In a magnetoresistive effect element, at least one of electrodes for supplying a current perpendicularly to the film plane of a magnetoresistive effect film is narrower than the distance between bias-applying films. The sensitivity of the magnetoresistive effect film is lower in regions thereof near the bias-applying films due to an intensive bias magnetic field from the bias-applying films. However, the electrodes are disposed in an inner region having a high sensitivity avoiding those regions with a lower sensitivity to ensure a high sensitivity. The electrodes disposed on and under the magnetoresistive effect film are pillar-shaped to concentrate the sense current such that the sense current can be concentrically supplied exclusively to the region with the high sensitivity.

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-088448, filed on Mar. 26, 2001; the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
This invention relates to a magnetoresistive effect element, its manufacturing method, magnetic head, magnetic reproducing apparatus and magnetic memory, and more particularly, to a magnetoresistive effect element having a structure for carrying a sense current perpendicularly to the film plane thereof and applying a bias magnetic field to enable more sensitive detection than conventional elements of this kind, its manufacturing method, a magnetic head using the element, a magnetic reproducing apparatus using the magnetic head, and a magnetic memory using the magnetoresistive effect elements.
Magnetic reproducing devices such as hard disk devices have rapidly moved toward downsizing and high densities, and are still expected to become higher in density. For realizing higher densities in magnetic recording technologies, it is necessary to increase the lengthwise recording density, i.e. line recording density, in addition to increasing the recording track density by narrowing the recording track width.
However, in the xe2x80x9clengthwise recording methodxe2x80x9d that magnetizes a medium in its lengthwise direction, as the recording density increases, the demagnetizing field increases, and it results in decreasing the reproduction output and disabling stable recording. To alleviate these problems, xe2x80x9cperpendicular magnetic recordingxe2x80x9d has been proposed. Perpendicular magnetic recording is a method of magnetizing a recording medium perpendicularly to its plane for recording, and has the advantage of less adverse influences of demagnetization even under a high recording density than the lengthwise recording and a less decrease of the reproduction output.
For reproduction of signals from mediums, either in the lengthwise recording or in the perpendicular recording, magnetic induction heads have been used conventionally. However, along with progressive increases of the recording density, the recording track width becomes narrower, and the intensity of recorded magnetization becomes weaker. Taking it into account, toward obtaining a sufficient reproduction output by detecting such weak magnetization, an AMR (anisotropic magnetoresistive effect) head using anisotropic magnetoresistive effect and having a high reproduction sensitivity has been developed and brought into practical use as a shield type reproducing head. Additionally, a spin valve GMR (giant magnetoresistive effect) head using GMR effect and having a higher sensitivity has recently come to be used, and magnetic heads using TMR (tunneling magnetoresistive) effect are also under researches toward development and practical use.
By development and employment of these magnetic heads, a clue to reproduction of recording signals was found even with very small recording bit sizes.
As the recording density increases, the sensitivity of the sensor must be higher. CPP (current perpendicular to the plane) type GMR elements meet such requirement. This is an element of the type supplying the GMR film having a multi-layered thin film structure with a sense current for detection of a magnetic field to the perpendicularly to the film plane.
CPP elements are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H10-55512 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,668,688.
On the other hand, there is a method that, for the purpose of suppressing the Barkhausen noise, places bias films at opposite ends and applies a bias magnetic field from the bias films. The Inventors, however, have found that narrowing the distance between the bias-applying films along with progressive decrease of the track width for the purpose of increasing the recording density results in applying an excessively high bias magnetic field and in decreasing the sensitivity of the element.
Neither Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H10-55512 nor U.S. Pat. No. 5,668,688 mentioned above suggests that problem, and it is difficult for the configurations disclosed therein to sufficiently overcome the problem.
On the other hand, for realizing highly sensitive CPP type GMR elements, the sense current has to flow as perpendicular as possible to the film plane. However, since these highly sensitive MR elements are usually made of a multi-layered film different in resistance, the current profile changes depending on the combination of the layers including the base layer, protective layer and electrode layer, and results in fluctuation of the output. Therefore, control of the current profile is very important.
Additionally, in case of flowing the sense current perpendicularly to the film plane, a magnetic field caused by the sense current is added concentrically around the current center. This magnetic field caused by the sense current is most intensive at an end of the electrode supplying the sense current, and saturates the magnetic shield near there. There occurs the problem that the effective shield distance increases.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a CPP type magnetoresistive effect element having bias-applying films and enabling high-density, high-sensitivity magnetic detection, and its manufacturing method, and to provide a magnetic head, magnetic reproducing device and magnetic memory such as MRAM, which use the magnetoresistive effect element.
To accomplish the object, a magnetoresistive effect element according to an embodiment of the invention comprises:
a magnetoresistive effect film having first and second main surfaces opposed to each other;
a first electrode having a first contact surface in contact with the first main surface of the magnetoresistive effect film by a first width;
a second electrode having a second contact surface in contact with the second main surface of the magnetoresistive effect film so as to be opposed to the first electrode; and
a pair of bias-applying films spaced apart by a distance wider than the first width of the first contact surface in the direction of the first width to apply a bias magnetic field in a direction substantially in parallel to the film main surfaces of the magnetoresistive effect film.
As explained above, according to the embodiments of the invention, a high sensitivity can be realized in a CPP type magnetoresistive effect element even under a high recording density by supplying the sense current exclusively to the inner portion having a high sensitivity, avoiding portions near the bias-applying films where the sensitivity is lowered by the intensive bias magnetic field.

Magnetoresistive effect element, its manufacturing method, magnetic head, magnetic reproducing apparatus, and magnetic memory


An interrupt control circuit is configured as a memory circuit to output interrupt vector information in response to multilevel interrupt requests for a CPU. The interrupt control circuit is provided with a plurality of interrupt vector generators configured as a memory matrix array. Each interrupt vector generator effects self-addressing based on the contents of a memory cell functioning as a latch circuit in which is stored an interrupt request and the contents of a memory cell functioning as a mask register in which interrupt control information is stored. The interrupt control circuit is further provided with a single output buffer commonly coupled to memory cells constituting each interrupt vector generator, thereby providing access to a self-addressed interrupt vector generator to concurrently output the interrupt vector information from the respective memory cells to a data bus via the single output buffer. A small-sized interrupt control circuit having a high signal transmission speed is thereby provided.

The present invention relates to an interrupt control circuit, and more particularly to an interrupt control circuit operative to produce interrupt vector information from interrupt vector generators configured as a memory matrix array in response to interrupt requests. Specifically, the present invention is concerned with an interrupt control circuit wherein each interrupt vector generator has a self-addressing function to provide access to the self-addressed interrupt vector generator to thereby output interrupt vector information via a single output buffer.
First, a conventional interrupt control circuit will be described with reference to FIG. 1. This circuit includes input terminals 1, 2 and 3 receiving interrupt request signals, latch circuits 4, 5 and 6 connected to the input terminals 1, 2 and 3, respectively, an output terminal 7 for transmitting an interrupt request signal to a CPU (not shown), which is connected to respective outputs of the latch circuits 4, 5 and 6 through an OR gate 8, and an input terminal 9 for receiving an interrupt acknowledge signal from the CPU. The interrupt control circuit further includes AND gates 10, 11 and 12 for forming logical products outputs from the latch circuits 4, 5 and 6 and the interruption acknowledge signal from the input terminal 9, respectively, interruption vector generators 13, 14 and 15 each having a plural bit configuration, output buffers 16, 17 and 18 each having a plural bit configuration and outputting respective output signals from the interrupt vector generators 13, 14 and 15 depending upon the output states of the AND gates 10, 11 and 12, and a data bus 19 coupled in parallel with the output buffers 16, 17 and 18.
For instance, when an interrupt request signal is inputted to the input terminal 1, the latch circuit 4 becomes operative to latch the interrupt request signal. The output signal of the latch circuit 4 is fed to one input terminal of the AND gate 10 and is also fed to the output terminal 7 through the OR gate 8 as an interrupt request signal to the CPU. When the CPU accepts this interrupt signal, it outputs an interrupt acknowledge signal to the input terminal 9. As a result, the output buffer 16 is enabled by the interrupt acknowledge signal. Thus, an output signal (interrupt vector information) from the interrupt vector generator 13 is outputted to the data bus 19 via the output buffer 16. Further, in the case where an interrupt request signal is fed to the input terminal 2 or 3, a similar interrupt operation is carried out. Namely, interrupt vector information from the interrupt vector generator 14 and 15 is outputted to the data bus 19 via the output buffer 17 or 18.
In the above-mentioned conventional circuit for controlling a plurality of interrupts, output buffers having a plural bit configuration in the same number as that of the received interrupt are connected to the data bus 19. Accordingly, a large amount of traffic due to the large number of output buffers is placed on the data bus, with the result that the average signal transmission speed is lowered.
Further, from a mask layout point of view, it is difficult to accommodate a large number of output buffers having a large area.


A light emitting diode (LED) based luminaire driving arrangement constituted of: a switched driver; a plurality of LED based luminaries arranged to receive power from the switched driver; at least one electronically controlled switch in series with at least one of the plurality of LED based luminaries and arranged to alternatively pass current through the at least one LED based luminaire when closed and prevent the flow of current through the at least one LED based luminaire when opened; and at least one synchronous driver in communication with the at least one electronically controlled switch, the at least one synchronous driver arranged to close the at least one electronically controlled switch only when the switched driver is actively supplying power.

The present invention relates to the field of solid state lighting, and in particular to an arrangement of one or more LED strings switched synchronously with input switches of a single stage power supply.
Light emitting diodes (LEDs) and in particular high intensity and medium intensity LED strings are rapidly coming into wide use for lighting applications. LEDs with an overall high luminance are useful in a number of applications including backlighting for liquid crystal display (LCD) based monitors and televisions, collectively hereinafter referred to as a matrix display, as well as for general lighting applications.
In a large LCD matrix display, and in large solid state lighting applications, such as street lighting and signage, typically the LEDs are supplied in a plurality of strings of serially connected LEDs, at least in part so that in the event of failure of one string at least some light is still output. The constituent LEDs of each LED string thus share a common current.
LEDs providing high luminance exhibit a range of forward voltage drops, denoted Vf, and their luminance is primarily a function of current. For example, one manufacturer of LEDs suitable for use with a portable computer, such as a notebook computer, indicates that Vf for a particular high luminance white LED ranges from 2.95 volts to 3.65 volts at 20 mA and an LED junction temperature of 25° C., thus exhibiting a variance in Vf of greater than ±10%. Furthermore, the luminance of the LEDs vary as a function of junction temperature and age, typically exhibiting a reduced luminance as a function of current with increasing temperature and increasing age. In order to provide backlight illumination for a portable computer with an LCD matrix display of at least 25 cm measured diagonally, at least 20, and typically in excess of 40, LEDs are required. In order to provide street lighting, in certain applications over 100 LEDs are required.
In order to provide a balanced overall luminance, it is important to control the current of the various LED strings to be approximately equal. In one embodiment a power source is supplied for each LED string, and the voltage of the power source is controlled in a closed loop to ensure that the voltage output of the power source is consonant with the voltage drop of the LED string, however the requirement for a power source for each LED string is quite costly.
In another embodiment, as described in U.S. Patent Application Publication US 2007/0195025 to Korcharz et al, entitled "Voltage Controlled Backlight Driver" and published Aug. 23, 2007, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference, this is accomplished by a controlled dissipative element placed in series with each of the LED strings. In another embodiment, binning is required, in which LEDs are sorted, or binned, based on their electrical and optical characteristics. Thus, in order to operate a plurality of LED strings from a single power source, at a common current, either binning of the LEDs to be within a predetermined range of Vf is required, or a balancing element, such as the dissipative element of the aforementioned patent application, must be supplied to drop the voltage difference between the strings caused by the differing Vf values so as to produce an equal current through each of the LED strings. Either of these solutions adds to cost and/or wasted energy.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,242,147 issued Jul. 10, 2007 to Jin, entitled "Current Sharing Scheme for Multiple CCF Lamp Operation", the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference, is addressed to a balancer, wherein each CCFL is connected to an AC power source lead via a primary transformer winding. The secondary windings are connected in a closed in-phase loop. The balancer requires an alternating current input in order to avoid DC saturation of the transformers, and is thus not suitable for use with LED strings, which operate only on DC.
LED strings present a significantly different load than incandescent lighting, and in particular the current does not vary in step with the input voltage. The power factor of an alternating current (AC) electric power system is defined as the ratio of real power to the apparent power flowing to a load. Real power is the capacity of the circuit to perform work in a particular time, whereas apparent power is a product of the current and voltage of the circuit. Power is lost in the system when the power factor is significantly below unity. A power factor corrector (PFC) may be advantageously utilized to control the power source providing electrical energy to the LED string so as to achieve a power factor approaching unity. A power factor corrector typically comprises an error amplifier and a multiplier arranged to cooperate so as to maintain a high power factor while controlling a power converter so as to converge the input to the error amplifier towards a reference value.
LED strings exhibit a particular voltage to current relationship, wherein for a voltage below a minimum operating voltage no appreciable current flows, and for voltages exceeding the minimum operating voltage the current follows an exponential curve responsive to the voltage. Small changes in voltage thus result in very large changes in current, which may result in extremely large power surges before correction by the slow response time of the PFC control loop.
A two stage power source and driver provides a first stage with PFC and a second stage which advantageously exhibits a fast control loop, capable of preventing such large power surges. Unfortunately, a two stage power source and driver adds expense and may further exhibit a reduced efficiency as compared with a single stage power source and driver. Additionally, in many prior art applications three stages are in effect provided: the PFC stage, the voltage converter stage and the dissipative balancer stage, which all add to cost and losses.

Synchronous regulation for LED string driver


An information recording medium (100) of the present invention includes a substrate (1) and a recording layer provided on the substrate (1) and having optical properties that can be changed by irradiation with a laser beam. The recording layer is formed of a plurality of arrayed minute recording regions (e.g., phase-change particles (2)). A part or all of the recording region is made of a recording material containing Te and O. The recording region has a length of 30 nm or less in an information recording direction. Preferably, the recording material further contains an element M, where M is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Pd, Au, and Pt.

Optical information recording media as typified by DVDs (Digital Versatile/Video Discs) and Blu-ray Discs are known as information recording media (hereinafter, may be referred to as "recording media" or "media") capable of recording and reproducing large volumes of information. Increase in the recording density of the DVDs and the Blu-ray Discs has been achieved by reducing the spot diameter through shortening of the wavelength of the semiconductor laser used for recording and reproduction and through increase in the numerical apertures (NA) of the objective lens. However, it is considered that, due to the diffraction limit of light, further increase in capacity by reduction in spot diameter is difficult to achieve by hitherto-used methods.
In recent years, an optical recording method using near-field light has been drawing attention as a technique for breaking through the problem of the diffraction limit. When light is incident, for example, on an opening or a particle having a size equal to or smaller than the wavelength of the light, near-field light is generated locally in the immediate vicinity of the opening or the particle. The spot diameter formed by the near-field light does not depend on the wavelength of the incident light, but is determined depending on the size of the opening or the particle on which the light is incident. In early times, a method had been often employed in which light is made incident, for example, on a fiber probe having a sharpened tip, and thus near-field light is generated in minute openings provided in the tip. However, this method has a problem in that the use efficiency of the incident light is low. In recent years, a near-field light generating element using surface plasmon resonance in a metal has been proposed as a device for significantly improving the use efficiency of light (Patent Literature 1, for example). In this device, recording and reproduction are performed by irradiating a minute metal film with light of an appropriate wavelength to induce surface plasmon resonance, and thus by generating near-field light in the vicinity of the metal film. In addition, for example, methods have been proposed in which patterns are formed in advance on a substrate of an information recording medium so that stable recording and reproduction can be performed even when the recording medium has an increased density (Patent Literature 2 and Patent Literature 3, for example).
Furthermore, an information recording medium using nanoparticles for a recording layer has been proposed (Patent Literature 4, for example). The recording layer of this information recording medium is formed of metal particles having a diameter of 100 nm or less and arranged in such a manner as to be enclosed by a phase-change material whose phase state transits to a crystalline state or an amorphous state in response to irradiation with light. In this recording layer, a material exhibiting localized surface plasmon resonance, such as Pt, Ag, Au, Al, or Cu, is used for the metal particles, and a material whose complex dielectric constant changes depending on its phase state, such as Ge—Sb—Te or Ag—In—Sb—Te, is used for the phase-change material. The nanoparticles make it possible to change the complex dielectric constant of the phase-change material by irradiation with light having an intensity equal to or higher than a predetermined level. The degree of localized surface plasmon resonance generated by the nanoparticles changes in accordance with the change of the complex dielectric constant. Such change of the degree of localized surface plasmon resonance allows recording and reproduction of information.
The use of these techniques make it possible to perform recording with reduced-size recording marks. Consequently, further increase in the density and capacity of an optical memory can be achieved.

Information recording medium and manufacturing method of same


Disclosed are systems, devices, and methods for swimming using a swimming apparatus that includes an exterior shell, optionally including a top half and bottom half and an opening to accommodate a propulsion system.

As one of the major aids used by the bare-handed diver when diving, the snorkel is designed to help the diver keep continued breathing while floating in the water to search for watching the underwater scene.
A typical snorkel is a generally J-shaped hollow tube made of rubber or plastic, often about 30-35 cm long with a caliber of about 1.5-2.0 cm. The bottom of the tube may be connected to a mouthpiece soft and suitable for its user. The top of the tube opens into a mouth suspended about water. A clip may be attached to the tube in order to join the snorkel to the mask. When floating up, the said mouth at the top end of the tube is configured to be above the water level, such that the diver can watch the underwater scene on the one hand and keep continued breathing through the snorkel on the other hand.
Using a conventional snorkel can be relatively simple. A clip usually fixed to the mask strap must also be fixed to the snorkel so that the snorkel is ready for positioning (usually near the ear). The mask is placed over the head to enclose the eyes and nose. Next, the mouthpiece is inserted into the mouth. Biting down on it usually aids in maintaining a smooth airflow. Now the user submerges face down in water. The snorkel tube top-end opening should protrude approximately 15 cm above the water surface. The user can then breathe through the snorkel while enjoying the underwater world.
The conventional snorkel therefore allows continuous breathing while swimming face down in the water. However, the opening at the top end of the snorkel easily allows sea water to enter. If the user looks to the right or left, the snorkel tilts with the user's head and get submerged in the water. Therefore, the conventional snorkel works best only when the user looks straights down, thus limiting the line of vision and preventing the user from enjoying the snorkeling experience. Further, even when the user is simply looking down, waves passing over the snorkel will immediately fill the snorkel with water and if the user fails to keep his or her head in a certain angle causing the snorkel's top opening to touch the water surface, the snorkel will become flooded causing the user to choke.
Further, when a user is snorkeling, the average user can only swim a certain distance before getting tired. In order to stop snorkeling and take a break, the user has to swim back to shore.
It is therefore desirable to provide a snorkeling apparatus that includes a floatation device that may include a port for the snorkel tube that does not get submerged in water and provides the user increased visibility into the water and a better snorkeling experience.


A heat sink conduction apparatus is disclosed. The heat sink conduction apparatus is utilized in the heat sink assembly of an electronic device to thermal conduct with a heat source component. The apparatus comprises a thermal pad and a clip. The side of the thermal pad, where is connected with the heat source component, has at least one buckle pillar and one screw pillar. The clip includes a pair of spring plates and a pair of beams; each of the spring plate corresponding to each of the buckle pillar has a buckle and corresponding to each of the screw pillar has a screwed hole. The thermal pad supported a clip by the buckle pillar and the screw pillar, via the connection of the clip with the buckle pillar and the screw pillar, the heat source component can be fixed and make the surface of the heat source component to connect with the thermal pad in heat conductive manner.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat sink conduction apparatus, and more particularly, to a heat sink conduction apparatus utilized in heat sink assembly of the notebook computer to thermal conduct with a heat source component.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general notebook computer circuit, Central Processing Unit (CPU), South Bridge chipset, North Bridge chipset, display chip, and etc. are used as the major operation and control units. The high temperature will be generated as those chips are often operated in high speed or be operated with large quantity. In order to make the related chips can work under a normal temperature, regarding heat-dissipate issues become an important topic need to overcome in a notebook computer. Besides, more and more notebook computers are stress on their light, thin, short, and small characters, the space inside of the notebook computers is designed as small as possible. Therefore, the design and arrangement of circuits and heat sink modules become very important on how to utilize the limited inside space of the notebook computer.
Usually, the CPU, south bridge chipset, north bridge chipset or display chip are arranged on a mother board in a conventional notebook computer. Therefore, those chips are installed in the same plane. Because of this, the design of related heat sink assembly will be designed on the same plane as well. Thus, those circuits and apparatus install on the horizontal plane, which leads to a crowded situation on horizontal plane and leaves a vacant space on vertical plane of a notebook computer.
Modern customers demand more and more on efficiency and capacity of upgrading to the display card. Hence, the design of display card is tend to be detachable which like an interface card of a desktop, not to fix to the mother board any more. Therefore, the display card can be installed on the different plane to the CPU, South Bridge chipset or North Bridge chipset. As the notebook computer is toward small and thin in design, to minimize the installed space of the display card, the design of the display card in insert way is different from that of the desktop. In notebook computer, the display card is horizontally inserted into a slot on the mother board instead of vertical insertion as the insert way of a desktop. Therefore, how to dissipate the heat generated from display chip becomes a topic and a need to be overcome.
In a conventional notebook computer, the heat sink assembly is installed on the CPU or the display chip of the mother board. Via the thermal pad of heat sink assembly, the heat sink assembly can closely attach with the surface of CPU or display chip to achieve the heat transfer and heat dissipate effect. However, in current notebook computer, regarding the design of the display card tends to be designed to a detachable card. Therefore, the conventional heat sink assembly can't be adopted by the detachable display card in notebook computer.


A search query is received. Personal information for a user is then determined. A search is performed in a general subdomain of general content using the search query. For example, the general subdomain of general content may be a WWW search. Then, a vertical subdomain is determined based on the personal information. A search is then performed in the vertical subdomain of specialized content using the search query. The search performed in the general subdomain and the search performed in the vertical subdomain generate general search results and vertical search results. The results may be combined and outputted to a client.

The present invention generally relates to content retrieval and more specifically to methods and apparatus for retrieving content in response to a search request.
With the advent of the Internet and the multitude of web pages and media content available to a user over the World Wide Web (WWW), there has become a need to provide the users with streamlined approach to filter and obtain desired information from the WWW. Search systems and processors have been developed to meet the needs of users to obtain desired information. Examples of the technologies may be accessed through Yahoo!, Google, and other sites. Typically, a user inputs a query and a search process returns one or more links (in the case of searching web), documents and/or references (in the case of a different search corpus related to the query), etc.
Typically, when a query is received, a search may be performed with information in a generic or default corpus, such as the WWW. This may be referred to as a general search. Also, some search systems allow a user to perform searches in subdomains that include specialized content. For example, Yahoo! includes content that is organized in a number of subdomains. An example of a subdomain may be automobiles, shopping, news, classifieds, and the like. In order for a user to perform a search in one of these subdomains, the user needs to know which subdomains the user desires to search and also how to access these subdomains. For example, a user may have to navigate through links to select a subdomain to search. Accordingly, the ease of performing a general search is lost because a user has to select or specify a subdomain to search. Additionally, when a subdomain search is requested, a general search is not performed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A wiping element made of a rubber-elastic or ductile-elastic material for the protection of components mobile against one another, wherein at least one wiping lip (2) is provided on a wiping ring (1). The wiping element has a protective lip (4), which is or can be fixed in a detachable fashion to the wiping ring (1). In a wiper arrangement (10), the wiping ring (1) is arranged position-stable on a first component and lies with the wiping lip (2) and the protective lip (4) adjacent to a second component. With the use of such a wiper arrangement (10) for the painting of components mobile against one another, at least one component is painted in the fixed state of the protective lip (4) and the protective lip (4) is then detached from the wiping ring (1).

The invention relates to a wiping element made from a rubber-elastic or ductile-elastic material for the protection of components mobile against one another, at least one wiping lip being provided on the wiping element, wherein the wiping element has a protective lip, which is provided in a detachable fashion on the wiping element.
A wiping element of this kind has become known in the art for example by means of DE 86 15 170 U1. In order to seal an axially moving component such as a piston rod, a sealing lip and a wiping lip of the wiping element seats on that component. The sealing lip on the side of the medium wipes the film of medium located on the component during axial motion of that component. The side of the wiping lip exposed to atmosphere prevents the entrance of solid materials such as chips or soiling and their passage to the medium side. The additional protective lip can be removed but is otherwise connected to the wiping element in an integral manner to constitute a single unit, which can be installed. A holding edge of the protective lip is inserted or snapped into a support opening formed on the wiping element and is held on the mounted wiping element in this fashion. During use, the conventional wiping element seats with its protective lip on the component as a result of which impurities, in particular ice, can be scraped off.
US 2005/0067242 A1 concerns a sealing system for a shock absorber in a motor vehicle. A wiping element and a sealing element are disposed between a guiding rod and a piston rod in order to hold hydraulic liquid in the shock absorber and to prevent foreign particles as well as soiling from entering into the shock absorber. A wiping lip and a sealing lip of the wiping element seat on the piston rod. The side of the wiping element associated with the wiping lip has an associated protective lip, which is directed towards the outer side of the shock absorber. The protective lip is made from a hard plastic and engages at one end into a ring-shaped groove on the wiping element and, on the other end, seats on the piston rod for wiping off dirt, water, or foreign particles therefrom.
DE 44 08 408 C1 discloses a wiping element, which includes a wiping ring with a lip and a protective ring, which is integral with the wiping ring. The wiping element surrounds a piston rod and seats with its wiping lip on the piston rod to prevent the entrance of impurities in that soiling which adheres to the outer periphery of the piston rod is wiped off. In order to wipe off particles, which adhere more strongly to the piston rod, this wiping element can be equipped with an upstream protective lip made from a harder plastic material. During use, the protective lip of the wiping element also seats on the outer periphery of the piston rod. Projections are formed on the outer side of the wiping element for attachment of the protective lip which project through openings and recesses in the protective lip. The protruding end sections of the projections are preferentially re-formed into wide heads under the introduction of heat and constitute a rivet-like connection between the protective lip and the wiping element.
Wiping elements are used in systems of components mobile against one another in order to protect the latter against the entry of foreign substances. The wiping element is as a rule arranged upstream of a further seal. The wiping lip provided on the wiping element lies adjacent to the component which is exposed to the ambient conditions in the extended state and wipes off particles of dirt, ice, water and other foreign substances adhering to the component, before the component is retracted into the system again. In a cylinder-piston unit, the piston rod to be retracted is kept free from foreign substances by a wiping element. Wiping elements are described for example in the textbook "Heinz Konrad Müller, Abdichtung bewegter Maschinenteile, Medienverlag, 1990" (page 192) and are known as part of a wiper arrangement from DE 196 39 798.
The systems protected by wiping elements are often hydraulic. Foreign particles that have entered into a hydraulic system can lead to damage to seals, guides, valves and pumps. The components mobile against one another may also be damaged. The foreign particles can for example get under a downstream seal lying adjacent to a component under high pressure and, during the counter-movement of the components, damage at least one of the components. Furrows thus arise on the piston rod in a cylinder-piston unit during the retraction and extension of the piston rod. The furrows on the piston rod can in turn damage the wiping lip of a wiping element arranged upstream and thus impair the wiping element in its function.
The penetration of foreign substances is largely prevented by suitable wiping elements in the running operation of a hydraulic system. Damage and contamination on external areas of retracted components can however also occur before commissioning, in particular during transport and during assembly.
Systems of components mobile against one another such as a cylinder-piston unit are transported as a rule with a wiping element already assembled. For the purpose of protection against corrosion, the external area of a retracted component, for example the external piece of a piston rod, is wetted with wax or grease.
The components of a hydraulic system are as a rule painted after assembly. In the painting process, paint particles can get into the region of components whose surfaces are to be sealed against one another under high pressure. Due to temperature differences occurring in the course of the painting process, a component may be traversed to a differing extent against an adjacent component, as a result of which a drift area adjacent to the wiping element arises. The drift area of the component and the paint particles adhering to it are introduced into the hydraulic system following the painting process due to a cooling-related retraction of the component. The paint particles, like other foreign substances, have the initially described harmful effects on a hydraulic system. A hydraulic system can thus already be contaminated with foreign particles before commissioning, as a result of which the functionality of the wiping and sealing elements and the overall system may be impaired.
External areas of retracted components adjacent to the wiping element, in particular the drift area, are protected during painting with the aid of an upstream element, for example, an adhesive tape, a molded part or an O-ring. After the painting process, the protective devices are removed.
The problem underlying the invention is to protect, in a straightforward manner, external areas of a traversable component adjacent to a wiping element in a system of components mobile with respect to one another during transport and installation, wherein, in particular, the protective device can be easily removed.

Removable protective lip on a wiping element

Trelleborg Sealing Solutions Germany GmbH


The present disclosure provides methods and compositions for directed to synthetic block copolymer proteins, expression constructs for their secretion, recombinant microorganisms for their production, and synthetic fibers (including advantageously, microfibers) comprising these proteins that recapitulate many properties of natural silk. The recombinant microorganisms can be used for the commercial production of silk-like fibers.

Spider's silk polypeptides are large (>150 kDa, >1000 amino acids) polypeptides that can be broken down into three domains: an N-terminal non-repetitive domain (NTD), the repeat domain (REP), and the C-terminal non-repetitive domain (CTD). The NTD and CTD are relatively small (˜150, ˜100 amino acids respectively), well-studied, and are believed to confer to the polypeptide aqueous stability, pH sensitivity, and molecular alignment upon aggregation. NTD also has a strongly predicted secretion tag, which is often removed during heterologous expression. The repetitive region composes ˜90% of the natural polypeptide, and folds into the crystalline and amorphous regions that confer strength and flexibility to the silk fiber, respectively.
Silk polypeptides come from a variety of sources, including bees, moths, spiders, mites, and other arthropods. Some organisms make multiple silk fibers with unique sequences, structural elements, and mechanical properties. For example, orb weaving spiders have six unique types of glands that produce different silk polypeptide sequences that are polymerized into fibers tailored to fit an environmental or lifecycle niche. The fibers are named for the gland they originate from and the polypeptides are labeled with the gland abbreviation (e.g. "Ma") and "Sp" for spidroin (short for spider fibroin). In orb weavers, these types include Major Ampullate (MaSp, also called dragline), Minor Ampullate (MiSp), Flagelliform (Flag), Aciniform (AcSp), Tubuliform (TuSp), and Pyriform (PySp). This combination of polypeptide sequences across fiber types, domains, and variation amongst different genus and species of organisms leads to a vast array of potential properties that can be harnessed by commercial production of the recombinant fibers. To date, the vast majority of the work with recombinant silks has focused on the Major Ampullate Spidroins (MaSp).
Currently, recombinant silk fibers are not commercially available and, with a handful of exceptions, are not produced in microorganisms outside of Escherichia coli and other gram-negative prokaryotes. Recombinant silks produced to date have largely consisted either of polymerized short silk sequence motifs or fragments of native repeat domains, sometimes in combination with NTDs and/or CTDs. This has resulted in the production of small scales of recombinant silk polypeptides (milligrams at lab scale, kilograms at bioprocessing scale) produced using intracellular expression and purification by chromatography or bulk precipitation. These methods do not lead to viable commercial scalability that can compete with the price of existing technical and textile fibers. Additional production hosts that have been utilized to make silk polypeptides include transgenic goats, transgenic silkworms, and plants. These hosts have yet to enable commercial scale production of silk, presumably due to slow engineering cycles and poor scalability.
Microfibers are a classification of fibers having a fineness of less than 1 decitex (dtex), approximately 10 μm in diameter. H. K., Kaynak and O. Babaarslan, Woven Fabrics, Croatia: InTech, 2012. The small diameter of microfibers imparts a range of qualities and characteristics to microfiber yarns and fabrics that are desirable to consumers. Microfibers are inherently more flexible (bending is inversely proportional to fiber diameter) and thus have a soft feel, low stiffness, and high drapeability. Microfibers can also be spun into yarns having high fiber density (greater fibers per yarn cross-sectional area), giving microfiber yarns a higher strength compared to other yarns of similar dimensions. Microfibers also contribute to discrete stress relief within the yarn, resulting in anti-wrinkle fabrics. Furthermore, microfibers have high compaction efficiency within the yarn, which improves fabric waterproofness and windproofness while maintaining breathability compared to other waterproofing and windproofing techniques (such as polyvinyl coatings). The high density of fibers within microfiber fabrics results in microchannel structures between fibers, which promotes the capillary effect and imparts a wicking and quick drying characteristic. The high surface area to volume of microfiber yarns allows for brighter and sharper dyeing, and printed fabrics have clearer and sharper pattern retention as well. Currently, recombinant silk fibers do not have a fineness that is small enough to result in silks having microfiber type characteristics. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2014/0058066 generally discloses fiber diameters between 5-100 μm, but does not actually disclose any working examples of any fiber having a diameter as small as 5 μm.
What is needed, therefore, are improved methods and compositions relating to of recombinant block copolymer proteins, expression constructs for their secretion at high rates, microorganisms expressing these proteins and synthetic fibers made from these proteins that recapitulate many of the properties of silk fibers, including fibers having small diameters useful for microfiber textiles.

Methods and compositions for synthesizing improved silk fibers


A volumetric display for displaying three dimensional (3D) images. The volumetric display uses a flat panel display to output light into a volumetric diffuser, and an array of electrowetting lenses between the flat panel display and the volumetric diffuser to direct light emitted by one or more of the pixels of the flat panel display toward a location within the display volume such that the location is illuminated brighter than other locations within the display volume.

True three dimensional (3D) displays have been proposed that allow a person viewing the display to walk around the display and view an object being displayed from any angle just as if the object were actually present. However, many of these true 3D displays have complicated rotating mirrors or similar devices that add expense and reduce convenience.


An apparatus and a method for sealingly engaging an upper chamber lid and a lower chamber lid of a vacuum process chamber together without leakage are provided. In the apparatus, an upper chamber lid is connected to a support frame by an universal joint such that a perfect alignment between the upper chamber lid and the lower camber lid can be achieved by making 360.degree. movement of the upper chamber lid. The support frame is further provided with a plurality of compressible spring members, i.e., at least 3 or 4 spring members that are mounted to the support frame and projected downwardly for pressing on a top surface of the upper camber lid and achieving a vacuum-tight seal between the upper lid and the lower lid. The novel use of the universal joint and the plurality of compressible springs therefore enables the present invention apparatus to achieve a vacuum-tight seal between two chambers halves in a vacuum process chamber.

In the semiconductor device fabrication processes, vacuum process chambers are widely used for conducting various chemical or physical processes. For instance, vacuum process chambers are widely used in deposition processes such as chemical vapor deposition or physical vapor deposition; in coating processes such as a spin coating process for a photoresist material or a spin-on-glass material; and various other fabrication processes. In any of the processes, a vacuum chamber may be constructed of an upper chamber and a lower chamber, or an upper chamber lid and a lower chamber lid. The structure is designed to facilitate the loading and unloading of a semiconductor substrate into or out of a process chamber. For instance, in one of the common constructions for a vacuum process chamber, the lower chamber lid can be moved up and down while the upper chamber lid stays stationary with a substrate platform positioned in a cavity formed between the lower chamber lid and the upper chamber lid. A robot arm is used for reaching into the chamber cavity for the loading and unloading of substrates. After a substrate is properly seated on the substrate platform, the platform moves into its process position and the lower chamber lid closes onto the upper chamber lid to effect a vacuum-tight seal.
In the vacuum process chamber discussed above, the upper chamber lid is frequently fixedly attached to a support frame for the operation of the chamber. Since the support frame for the upper chamber lid is not always perfectly centered in relation to the lower chamber lid, the upper and the lower chamber lids are frequently not perfectly aligned. This results in leakage in the vacuum chamber and specifically, leakage around the edges of the chamber. For instance, in a spin coating apparatus for a photoresist material, it has been observed that during the coating of an adhesion promoter layer prior to the coating of the photoresist material, the process produces wafer edge defects in an area of approximately 8.about.20 mm wide around the wafer edge. The defects are caused by a leakage in the vacuum process chamber when ambient air leaks into the chamber and cause defect formation around the edge of the wafer. Typical defects formed are film coating pattern shift and film lifting.
An illustration for a conventional mounting method for a vacuum process chamber is shown in FIG. 1. The vacuum process chamber 10 consists of an upper chamber 14 and a lower chamber 16 used for the processing of a wafer 20 contained in a vacuum cavity formed when the upper chamber 14 and the lower chamber 16 are tightly closed together. The upper chamber 14 is rigidly and fixedly mounted by a mounting means 18 to a support frame 12 for mating with the lower chamber 16. It should be noted that the apparatus 10 is shown in FIG. 1 for illustration purpose only and in a much simplified manner. Since the upper chamber 14, or the upper chamber lid is rigidly and fixedly mounted to the support frame 12 through mounting means 18, a perfect alignment of the upper chamber 14 to the lower chamber 16 when the lower chamber 16 is moved up to close on the upper chamber 14 is extremely difficult. The rigid connection provided between the upper chamber 14 and the support frame 12 does not allow any lateral movement of the upper chamber 14 during the closing step for the upper and lower chambers.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for sealingly engaging an upper chamber lid and a lower chamber lid of a vacuum process chamber together that does not have the drawbacks or shortcomings of the conventional mounting apparatus.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for sealingly engaging an upper chamber lid and a lower chamber lid of a vacuum process chamber together that permits lateral movement of the upper chamber lid relative to the lower chamber lid.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for sealingly engaging an upper chamber lid and a lower chamber lid of a vacuum process chamber together by mounting the upper chamber lid to a support frame via an universal joint device.
It is another further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for sealingly engaging an upper chamber lid and a lower chamber lid of a vacuum process chamber together by utilizing a universal joint between the upper chamber lid and a support frame the lid is mounted and a plurality of compressible springs mounted on the support frame for exerting downward pressure on the upper chamber lid.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for sealingly engaging an upper chamber lid and a lower chamber lid of a vacuum process chamber together by utilizing a universal joint for lateral movement of the upper chamber lid and four compressible springs for achieving vacuum-tight seal.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a vacuum process chamber that includes a sealing means disposed between an upper chamber lid and a support member which includes a universal joint for allowing 360.degree. movement of the lid and a plurality of compressible spring for effecting a seal between the upper chamber lid and a lower chamber lid.
It is still another further object of the present invention to provide a vacuum process chamber that utilizes a universal joint between an upper chamber lid and a support member for allowing lateral movement of the upper chamber lid and four compressible springs equally spaced from each other for exerting a downward pressure on the upper chamber lid effecting a vacuum-tight seal with a lower chamber lid.
It is yet another further object of the present invention to provide a method for sealingly engaging an upper chamber lid to a lower chamber lid forming a vacuum process chamber by attaching the upper chamber lid to a support frame via an universal joint and at least three compressible springs projected downwardly from the support member for exerting pressure on the upper chamber lid and effecting a vacuum-tight seal between the upper and lower chamber lids.

Apparatus and method for sealing a vacuum chamber

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd


The present invention provides an uncoiler apparatus capable of minimizing a waste amount of the total amount of coil, by reducing the damage to the surface of the coil caused by line contact between the coil and a drum when the drum expands to clamp the coil. The invention provides an uncoiler apparatus which includes: a stationary drum; a plurality of pressure cells rotatably disposed at an outer periphery of the stationary drum, the pressure cells being spaced radially along the periphery of the stationary drum and capable of individually expanding and contracting; a pressure applying unit that provides pressure to the plurality of pressure cells; a pressure regulator that regulates the amount of pressure supplied to each of the plurality of pressure cells by the pressure applying unit; a load detector that detects load of a coil wound about the plurality of pressure cells; and a controller that controls the pressure regulator on the basis of the load of the coil detected by the load detector to control the pressure supplied to the plurality pressure cells by the pressure applying unit.

Generally, a coiler refers to an apparatus that winds a predetermined amount of coil corresponding to a sheet-shaped plate and an uncoiler refers to an apparatus that unwinds the wound coil contrary to the coiler.
In order to easily wrap and unwrap a coil, known uncoiler apparatus utilize a drum that applies outward pressure to the inner surface of the coil. As the coil is wound on the drum, the coil is clamped by the outward pressure of the drum about which it is placed. When the coil is pulled, the coil rotates with and is unwound from the drum. When the drum stops rotating, the clamping force of the drum prevents the coil from unwinding further.
Such coiler apparatus ensure positive engagement through application of a single, high clamping force. Because a single, fixed clamping force is applied in all cases, the clamping force in individual applications tends to be higher than necessary.
Excessive pressure applied by the drum on the coil damages the part of the coil in contact with the drum at the inner periphery of the coil. Because of the damage to the surface of the coil, a significant amount (e.g. 20%) of the total amount of the coil is wasted.
What is needed is an uncoiler apparatus that allows for coiling and uncoiling while overcoming the above-mentioned disadvantages.


The illustrative embodiments described herein provide improved systems and methods for conferencing enterprise and non-enterprise callers. In one embodiment, a method includes receiving a first call initiated by an enterprise caller at an enterprise, communicating with an enterprise media server to initiate a tributary conference on the enterprise media server, joining the enterprise caller to the tributary conference such that the enterprise caller is in data communication with the tributary conference, receiving a second call initiated by a non-enterprise caller via a public switched telephone network, interfacing the non-enterprise caller with a data center media server, creating a home conference on the data center media center, joining the second call to the home conference, and interfacing the home conference on the data center media server to the tributary conference on the enterprise media server to form a linked conference between the enterprise caller and the non-enterprise caller.

1. Field
The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for conferencing callers. More particularly, the present invention relates to conferencing enterprise and non-enterprise callers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Communication between two or more parties is often achieved through conferencing. A conference allows participants to exchange audio, video, and other media-related data with one another, often in real time, and does not require the conference participants to be in the same physical location during the exchange. In some cases, a conference may include participants that are located both inside and outside of an enterprise. However, a conference that includes enterprise and non-enterprise callers can often waste valuable computing resources, or cause devices to be deployed at the enterprise that are unnecessary for the establishment of a conference. Furthermore, current systems may fail to effectively link conferences located on and off of the enterprise.

Systems and methods for conferencing enterprise and non-enterprise callers


A steering column assembly (18) of the type for controlling one or more steerable wheels in a motor vehicle includes a steering wheel (14) interface secured to the free end of a steering column (20). The steering column assembly (18) includes powered telescope adjust and tilt adjust features which a driver (16) uses to adjust the position of the steering wheel (14) for maximum comfort. One or more condition sensors (48) monitor numerous parameters about the vehicle. When an emergency condition is detected, such as the seat belt warning, a door that is ajar, various engine conditions, or erratic driving activity, a haptic controller (50) rapidly vibrates the steering wheel (14) through the telescoping and tilt adjusting motors (32, 40) as a means of alerting the driver (16) to the emergency condition. These warnings can be given priority so that a first warning is communicated by steering wheel (14) vibrations in one direction, and a second warning is communicated by vibrations in both the first direction and a second direction simultaneously. In addition, a third warning can be given emphasis by increasing the power of the vibration to a resonance mode to cause an audible warning.

When operating a motor vehicle, a driver must be notified of all conditions which might jeopardize safety or affect proper operation of the vehicle. For examples, an ajar door or engine malfunction is commonly detected by a built-in sensor and the status of that condition announced by a dashboard light, message, chime, or sometimes a verbal recorded message. Upon notification, a driver can then take corrective action.
In the case of motor vehicles, there have been various proposals put forward to enhance driver focus to the detection of an emergency condition. Such proposals have included the incorporation of vibrating units mounted within a steering wheel which generate mechanical vibrations perceivable by touch and ear of the driver.
In airplanes, a device called a "shaker stick" is used to alert the pilot to an emergency, such as an impending stall. A particular disadvantage of these prior art systems for motor vehicles resides in the fact that the mechanical vibrations generated in the steering wheel are often indistinguishable from normally occurring vibrations in non-emergency situations. For example, an out of balance tire or rough road can result in perceived vibrations in the steering wheel which are indistinguishable from those created by the prior art vibrating units.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a vehicular steering system which will help focus driver attention to an emergency condition, and can be readily distinguished from normal occurring operating conditions, such as road vibrations.

Steering system with haptic driver warning


Various methods and circuital arrangements for leakage reduction in MOS devices are presented. A pull-up circuit is selectively coupled to a gate of the MOS device to provide control of a voltage to the gate that is larger than a source voltage. Voltage switching circuits selectively couple different voltages to the body and/or back-gate terminals of the MOS device. During a standby mode of operation, the leakage current of the MOS device is decreased by driving the MOS device further into its subthreshold leakage region. During the standby mode, a threshold voltage of the MOS device is increased by coupling a voltage higher than the source voltage to the body and/or back-gate terminals. The MOS device can be a pass device used in low dropout regulator (LDO). During the standby mode, the LDO maintains output regulation by driving the MOS device further into its subthreshold leakage region and/or increasing the threshold voltage.

Electronic circuits (circuital arrangements), including those used in radio frequency (RF) applications, may operate according to at least two different modes of operation: an active mode wherein high currents flow through the circuits; and an inactive mode, or standby mode, wherein currents through the circuits are reduced. A goal during operation in the standby mode may be to minimize the currents flowing through the circuits. For example, considering a portable device, such as a mobile communication device, which is typically powered by a (rechargeable) battery, by minimizing leakage of currents from the battery to RF circuit blocks during the standby mode of operation, a recharge period of the portable device, or time intervals between recharges of the battery, may be substantially extended.
Power converters are typically used to convert a voltage from a rechargeable battery to an output voltage provided to the RF circuit blocks. One such well-known in the art power converter is a low dropout (LDO) regulator which can be used to provide regulated power (e.g., voltage) at a level close to a level of an input power source, such as a battery. FIG. 1A shows an exemplary case of an LDO regulator (100A) which can convert an unregulated input voltage, VDD, to an output regulated voltage, VOUT, that may be used to power the RF circuit blocks of a portable device, such RF circuits blocks represented in FIG. 1A by a load, RL.
With continued reference to FIG. 1A, the LDO regulator (100A) comprises an error amplifier (e.g., error amplifier, 150) whose output is connected to a gate of a P-type MOSFET (PMOS) transistor device, MPASS, that is capable of providing to the load, RL, currents high enough for operation during the active mode at the output regulated voltage, VOUT. As shown in FIG. 1A, the output voltage, VOUT, is sampled at a node, FB, that is provided via a resistive voltage divider formed by resistors (R1, R2). A sampled output voltage at the node, FB, that is a scaled (down) version of the output voltage, is fed back to the positive input terminal of the error amplifier (150), to create a closed loop control of the output voltage, VOUT, such as to track a reference voltage, VREF, fed to the inverting input terminal of the error amplifier (150). In the described closed loop mode of operation, the LDO regulator (100A) regulates the output voltage, VOUT, to remain substantially constant irrespective of the current required by the load, RL. This is accomplished by controlling/adjusting a gate voltage, VG, to the gate of the PMOS device, MPASS, based on an error voltage equal to a difference between the sampled output voltage at the node, FB, and the reference voltage, VREF. A capacitor, COUT, charged at the output voltage, VOUT, may be used to reduce ripples at the load, RL.
During the active mode of operation, the load, RL, may demand a high current, for example, in the 100's of milliamps, and therefore the error amplifier (150) may output a gate voltage, VG, such as a current flowing from the source (labelled as VS) to the drain (labeled as VD) of the PMOS device, MPASS, is essentially equal to the demanded high current through the load, RL, plus a current necessary to generate the sampled voltage at the node, FB. On the other hand, during the inactive/standby mode of operation, the load RL may demand a substantially reduced current, in the orders of micro- to nano- amps, or even smaller. Accordingly, the error amplifier (150) may output a gate voltage, VG, such that a current flowing from the source to the drain of the PMOS device, MPASS, is essentially equal to the demanded low current (e.g., standby current) through the load, RL, plus a current necessary to generate the sampled voltage at the node, FB. It is noted that in this case, it is assumed that regulation of the output voltage, VOUT, is desired during both modes of operation, such as to allow, for example, a fast recovery/startup of the RF circuit blocks when switching from the standby mode to the active mode of operation.
With continued reference to FIG. 1A, lowering of the current when switching from the active mode to the inactive/standby mode of operation may be provided by increasing the gate voltage, VG, to the PMOS device, MPASS. It should be noted that a high value of the gate voltage, VG, output by the error amplifier (150), is bounded by the supply voltage to the error amplifier (150), and therefore bounded by VDD. In other words, the minimum current through the PMOS device, MPASS, shown in FIG. 1A is provided when VG is at its high value (essentially) equal to VDD.
As known to a person skilled in the art, the PMOS device, MPASS, also referred to as a pass device or a pass transistor, may be sized according to the high current demand during operation in the active mode such as to reduce an ON resistance of the PMOS device for a sufficiently low drain-to-source voltage drop. As known to a person skilled in the art, the larger the size of a PMOS device, the larger the leakage current through the device for the OFF condition where the gate-to-source voltage VGS is less negative than Vth, where Vth is the threshold voltage of the PMOS device. In other words, in the OFF condition of the PMOS device, where VGS is less negative than Vth, there may exist a leakage current through the pass device that may be on the order of few 10's of microamps. The error amplifier 150 as deployed in the prior art circuit shown in FIG. 1A is unable to reduce this leakage current through the pass device by controlling the gate of the pass device. In some cases, such leakage current may be larger than the standby current demanded by the load RL, and therefore, the portion of the leakage current that is not provided to the load, RL, flows into the output capacitor COUTsuch that the output voltage, VOUT, increases from the regulation voltage to a point that LDO loses regulation and may reach a higher level that may be equal to VDD. In turn, such higher level of the output voltage, VOUT, may cause an overvoltage condition on components at the load, RL, and/or other related reliability concerns of such components. Furthermore, the leakage current per se may be a source of undesired power dissipation during the standby mode of operation, thereby requiring shorter time intervals between recharges of the battery.
Teachings according to the present disclosure overcome the above prior art shortcoming by reducing the amount of leakage current during the standby mode of operation while maintaining regulation of the output voltage.

Circuits and methods for leakage reduction in MOS devices


One embodiment includes three-dimensional hydrophilic porous structures for fuel cell collector plates.

Fuel cells are known to include collector plates such as bipolar or unipolar plates which serve to collect electrons generated from the consumption of fuel by the fuel cell and to deliver fuel cell reactant gases through reactant gas flow fields. These reactant gas flow fields are defined by one or more channels that have been machined, stamped, etched, molded or otherwise provided in a solid substrate which typically is made from a metal or composite material. The collector plates may be provided adjacent a diffusion media material which typically is a porous material such as carbon paper. Alternatively, in some arrangements, the collector plate may make direct contact to a catalytic electrode. Optionally, a microporous layer may underlie the gas diffusion media layer and a catalytic electrode may underlie the microporous layer or gas diffusion media layer. A polyelectrolyte membrane is provided underneath the first catalytic electrode and a second catalytic electrode is provided underlying a second face of the polyelectrolyte membrane. A second microporous layer may be provided underlying the second catalytic electrode and a second gas diffusion media layer underlying the second microporous layer or second catalytic electrode. A second collector plate is provided underlying the second gas diffusion media layer. The second collector plate also includes a reactant gas flow field defined by a plurality of channels and lands. The lands make physical contact with the gas diffusion media layer.
To facilitate water management in fuel cells, it is desirable to introduce hydrophilicity onto bipolar plate surfaces. Treating a bipolar plate surface to introduce surface hydrophilicity may be accomplished with an initial water contact angle no more than 15° (superhydrophilicity); with durability so that the water contact angle is stable enough not to exceed 15° throughout the life of the fuel cells; and the hydrophilic treatment does not adversely impact the contact resistance of the plates beyond an acceptable level.
Heretofore, silicon dioxide coatings have been used to selectively introduce hydrophilic characters to portions of bipolar plates. However, such and other organic based hydrophilic coatings suffer from: poor adhesion (under either wet or dry conditions) on substrates such as stainless steel; contamination due to the high surface energy of the superhydrophilic surface which is easily contaminated by less hydrophilic contaminants; dissolution, wherein the silicon dioxide can dissolve in the fuel cell environment via reaction with membrane degradation by products such as HF; thermal degradation, wherein coatings such as organic coatings age upon repeated exposure at temperatures of 90° and above and through repeated dry and wet cycles which lead to reorientation of hydrophilic groups on the top surface of such coatings, thus reducing the hydrophilicity thereof; electrochemical degradation, wherein certain hydrophilic groups in the substitution environment of a fuel cell can be electrochemically active and degrade.

Three-dimensional hydrophilic porous structures for fuel cell plates


A device for measuring current and/or voltage in a high voltage wire can be provided in a folding insulator. The mechanically folding insulator device can include a plurality of insulated sections. Pairs of insulated sections are coupled together by a link which allows for mechanical folding of said insulator device. The insulated sections of the folding insulator device have a cavity formed therein which contains an optical fiber surrounded by an insulative material.

Power lines are commonplace in today's society. Additionally, as populations continue to expand, and the industry within countries expands, the generation and distribution of power is expected to continue to grow. For example, high power distribution, e.g., 500 kV Direct Current and higher, are expected to expand. These lines are often placed in locations that can be considered to be relatively difficult to access as compared to lower power lines within a building. Additionally, high power lines have hazards of their own, associated with the high voltage (and current) levels within them.
Accordingly, systems and methods for safely measuring characteristics of such high power lines and other electrical lines are desirable.


An exemplary differential output buffer includes a mixing stage and an output stage. The mixing stage includes a mixing circuit that mixes a differential data signal and an inverted delayed differential data signal to generate a mixed differential data signal. The output stage includes a first and a second output stage differential pair of transistors. Sources of the transistors in each of the output stage differential pairs are commonly coupled. Gates of the transistors in the first and second output stage differential pairs are supplied with the differential data signal and the mixed differential data signal, respectively. Drains of corresponding ones of the transistors in the first and second output stage differential pairs are commonly connected to form output nodes to output an emphasized differential data signal. The mixing stage includes a mixing ratio setting circuit that sets the mixing ratio to one of 1:0, 1:1, and 0:1.

This disclosure relates to differential output buffers that output emphasized differential output signal in which transitions in the differential data signal are emphasized.
Communication systems that transmit and receive differential data signals are widely used. A pre-emphasis technique is used in transmitting and receiving differential data signals in order to compensate attenuations of high-frequency signals during the transmission in wirings or the like. The pre-emphasis is a technique to emphasize the amplitude of signals at rising and falling edges at the transmitting side in order to compensate attenuation of high-frequency signals at the receiving side.
In the pre-emphasis technique, it is required to variably adjust the emphasis amount at the rising and falling edges depending on the characteristics of the transmission paths. It is also required to emphasize the signal in multiple steps in time with varying levels. For example, the emphasis amount may be maximized immediately after the rising and falling edges, slightly decreased thereafter, and then further decreased. For example, 10G-K specification for transmitting up to 1 meter length on printed circuit boards, which is one of IEEE 802.3 communication specifications, requires the emphasis in up to three steps.
US Patent Application No. 2008-0218222 (Patent document 1) proposes a technique to vary the emphasis level in multiple steps and to continue the emphasis in multiple steps in time with varying levels. Patent document 1 discloses a differential output buffer including a pre-driver stage and an output driver stage. The pre-driver stage includes a first differential pair that performs a current subtraction. The output driver stage includes a second differential pair and receives a second differential data signal from the pre-driver stage and outputs an output signal to a transmission line.
The pre-driver stage can generate signals that accurately represent the emphasis levels. The output driver stage receives differential signals generated by the pre-driver stage at the gates of transistors of the second differential pair. However, the output driver stage cannot always generate accurately emphasized output signals. That is, the output driver stage has a relatively high gain when the amplitude of the differential signal input to the gates of the transistors in the second differential pair is small. When the amplitude of the input differential signal increases, however, the output driver stage saturates and its gain decreases. As a result, the amplitude of the output signal cannot be accurately controlled by the amplitude of the signal input from the pre-driver stage. Accordingly, it is impossible to realize emphasis levels represented by the signals generated by the pre-driver stage.
As explained above, the emphasis technique requires a function to control the emphasis amounts in multiple levels and also requires an accurate control of the emphasis levels.

Differential output buffer having mixing and output stages


An access platform having a first and a second blade interconnected to a spreader member that laterally drives the blades apart or together and support pads interconnected to a blade. A torsional member is operably interconnected to a blade and the spreader member and is used to vertically displace the interconnected blade and, thus, increase a surgeon""s working space and visual access for the dissection of an internal mammary artery. A tissue retractor interconnected to the blades and is used to draw the soft tissue around an incision away from the surgeon""s working area.

This invention relates to retractors, and more particularly to an access platform that facilitates access to the interior of the chest cavity during surgical procedures.
Diseases of the cardiovascular system affect millions of people each year and are a leading cause of death in the United States and throughout the world. The cost to society from such diseases is enormous both in terms of lives lost and the cost of treating cardiac disease patients through surgery. A particularly prevalent form of cardiovascular disease is a reduction in the blood supply to the heart caused by atherosclerosis or other conditions that create a restriction in blood flow at a critical point in the cardiovascular system leading to the heart. In many cases, a blockage or restriction in the blood flow leading to the heart can be treated by a surgical procedure known as a Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) procedure, which is more commonly known as a xe2x80x9cheart bypassxe2x80x9d operation. In the CABG procedure, the surgeon either removes a portion of a vein from another part of the body to use as a graft and installs the graft at points that bypass the obstruction to restore normal blood flow to the heart or detaches one end of an artery and connects that end past the obstruction while leaving the other end attached to the arterial supply to restore normal blood flow to the heart.
Although the CABG procedure has become relatively common, i.e., heart bypass surgery is performed in one of every thousand persons in the United States, the procedure is lengthy and traumatic and can damage the heart, the central nervous system, and the blood supply. In a conventional CABG procedure, the surgeon cuts off the blood flow to the heart and then stops the heart from beating in order to install the graft. Thus, in order to perform the conventional CABG procedure, the surgeon must make a long incision down the middle of the chest, saw through the entire length of the sternum, spread the two halves of the sternum apart, and then perform several procedures necessary to attach the patient to a cardiopulmonary bypass machine to continue the circulation of oxygenated blood to the rest of the body while the graft is sewn in place.
The CABG procedure further requires that a connection for the flow of blood be established between two points that xe2x80x9cbypassxe2x80x9d a diseased area and restore an adequate blood flow. Typically, one end of a graft is sewn to the aorta, while the other end of the graft is sewn to a coronary artery, such as the left anterior descending (LAD) artery that provides blood flow to the main muscles of the heart. This procedure is known as a xe2x80x9cfree bypass graft.xe2x80x9d Alternatively, the internal mammary artery (IMA) pedicle is dissected off of the chest wall, while still attached to its arterial supply, and attached to the LAD past the obstruction. This procedure is known as an xe2x80x9cin situ bypass graft.xe2x80x9d
In an in situ bypass graft, the IMA must be dissected from its connective tissue until there is sufficient slack in the IMA to insure that the graft does not kink after it is installed. The IMAs, left and right, extend from the subclavian arteries in the neck to the diaphragm and run along the backside of the rib cage adjacent the sternum. During a conventional in situ bypass graft, typically the left half of the sternum is raised to increase the surgeon""s access to the left IMA (LIMA) and the heart. A device used for this type of sternal retraction is disclosed in United Kingdom Patent Application No. GB 2267827 A, xe2x80x9cA device for Internal Mammary artery dissection.xe2x80x9d
Although several efforts have been made to make the CABG procedure less invasive and less traumatic, most techniques still require cardiac bypass and cardioplegia (stoppage of the heart). The safety and efficacy of CABG procedure could be improved if the surgeon could avoid the need to stop the heart from beating during the procedure, thereby eliminating the need to connect the patient to a cardiopulmonary bypass machine to sustain the patient""s life during the CABG procedure and, thus, eliminate the need for the lengthy and traumatic surgical procedures necessary to connect the patient to a cardiopulmonary bypass machine. In recent years, a small number of surgeons have begun performing CABG procedures using surgical techniques especially developed to enable surgeons to perform the CABG procedure while the heart is still beating. In such procedures, there is no need for any form of cardiopulmonary bypass, no need to perform the extensive surgical procedures necessary to connect the patient to a cardiopulmonary bypass machine, cardioplegia is rendered unnecessary, the surgery is much less invasive and traumatic, and the entire procedure can typically be achieved through one or two comparatively small incisions (thoracotomies) in the chest.
Despite these advantages, the beating-heart CABG procedure is not widely practiced, in part, because of the difficulty in performing the necessary surgical procedures with conventional instruments while the heart is still beating. If specially designed instruments were available so that the CABG procedure could more easily be performed on the beating heart, the beating-heart CABG procedure would be more widely practiced and the treatment of cardiovascular disease would be improved in a significant part of the cardiovascular disease patient population.
Since the xe2x80x9cbeating-heartxe2x80x9d CABG procedure is performed while the heart muscle is continuing to beat or contract, an anastomosis is difficult to perform because the blood continues to flow and the heart continues to move while the surgeon is attempting to sew the graft in place. The surgical procedure necessary to install the graft requires placing a series of sutures through several extremely small vessels that continue to move during the procedure. The sutures must become fully placed so that the graft is firmly in place and does not leak. It is also important that the procedure be performed rapidly because the blood flow through the artery may be interrupted or reduced during the procedure to allow the graft to be installed. This can cause ischemia, which should be minimized. Also, the surgeon""s working space and visual access are limited because the surgeon may be working through a small incision in the chest or may be viewing the procedure on a video monitor, such that the site of the surgery is viewed via a surgical scope.
The xe2x80x9cbeating-heartxe2x80x9d CABG procedure could be greatly improved if the surgeon""s working space and visual access to the heart and the IMA were increased and improved. Current methods to increase and improve the surgeon""s working space and visual access include laterally spreading or retracting the ribs with a conventional rib spreader/retractor, and then vertically displacing one of the retracted ribs relative to the other retracted rib to create a xe2x80x9ctunnel.xe2x80x9d under the rib cage. To vertically displace one of the retracted ribs, some force external to the rib spreader must be applied to the rib. Typically, a surgeon""s assistant will push or pull upwardly on the rib with a device having a rib blade inserted under the rib. However, the surgeon""s assistant must then hold the rib in a vertically displaced position for the duration of the IMA dissection, resulting in an undesirable addition of another set of hands around the surgical area.
Another method used by surgeons to vertically displace the retracted rib is to insert a rib blade under the retracted rib and then attach the rib blade to a winch located above the patient. The winch is then operated to pull upwardly on the rib and hold it in a vertically displaced position. However, it is not at all uncommon for the patient to be raised off the operating table by the winch. This is undesirable because if the rib begins to crack or break, the weight of the patient""s body will cause the rib to continue to break until the patient reaches the operating table.
While using these methods to vertically displace one of the retracted ribs, it may be desirable to further increase a surgeon""s working space and visual access by depressing the sternum or the other retracted rib. However, depression of the sternum or the other retracted rib undesirably adds further sets of hands around the surgical site.
Furthermore, these methods and devices tend to limit where the thoracotomy can be performed. For example, if the thoracotomy is performed on the lateral side of the chest, the conventional rib spreader would tend to xe2x80x9cstand-upxe2x80x9d vertically from the ribs it is retracting such that it would intrude on the surgeon""s working space. In addition, if a winch is used to offset the ribs, the lifting action of the winch will tend to rotate the patient to an undesirable and often unstable position for performing the IMA.
Equally important to improving the xe2x80x9cbeating heartxe2x80x9d CABG procedure, is the ability to retract the soft tissue around the incision in the chest to draw the soft tissue away from the surgeon""s working area. However, none of the methods or devices described above provide the ability to perform soft tissue retraction.
Thus, in view of the shortcomings of these devices and methods for increasing a surgeon""s working space and visual access during a xe2x80x9cbeating-heartxe2x80x9d CABG procedure, it would be desirable to have a device that is capable of laterally spreading the ribs and vertically displacing opposing retracted ribs relative to each other, that is capable of depressing the sternum, that is self-contained such that the force necessary to spread and vertically displace the ribs, and the force necessary to depress the sternum, is applied by the access platform itself rather than through additional external devices, that does not limit the location where a thoracotomy can be performed, and that is capable of soft tissue retraction.
The access platform of the present invention serves to facilitate the dissection of an internal mammary artery (IMA), including both proximal and distal dissection, and access to the heart during a xe2x80x9cbeating heartxe2x80x9d Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) procedure by increasing the surgeon""s working space and visual access. The access platform of the present invention is preferably capable of laterally spreading the ribs, vertically displacing the opposingly retracted ribs relative to each other and depressing the sternum to cause a xe2x80x9ctunnelxe2x80x9d effect under the retracted ribs. Moreover, it is preferably self-contained such that the force necessary to spread and vertically displace the ribs is applied by the access platform itself rather than through additional external devices. The access platform preferably comprises a first and a second blade interconnected to a spreader member that laterally drives the blades apart or together, support pads interconnected to the blades, and a bi-directional torsional member interconnected to a blade and the spreader member. The torsional member causes the interconnected blade to be vertically displaced in either direction and, thus, increases the surgeon""s working space and visual access to the IMA.
In addition, the access platform preferably includes an integrated tissue retractor, a hinged connector interconnected to the blades and the spreader member, and a port interconnected to the blades. The tissue retractor advantageously draws the soft tissue around an incision away from the surgeon""s working area. The port advantageously provides a mount for a heart stabilizer, a scope for IMA take down, an IMA clamp, an IMA holder or other tools necessary for a xe2x80x9cbeating heartxe2x80x9d CABG procedure. The hinged connector advantageously pivots the access platform away from the surgeon""s working area.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved access platform.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved tissue retractor.
Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the drawings and the ensuing description.

Access platform for internal mammary dissection