of visual spatial frequency characteristics is individually performed on the color-component image and the luminance-component image to respectively generate the color-unevenness inspection image and the luminance-unevenness inspection image, based on the filter-processed color-component image and the filter-processed unevenness-component image, and
in the calculation step, the evaluation parameter is calculated in consideration of unevenness visibility with respect to both of color and luminance.
20. An unevenness inspection program causing a computer to execute:
a step of acquiring a picked-up image of an inspection target;
a generation step of generating a color-unevenness inspection image and a luminance-unevenness inspection image, based on the picked-up image;
a calculation step of using both of the color-unevenness inspection image and the luminance-unevenness inspection image to calculate an evaluation parameter; and
an inspection step of using the calculated evaluation parameter to perform unevenness inspection, wherein
in the generation step, image separation processing to separate a color component and a luminance component is performed on the picked-up image to generate a color-component image and a luminance-component image, and filter processing taking account of visual spatial frequency characteristics is individually performed on the color-component image and the luminance-component image to respectively generate the color-unevenness inspection image and the luminance-unevenness inspection image, based on the filter-processed color-component image and the filter-processed luminance-component image, and
in the calculation step, the evaluation parameter is calculated in consideration of unevenness visibility with respect to both of color and luminance.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. An energy absorbing steering column comprising:
a mast jacket assembly including a lower mast jacket and an upper mast jacket supported on the lower mast jacket for linear translation through a collapse stoke in response to an impact on a steering hand wheel on the mast jacket assembly,
a lower mounting means operable to mount the mast jacket assembly on a support structure for vertical pivotal movement about a lateral pivot axis at the bottom of the lower mast jacket to adjust the vertical position of the steering hand wheel,
a rake bracket including a pair of vertical sides on opposite sides of the upper mast jacket,
a pair of vertical slots in respective ones of the vertical sides of the rake bracket,
a rake bolt supported on the upper mast jacket for up and down pivotal movement as a unit with the mast jacket assembly about the lateral pivot axis traversing the rake bracket through the pair of vertical slots therein so that the ends of the vertical slots define an upper limit position and a lower limit position of vertical pivotal movement of the mast jacket assembly,
a control lever on the rake bolt pivotable between an unlocked position and a locked position,
a clamp means operable in response to pivotal movement of the control lever from the unlocked position to the locked position to rigidly couple the upper mast jacket to the rake bracket thereby to capture the position of the steering hand wheel relative to the support structure,
an upper mounting means operable to support the rake bracket vertically on the support structure and to release the rake bracket for linear translation as a unit with the upper mast jacket through the collapse stroke thereof in response to the impact on the steering hand wheel,
an energy absorber means operable during the collapse stroke of the upper mast jacket to exert on the rake bracket a force resisting linear translation of the upper mast jacket and urging rotation of the rake bracket about a longitudinal centerline of the rake bolt, and
a stabilizer means operable during the collapse stroke of the upper mast jacket to prevent rotation of the rake bracket about the longitudinal centerline of the rake bolt.
2. The energy absorbing steering column recited in claim 1 wherein the second mounting means comprises:
a pair of planar flanges on the rake bracket perpendicular to respective ones of the vertical sides of the rake bracket,
a pair of open slots in respective ones of the planar flanges facing the steering hand wheel, and
a pair of capsules rigidly clamped to the support structure each having a side channel slidably receiving the edge of a respective one of the pair of open slots so that the capsules support the rake bracket vertically on the support structure and release the rake bracket through an open end of each of the pair of open slots for linear translation as a unit with upper mast jacket through the collapse stroke thereof.
3. The energy absorbing steering column recited in claim 2 wherein the energy absorber means comprises:
a convex anvil on each of the pair of planar flanges of the rake bracket,
a pair of serpentine flat metal straps facing respective ones of the convex anvils each having an exposed inboard end, and
an attachment means operable to rigidly attach the inboard end of each of the pair of serpentine metal straps to the support structure so that during the collapse stroke of the rake bracket as a unit with the upper mast jacket each of the pair of convex anvils is thrust against and pulled across the corresponding one of the serpentine metal straps thereby to plastically deform each of the serpentine metal straps and exert on the rake bracket at the planar flanges thereof reaction forces resisting linear translation of the rake bracket as a unit with the upper mast jacket through the collapse stroke thereof and urging rotation of the rake bracket about the longitudinal centerline of the rake bolt.
4. The energy absorbing steering column recited in claim 3 wherein the stabilizer means comprises:
a pair of trunnions rigidly supported on the upper mast jacket on opposite sides thereof parallel to the rake bolt and juxtaposed respective ones of a pair of vertical edges on corresponding ones of the vertical sides of the rake bracket so that rotation of the rake bracket about the longitudinal centerline of the rake bolt during the collapse stroke of the upper mast jacket is blocked by interference between the pair of trunnions and the pair of vertical edges.
5. The energy absorbing steering column recited in claim 4 further comprising:
a cantilever spring on the control lever having a barb thereon resiliently engageable on a first one of the pair of trunnions in the locked position of the control lever to releasably retain the control lever in the locked position thereof.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A method of depositing a film on a substrate, the method comprising:
loading a substrate onto a substrate support in a reaction space, wherein the reaction space includes a blocking member spaced from a periphery of the substrate support, wherein a gap is defined between the blocking member and the periphery of the substrate;
supplying an inert gas inwardly toward the substrate and through the gap between the blocking member and the periphery of the substrate, wherein the inert gas turns outwardly toward an exhaust after passing over the periphery of the substrate; and
conducting one or more deposition cycles, at least one of the cycles comprising: supplying one or more reactant gases substantially vertically while supplying the inert gas.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein supplying the inert gas comprises supplying the inert gas inwardly in all radial directions.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein supplying the inert gas comprises moving the blocking member upward such that the inert gas flows through the gap.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the inert gas does not reach the middle of the substrate.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the blocking member extends less than or equal to about 5 mm inwardly over the periphery of the substrate.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the blocking member extends less than or equal to about 2 mm inwardly over the periphery of the substrate.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein supplying the one or more reactant gases comprises supplying the one or more reactant gases through a showerhead plate while conducting the one or more deposition cycles.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more deposition cycles comprise atomic layer deposition cycles.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the inert gas flows inwardly between a first side of the blocking member and periphery of the substrate and after turning flow is outwardly past a second side of the blocking member opposing the first side of the blocking member.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the blocking member floats when the inert gas is supplied.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the blocking member is integral with the substrate support.
12. A deposition apparatus, comprising:
a reactor wall;
a substrate support positioned under the reactor wall, the substrate support being configured to support a substrate
a blocking member positioned to overlap with a periphery of the substrate support, wherein the blocking member defines one or more openings between the substrate support and blocking member;
a reaction space defined over the substrate support;
one or more gas conduits configured to supply inert gas inwardly toward the substrate through the one or more openings around the periphery of the substrate support, wherein the inert gas is supplied between the periphery of the substrate and the blocking member; and
an exhaust outlet positioned such that the inert gas turns outwardly toward the exhaust outlet after passing the periphery of the substrate.
13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the blocking member is vertically movable.
14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the blocking member is formed integrally with the reactor wall.
15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the inert gas flows inwardly between a first side of the blocking member and periphery of the substrate and after turning flow is outwardly past a second side of the blocking member opposing the first side of the blocking member.
16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the one or more gas conduits include one or more peripheral openings that open to the periphery of the reaction space, the one or more peripheral openings together substantially surrounding all sides of the reaction space.
17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the blocking member is configured to be moved up by the inert gas, and to be moved down when the inert gas is not supplied.
18. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the reactor wall comprises an inner wall and an outer wall surrounding the inner wall, and wherein the inner wall and the outer wall have a gap therebetween, the gap forming a portion of the one or more gas conduits.
19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the blocking member comprises a portion positioned under the inner wall, and wherein the portion of the blocking member is configured to contact a bottom surface of the inner wall when the blocking member is moved up, and to be spaced apart from the bottom surface of the inner wall when the blocking member is moved down.
20. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the blocking member comprises a portion positioned over the substrate, and wherein the portion of the blocking member is spaced apart from the substrate when the blocking member is moved up such that the one or more conduits are open to the periphery of the reaction space.
21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the blocking member is configured to contact the substrate when the inert gas is not supplied.
22. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising a blocking member rim laterally surrounding the blocking member, the blocking member rim being interposed between a bottom surface of the reactor wall and a top surface of the substrate support.
23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the blocking member rim is configured to contact the bottom surface of the reactor wall and the top surface of the substrate support.
24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the blocking member rim has a first height, and wherein the blocking member has a second height, the second height being smaller than the first height.
25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the second height is smaller than the first height by about 0.1 mm to about 5 mm.
26. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the blocking member is vertically movable between a first vertical level and a second vertical level, a distance between the first and second vertical levels being about 0.1 mm to about 5 mm.
27. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the blocking member is configured to be spaced apart from the substrate support by about 0.1 mm to about 5 mm when moved vertically away from the substrate support.
28. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a showerhead plate positioned above the substrate support, the showerhead plate defining the reaction space together with the substrate support.
29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the exhaust outlet opens to the reaction space above the one or more peripheral openings, wherein the blocking member and the showerhead plate together define a portion of the exhaust outlet
30. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the inert gas has a flow rate of about 10 sccm to about 3,000 sccm.