A hybrid dual-clutch transmission includes a first countershaft sub-transmission, a second countershaft sub-transmission, a first clutch assigned to the first countershaft sub-transmission, a first actuating chamber, a first centrifugal oil chamber, a first power transmission region, a first inner lamella carrier, and a first outer lamella carrier. The transmission also includes a second clutch assigned to the second countershaft sub-transmission, a second actuating chamber, a second centrifugal oil chamber, a second power transmission region, a second inner lamella carrier, and second outer lamella carrier. The transmission further includes a third clutch to connect to an internal combustion engine and which has a third actuating chamber, a third centrifugal oil chamber, a third power transmission region, a third inner lamella carrier, and a third outer lamella carrier. The first, second, and third power transmission regions are arranged radially stacked one on top of the other and axially at least partially overlapping.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention relate to a hybrid dual-clutch transmission.
Hybrid dual-clutch transmissions are already known from DE 10 2007 003 107 A1 and from the generic DE 10 2016 218 264 A1, having a first countershaft sub-transmission, a second countershaft sub-transmission, a first clutch assigned to the first countershaft sub-transmission and which has a first actuating chamber, a first centrifugal oil chamber, a first power transmission region, a first inner lamella carrier and a first outer lamella carrier, a second clutch assigned to the second countershaft sub-transmission and which has a second actuating chamber, a second centrifugal oil chamber, a second power transmission region, a second inner lamella carrier and a second outer lamella carrier, and a third clutch for connecting to an internal combustion engine, which has a third actuating chamber, a third centrifugal oil chamber, a third power transmission region, a third inner lamella carrier and a third outer lamella carrier, wherein the first power transmission region, the second power transmission region and the third power transmission region are arranged radially stacked one above the other and axially at least partially overlapping, wherein the third clutch is arranged radially outwardly relative to the first clutch and the second clutch, wherein the first clutch, the second clutch and the third clutch are arranged concentrically around a main axis of rotation.
Furthermore, a planetary transmission having an arrangement of three radially stacked lamella clutches is know from DE 10 2015 004 794 A1, wherein not only the power transmission regions of these three lamella clutches are arranged axially overlapping one another, but wherein also the centrifugal oil chambers of these three lamella clutches are arranged axially overlapping one another.
Exemplary embodiments of the invention are directed to a generic device having improved properties, in particular with regard to an overall compact design and simple oil distribution.
The invention is based on a hybrid dual-clutch transmission having a first countershaft sub-transmission, having a second countershaft sub-transmission, having a first clutch assigned to the first countershaft sub-transmission and which has a first actuating chamber, a first centrifugal oil chamber, a first power transmission region, a first inner lamella carrier and a first outer lamella carrier, having a second clutch assigned to the second countershaft sub-transmission and which has a second actuating chamber, a second centrifugal oil chamber, a second power transmission region, a second inner lamella carrier and a second outer lamella carrier. The first clutch and the second clutch thus together form a dual clutch.
The two countershaft sub-transmissions each have an input shaft, namely a first input shaft and a second input shaft arranged coaxially with respect to the first input shaft.
The first input shaft is non-rotatably connected to a first secondary side of the first clutch.
The second input shaft is non-rotatably connected to a second secondary side of the second clutch.
A first primary side of the first clutch is non-rotatably connected to a second primary side of the second clutch. The two primary sides form a common primary side of the dual clutch in a known manner.
The term primary side of a clutch means a clutch half of the clutch arranged upstream in the torque flow. The term secondary side of the clutch means a clutch half of the clutch arranged downstream in the torque flow.
Furthermore, a third clutch is assumed. The third clutch is provided for connecting the hybrid dual-clutch transmission to an internal combustion engine. The third clutch has a third actuating chamber, a third centrifugal oil chamber, a third power transmission region, a third inner lamella carrier and a third outer lamella carrier. A third secondary side of the third clutch is thereby non-rotatably connected to the common primary side of the dual clutch.
As known in the prior art, it is assumed that the first actuating chamber, the second actuating chamber and the third actuating chamber are arranged radially stacked one above the other.
The dual clutch and the third clutch are configured such that the first power transmission region, the second power transmission region, and the third power transmission region are arranged radially stacked one on top of the other and axially at least partially overlapping, wherein the third clutch is arranged radially outwardly with respect to the first clutch and the second clutch, wherein the first clutch, the second clutch, and the third clutch are arranged coaxially with respect to a main axis of rotation.
In a known manner, the first countershaft sub-transmission comprises the first input shaft and first gears that are non-rotatably coupled to the first input shaft or can be non-rotatably coupled to the first input shaft. Furthermore, the first countershaft sub-transmission comprises first countershaft gears arranged coaxially with respect to a first countershaft, wherein each of the first countershaft gears meshes with one of the first gears.
Correspondingly, the second countershaft sub-transmission comprises the second input shaft and second gears that are non-rotatably coupled to the second input shaft or can be non-rotatably coupled to the second input shaft. Furthermore, the second countershaft sub-transmission comprises second countershaft gears arranged coaxially with respect to the first countershaft or coaxially with a second countershaft, if present, wherein each of the second countershaft gears meshes with one of the second gears.
The first countershaft and the second countershaft, if present, are arranged parallel and axially offset to the first or second input shafts.
The hybrid dual clutch transmission further has a drive shaft. The drive shaft is non-rotatably connected to a third primary side of the third clutch and is provided to be driven by an internal combustion engine. For this purpose, the drive shaft is either non-rotatably connected to a crankshaft of the internal combustion engine or quasi-non-rotatably connected to the crankshaft, for example by means of a vibration damper.
The third primary side is formed by the third inner lamella carrier. The third secondary side is formed by the third outer lamella carrier.
It is further assumed that an electric motor of the hybrid dual-clutch transmission is coupled to the common primary side of the dual clutch in such a way that torques, starting from the electric motor, can be introduced into the dual clutch transmission exclusively via the primary side of the dual clutch.
According to the invention, the hybrid dual clutch transmission has a connecting element, preferably a drive gearwheel, for connecting the electric motor, which is non-rotatably connected to the first inner lamella carrier, the second outer lamella carrier, and the third outer lamella carrier. In this case, a rotor of the electric motor is connected to the connecting element in a torque-transmitting manner, wherein the rotor is arranged axially parallel and not coaxially to the drive gearwheel. The rotor is connected to the connection element, for example, by one or more spur gear stages or by a belt drive.
Furthermore, according to the invention, the first centrifugal oil chamber, the second oil centrifugal chamber, and the third oil centrifugal chamber are arranged radially stacked one on top of the other. Furthermore, the first centrifugal oil chamber, the second centrifugal oil chamber, and the third centrifugal oil chamber are arranged axially at least partially overlapping.
The hybrid dual-clutch transmission comprises a main axis of rotation and at least one secondary axis of rotation. In this context, a "main axis of rotation" is to be understood, in particular, as an axis of rotation defined by the drive shaft or the input shafts. Preferably, this is to be understood to mean, in particular, an axis of rotation defined by an input shaft on the drive side of the hybrid dual clutch transmission. A "secondary axis of rotation" is to be understood, in particular, as an axis of rotation offset parallel to the main axis of rotation, in particular of the first countershaft. A first secondary axis of rotation is assigned to the first countershaft. A second secondary axis of rotation is assigned to the second countershaft, if present.
The terms "axial" and "radial" refer to the main axis of rotation.
An axially at least partially overlapping arrangement of two elements is understood to mean that the two elements are arranged at least partially in the same axial region. In other words, a first element is arranged partially overlapping a second element if at least a part of the first element and a part of the second element are arranged in the same axial region. In this case, the axial region is defined by a coordinate interval on a spatial axis coinciding with the main axis of rotation, wherein the coordinates can be arbitrary with respect to the other two spatial axes.
A radially stacked arrangement of two elements is understood to mean that the two elements are arranged at least partially radially without overlapping each other. In other words, a first element is arranged radially stacked on top of a second element if the first element is arranged at least partially in a different radial region from the second element. The radial region is thereby defined by a radius interval, wherein the coordinate can be arbitrary with respect to the main axis of rotation.
The first clutch is designed as a first lamella clutch. Preferably, the first inner lamella carrier carries at least one first inner lamella and particularly preferably a plurality of first inner lamellae. Furthermore, the first outer lamella carrier preferably carries at least one first outer lamella and particularly preferably a plurality of first outer lamellae. Preferably, the at least one first inner lamella and the at least one first outer lamella form, particularly preferably in an alternating arrangement, a first lamella set. In particular, the first lamella set forms the first power transmission region. A "power transmission region" is to be understood, in particular, as a region of a clutch in which, at least in an actuated state of the clutch, a power transmission, in particular a positive and/or frictional power transmission, takes place between an input side of the respectively assigned clutch and the output side of the respectively assigned clutch. Preferably, the power transmission region is formed by a region of the inner lamellae and the outer lamellae of the respective clutch. In particular, the power transmission region is formed by a lamella set. The second clutch is, in particular, designed as a second lamella clutch. Preferably, the second inner lamella carrier carries at least one second inner lamella and particularly preferably a plurality of second inner lamellae. Furthermore, the second outer lamella carrier preferably carries at least one second outer lamella and particularly preferably a plurality of second outer lamellae. Preferably, the at least one second inner lamella and the at least one second outer lamella form, particularly preferably in an alternating arrangement, a second lamella set. In particular, the second lamella set forms the second power transmission region. The third clutch is designed as a separating clutch. A "separating clutch" is to be understood, in particular, as a clutch which is provided to uncouple the internal combustion engine from all countershaft sub-transmissions. "Provided" is to be understood, in particular, to mean specifically designed and/or specifically equipped. An object being provided for a specific function is to be understood to mean, in particular, that the object fulfils and/or performs this specific function in a least one application and/or operating state.
Preferably, the third clutch is designed for optimum drag torque. In particular, the third clutch is designed as a third lamella clutch. Preferably, the third inner lamella carrier carries at least one third inner lamella and particularly preferably a plurality of third inner lamellae. Furthermore, the third outer lamella carrier preferably carries at least one third outer lamella and particularly preferably a plurality of third outer lamellae. Preferably, the at least one third inner lamella and the at least one third outer lamella form a third lamella set, particularly preferably in an alternating arrangement. In particular, the third lamella set forms the third power transmission region. Preferably, the first actuating chamber is provided for actuating the first clutch. Preferably, the second actuating chamber is provided for actuating the second clutch. Preferably, the third actuating chamber is provided for actuating the third clutch.
Preferably, the first actuating chamber is arranged radially inside the third actuating chamber. Preferably, the second actuating chamber is arranged radially inside the first actuating chamber. Particularly preferably, the first actuating chamber, the second actuating chamber, and the third actuating chamber are arranged radially without overlap. By "radially without overlap", it is to be understood, in particular, that similar components, assemblies or installation spaces do not overlap in the radial direction.
Preferably, the first clutch, the second clutch, and the third clutch are arranged radially stacked one on top of the other. Preferably, the first clutch is arranged radially inside the third clutch. Preferably, the second clutch is arranged radially inside the first clutch. Preferably, the first clutch, the second clutch, and the third clutch are arranged at least substantially in the same axial extension region. "At least substantially" is to be understood, in particular, that a deviation from a predetermined value is in particular less than 25%, preferably less than 10% and particularly preferably less than 5% of the predetermined value. Preferably, the first power transmission region is arranged radially within the third power transmission region. Preferably, the second power transmission region is arranged radially inside the first power transmission region. Preferably, the first power transmission region, the second power transmission region, and the third power transmission region are arranged radially without overlap. Preferably, the first power transmission region, the second power transmission region, and the third power transmission region are arranged at least substantially in the same axial extension region.
The hybrid dual-clutch transmission comprises the electric motor. In particular, an axis of rotation of the electric motor is designed not to be coaxial with respect to the main axis of rotation. Preferably, the axis of rotation of the electric motor is aligned axially in parallel to the main axis of rotation. The drive gearwheel is provided, in particular, for a, in particular torque-transmitting, connection of the electric motor to the dual-clutch transmission. As an alternative to the drive gearwheel, the hybrid dual clutch transmission can have a chain wheel, a belt pulley, or similar.
A non-rotatable connection of two elements is to be understood to mean that the two elements are arranged coaxially with respect to each other and are connected in such a way that they rotate with the same angular velocity. A non-rotatable connection of an element to a housing part is to be understood to mean that the element is connected to the housing in such a way that it cannot be twisted with respect to the housing. In the context of the present invention, a connection between two elements is also referred to as non-rotatable if a vibration damper is applied between the two elements, which allows slight rotational relative movements between the two elements purely for the purpose of vibration damping.
Preferably, the hybrid dual-clutch transmission is coupled to at least one dual mass flywheel. Preferably, the dual mass flywheel is provided to reduce torsional vibrations of the internal combustion engine. By means of the design according to the invention, a compact design of the hybrid dual-clutch transmission having an advantageously small axial overall length can be achieved. By means of the design according to the invention, advantageously high installation space efficiency can be achieved. Furthermore, an advantageous dual-clutch design can be made possible. Particularly advantageously, an internal combustion engine can be decoupled from the hybrid dual-clutch transmission in an electric driving mode by means of the third clutch. The design according to the invention advantageously enables a compact integration of the separating clutch into the dual clutch, in particular, for a P2 hybrid application.
Furthermore, it is proposed that the first actuating chamber, the second actuating chamber, and the third actuating chamber be arranged axially at least partially overlapping. "Axially overlapping" is to be understood, in particular, to mean that similar components, assemblies or installation spaces overlap axially when viewed from the main axis of rotation. Preferably, it is to be understood, in particular, that at least one straight line extending radially from the main axis of rotation intersects all of the similar components, assemblies or installation spaces. Preferably, the first actuating chamber, the second actuating chamber, and the third actuating chamber are arranged at least substantially in the same axial extension region. This design makes it possible to achieve a compact construction of the hybrid dual-clutch transmission having an advantageously small axial overall length.
Preferably, the first centrifugal oil chamber is arranged radially inside the third oil centrifugal chamber. Preferably, the second centrifugal oil chamber is arranged radially inside the first centrifugal oil chamber. Preferably, the first centrifugal oil chamber, the second centrifugal oil chamber, and the third centrifugal oil chamber are arranged radially without overlap. This design makes it possible, in particular, to achieve a compact construction of the hybrid dual-clutch transmission having an advantageously small axial overall length.
Particularly preferably, the first centrifugal oil chamber, the second centrifugal oil chamber, and the third centrifugal oil chamber are arranged substantially in the same axial extension region. This design makes is possible, in particular, to achieve a compact construction of the hybrid dual-clutch transmission having an advantageously small axial overall length.
It is further proposed that the first actuating chamber has a first boundary wall on a side facing away from the first power transmission region in the axial direction, the second actuating chamber has a second boundary wall on a side facing away from the second power transmission region in the axial direction, and the third actuating chamber has a third boundary wall on a side facing away from the third power transmission region in the axial direction, wherein the first boundary wall surrounds the second boundary wall radially without overlap and the third boundary wall surrounds the first boundary wall radially without overlap. An "axial direction" is to be understood, in particular, as a direction along, in particular parallel to, the main axis of rotation. A "boundary wall" is to be understood, in particular, as an element delimiting an installation space, in particular an actuating chamber, in at least one direction.
Preferably, the first boundary wall, the second boundary wall, and the third boundary wall are arranged concentrically with respect to the main axis of rotation.
Preferably, the first boundary wall, in particular a main extension plane of the first boundary wall, is arranged at least substantially orthogonally to the main axis of rotation. In this context, "at least substantially orthogonally" is to be understood, in particular, to mean that an angular deviation of an orientation of a boundary wall orthogonal to the main axis of rotation is in particular less than 30 degrees, preferably less than 10 degrees and particularly preferably less than 5 degrees. Preferably, the second boundary wall is arranged at least substantially orthogonally to the main axis of rotation. Preferably, the third boundary wall is arranged at least substantially orthogonally to the main axis of rotation. Preferably, the first boundary wall is at least substantially flat. In this context, "at least substantially flat" is to be understood, in particular, to mean that a difference between a minimum distance and a maximum distance orthogonal to a main extension plane of a boundary wall is in particular less than 5 mm, preferably less than 2 mm and particularly preferably less than 1 mm. The second boundary wall is preferably at least substantially flat. The third boundary wall is preferably at least substantially flat. Preferably, the first boundary wall and the third boundary wall are arranged in a plane. Particularly preferably, the first boundary wall, the second boundary wall, and the third boundary wall are arranged in a plane.
Preferably, the first boundary wall, the second boundary wall, and the third boundary wall are arranged radially adjacent to one another. Preferably, the three boundary walls each extend substantially in a radial direction.
Preferably, the first boundary wall, the second boundary wall, and the third boundary wall form a common boundary wall.
A "main extension plane" of a structural unit is to be understood, in particular, as a plane which is parallel to a largest side surface of a smallest imagined cuboid that just completely encloses the structural unit, and in particular runs through the center of the cuboid. By means of this design, an advantageous boundary of the actuating chamber is achieved. Furthermore, a boundary wall enables advantageous access to an actuating chamber from a side facing away from a power transmission region in the axial direction.
It is further proposed that the hybrid dual-clutch transmission have a plate unit arranged concentrically with respect to the main axis of rotation and which comprises the first boundary wall, the second boundary wall, and the third boundary wall. The first boundary wall, the second boundary wall, and the third boundary wall are preferably each formed as a plate segment of the plate unit. Preferably, the first boundary wall, the second boundary wall, and the third boundary wall each form an annular boundary region of the plate unit.
A "plate unit" is, in particular, to be understood to mean a round, in particular rotationally symmetrical with respect to its outer contours, and substantially flat unit that is at least provided to form at least one boundary wall to at least one actuating chamber. In this context, "substantially flat" is to be understood, in particular, to mean that a maximum axial extension of the plate unit is in particular less than 30%, preferably less than 20%, and particularly preferably less than 10% of a diameter of the plate unit. Preferably, the plate unit is formed in one piece.
The term "integrally" is, in particular, to be understood to mean at least materially bonded, for example by a welding process, an adhesive process, an injection process, and/or another process appearing to the person skilled in the art to be reasonable, and/or advantageously formed in one piece, such as by manufacturing from a casting and/or by manufacturing in a single- or multi-component injection process, for example, and advantageously from a single blank. Preferably, the plate unit is formed as a forged component.
In principle, the plate unit can also be formed in several parts, wherein in particular the first boundary wall, the second boundary wall and the third boundary wall are non-rotatably connected to one another.
Preferably, the plate unit is non-rotatably connected to the third outer lamella carrier of the third clutch. The plate unit is preferably provided for a radial distribution of at least one actuating oil and/or at least one centrifugal oil. In principle, it is also conceivable that the first boundary wall is arranged at a distance from the second boundary wall and/or the first boundary wall is arranged at a distance from the third boundary wall, wherein the plate unit has a distance segment between the first actuating chamber and the second actuating chamber and/or a further distance segment between the first actuating chamber and the third actuating chamber. This embodiment allows an actuating oil to be advantageously supplied radially to an actuating chamber. Furthermore, a centrifugal oil can be advantageously supplied radially to a centrifugal oil chamber. An actuating oil and/or a centrifugal oil can advantageously be supplied from a side of the hybrid dual-clutch transmission facing away from the internal combustion engine. In particular, the plate unit enables a compact design of the hybrid dual-clutch transmission with an advantageously short axial overall length. As a result, advantageously high installation space efficiency can be achieved.
Furthermore, it is proposed that the plate unit have a first oil channel which is provided to supply an actuating oil to the first actuating chamber and which extends in a radial direction within the plate unit. A "radial direction" is, in particular, to be understood to mean a direction orthogonal to the main axis of rotation. Preferably, the first oil channel is at least partially configured as a first radial bore. In particular, the plate unit has a first outlet opening provided to connect the first oil channel to the first actuating chamber. The first outlet opening is, in particular, formed by an axial bore projecting into the first radial bore. This design allows the actuating oil to be advantageously supplied to the first actuating chamber extending radially in the plate unit. Furthermore, the actuating oil can thereby be advantageously supplied to the first actuating chamber from a side of the hybrid dual-clutch transmission facing away from the internal combustion engine.
Furthermore, it is proposed that the plate unit comprise a second oil channel which is provided for supplying an actuating oil to the second actuating chamber. Preferably, the second oil channel extends at least in a radial direction within the plate unit. Preferably, the second oil channel is at least partially configured as a second radial bore. In particular, the plate unit has a second outlet opening which is provided to connect the second oil channel to the second actuating chamber. The second outlet opening is, in particular, formed by an axial bore projecting into the second radial bore. This design allows the actuating oil to be advantageously supplied to the second actuating chamber axially or radially. Furthermore, the actuating oil can thereby be advantageously supplied to the second actuating chamber from a side of the hybrid dual-clutch transmission facing away from the internal combustion engine.
It is further proposed that the plate unit have a third oil channel which is provided for supplying an actuating oil to the third actuating chamber and which extends in radial direction within the plate unit. Preferably, the third oil channel is at least partially designed as a third radial bore. In particular, the plate unit has a third outlet opening which is provided to connect the third oil channel to the third actuating chamber. The third outlet opening is, in particular, formed by an axial bore projecting into the third radial bore. This design allows the actuating oil to be advantageously supplied radially to the third actuating chamber. Furthermore, the actuating oil can thereby be advantageously supplied to the third actuating chamber from a side of the hybrid dual-clutch transmission facing away from the internal combustion engine.
Furthermore, it is proposed that the plate unit have a radially extending centrifugal channel which is provided to supply a centrifugal oil to the first centrifugal oil chamber and/or the second centrifugal oil chamber and/or the third centrifugal oil chamber. In particular, the centrifugal channel is provided to supply the centrifugal oil to the first centrifugal oil chamber and the third centrifugal oil chamber. Preferably, the centrifugal oil chamber is at least partially designed as a fourth radial bore. In particular, the plate unit has a fourth outlet opening provided to connect the centrifugal channel to the first centrifugal oil chamber. The fourth outlet opening is, in particular, formed by an axial bore projecting into the fourth radial bore. In particular, the plate unit has a fifth outlet opening designed to connect the centrifugal channel to the third centrifugal oil chamber. In particular, the fifth outlet opening is formed by an axial bore projecting into the fourth radial bore. This design allows the centrifugal oil to be advantageously supplied radially to a centrifugal oil chamber. Furthermore, the centrifugal oil can thereby be advantageously supplied to a centrifugal oil chamber from a side of the hybrid dual-clutch transmission facing away from the internal combustion engine.
Furthermore, it is proposed that the drive gearwheel radially surrounds the plate unit and is arranged axially adjacent to or axially overlapping the plate unit. Preferably, the drive gearwheel is welded to the plate unit or is formed integrally with the plate unit. In this context, "radially surrounds" is to be understood, in particular, to mean that the drive gearwheel is arranged radially outside the plate unit. Preferably, this is to be understood, in particular, to mean that a minimum radial distance of the drive gearwheel from the main axis of rotation is greater than or equal to a maximum radial distance of the plate unit from the main axis of rotation. In this context, "axially adjacent" is to be understood, in particular, to mean that the drive gearwheel axially abuts the plate unit. Preferably, this is to be understood, in particular, to mean that opposite end faces of the drive gearwheel and the plate unit are in contact with each other. This design allows the electric motor to be advantageously integrated into the hybrid dual-clutch transmission. Thus, a P2 hybrid connection is advantageously implemented. This design advantageously enables an electric driving mode.
It is further proposed that the hybrid dual-clutch transmission have a cylinder unit arranged concentrically with respect to the main axis of rotation, which cylinder unit is formed on a radially outer side as the first inner lamella carrier of the first clutch and on a radially inner side as the second outer lamella carrier of the second clutch, wherein the cylinder unit is radially non-rotatably connected to the plate unit in a region between the first boundary wall and the second boundary wall. A "cylinder unit" is to be understood, in particular, to mean a cylindrical, in particular a hollow cylindrical, element arranged concentrically with respect to the main axis of rotation and is preferably integrally connected to at least one further element. Preferably, the cylinder unit is connected to the plate unit in a materially bonded, positive-locking, and/or frictional manner. Preferably, the cylinder unit is formed in one piece. The cylinder unit can be cranked. This embodiment advantageously reduces a variety of components of the hybrid dual-clutch transmission.
Further advantages emerge from the following description of the figures. The figures depict two exemplary embodiments of the invention. The figures, the description of the figures and the claims contain numerous features in combination. The person skilled in the art will expediently also consider the features individually and combine them to form useful further combinations.


An apparatus for storing digital media utilizes an electrically conductive element, which is for reading stored digital media, and multiple electrically conductive resonant circuits as an antenna for radio frequency communications. Each of the resonant circuits is electrically isolated from the other resonant circuits and the electrically conductive element is electrically isolated from each of the resonant circuits. As a result, the apparatus for storing digital media has a relatively wide operating frequency range and a relatively long communications range, which allows worldwide usage in various applications. For example, an optically readable compact disk (CD) utilizes a metal layer configured as a reflective surface for reading stored digital media in the CD, an electrically conductive component that is not in contact with a radio frequency identification (RFID) integrated circuit (IC), and an electrically conductive component that is in contact with the RFID IC, as an antenna for the RFID IC.

A digital media storage device such as an optically readable compact disk (CD) may include an RFID system to communicate with wireless terminals. For worldwide universal usage, the digital media storage device may require the RFID system to operate in different frequency bands and to communicate with wireless terminals over a relatively long range. A concern with a traditional RFID system is its narrow operation frequency band and limited communications range. As a result, traditional RFID systems have not been for worldwide universal usage with a digital media storage device such as a CD.

Apparatus for storing digital media that includes a radio frequency identification system


An image signal modifying device includes a pixel, a memory which stores compressed information in which a three-dimensional (“3-D”) lookup table is coded, an image signal modifying unit which decodes the compressed information to generate a restored 3-D lookup table and generates a modified signal based on a first image signal of a first frame, a second image signal of a second frame, a third image signal of a third frame and the restored 3-D lookup table, and a data driver which converts the modified signal into the data voltage and supplies the data voltage to the pixel.

(a) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a liquid crystal display, a device modifying an image signal for a liquid crystal display, and a method of modifying an image signal.
(b) Description of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display, which is one of the most widely used type of flat panel displays, typically includes two display panels where field generating electrodes, such as a pixel electrode and a common electrode, are provided with a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween. The liquid crystal display generates an electric field in the liquid crystal layer by applying a voltage to the field generating electrodes to determine orientations of liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer and control polarization of incident light, thereby displaying an image.
The liquid crystal display generally includes a pixel including a switching element, such as a thin film transistor ("TFT"), which is a 3-terminal element, and a display panel provided with display signal lines, such as a gate line and a data line. The thin film transistor serves as a switching element that transfers or interrupts data voltage transferred through the data line to a pixel according to a gate signal transferred through the gate line.
A liquid crystal capacitor includes a pixel electrode and a common electrode as two terminals thereof, and the liquid crystal layer interposed between the two electrodes serves as a dielectric material. A difference between a data voltage applied to the pixel electrode and a common voltage applied to the common electrode is represented as a charge voltage of the liquid crystal capacitor, i.e., a pixel voltage. Orientations of liquid crystal molecules vary depending on the magnitude of the pixel voltage, and as a result, polarization of light passing through the liquid crystal layer varies. The polarization variation is shown as a variation of transmittance of light by a polarizer attached to the liquid crystal display, and as a result, the pixel displays luminance corresponding to a gray of an image signal.
However, due to the response speed of the liquid crystal molecules, a predetermined time is required until the pixel voltage of the liquid crystal capacitor reaches a target voltage, which is a voltage used to acquire desired luminance, and the time is changed by a difference of the voltage previously charged in the liquid crystal capacitor. Therefore, for example, when a difference between the target voltage and the previous voltage is large, if only the target voltage is applied from the start, it may not reach the target voltage while the switching element is turned on.
The dynamic capacitance compensation ("DCC") scheme has been proposed to improve the response speed of the liquid crystal using a driving method without changing the properties of the liquid crystal. Based on the fact that the charging rate becomes increases as the voltage at the liquid crystal capacitor increases, and in detail, the DCC typically reduces the time for the voltage charged in the liquid crystal capacitor to reach the target voltage by controlling the data voltage (in practice, it is a difference between the data voltage and the common voltage, and for convenience of description, the common voltage will be assumed to be 0 volt) applied to the corresponding pixel to be greater than the target voltage.

Liquid crystal display, and device and method of modifying image signal for liquid crystal display


Devices are provided that allow helicopters and Transport Aircrafts to carry or lift liquid compounds to fumigate, spray or a single massive drop for purposes such as irrigation, fumigation, chemical treatment and fire control with no modification to the aircrafts and no power or direct electromechanical assistance from the aircraft, thus preserving the original integrity and applications of the aircraft.

The ability to control and fight fires in forests and areas close to residential areas is a major concern for fire fighters and fire fighting administrators. Ground fire fighting includes use of water hoses while aerial fire fighting includes firebombing. In its crudest form, fire-bombing involves dropping large quantities of water as quickly as possible on the fire from an aircraft. While releasing liquids including water from an aircraft is a well know practice, the fire fighting aircraft availability at the moment, with the exception of light helicopters, is restricted to refurbished old aircrafts containing vessels such as water tanks, and electro-mechanical means to load fast and some with water tanks, mechanical means and pressure vessels to blast the liquids out the containers such as tanks. Ancillary equipment and electro-mechanical means are heavy and require large amounts of fuel or energy, thereby reducing significantly the water lifting capacity. Modified choppers currently reach a maximum capacity of 6,000 liters and fixed wing transport aircraft up to 40,000 liters, and modified 747 super jets up to 70,000 liters.
The biggest Helicopter is the Russian Mil Mi-26 with a lifting capacity of 20,000 liters of water, the latest USA Chinook 15,000 liters of water, Australian Chinook 12,000 liters of water, the biggest transport aircraft, the Russian Antonov An-224, is capable of carrying 150,000 liters of water, the USA C-5B Galaxy 125,000 liters of water and the Australian C-17 Glovemaster 76,000 liters of water.
Governments spend millions in commercial aerial fire fighters which are second-hand airliners, superseded heavy lifting helicopters. The overwhelming concern is "commercial means are useless against catastrophic Fires due to their technological inferiority" and fires will rage uncontrolled again taking lives, burning homes, bush and decimating the fragile fauna; actually in the last 26 years Australian communities have been devastated 7 times.
The aircraft gravity centre is preserved by locating the load at the centre of the loading area which is the responsibility of the "Load Master", it is impossible to eject the water instantly, the water is ejected gradually allowing time to compensate the loss on weight.
Thus there is a need for efficient and convenient method of fire fighting.
It is an object of the invention to address some of the problems in the art and provide an efficient method of fire fighting.

Method and devices for manmade precipitations


An apparatus for recording and reproducing information includes a playing section and a recording section. The playing section has a play speed control unit for determining a play speed, and an image play unit for playing an image according to the play speed. The recording section has a query unit for outputting a query signal to the play speed control unit in order to acquire the play speed, and an image record unit for recording the image by proceeding to a record action according to the play speed. The method and apparatus for recording and reproducing information can efficiently increase record speed and short record time.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a method and apparatus for recording and reproducing information, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for recording and reproducing information capable of shortening record time.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, systems for playing back the contents of optical discs that record video data (moving pictures), audio data, and the like have been developed. Optical disks, such as CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, and the like are capable of storing lots of information therein, which allows users to store and carry the recording contents easily, thereby the optical disks are popularly applied to business, multimedia, entertainment and people's daily life.
For an apparatus for recording and reproducing information (Such an apparatus for recording and reproducing information is called a record and play apparatus, hereafter) being electrically connected with televisions, it may use VHS tapes, compact discs (CDs) or digital versatile discs (DVDs) as information storing material. The record and play apparatus can not only record a TV program in real time when the program is shown on TV, but also translate data in VHS into a CD or DVD.
However, the record and play apparatus can record with 1× speed during playing image. Although the play speed of the record and play apparatus reaches 2×, 8×, 16×, 32×, 52×, even higher, the record speed of the apparatus is still limited to 1× during playing image. As a result, it will waste lots of time on recording if the information data is a big amount, especially during translation data in VHS into a CD or DVD.

Method and apparatus for recording and reproducing information


An automatic video content summarization system that is able to create personalized multimedia summary based on the user-specified theme. The invention employs both natural language processing and video analysis techniques to extract important keywords from the closed caption text as well as prominent visual features from the video footage. The invention uses a Bayesian statistical framework that naturally integrates the user theme, the heuristics and the theme-relevant video characteristics within a unified platform.

This invention is related to searching for information, specifically to a method for searching and creating a personalized multimedia summarization based upon user-input criteria. In particular, the multimedia summarization is based upon a user-specified theme, and multimedia imagery is searched, and imagery is selected for the summarization according to a statistical framework. The invention is embodied in a method, a computer system, and a computer program product that creates a personalized multimedia information summary.
The following papers provide useful background information on the indicated topics, all of which relate to the invention, and are incorporated herein by reference.
Heuristics used in video frame selection:
M. A. Smith and T. Kanade, Video Skimming And Characterization Through The Combination Of Image And Language Understanding Techniques, Proceedings of CVPR ""97 (1997), pp. 775-81.
Comprehensive user studies:
H. Wactlar et al., Lessons Learned From Building A Terabyte Digital Video Library, IEEE Computer, vol. 32, February 1999.
Video summaries based exclusively on visual features:
D. DeMenthon et al., Video Summarization By Curve Simplification, Tech. Rep. LAMP-TR-018, Language and Media Processing laboratory, University of Maryland (1998).
Topic clustering:
Y. Yang, An Evaluation of Statistical Approaches To Text Categorization, Information Retrieval Journal (1999).
There will now be provided a discussion of various topics to provide a proper foundation for understanding the invention.
The rapid progress in computer, data storage and telecommunication has brought about a multimedia information era where image, audio and video data are becoming the information highways of our society. The advent of Internet and World-Wide Web has dramatically changed the manner in which people acquire and disseminate information and knowledge, as computer and telecommunication giants are teaming up with content providers to exploit the huge business potentials on Internet. Television broadcasters, newspaper publishers, entertainment companies, consumer product retailers and service retailers are expanding their presence on the Internet. Personal computers are quickly becoming an information housekeeper for the consumer, and are responsible for accessing and storing information from various sources such as online newspapers and broadcasters.
An inevitable consequence of this evolution is the rise of an overwhelming information glut. Nowadays, finding pieces of relevant information from Internet is fast becoming a difficult task. To facilitate rapid search and retrieval of relevant information from a huge number of information sources, the following two techniques will become indispensable:
Effective content-based indexing and search schemes for multimedia data including text, audio, image and video.
Automatic content summarizations for multimedia data collections.
Automatic content summarizations are equally as important as effective content-based indexing and search schemes for rapid search and retrieval of desired information. By way of example, assume that an attorney wants to study a particular lawsuit that has received much attention from the media. Further, assume that there are hundreds of digital video libraries available on the Internet for searching. If each digital video library provides a content summary listing the top one hundred topics included in the library, or a content overview that digests the whole news collection on the lawsuit in question, the officer will be able to easily figure out which subset of the libraries deserves a thorough search. In another example, assume that a personal information housekeeper records news broadcasts from all the major television broadcasters for a corporate CEO on a daily basis. The corporate CEO reviews the information gathered by the personal information housekeeper on a daily basis. If the information housekeeper can automatically create an updated summary of the gathered news broadcasts, the corporate CEO will be able to quickly identify news reports that are of interest and require further attention.
The above examples are but two representative cases that illustrate a search for particular information. In the first search type, the person has a particular topic to research, but does not know which data collection would provide the most useful information, and therefore should become the focus of further investigation. In the second search type, the person does not have a particular topic to research, but instead wishes to investigate whether a particular data collection contains any interesting subjects worthy of attention.
Various examples illustrate how content summaries are of great importance when people are searching for desired information. By way of example, assume a student enters a bookstore to buy an HTML reference book. As there are dozens of HTML reference books available on the shelf, the student has to rely on the book summaries, table of contents, or a quick browsing of the books in order to select one commensurate with the student""s level of understanding and personal preference. Further, assume that another student comes to the bookstore wanting to find an interesting novel to read in the coming summer vacation. The student may first peruse the category signs shown on the shelves, and then determine a particular category to browse through. Next, the student may read the summary on the book jacket, or take a quick glance at some chapters if necessary, in order to select a suitably interesting novel.
There are three levels of content summaries for a digital video library: (1) library-wide summary that lists the major topics collected by the library; (2) topic-wide summary that summarizes the whole data collection for a particular topic; and (3) item-wide summary that digests the original video program into a shorter version. To date, most research studies in the literature have been for the automatic creation of item-wide summaries.
The video skimming technique developed by Carengie Mellon University summarizes individual TV news programs into a user-specified length based on a set of primitive heuristics. These heuristics include the selection of frames prior to the introduction of a proper name, frames from short shots, frames with both human faces and superimposed captions, and frames before or after a camera pan/zoom. Although the video skimming technique employs closed captions, video optical character recognition and various visual features with the intention of obtaining content-based video summaries, comprehensive user studies received mixed responses from the examiners who participated in the study.
On the other hand, the video summarization method of the Language and Media Processing group at the University of Maryland creates video summaries with a controllable length exclusively based on visual features of the video programs. The method first represents a video sequence as a trajectory curve in a high dimensional feature space, and then uses the recursive binary curve-splitting algorithm to approximate the video curve with a sequence of perceptually significant points. Each of the points on the video curve corresponds to a frame in the original video sequence. By showing the thumbnail images of the frames represented by these significant points, or by playing these frames sequentially, the user receives a summarized view of the original video sequence. As the curve splitting algorithm assigns more points to the curve segments with larger gradients, this summarization method naturally uses more frames to represent shots with more variations.
In spite of methodological differences, a separate method from Panasonic (Patent No. JP-8-251540) produces video summaries with a very similar characteristic to the Language and Media Processing group""s method. More specifically, Panasonic""s method is based on a set of video summarization rules that roughly sub-sample long shots with little changes and finely sub-sample short shots with big changes.
There is also literature on studies that exploit audio characteristics of the video sequence for summarization purposes. Nippon Telegraph and Telecommunication Corp.""s method (Patent No. JP-3-80728) detects semantically important audio patterns (e.g. applause, cheers) based on a predefined audio dictionary, and composes video summaries by selecting the video segments that contain these audio patterns.
A different method developed by MLS (Patent No. JP-8-334479) strives to score the importance of each shots based on its audio characteristics such as the inclusion of music, speech, special sound effects, etc, and then creates video summaries by picking up the shots with the highest scores.
Other video summarization methods have been reported in the literature. All are very similar to the methods described above in terms of methodologies, and underlying heuristics.
However in general, most of these existing methods have two major problems in common. First, these methods are usually based on a fixed set of heuristics that are derived either from common video production patterns or from common senses. As each particular video production pattern and common sense may or may not be a good indicator of important scenes depending on the video domain under the consideration, creating video summaries using these heuristics may satisfy only very limited types of applications.
Second, these methods do not take the requirements of the user into consideration in composing video summaries. Whether a video summary is good or not depends heavily on a user""s initial requirements. For example, if a user is looking for news reports about a particular celebrity, the user may desire a human-centric video summary to include as many stored video scenes regarding that particular celebrity as possible. On the other hand, if a user has an interest in examining the damage that results from a natural disaster, the user may desire a nature-centric video summary to include nature scenes. Video summaries adaptive to personal desires are especially important when used as a means of information search and retrieval.
Although content summaries greatly facilitate information retrieval tasks, automatic multimedia content summarization has yet to receive as much attention from the multimedia information retrieval community as the research for content-based indexing and retrieval.
The invention has been made in view of the above circumstances and has an object to overcome the above problems and limitations of the prior art, and has a further object to provide the capability to create a multimedia summarization based upon a user-specified information need from a plurality of multimedia databases.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description that follows and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a method, a computer system and a computer program product for a multimedia summarization, wherein keywords or topic clustering is used to retrieve multimedia imagery from multimedia databases.
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a method, a computer system and a computer program product for a multimedia summarization, wherein the user selects a theme in order to select relevant multimedia scene shots from the retrieved multimedia imagery.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide a method, a computer system and a computer program product for a multimedia summarization, wherein multimedia features are extracted from multimedia scene shots by using natural language processing and video analysis techniques to determine the relevance thresholds of the multimedia scene shots.
The above and other objects of the invention are accomplished by providing a method, a computer system and a computer program product for a multimedia summarization, wherein the relevance thresholds for determining whether a multimedia scene shot is included in the final multimedia summarization are set.
The above and further objects of the invention are further accomplished by providing a method, a computer system and a computer program product for a multimedia summarization, wherein the setting of relevance thresholds further includes the use of heuristic rules to assign relevance values to extracted multimedia features.
The above objects are further achieved by providing a method, a computer system and a computer program product for a multimedia summarization, wherein selected multimedia scene shots with high relevance scores to the user-specified theme are assembled into a multimedia summarization.
According to the invention, the invention extracts a predetermined number of multimedia features from each multimedia scene shot and measures the relevance between each feature and the user-specified theme.
According to the invention, the invention performs video analysis on the multimedia scene shots to detect and match human features, extract prominent colors, extract spatial features and to detect motion.
In further accordance with the above objects, the invention forms a subset of the selected multimedia scene shots based upon the relevance thresholds.
According to the invention, the invention removes duplicate multimedia scene shots from the multimedia scene shots that are most relevant prior to assembling the multimedia summarization.

Method and apparatus for personalized multimedia summarization based upon user specified theme


Weighted ridge regression (WRR) processing is applied to three or more distance measurements to determine the location of a terminal. For example, in an integrated satellite-based navigation system/wireless network, the location of a mobile unit can be determined by applying WRR processing to at least three distance measurements, where one or more of the distance measurements are satellite-based distance measurements (e.g., GPS pseudorange measurements) and one or more are wireless network-based distance measurements (e.g., round-trip delay or pilot phase offset measurements). WRR processing provides improved accuracy in the determination of mobile unit position over conventional least mean square techniques.

Satellite-based navigational systems provide accurate, two or three dimensional position information to worldwide users. FIG. 1 depicts a well-known satellite-based navigational system referred to as Global Positioning System (GPS) 10. GPS 10 comprises a plurality of satellites 12-j and at least one GPS receiver 14. Each satellite 12-j orbits earth at a known speed νj and is a known distance apart from other satellites 12-j. Each satellite 12-j transmits a GPS signal 11-j which includes a carrier signal with a known frequency f modulated using a unique pseudo-random noise (PN-j) code and navigational data (ND-j) associated with the particular satellite 12-j, wherein the PN-j code includes a unique sequence of PN chips and navigation data ND-j includes a satellite identifier, timing information and orbital data, such as elevation angle αj and azimuth angle φj.
GPS receiver 14 comprises an antenna 15 for receiving GPS signals 11-j, a plurality of correlators 16-k for detecting GPS signals 11-j and a processor 17 having software for determining a position using pseudoranges and the navigation data ND-j associated with the detected GPS signals 11-j. GPS receiver 14 detects GPS signals 11-j via PN-j codes using a correlation process in which correlators 16-k search for PN-j codes in a carrier frequency dimension and a code phase dimension. Such correlation process is implemented as a real-time multiplication of a phase shifted replicated PN-j codes modulated onto a replicated carrier signal with received GPS signals 11-j, followed by an integration and dump process.
Upon detecting GPS signals 11-j, GPS receiver 14 extracts ranging information from the detected GPS signals 11-j in the form of pseudoranges or PN phase offset measurements, wherein ranging information indicates a range or distance between a transmitter source, i.e., satellite 12-j, and a receiver, i.e., GPS receiver 14. The pseudorange measurements are subsequently used to determine time differences for satellites 12-j indicating times required for GPS signals 11-j to travel from satellites 12-j to GPS receiver 14. Such time differences, along with other navigational data indicated in GPS signals 11-j, are used to determine the position of GPS receiver 14, as is well known in the art. Note that a two dimensional position, i.e., latitude and longitude, of GPS receiver 14 can be determined if GPS receiver 14 can detect GPS signals 11-j transmitted from at least three satellites 12-j, and a three dimensional position, i.e., latitude, longitude and altitude, of GPS receiver 14 can be determined if GPS receiver 14 can detect GPS signals 11-j transmitted from at least four satellites 12-j.
The accuracy of the position being determined for GPS receiver 14 depends on the quality of the pseudorange measurements. The quality of the pseudorange measurements is affected by signal strengths, multipaths, noise caused by the environment or GPS receiver components, etc. Good quality pseudorange measurements result in high accuracy GPS receiver 14 positioning solutions. By contrast, poor quality PN phase offset measurements, such as outliers, result in GPS receiver 14 positioning solutions with large errors.
Integrity monitoring techniques are used to detect and, if possible, remove poor quality pseudorange measurements used in positioning solutions such that high accuracy GPS receiver 14 positioning solutions may be obtained. The function of integrity monitoring is to perform failure detection and/or failure isolation. Failure detection is a technique for determining the existence of a failed satellite, i.e., satellite associated with a poor quality pseudorange measurement used in a positioning solution. In order to perform failure detection in two dimensional positioning solutions, GPS receiver 14 needs to be able to detect at least four GPS signals 11-j. In order to perform failure detection in three dimensional positioning solutions, GPS receiver 14 needs to be able to detect at least five GPS signals 11-j.
Failure isolation is a technique for identifying the failed satellite (or poor quality pseudorange measurement). In order to perform failure isolation in two dimensional positioning solutions, GPS receiver 14 needs to be able to detect at least five GPS signals 11-j. In order to perform failure isolation in three dimensional positioning solutions, GPS receiver 14 needs to be able to detect at least six GPS signals 11-j. Once failure isolation is successfully performed, the ranging information associated with the failed satellite can be removed from positioning solutions.
Integrity monitoring techniques include the well-known parity method, ranging comparison method and least squares residuals method. All three methods are snapshot schemes that assume redundant ranging information or measurements, i.e., the number of ranging information or measurements is more than required for determining a positioning solution, are available at a given sample point in time. All three methods have been proven to provide identical results with respect to failure detection. The parity method, however, has been proven to be further useful in performing failure isolation. For ease of discussion, integrity monitoring will be discussed herein with reference to the parity method. This should not be construed to limit the present invention in any manner.
The basic measurement relationships for failure detection and isolation can be generally described by the following well-known equationy=Hx+e  equation 1where y is a n×1 measurement vector representing differences between actual measured pseudoranges and predicted pseudoranges based on a nominal position of GPS receiver 14 and a clock bias, n is the number of ranging measurements, and H is a n×m known predictor matrix arrived at by linearizing about the nominal position and a clock bias. The term x is a m×1 vector which typically includes components of true position deviation from the nominal position plus a derivation of the clock bias, where m is the number of unknown variables in vector x to be solved. The term e is a n×1 measurement error vector due to receiver noise, vagaries in propagation, imprecise knowledge of satellite position, satellite clock error, etc. For the integrity monitoring of a satellite navigation system, it is commonly assumed that e is a zero mean with n×n covariance matrix R=σ2I, where I is a n×n identity matrix and σ2 is a variance associated with each element of the error vector e.
In the parity method, a linear transformation on the measurement vector y results in the following equation
                              [                                                                                x                    ^                                    LS                                                                                p                                              ]                =                              [                                                                                (                                                                              H                            T                                                                              H                                                )                                                                    -                        1                                                                                H                      T                                                                                P                                                      ]                              y                                    equation                                                  2            where the upper portion yields a least squares solution {circumflex over (x)}LS and the lower portion yields a parity vector p. Least squares solution {circumflex over (x)}LS indicates least squares components of true position deviation from the nominal position and derivation of the clock bias. Parity vector p is the result of operating on measurement vector y with a special (n−m)×n matrix P, wherein matrix P has rows unity in magnitude and mutually orthogonal to each other and to the columns of predictor matrix H. The method of determining matrix P is well-known and described in "Matrix Computation," Second Edition, authored by G. H. Golub and C. F. Van Loan and published by The John Hopkins University Press.
Under the assumption of equation 1, i.e., e is a zero mean with a n×1 measurement error vector, failure detection is a simple scalar which obeys a chi-square distribution with a freedom of n−m. Specifically, failure detection utilizes a failure decision rule, wherein the failure decision rule involves calculating a decision scalar d=pTp, and comparing the decision scalar d against a predetermined failure detection threshold value. If the decision scalar d is greater than the failure detection threshold, then failure is detected and declared. Otherwise, failure is not detected and no failure is declared. Note that n−m must be larger or equal to one for failure detection to be possible. Thus, the number of redundant ranging measurements n must be at least four or five in order to perform failure detection in two or three dimensional positioning solutions, respectively.
Parity vector p also provides a geometric perspective useful in failure isolation because the direction indicated by parity vector p can be used to identify the failed satellite. For example, assume there are total 6 satellite measurements and 4 unknown variables in vector x, i.e., n=6 and m=4. Assume also a failure happens on a k-th satellite 12-j, which causes an error b in the measurement of the k-th satellite 12-j, where b is much larger than normal measurement noise. The matrix P is then a 2×6 matrix.
                    P        =                  [                                                                      p                  11                                                            …                                                              p                                      1                                                                                j                                                                              …                                                              p                  16                                                                                p                  21                                                            …                                                              p                                      2                                                                                j                                                                              …                                                              p                  26                                                              ]                                    equation                                                  3                a            Since b is much larger than normal measurement noise, the measurement error vector e can be approximated by the following equation.
                    e        =                              [                                                                                e                    1                                                                                ⋮                                                                                e                      j                                        +                    b                                                                                ⋮                                                                                e                    n                                                                        ]                    ≈                      [                                                            0                                                                              ⋮                                                                              b                                                                              ⋮                                                                              0                                                      ]                                              equation                                                  3                b            Then, the resultant parity vector p is
                    p        =                              P                                                                          y                    =                                    P                                            (                                                      H                                                                                x                                    +                  e                                )                                      =                                          P                                                                                e                            ≈                              [                                                                                p                                                  1                                                                                j                                                                                p                                                  2                                                                                j                                                                                ]                                                                        equation                                                  3                c            where p1j and p2j denotes elements of matrix P. Equation 3c shows that by ignoring the normal measurement noise, parity vector p induced by the error b on satellite 12-j must lie along a line whose slope is p1j/p2j. Each satellite 12-j is associated with its own characteristic bias line, with a slope determined by the elements of the respective column vector of P. The failed satellite is identified as the satellite with a characteristic bias line that lies along parity vector p. Note that n−m needs to be greater than or equal to two in order for parity vector p to be a vector. If p is not a vector, failure isolation cannot be performed.
When GPS receiver 14 does not have enough redundant ranging measurements available, integrity monitoring can not be performed. For example, GPS receiver 14 may not have a sufficient number of redundant measurements when GPS receiver 14 is directly obstructed from satellites 12-j by a building. In this example, the problem may be exacerbated because the number of poor quality pseudorange measurements by GPS receiver 14 would probably increase, which would further necessitate the need for integrity monitoring. Accordingly, there exists a need to perform integrity monitoring when GPS receiver 14 lacks redundant ranging measurements.

Integrity monitoring for geo-location systems


The invention relates to a gripping device, comprising a proximal member (10), a medial member (20), and a distal member (30), which are each pivotably supported on each other, and comprising an actuator (80), which is coupled to a slidably supported coupling element (50), wherein the coupling element (50) is arranged between the proximal member (10) and the distal member (30) and is connected in a force-transmitting manner both to the proximal member (10) and to the distal member (30). According to the invention, at least one lever (40) is arranged on the coupling element (50), which lever is connected both to the proximal member (10) and to the distal member (30) and kinematically couples the proximal member (10) with the distal member (30).

Such a gripping device is useful in particular for hand prostheses, in which the gripping device can be used as a prosthetic finger. In addition to applications in prosthetics, it is also possible to use the gripping device in other technical fields, for example in handling technology or in so-called robots.
A gripping device of this type, in the form of a prosthetic finger, is known from DE 10 2007 005 858 A1. A longitudinally movable balance arm is arranged in the medial member and is connected by levers to the proximal member and to the distal member. The attachment of the balance arm to the proximal member and to the distal member via levers is mechanically complex. In addition, it is necessary to encapsulate the medial member with the levers in order to produce a finger ready for use.


The present invention discloses a power-on/off drive circuit and a method for controlling the power-on/off drive circuit, and belongs to the field of electronic technologies. The power-on/off drive circuit includes a load, a switch circuit, a relay, and a single-source drive circuit; one end of a coil in the relay and a first input end of the single-source drive circuit are separately connected to a positive electrode of a second external power supply, and the other end of the coil in the relay is connected to a second input end of the single-source drive circuit; and a first output end of the single-source drive circuit is connected to a second input end of the switch circuit, a second output end of the single-source drive circuit is connected to the output end of the switch circuit, and a third output end of the single-source drive circuit is connected to a negative electrode of the second external power supply. In the present invention, a volume of a power-on/off drive circuit is reduced.

In a communications system, to improve electric energy utilization, power management needs to be performed on a communication power supply in the communications system, to effectively distribute electric energy of the communication power supply to different loads in the communications system. When power management is performed, different loads may be powered on/off to allocate electric energy to the different loads. The different loads may be powered on/off by using a power-on/off drive circuit. That the different loads are powered on/off means that the different loads are powered on or powered off, that the loads are powered on means that power is supplied to the loads, and that the loads are powered off means that power supply to the loads is disabled.
Currently, a power-on/off drive circuit is provided. As shown in FIG. 1, the power-on/off drive circuit includes a load 1, a contactor 2, a relay 3, a relay drive circuit 4, a metal oxide semiconductor (Metal Oxide Semiconductor, MOS for short) transistor 5, and a MOS transistor drive circuit 6. One end of the load 1 is connected to a positive electrode of an external power supply, the other end of the load 1 is connected to a normally closed contact 2a of the contactor 2, and a normally open contact 2b of the contactor 2 is connected to a negative electrode of the external power supply. One end of a coil in the contactor 2 is connected to the positive electrode of the external power supply, and the other end of the coil in the contactor 2 is connected to a normally closed contact 3a of the relay 3. The relay 3 is connected in series to the MOS transistor 5, and a normally open contact 3b of the relay 3 is connected to a drain d of the MOS transistor 5. The relay drive circuit 4 is connected in parallel between two ends of a coil in the relay 3, the MOS transistor drive circuit 6 is connected in parallel between a gate g and a source s of the MOS transistor 5, and the source s of the MOS transistor 5 is connected to the negative electrode of the external power supply. In addition, when power-on/off driving is performed by using the power-on/off drive circuit, the relay drive circuit 4 controls closing or opening of the relay 3, and the MOS transistor drive circuit 6 controls turning on or off of the MOS transistor 5, so as to control closing or opening of the contactor 2, to power on or power off the load 1.
In a process of implementing the present invention, the inventor finds that the prior art has at least the following problem: Because the contactor 2 has a relatively large volume, and the relay 3 and the MOS transistor 5 need to be controlled by different drive circuits, an entire volume of the power-on/off drive circuit is relatively large.

Power-on/off drive circuit and method for controlling power-on/off drive circuit


A method for electrically contacting a rear side of a semiconductor substrate when processing the semiconductor substrate includes the step of placing the semiconductor substrate with a substrate rear side on a substrate holder such that an electrically conductive contact layer formed of a semiconductor material is disposed between the semiconductor substrate and the substrate holder.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for making electrical contact with the rear side of a semiconductor substrate when processing the semiconductor substrate.
When manufacturing semiconductor components, process steps are used which require an electrical contact to the substrate to be processed. This is the case, for example, in electrical or electrochemical process steps. In order to be able to manufacture a large number of identical components in parallel on a semiconductor substrate, it is necessary for the substrate to be processed uniformly by the process step. This requires contacting methods which make electrical contact with the substrate in a way which is as homogenous as possible. If a homogenous electrical contact is not ensured, there is a variation in the electrical potential over the substrate, which can become manifest in an inhomogenous process control and can prevent a uniform execution of the process step. The fluctuation leads to a non-uniform galvanic deposition (in the case of a negative substrate potential) and to non-uniform anodic dissolving (in the case of a positive substrate potential).
In the case of the anodic dissolving of the substrate, given, for example, a suitably selected doping and electrolyte composition, pores are formed when there is a low anodic potential and electropolished surfaces are formed when there is a high anodic potential. This constitutes a considerable dependence of the semiconductor components to be formed on the potential applied and may prevent that properly functioning semiconductor components are formed.
The formation of pores in silicon is of interest, for example, for manufacturing trench capacitors because the formation of pores allows a considerable increase of the surface and thus allows to realize an associated increase in capacitance. Especially suitable pores are referred to as xe2x80x9cmesoporesxe2x80x9d with a pore diameter in the range of 2-10 nanometers (nm). Since, as already mentioned above, the formation of pores depends on the electrical potential, it is of great importance to apply this potential as uniformly as possible over the substrate.
Published, Non-Prosecuted German Patent Application DE 197 28 962 A1 describes, for example, a device for etching a semiconductor wafer. The device is suitable, for example, for etching a main surface of the semiconductor wafer. Electrical contact is made with the semiconductor wafer from the rear side in its edge region.
Japanese Patent Document JP 59-41830 A relates to a mounting device for a semiconductor substrate, through the use of which a fluid for electroplating the semiconductor substrate is sprayed onto the semiconductor substrate. Here also, the electrical contact is made in the rear-side edge region.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,815 relates to a vacuum mounting device for mounting fragile objects such as, for example, semiconductor substrates. Electrical contact is made through the use of rear-side contact elements in the center of the substrate.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,777 relates to a system for depositing a wiring plane on a semiconductor wafer. Needle electrodes are installed on the front side of the substrate in order to make electrical contact with the front side of the substrate.
Japanese Patent Document JP 10-046394 A relates to an electroplating system and a method for a galvanic depositing, for example, of a metallic layer. Here, a mounting device for the semiconductor wafer is embodied in such a way that the contact is made with the semiconductor wafer at its periphery.
Japanese Patent Document JP 62-293632 A describes an insulating layer which is provided with holes and is provided between the semiconductor wafer and a chuck.
Japanese Patent Document JP 11-181600 A relates to a method for checking the electrical contact of connecting pins of an electroplating device. The connecting pins are connected to a conductive film which is provided on the wafer. In order to check the electrical contact of a connecting pin, the electrical resistance of this connecting pin is determined with respect to the other connecting pins.
A conventional method for making contact uniformly over the entire rear side is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,833. An electrolytic contact is made with the rear side of the substrate, which contact ensures a very low fluctuation of the contact resistance between the substrate and electrolyte.
The method for making electrolytic rear-side contact over the entire surface is, however, costly in terms of process technology because the electrolyte always requires a wet cell.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a method for electrically contacting a rear side of a semiconductor substrate which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known methods of this general type and which provides a uniform contact with the semiconductor substrate.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a method for electrically contacting a rear side of a semiconductor substrate when processing the semiconductor substrate, the method includes the steps of:
providing a semiconductor substrate having a substrate rear side and a substrate front side disposed opposite from the substrate rear side and, if appropriate, removing an insulating layer disposed on the substrate rear side; and
placing the semiconductor substrate with the substrate rear side on a substrate holder such that an electrically conductive contact layer formed of a semiconductor material is disposed between the semiconductor substrate and the substrate holder.
In other words, the object of the invention is achieved by a method for making electrical contact with the rear side of a semiconductor substrate during its processing, wherein a substrate is provided, which has a substrate rear side and a substrate front side located opposite the latter, with an insulating layer on the substrate rear side removed from it, and the substrate is provided with its substrate rear side on a substrate holder, and an electrically conductive layer made of a semiconductor material is provided between the substrate and the substrate holder.
The advantage of the method according to the invention is due to the fact that an electrolytic contact which would require a costly wet cell can be dispensed with. Instead, the electrical connection is made according to the invention through the use of an electrically conductive contact layer which can be used in combination with a substrate holder which is, for example, a metallic or metal-coated vacuum chuck. Here, for example, the conductive contact layer is firstly provided on the chuck and the substrate is subsequently provided on the conductive contact layer.
The electrical contact serves, for example, in electrical or electrochemical processes, to permit a uniform flow of current from the front side of the substrate to the substrate holder.
In one embodiment of the invention, the conductive contact layer is formed as a diffusion barrier for materials of which the substrate holder is composed. Without a diffusion barrier, a vacuum chuck provided with a gold layer could contaminate a semiconductor substrate composed of silicon, the gold atoms forming impurities or defects in the silicon substrate, as a result of which the functions of a field effect transistor can be disrupted.
A further embodiment of the invention provides for a conductive contact layer to be formed from a semiconductor material. The use of a semiconductor material, or preferably the use of the same semiconductor material as the substrate can suitably prevent the contamination of the substrate.
Furthermore, according to another mode of the invention, a conductive contact layer is doped with the same type of charge carrier or dopants as the substrate. Using the same type of charge carrier advantageously avoids a pn-type junction which has a diode blocking effect in a direction of current flow. By using the same type of charge carrier, a low-impedance electrical contact is made possible between the substrate and the conductive layer. In order to achieve a low resistance in the conductive contact layer, the conductive contact layer is provided with a high dopant concentration. Because the substrate is usually rather weakly doped on its rear side, the high doping of the conductive contact layer achieves a homogenous distribution of current on the rear side of the substrate.
According to another mode of the invention, a trench is formed in the conductive contact layer in a surface facing the substrate. The formation of a trench in a surface of the conductive contact layer facing the rear side of the substrate makes it possible to press the rear side of the substrate and thus the substrate against the conductive contact layer by virtue of a vacuum provided in the trench. Pressing the substrate against the conductive contact layer permits a low-impedance contact between the conductive contact layer and the substrate.
According to another mode of the invention, a mesa is formed in the conductive contact layer in a surface facing the substrate. A mesa is, in contrast to a trench, a structure which is surrounded by a trench and which projects beyond its surroundings as an elevation. The mesa is, for example, suitable for an operation in which the rear side of the substrate is pressed against the mesa and a low-impedance electrical contact is thus achieved between the rear side of the substrate and the mesa. This can be achieved through the use of a vacuum which is provided in a trench which surrounds the mesa.
The trenches and mesas which are provided on the surface of the conductive contact layer facing the substrate serve to provide a uniform distribution of the contact pressure of the substrate against the conductive contact layer by virtue of a suitable configuration of trenches and mesas. For example, a checkerboard-like pattern of trenches and/or mesas is suitable here for providing, on the entire rear side of the substrate, a uniform distribution of the vacuum and electrical contact which can be provided by the mesas.
Furthermore, a hole may be formed in the conductive contact layer which hole extends from a surface facing the substrate to a surface, facing the substrate holder, of the conductive contact layer. The configuration of a hole which extends through the conductive contact layer makes it advantageously possible to use the vacuum device of the vacuum chuck for pressing the substrate against the conductive contact layer. This is particularly advantageous because vacuum chucks are already equipped with a vacuum connection and vacuum holes in the surface of the vacuum chuck facing the substrate. This avoids the necessity of a separate vacuum device for the conductive contact layer.
It is also advantageous if a second trench is formed in the conductive contact layer in a surface facing the substrate carrier. As described above, the first trench serves for pressing the substrate against a conductive contact layer through the use of a vacuum. The second trench serves to conduct the vacuum from the vacuum holes in the surface of the substrate carrier through the conductive contact layer.
Furthermore, it is advantageous to form a second mesa in the conductive contact layer in a surface facing the substrate carrier. A pattern which includes the second trench and the second mesa is suitable, for example, for permitting a process in which the conductive contact layer is positioned on the substrate carrier without fine adjustment to the vacuum openings provided by the substrate carrier. The vacuum is conveyed through the conductive contact layer from the substrate carrier to the substrate through the use of the second trench and the hole.
In a further method step there is provision for a lower pressure to be generated in the trench than at the front side of the substrate. Through the use of the pressure difference between the front side of the substrate and the trench, the substrate is pressed against the conductive contact layer and the conductive contact layer is thus pressed against the substrate holder.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a method for making electrical contact with the rear side of a semiconductor substrate during its processing, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Method for making electrical contact with a rear side of a semiconductor substrate during its processing


An automatically operated bed includes a support frame, a first frame, a first drive cylinder, a second frame, a second drive cylinder, an auxiliary frame, and a cushion. Thus, the first frame and the second frame are lifted or lowered by operation of the first drive cylinder and the second drive cylinder, so that the bed has a simplified construction, thereby decreasing the costs of fabrication. In addition, the auxiliary frame is disposed at a horizontal state by support of the push bar of the second frame until the auxiliary frame so that a user's lower leg is supported by the auxiliary frame in comfortable manner to prevent the user's leg from being bent excessively, thereby providing a comfortable sensation to the user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bed and, more particularly, to an automatically operated bed.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional automatically operated bed 60 in accordance with the prior art shown in FIGS. 11-13 comprises a support frame 63, a front frame 61 mounted on a front portion of the support frame 61, a front cushion 64 mounted on the front frame 61, a rear frame 62 mounted on a second portion of the support frame 61, a rear cushion 65 mounted on the rear frame 62, and a drive mechanism 66 mounted on the front frame 61 for moving the front cushion 64 and the rear cushion 65. The drive mechanism 66 includes a drive motor 661 to rotate a drive shaft 662 which drives a movable tube 663 to move forward and backward by rotation of the drive shaft 662, an elastic wire 664 having a first end secured to a distal end of the movable tube 663 and a second end secured to a hook 651 of the rear cushion 65, and a connecting bracket 67 having a top rested on the front cushion 64 and having a pivot arm 671 pivotally mounted on the distal end of the movable tube 663.
In operation, the drive motor 661 rotates the drive shaft 662 to drive a the movable tube 663 to retract inward, so that the pivot arm 671 of the connecting bracket 67 is pulled by the movable tube 663 to drive the front cushion 64 to bend, while the elastic wire 664 is pulled by the movable tube 663 to drive the rear cushion 65 to bend as shown in FIG. 13.
However, the drive mechanism 66 has a complicated construction, thereby increasing the costs of fabrication. In addition, the drive mechanism 66 has a complicated construction, thereby causing inconvenience in maintenance of the drive mechanism 66. Further, the elastic wire 664 is pulled by the movable tube 663 to drive the rear cushion 65 to bend, so that the user's legs supported by the rear cushion 65 are disposed at a bent state constantly, thereby providing an uncomfortable sensation to the user. Further, the front cushion 64 and the rear cushion 65 are operated simultaneously and cannot be operated individually according to the user's practical requirement, thereby causing inconvenience to the user.


It is shown that a defect in the chitotriosidase gene is a risk factor with respect to susceptibility for infectious diseases with chitin-containing pathogens and the development of (rheumatoid) arthritis. The molecular basis of the relatively common chitotriosidase deficiency is a 24 bp duplication in the chitotriosidase gene. A convenient method allowing analysis of chitotriosidase genotype and subsequent determination of increased risk has been developed. Chitotriosidase is shown to be selectively secreted by macrophages upon specific activation and excreted by neutrophils by release of specific granules upon an appropriate stimulus. It has been shown that the measurement of plasma chitotriosidase activity can be successfully used for diagnosis of specific disorders and monitoring of efficacy of therapeutic interventions, at least in combination with information on the chitotriosidase genotype status of an individual.

Gaucher disease is an inherited disorder characterized by the accumulation in tissues of glucosylceramide-laden macrophages (`Gaucher cells`) as the result of a deficiency in the lysosomal enzyme glucocerebrosidase [1]. The presence of Gaucher cells is responsible for the common symptoms in Gaucher patients, such as hepatomegaly, splenomegaly, and skeletal deterioration [1].
The clinical manifestations in glucocerebrosidase-deficient individuals are very heterogeneous. Onset of clinical symptoms may occur at very young age, but the disorder may also remain virtually asymptomatic. Accurate prediction of disease severity and progression is not possible on the basis of the mutant glucocerebrosidase genotype of Gaucher patients.
During our search for sensitive markers for the presence of Gaucher cells, we discovered that in plasma of symptomatic patients chitotriosidase activity is markedly elevated [2]. Our present experience with more than 700 symptomatic Gaucher patients indicates that the average plasma chitotriosidase activity is about 1000-fold higher than the normal mean.
The discovery that activated storage macrophages are the source of the excessive plasma chitotriosidase in Gaucher patients, made us conceive that several disease conditions in which activated neutrophils and/or macrophages are involved might show detectable chitotriosidase abnormalities that can be exploited for diagnosis as well as for monitoring and optimalisation of therapeutic intervention. The feasibility and validity of this is illustrated by a number of examples, involving Gaucher disease, atherosclerosis, sarcoidosis, multiple sclerosis, arthritis and Crohn disease.
Copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/486,839 describes our discovery that man contains a chitinase, named chitotriosidase, that fulfills a role in resistance against infections with chitin-containing pathogens by virtue of its ability to degrade chitin, an essential structural component of their coatings. Said patent application claims the use of chitotriosidase in therapy or prophylaxis against infectious diseases.

Determination of a genetic risk factor for infection and other diseases, and detection of activated phagocytes