All The Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) apparatus comprising:
a polishing pad having a polishing surface; and
a deformable pad attached to the polishing pad, the deformable pad comprising a plurality of laterally isolation solid supports, wherein the solid supports are devoid of entrapped cells of gas or liquid.
2. The CMP apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a substrate carrier, a polishing table, a first mechanical drive assembly for placing the polishing table in motion, and a second mechanical drive assembly for placing the substrate carrier in motion.
3. The CMP apparatus of claim 1, wherein the deformable pad further comprises a ventral layer attached to the bottom surface of each of the plurality of solid supports.
4. The CMP apparatus of claim 3, further comprising a dorsal layer attached to the top surface of each of the plurality of solid supports.
5. The CMP apparatus of claim 1, wherein the deformable pad further comprises a dorsal layer attached to the top surface of each of the plurality of solid supports.
6. The CMP apparatus of claim 1, further comprising at least one of a ventral layer and a dorsal layer integrally formed with the plurality of solid supports.
7. The CMP apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of solid supports comprises a first plurality of solid supports having a first shape and a second plurality of solid supports having a second shape.
8. The CMP apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of solid supports comprises a first plurality of solid supports having a first size and a second plurality of solid supports having a second size.
9. The CMP apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of solid supports comprises one or more elastically deformable materials.
10. The CMP apparatus of claim 9, wherein at least one solid support of the plurality of solid supports comprises one or more materials of varying density.
11. The CMP apparatus of claim 9, wherein at least one solid support of the plurality of solid supports comprises a plurality of materials, each material of the plurality of materials having a different elasticity.
12. The CMP apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one solid support of the plurality of solid supports has a cross-section that varies in size in a direction normal to the polishing pad.
13. The CMP apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of solid supports are laterally spaced from each other at varying distances.
14. A method for chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) comprising:
providing a CMP apparatus selected from a group consisting of a linear polishing apparatus and a polishing apparatus having a rotatable polishing table;
providing a deformable pad comprising a plurality of laterally isolated solid supports, wherein the solid supports are devoid of entrapped cells of gas or liquid;
providing a polishing pad attached to the deformable pad;
providing a semiconductor substrate having a surface to be polished; and
contacting the surface to be polished to the polishing pad.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein providing the deformable pad comprising the plurality of solid supports comprises providing a deformable pad comprising a plurality of solid supports attached to a ventral layer.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein providing the deformable pad comprising the plurality of solid supports attached to the ventral layer comprises providing a deformable pad including a plurality of solid supports attached to ventral and dorsal layers.
17. The method of claim 14, wherein providing the deformable pad comprising the plurality of solid supports comprises providing a deformable pad comprising a plurality of solid supports attached to a dorsal layer.
18. The method of claim 14, further comprising:
integrally forming the plurality of solid supports with at least one of a ventral layer and a dorsal layer.
19. The method of claim 14, further comprising:
forming the plurality of solid supports with a first plurality of solid supports having a first shape and a second plurality of solid supports having a second shape.
20. The method of claim 14, further comprising:
forming the plurality of solid supports with a first plurality of solid supports having a first size and a second plurality of solid supports having a second size.
21. The method of claim 14, further comprising:
forming the plurality of solid supports with one or more elastically deformable materials.
22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:
forming at least one solid support of the plurality of solid supports with one or more materials of varying density.
23. The method of claim 21, further comprising:
forming at least one solid support of the plurality of solid supports with a plurality of materials, each material of the plurality of materials having a different elasticity.
24. The method of claim 14, further comprising:
forming at least one solid support of the plurality of solid supports with a cross-section that varies in size in a direction normal to the polishing pad.
25. The method of claim 14, further comprising:
laterally spacing the plurality of solid supports from each other at varying distances.

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 gripper for gripping and conveying of flat objects, in particular of printed products such as newspapers, magazines or brochures, or of small groups thereof, said gripper comprising:
a gripper body,
a first clamping tongue comprising clamping jaws at its distal end,
a second clamping tongue comprising clamping jaws at its distal end and being pivotable relative to the first clamping tongue about a pivot axis, and
a means for producing a clamping force,

wherein the gripper may be brought into an open and into a closed configuration by way of pivoting the first and second clamping tongues with respect to one another, wherein the clamping jaws of the two clamping tongues bear on one another or on a clamped object in the closed configuration, and are pressed against one another by the clamping force,
further comprising: two laterally extending arms arranged at least one of the two clamping tongues at its distal end, wherein the arms are resilient in a direction parallel to the clamping force, and
a clamping jaw with a contact surface provided on each of the arms, in a manner such that a clamped object is clamped in two clamping regions which are distanced from one another.
2. A gripper according to claim 1, wherein both clamping tongues at their distal ends comprise laterally arranged resilient arms with, in each case, a clamping jaw.
3. A gripper according to claim 1, wherein the contact surfaces of the clamping jaws may be adapted to the opposite clamping jaw or to a clamped object, by way of the clamping force.
4. A gripper according to claim 3, wherein the contact surfaces of the clamping jaws are mounted on the arm via a ball joint.
5. A gripper according to claim 3, wherein the contact surfaces of the clamping jaws are mounted on the arms via an elastically deformable hollow profile, via an elastically deformable material or via a fluid.
6. A gripper according to claim 1, wherein the contact surfaces of the clamping jaws are treated in a manner such that they act in an ink-repelling manner.
7. A gripper according to claim 1, wherein the contact surfaces of the clamping jaws, at least of the one clamping tongue, lie in a plane aligned radially to the pivot axis.
8. A gripper according to claim 7, wherein the contact surfaces of the clamping jaws of the first clamping tongue lie in a plane aligned radially to the pivot axis and that the contact surfaces of the clamping jaws of the second clamping tongue form an angle with a plane aligned radially to the pivot axis, in a manner such that the contact surfaces of the clamping jaws of the two clamping tongues are aligned parallel to one another when an object of an average thickness is clamped between the clamping jaws.
9. A gripper according to claim 1, wherein the clamping jaws comprise a tubular carrier and are mounted onto the arms from the side.
10. A gripper according to claim 1, further comprising a locking means which is designed for locking the clamping tongues in the closed configuration.
11. A gripper according to claim 1, wherein the first clamping tongue is pivotable relative to the gripper body, in a manner such that the two clamping tongues are freely pivotable relative to the gripper body, at least in the closed configuration.
12. A gripper according to claim 10, wherein the second clamping tongue is fastened via a spiral spring on a shaft which is rotatably mounted in the first clamping tongue, wherein the spiral spring winds around the shaft.
13. A gripper according to claim 12, wherein the locking means engage on the first clamping tongue and on the shaft of the second clamping tongue.
14. A gripper according to claim 1, wherein an expander spring is provided, by way of which the two clamping tongues are held in the open configuration.
15. A gripper according to claim 1, wherein a gripper jaw depth makes up about 75% of the distance between the clamping jaws and the pivot axis.
16. A gripper according to claim 12, wherein the second clamping tongue is formed by a part of the spiral spring and that the arms are part of an attachment which is mounted onto the spiral spring in the distal region.
17. A gripper according to claim 16, wherein the attachment is made of a plastic material, and the spiral spring is made of spring steel.

1. An interchangeably manual or automatic ratchet wrench tool comprising: a handle including a chamber defined in the head end thereof and having an internal gear provided therearound, and including a longitudinal channel arranged therethrough and communicating with said chamber;
a cartridge received in said chamber of said handle and including an actuation bar attached to the bottom thereof, and including two lateral cavities and a longitudinally large-diametered bore all fixed thereon;
two pawls received in said two lateral cavities of said cartridge and biased against by springs respectively, and including a plurality of teeth affixed thereon for engagement with said internal gear of said handle, and including arcuate slots secured therein individually;
a direction controlling member received in said chamber of said handle and including a rotary stem extended from the bottom thereof and fitted in said large-diametered bore, at the predetermined positions of said direction controlling member where are in response to said arcuate slots of said pawls and adjacent to said rotary stem being extendedly mounted two pins respectively, which may be inserted into said arcuate slots, besides, said direction controlling member further including a peripheral gear disposed around the bottom thereof;
a stud member and a shank member both fitted through and in said longitudinal channel of said handle, a first end of said stud member having an engaging block and a second end thereof extending out of said longitudinal channel of said handle, a first end of said shank member having a pinion for engagement with said peripheral gear of said direction controlling member and a second end portion thereof engaging said engagement block of said stud member;
further comprising a selector mechanism for couplingly driving said shank member by said stud member, said selector mechanism including a fitting cylinder having an arresting rim fixed on the bottom thereof for receiving a spring and said stud member within said fitting cylinder, a peripheral groove formed around said stud member, a confining peg fastened into said fitting cylinder; and a locking pillar fixed to said second end portion of said shank member;
wherein said stud member is limitedly moveable outward and inward in said fitting cylinder, such that said engaging block of said stud member may clutch with said locking pillar of said shank member.
2. The interchangeably manual or automatic ratchet wrench tool as claimed in claim 1, wherein said selector mechanism further comprises an aperture formed on said handle, a mounting block fitted onto said handle and including a fastening orifice in response to said aperture affixed thereon, by screwing a bolt with a threaded opening of said fitting cylinder, said fitting cylinder may be pushed along said aperture to move forward and backward so as to urge said engaging block of said stud member to clutch with said locking pillar of said shank member.
3. The interchangeably manual or automatic ratchet wrench tool as claimed in claim 1 further comprising an electric hand grip having a motor placed therein coupled to the rear end of said handle, and said stud member fittingly joined to an output spindle of said motor so as to obtain an electric operation.
4. The interchangeably manual or automatic ratchet wrench tool as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a hand grip, having an adaptor element coupled thereto, fittingly connected to said stud member of said handle, so as to obtain a manual operation.

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 sorting apparatus for executing a sorting process of deliveries with addresses, comprising:
a storage unit which stores at least one of i) a seal description information database which registers description information of a seal indicating foreign mail in a predetermined country, ii) an address format database which registers a plurality of types of address formats associated with an arrangement of individual elements that form a description of an address in correspondence with country groups, iii) an address word database which registers specific words used to describe addresses of respective countries in native languages in correspondence with countries, iv) a delivery area code format information database which registers information indicating description formats of delivery area codes of respective countries in correspondence with countries, and v) a country name identification word database which registers country name identification words used to identify respective countries in correspondence with countries;
a reading unit which reads information on a sheet attached to the postal matter;
a recognition unit which recognizes an address region on the sheet from the information read by the reading unit;
a detection unit which executes at least one of i) detection of the seal description information, ii) detection of an address format associated with an arrangement of individual elements which forms an address description, iii) detection of a specific word included in an address, iv) detection of a description format of a delivery area code, and v) detection of a country name identification word, from the information of the address region recognized by the recognition unit;
a collation unit which executes at least one of i) collation of the seal description information detected by the detection unit with reference to the seal description information database in the storage unit, ii) collation of the address format detected by the detection unit with reference to the address format database in the storage unit, iii) collation of the word detected by the detection unit with reference to the address word database in the storage unit, iv) collation of the description format of the delivery area code detected by the detection unit with reference to the delivery area code format information database in the storage unit, and v) collation of the country name identification word detected by the detection unit with reference to the country name identification word database in the storage unit; and
a first determination unit which determines, on the basis of respective collation results of the collation unit, whether or not the delivery is foreign mail.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:
a second determination unit which determines a country name as a destination of the delivery on the basis of the respective collation results of the collation unit, when the first determination unit determines that the delivery is foreign mail.
3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the address word database registers words indicating areas or thoroughfares in respective countries in correspondence with countries.
4. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein:
the collation unit executes not less than two collations, and
the second determination unit acquires respective collation results of the collation unit as scores for each country, and determines that a country with a highest total of scores is a destination of the delivery.
5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the second determination unit multiplies the scores of the collation results of the collation unit by different weighting coefficients, and then calculates a total of the scores for each country.
6. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein:
various words used to describe addresses in respective countries are registered in the address word database in descending order of frequency of use, and
the second determination unit assigns higher scores to words with higher frequencies of use, and then calculates a total of the scores for each country.
7. An address information determination method, which is applied to a sorting apparatus for executing a sorting process of deliveries with addresses, comprising:
saving, in one storage medium, at least one of i) a seal description information database which registers description information of a seal indicating foreign mail in a predetermined country, ii) an address format database which registers a plurality of types of address formats associated with an arrangement of individual elements that form a description of an address in correspondence with country groups, iii) an address word database which registers specific words used to describe addresses of respectively countries in native languages in correspondence with countries, iv) a delivery area code format information database which registers information indicating description formats of delivery area codes of respective countries in correspondence with countries, and v) a country name identification word database which registers country name identification words used to identify respective countries in correspondence with countries;
reading information on a sheet attached to the postal matter;
recognizing an address region on the sheet from the read information;
executing at least one of i) detection of the seal description information, ii) detection of an address format associated with an arrangement of individual elements which forms an address description, iii) detection of a specific word included in an address, iv) detection of a description format of a delivery area code, and v) detection of a country name identification word, from the recognized information of the address region;
executing at least one of i) collation of the seal description information detected by the detection with reference to the seal description information database in the storage medium, ii) collation of the address format detected by the detection with reference to the address format database in the storage medium, iii) collation of the word detected by the detection with reference to the address word database in the storage medium, iv) collation of the description format of the delivery area code detected by the detection with reference to the delivery area code format information database in the storage medium, and v) collation of the country name identification word detected by the detection with reference to the country name identification word database in the storage medium; and
making first determination as to whether or not the delivery is foreign mail on the basis of respective collation results in the collation.
8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising:
making second determination of a country name as a destination of the delivery on the basis of the respective collation results in the collation, when it is determined in the first determination that the delivery is foreign mail.
9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the address word database registers words indicating areas or thoroughfares in respective countries in correspondence with countries.
10. The method according to claim 8, wherein:
the collation comprises executing not less than two collations, and
the second determination comprises acquiring respective collation results in the collation as scores for each country, and determining that a country with a highest total of scores is a destination of the delivery.
11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the scores of the collation are multiplied by different weighting coefficients, and a total of the scores are then calculated for each country.
12. The method according to claim 10, wherein:
various words used to describe addresses in respective countries are registered in the address word database in descending order of frequency of use, and
the second determination comprises assigning higher scores to words with higher frequencies of use, and then calculating a total of the scores for each country.