1267 results about "Superstructure" patented technology

Contact structures exhibiting resilience or compliance for a variety of electronic components are formed by bonding a free end of a wire to a substrate, configuring the wire into a wire stem having a springable shape, severing the wire stem, and overcoating the wire stem with at least one layer of a material chosen primarily for its structural (resiliency, compliance) characteristics. A variety of techniques for configuring, severing, and overcoating the wire stem are disclosed. In an exemplary embodiment, a free end of a wire stem is bonded to a contact area on a substrate, the wire stem is configured to have a springable shape, the wire stem is severed to be free-standing by an electrical discharge, and the free-standing wire stem is overcoated by plating. A variety of materials for the wire stem (which serves as a falsework) and for the overcoat (which serves as a superstructure over the falsework) are disclosed. Various techniques are described for mounting the contact structures to a variety of electronic components (e.g., semiconductor wafers and dies, semiconductor packages, interposers, interconnect substrates, etc.), and various process sequences are described. The resilient contact structures described herein are ideal for making a "temporary" (probe) connections to an electronic component such as a semiconductor die, for burn-in and functional testing. The self-same resilient contact structures can be used for subsequent permanent mounting of the electronic component, such as by soldering to a printed circuit board (PCB). An irregular topography can be created on or imparted to the tip of the contact structure to enhance its ability to interconnect resiliently with another electronic component. Among the numerous advantages of the present invention is the great facility with which the tips of a plurality of contact structures can be made to be coplanar with one another. Other techniques and embodiments, such as wherein the falsework wirestem protrudes beyond an end of the superstructure, or is melted down, and wherein multiple free-standing resilient contact structures can be fabricated from loops, are described.

An improved post clamp for a molten metal pump includes a support post clamp that supports the weight of a pump superstructure on the top of the support posts. The clamp preferably includes (a) a bottom flange for connecting to the pump superstructure, (b) a cavity for receiving an end of a support post, wherein the end has a top surface, and (c) a top flange for being positioned above the top surface. In operation the top flange rests on the top surface of the support post thereby supporting at least part of the weight of the superstructure. It is preferred that a plurality of support posts and post clamps according to the invention be used with a molten metal pump wherein the top surface of each support post supports some of the weight of the superstructure. Also disclosed are novel support posts that may be used with the post clamp, and a pump in which the post clamp and / or support posts may be used.

The invention relates to a walker having a main supporting frame, a superstructure frame and a body support means. The superstructure frame is operatively arranged for vertical adjustment relative to the main supporting frame and includes an adjustable interior opening for accommodating a user and an entrance gate operatively arranged to provide access to the adjustable interior opening. The body support means is secured to the superstructure frame and operatively arranged to support the user. Furthermore, the walker may include four wheels, each of which may include a directional locking apparatus and / or braking system, and the walker may include at least one arm support operatively arranged for supporting the user. The walker may also include at least one handle operatively arranged for transmission of the walker.