Author: claimsbot

1. A method for evaluating copper film quality comprising:
forming a cooper film on a substrate;
measuring hardness of said copper film;
annealing said copper film to produce an annealed copper film;
further measuring annealed hardness of said annealed copper film; and
evaluating conductivity of said annealed copper film based on said annealed hardness.
2. The method as in claim 1, further comprising evaluating effectiveness of said annealing by comparing a measured hardness of said copper film to a measured annealed hardness of said annealed copper film.
3. The method as in claim 2, wherein said evaluating further comprises estimating a change in average grain size of said copper film during said annealing.
4. The method as in claim 2, further comprising providing feedback to at least one of said annealing and a formation process used to form said copper film, based on at least one of said evaluating conductivity and said evaluating effectiveness.
5. The method as in claim 4, in which said providing feedback includes re-annealing said copper film.
6. The method as in claim 2, wherein at least one of said evaluating conductivity and said evaluating effectiveness further comprises establishing a correlation between copper film hardness and conductivity.
7. The method as in claim 2, wherein at least one of said evaluating conductivity and said evaluating effectiveness further comprises establishing a correlation between copper film hardness and grain size.
8. The method as in claim 1, wherein at least one of said measuring and said further measuring comprises using a probe that penetrates said copper film.
9. The method as in claim 1, wherein said annealing takes place at a temperature within the range of 150-250\xb0 C. and is carried out for 30-120 seconds.
10. The method as in claim 1, wherein said evaluating conductivity includes determining conductivity of said annealed copper film based on said annealed hardness and a thickness of said annealed copper film.
11. The method as in claim 1, wherein at least one of said measuring and said further measuring comprises measuring at least one of micro-hardness and nano-hardness.
12. The method as in claim 1, wherein at least one of said measuring and said further measuring comprises at least one of a Knoop hardness measurement and a Rockwell hardness measurement.
13. The method as in claim 1, wherein said measuring and said further measuring comprise measuring at a plurality of locations on said substrate.
14. The method as in claim 1, wherein said forming a copper film comprises depositing said copper film on a semiconductor substrate and further comprising using said annealed copper film as an interconnect in an active integrated circuit.
15. The method as in claim 1, further comprising patterning said copper film using damascene patterning methods including chemical mechanical polishing, prior to said measuring.
16. A method for evaluating copper film quality comprising:
forming a copper film on a semiconductor substrate;
measuring film hardness of said copper film; and
evaluating conductivity of said copper film based on said measuring.
17. The method as in claim 16, further comprising:
annealing said copper film after said measuring to produce an annealed copper film;
measuring an annealed film hardness;
evaluating conductivity of said annealed copper film based on measured annealed film hardness; and
evaluating anneal effectiveness by comparing said measured annealed film hardness to said measured film hardness.
18. The method as in claim 16, wherein said evaluating conductivity of said copper film is further based on a thickness of said copper film.
19. The method as in claim 17, wherein at least one of said measuring film hardness and said measuring an annealed film hardness comprise measuring with a nano-hardness tester.
20. The method as in claim 16, wherein said evaluating further comprises establishing a correlation between copper film hardness, grain size and conductivity, as a function of said thickness.
21. The method as in claim 1, wherein said copper film is not cold rolled.
22. The method as in claim 1, wherein said forming comprises one of sputtering, evaporation, and electroplating.
23. The method as in claim 1, wherein said forming a copper film comprises forming a copper film to a thickness within the range of 1000 to 2500 angstroms.

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 hip hemiarthroplasty device for complete replacement of a femoral head in a subject or replacement of an articular surface of the femoral head of the subject, comprising:
a femoral component having a distal end and a proximal end, the distal end inserted and anchored in a reamed femoral canal in the subject, said femoral component expandable to fill the spatial confines of said reamed femoral canal;
a femoral head component with a smooth surface attached to the proximal end of the femoral component, the femoral head component containing a deflated balloon; and
the hip hemiarthroplasty device having a deflated position and an inflated position, wherein
the deflated position occurs when the hip hemiarthroplasty device is collapsed into a compact position suitable for insertion into the reamed femoral canal, and
the inflated position occurs when the deflated balloon has been inflated with a molding within the subject to expand within a reamed femoral neck and to form an inflated balloon that resembles the femoral head of the subject, such that the inflated balloon can completely replace the femoral head of the subject.
2. The hip hemiarthroplasty device of claim 1, further comprising an external sleeve attached to a flexible rod to guide the femoral component within the reamed femoral canal of the subject, wherein the external sleeve is disposed adjacent to the femoral component.
3. The hip hemiarthroplasty device of claim 1, further comprising
an insertion sleeve surrounding the deflated balloon;
a guiding string attached to the insertion sleeve, wherein a force is applied to the guiding string to guide the femoral head component within an acetabulum of the subject.
4. The hip hemiarthroplasty device of claim 1, further comprising a trajectory guidance tube adjacent to the hip hemiarthroplasty device to guide the femoral component down the reamed femoral canal.
5. The hip hemiarthroplasty device of claim 1, wherein the femoral component and the femoral head component further include radioopaque markers to indicate positioning within the subject.
6. The hip hemiarthroplasty device of claim 1, wherein the external sleeve is collapsible to allow complete inflation of the femoral component with the molding.
7. The hip hemiarthroplasty device of claim 1, wherein the compact position is the hip hemiarthroplasty device rolled lengthwise into a slimmer form.

1. An aeration system, comprising:
a housing;
a fluid inlet disposed at a first end of the housing;
an outlet disposed at a second end of the housing;
a cylindrical support member rotatably mounted within the housing between the inlet and the outlet, and supported therein by a plurality of bearings, the support member having an interior surface enclosing an interior cavity, the interior cavity being in communication with the fluid inlet and the outlet;
at least one vane disposed on the interior surface of the support member and extending from the interior surface towards the rotational axis of the support member, the at least one vane including an inner edge positioned such that a gap is defined between the inner edge of the at least one vane and the rotational axis of the support member;
at least one gas inlet in communication with the interior cavity of the support member; and
a motive device for rotating the support member within the housing; and
a jacket surrounding the housing and positioned so as to define a gap between the jacket and housing, the jacket including an inlet aperture positioned proximate the fluid inlet and an outlet aperture positioned proximate the outlet;
the jacket being adapted to direct a portion of an aerated fluid stream exiting the outlet and redirect the portion of the aerated fluid stream towards the fluid inlet.
2. The aeration system of claim 1, wherein the inner edge of the at least one vane is serrated.
3. The aeration system of claim 1, wherein the fluid inlet functions as the at least one gas inlet.
4. The aeration system of claim 1, wherein the at least one gas inlet includes a manifold.
5. The aeration system of claim 1, further comprising:
a supplementary gas inlet; and
a cavity defined in the housing; the cavity being in communication with the supplementary gas inlet and the interior cavity of the support member.
6. The aeration system of claim 1, further comprising a fluid directing structure coupled to the second end of the housing and in communication with the outlet.
7. The aeration system of claim 5, further comprising a plurality of plates disposed within a fluid directing structure.
8. The aeration system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of fins coupled to the first end of the housing proximate the inlet.
9. The aeration system of claim 8, further comprising a clearance between an edge of the at least one vane and an edge of a fin.
10. An aeration system, comprising:
a cylindrical support member rotatably mounted within a housing, and supported therein by a plurality of bearings, the support member having an interior surface enclosing an interior cavity, the interior cavity being in communication with a fluid inlet disposed at a first end of the housing and an outlet disposed at a second end of the housing;
a plurality of vanes disposed on the interior surface of the support member and extending from the interior surface towards the rotational axis of the support member, each vane including an inner edge;
a bore defined by the inner edges of the plurality of vanes, the bore extending longitudinally through the support member and disposed concentrically with the rotational axis of the support member; and
a motive device for rotating the support member within the housing; and
a jacket surrounding the housing and positioned so as to define a gap between the jacket and housing, the jacket including an inlet aperture positioned proximate the fluid inlet and an outlet aperture positioned proximate the outlet;
the jacket being adapted to direct a portion of an aerated fluid stream exiting the outlet and redirect the portion of the aerated fluid stream towards the fluid inlet.
11. The aeration system of claim 10, wherein the inner edge of the at least one vane is serrated.
12. The aeration system of claim 10, wherein the fluid inlet functions as at least one gas inlet.
13. The aeration system of claim 10, wherein at least one gas inlet includes a manifold.
14. The aeration system of claim 10, further comprising:
a supplementary gas inlet; and
a cavity defined in the housing; the cavity being in communication with the supplementary gas inlet and the interior cavity of the support member.
15. The aeration system of claim 10, further comprising a fluid directing structure coupled to the second end of the housing and in communication with the outlet.
16. The aeration system of claim 15, further comprising a plurality of plates disposed within the fluid directing structure.
17. The aeration system of claim 10, further comprising a plurality of fins coupled to the first end of the housing proximate the inlet.
18. The aeration system of claim 17, further comprising a clearance between an edge of the at least one vane and an edge of a fin.

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 printer that can drive a cash drawer connected thereto, comprising:
a drive circuit unit that supplies power for driving an actuator in order to open the cash drawer tray;
a resistance detection unit that detects the resistance of the actuator; and
a drive switching unit that switches to connect the drive circuit unit or connect the resistance detection unit to the actuator.
2. The printer described in claim 1, further comprising:
an error notification unit that prohibits actuator drive from the drive circuit unit and reports an error when the actuator resistance detected by the resistance detection unit is other than a specified value.
3. The printer described in claim 1, wherein:
the drive switching unit is switched so that the resistance detection unit is connected to the actuator and detects the resistance of the actuator when the cash drawer is connected.
4. The printer described in claim 1, wherein:
the drive switching unit is switched so that the resistance detection unit is connected to the actuator and detects the resistance of the actuator when the power turns on, a self-diagnostic test executes, or before driving the cash drawer.
5. The printer described in claim 1, wherein:
the printer can be connected to a host computer; and
receives a command that is sent from the host computer and instructs detecting the actuator resistance, switches the drive switching unit to connect the resistance detection unit to the actuator, and detects the actuator resistance.
6. A control method for a cash drawer drive device that can drive a cash drawer and has a drive circuit unit that supplies power to an actuator that openscloses the cash drawer, a resistance detection unit that detects the resistance of the actuator, a drive switching unit that switches to connect the drive circuit unit or connect the resistance detection unit to the actuator, and an error notification unit, the control method comprising steps of:
switching the drive switching unit to the resistance detection unit side;
pre-energizing the cash drawer and detecting the actuator resistance; and
comparing the detected actuator resistance with a specified value, and
prohibiting actuator drive from the drive circuit unit when the detected actuator resistance is other than a specified value.
7. A control method described in claim 6, wherein:
supplying power to drive the actuator when the detector actuator resistance is a value within the specified value.
8. A control program for a cash drawer drive device that causes the printer control unit to execute the steps of the cash drawer drive device control method described in claim 6.
9. A cash drawer drive device that can drive a cash drawer connected thereto, comprising:
a drive circuit unit that supplies drive current for driving an actuator to openclose the cash drawer;
a resistance detection unit that detects the resistance of the actuator; and
a drive switching unit that switches to connect the drive circuit unit or connect the resistance detection unit to the actuator.
10. The cash drawer drive device described in claim 9, further comprising:
an error notification unit that prohibits actuator drive from the drive circuit unit and reports an error when the actuator resistance detected by the resistance detection unit is other than a specified value.
11. The cash drawer drive device described in claim 9, wherein:
the drive switching unit is switched so that the resistance detection unit is connected to the actuator and detects the resistance of the actuator when the cash drawer is connected.
12. The cash drawer drive device described in claim 9, wherein:
the drive switching unit is switched so that the resistance detection unit is connected to the actuator and detects the resistance of the actuator when the power turns on, a self-diagnostic test executes, or before driving the cash drawer.
13. The cash drawer drive device described in claim 9, wherein:
the cash drawer drive device can be connected to a host computer; and
receives a command that is sent from the host computer and instructs detecting the actuator resistance, switches the drive switching unit to connect the resistance detection unit to the actuator, and detects the actuator resistance.