Abstract:
A pair of pants with an adjustable waist including an elastic band extending lengthwise around the interior of the waistband. The elastic band includes notches positioned along its length, and an engaging means (for example, a button), which is attached to the waistband near each end of the elastic band. The engaging means affixes to the elastic band through different notches to adjust the size of the waist in the pants. The pants also have a unique cut, including a shortened transverse distance from the button to the crotch in the front of the pants, and an elongated transverse distance from the crotch to the waistband in the back of the pants.
Abstract:
A production capability system for automatically determining production capability quantities. The system includes a candidate generation process for generating possible production capability candidates and a quantity optimization module for calculating an optimal quantity availability for production capability candidate. The system also includes a calculation module for assigning quantities to all of the production capability candidates and means for generating a production report wherein production capability candidates and the optimal quantity are combined to generate a production capability availability which is stored in a specification for use by an external sales system. The candidate generation process and the quantity optimization module accept input data from a master database including priorities associated with different products and weights for different performance measures.
Abstract:
An apparatus for supporting lead fingers during a wire bonding process and method of preventing the bonding apparatus and clamping assembly from applying force against the die. The present invention includes the use of a movable arm with a portion that is positionable under a portion of the lead fingers of a lead frame during the wire bonding process to provide increased stability of the lead fingers and prevent the bonding apparatus and clamping assembly from applying force against the die. The present invention also provides for the transfer of heat from the heat block directly to the lead fingers during the wire bonding process. The present invention includes the use of a clamp for stabilizing lead fingers during the wire bonding process.
Abstract:
A method of attaching solder balls to a BGA package using a ball pickup tool is disclosed. An array of solder balls is formed on a first substrate for interconnecting with conductive sites on another substrate. The ball pickup tool picks up balls with a vacuum suction from a fluidized ball reservoir and utilizes a puff of gas to release the solder ball(s) carried thereon to conductive sites of a substrate for bonding thereto. In another embodiment, the bond pads of a substrate are coated with a flux or adhesive and lowered into a fluidized ball reservoir for direct attachment of solder balls.
Abstract:
Apparatus and methods for placing conductive spheres on prefluxed bond pads of a substrate using a stencil plate with a pattern of through-holes positioned over the bond pads. Conductive spheres are placed in the through-holes by a moving feed mechanism and the spheres drop through the through-holes onto the bond pads. In one embodiment, the feed mechanism is a sphere hopper which crosses the entire through-hole pattern. In another embodiment, a shuttle plate fed spheres from a reservoir and reversibly moves about one-half of the pitch, moving from a non-discharge position to a discharge position.
Abstract:
A method for increasing integrated circuit density comprising stacking an upper wafer and a lower wafer, each of which have fabricated circuitry in specific areas on their respective face surfaces. The upper wafer is attached back-to-back with the lower wafer with a layer of adhesive applied over the back side of the lower wafer. The wafers are aligned so as to bring complimentary circuitry on each of the wafers into perpendicular alignment. The adhered wafer pair is then itself attached to an adhesive film to immobilize the wafer during dicing. The adhered wafer pair may be diced into individual die pairs or wafer portions containing more than one die pair.
Abstract:
A method and system for forming contacts on semiconductor components, such as wafers, dice and packages, are provided. The method employs magnets to align and hold ferromagnetic balls on bonding sites of a component substrate. The system includes a holder for holding the component substrate, and magnets on the holder aligned with bonding sites on the component. The system also includes a ball placement mechanism for placing the ferromagnetic balls on the bonding sites, and a bonding mechanism, such as an oven, or a focused energy source, for bonding the ferromagnetic balls to the bonding sites. The ferromagnetic balls can be provided as a ferromagnetic core having an outer solder layer, as a solid ferromagnetic material with a conductive adhesive outer layer, or as ferromagnetic particles embedded in a bondable matrix material. An alternate embodiment system includes a focused magnetic source for dynamically aligning the ferromagnetic balls to the bonding sites.
Abstract:
A method and apparatus for aggregating terminals into clusters that assists in the construction of a distributed data communication network. Terminal locations to be clustered are used as input along with a weight for each one representing the traffic carried by that location. The terminals are placed into boxes based on their geographic coordinates and only boxes with substantial traffic are retained. Any terminals included in a box not retained are assigned to the closest retained box. The retained boxes are merged into clusters so long as the maximum cluster traffic and maximum cluster radius are not exceeded. The center of mass of the resulting clusters are then determined. The representative locations of the resulting clusters are determined as the location of the terminal in the cluster closest to the center of mass.
Abstract:
A method for constructing and utilizing a distributed data communication network that will meet its performance specifications in the most economical and efficient manner. The steps of the method include clustering terminals based on their proximity and traffic; selecting backbone node sites based on cost; designing the access network composed of terminals, concentrators, backbone nodes and the links between them; generating a backbone link topology; and determining routes in the backbone given the backbone topology and a traffic matrix.
Abstract:
A method for selecting the most cost-efficient configuration for backbone links in a distributed data network is disclosed. The method identifies candidate links between pairs of backbone nodes, evaluates the effect on the network of adding each candidate link to the network, and adds to the network those candidate links which produce a cost savings in the network. The method also routes data through the backbone to minimize transmission delays, and eliminates redundant lines from underutilized links, and removes from the network those links whose removal reduces the cost of the backbone.