A process for improving the strength of laser-machined articles formed of a silicon-based ceramic material such as silicon nitride, in which the laser-machined surface is immersed in an etching solution of hydrofluoric acid and nitric acid for a duration sufficient to remove substantially all of a silicon film residue on the surface but insufficient to allow the solution to unduly attack the grain boundaries of the underlying silicon nitride substrate. This effectively removes the silicon film as a source of cracks that otherwise could propagate downwardly into the silicon nitride substrate and significantly reduce its strength.

This invention relates generally to processes for improving the strength of laser-machined, articles formed of a silicon-based ceramic material and, more particularly, to such processes that utilize chemical etching.
Silicon-based ceramic materials such as silicon nitride (Si.sub.3 N.sub.4) are attractive materials suitable for structural use at temperatures exceeding 1000.degree. C., because of their high strength and hardness, high Young's modulus, low density, and high oxidation resistance. Ceramic materials such as silicon nitride also have a relatively low thermal expansion coefficient and high thermal conductivity, making them resistant to thermal shock. Silicon nitride can be prepared by hot pressing or hot isostatic pressing, and machining of some kind is frequently required to produce the desired final shape.
One promising technique for machining silicon-based articles utilizes a scanning beam from a CO.sub.2 laser. In the case of silicon nitride, the scanning beam heats the material to decompose it into gaseous nitrogen and liquid silicon, with most of the liquid silicon being ejected from the article's surface in the form of droplets. The beam is focused on the article's surface and moved at a generally constant speed, e.g., 200 to 250 centimeters per second, to produce a groove. Periodically moving the article and/or the beam transverse to the scan direction produces a number of overlapping, parallel grooves that together constitute the removal of a layer. The lens focusing the beam is periodically move downwardly so that a series of layers having controlled boundaries are removed, to produce the desired shape. One suitable apparatus for performing laser machining of this kind is described in copending and commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 268,770, filed Nov. 8, 1988, U.S. Pat. No. 4,914,270, and entitled "Method and Apparatus For Shaping Articles Using A Laser Beam." Laser machining of this kind is fast, e.g., one cubic centimeter removed in 200 seconds, and it produces smooth surfaces, e.g., three micron arithmetic average surface roughness, whereby it offers a promising alternative to more conventional diamond grinding for shaping articles formed of silicon nitride.
Although laser machining of silicon nitride articles has been shown to be effective and efficient, it has been found that the average strength of such laser-shaped articles can be 30 to 40 percent lower than that of correspondingly-shaped articles formed using diamond grinding. Although the scatter in strength values appears to be less for the laser-shaped articles than for the diamond-ground articles, the decrease in scatter appears to be insufficient to offset the decrease in allowable stress required by the loss in average strength.
It appears that the loss in strength results from the presence of small cracks in a thin silicon film remaining on the surface of the silicon-based ceramic substrate after laser machining. The film typically has an average thickness of about five microns. Internal stresses brought on by a thermal expansion mismatch between the silicon film and the underlying substrate are believed to cause the cracks to undergo a period of stable growth downwardly into the substrate when an external load is applied. Ultimately, when the external load exceeds a critical value, a failure will occur.
Prior techniques contemplated for removing or otherwise reducing the effects of such small cracks in the silicon film include annealing the articles (e.g., at 1100.degree. C.) in flowing wet oxygen to produce a silicon oxide film, and annealing the articles in dry nitrogen. Although both of these annealing techniques offer substantial improvement in strength, they are considered unduly time consuming and expensive. Another technique for reducing the undesired effect of small cracks in the silicon film is to diamond grind the affected surface to remove the silicon film and a portion of the underlying substrate. This procedure, likewise, is considered unduly expensive. Chemical etching of the laser-machined articles is not necessarily considered a viable alternative because of a concern that the etchant would attack the underlying substrate.
It should, therefore, be appreciated that there is a need for a more convenient and less expensive procedure for improving the strength of laser-machined articles formed of a silicon-based ceramic material such as silicon nitride. The present invention fulfills this need.

Etching process for improving the strength of a laser-machined silicon-based ceramic article


The invention describes a vibrating tine level detection device, and a method of forming the same, which is particularly suitable for operation in environments subject to rapid temperature change. A piezoelectric stack, which generates vibration of the tine, is located within a cage. The cage is, in turn, located within a hollow body defined by a diaphragm, from which the tines extend, and a wall section. The cage is attached to the inside surface of the wall section, adjacent to the junction between the wall section and the diaphragm. As a consequence, the ability of the cage to maintain a substantially constant compression on the piezoelectric stack is substantially unaffected by thermal expansion or contraction of the wall section.

Various forms of apparatus including one or more vibrating elements are well known in the field of plant or process control, one example being a contact fluid level transducer. A typical contact fluid transducer includes a pair of spaced tines mounted on a diaphragm, the diaphragm in turn defining one end of a hollow cylindrical body. The tines are arranged to vibrate at a given frequency, typically their resonant frequency, and vibration is typically effected by displacing the centre of the diaphragm by means of a compressed stack of piezoelectric elements, located within the hollow body, and driven by a cycling voltage. When the vibrating tines come into contact with a fluid, there is a change in the frequency at which they vibrate. By detecting the change in frequency, one can determine when a rising fluid level contacts the tines. Likewise one can detect when a fluid level drops below the level of the tines.
An early example of this type of level detection device is described in UK Patent No. 2 150 292. In this device a stack of piezoelectric elements is compressed against the inner or reverse side of a diaphragm by a compression screw mounted in a bridge piece extending over that end of the stack remote from the diaphragm. The spaced tines extend from the outer or front side of the diaphragm, which diaphragm forms one end of a hollow body in which the piezoelectric stack is located. The bridge piece is, in turn, mounted on a pair of spaced rod-shaped supports extending from the inner side of the diaphragm and also located within the hollow body. When the piezoelectric stack is subjected to a cyclic drive voltage, the same expands and contracts between the compression screw and the diaphragm, deforming the diaphragm and causing the tines to vibrate.
It will be appreciated that the diaphragm must be relatively robust if it is to provide a mounting point for the rod shaped supports. This requirement runs counter to a general requirement that the diaphragm be relatively thin and thus require a minimum of energy to be applied to the piezoelectric elements in order to establish vibration of the tines.
A form of apparatus which addresses this latter requirement is shown in published International Patent Application No. WO 01/95667. In this device the piezoelectric stack is compressed against the inner surface of the diaphragm by a plug. The plug has a screw thread on its periphery which engages a corresponding screw thread provided on the inner surface of the hollow body. By rotating the plug relative to the hollow body, the compression on the piezoelectric stack can be established and, if necessary, adjusted. This arrangement performs perfectly well when the instrument is operating at normal ambient temperatures, however if the apparatus is subjected to a rapid change in temperature, the wall section, to which the diaphragm and plug are attached, will react to the change in temperature to a far greater extent that the components housed within the instrument. More particularly, if the environment is subjected to a sudden rise in temperature, the wall section will expand. This will cause the compressive force applied to the piezoelectric stack to be reduced, possibly to the extent that the instrument no longer functions. If the temperature of the environment lowers rapidly, the wall section will contract. This will increase the compressive force applied to the piezo stack and may damage the crystals by crushing. Alternatively, or in addition, the lower temperature may cause the components providing the clamping force to become over-stressed and loose their ability to maintain the required clamping force when the temperature increases once again.
The problem of a device of this type, subjected to rapid temperature change, is specifically addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,644,116. The device described in this patent incorporates a sleeve, spaced inwardly from the outer wall, to form a mount for the compression screw or plug. In one embodiment, the sleeve is mounted on the inner surface of the diaphragm and thus has the same drawbacks as are associated with UK 2 150 292 discussed above. In a second, preferred, embodiment the diaphragm and the outer wall are provided as separate components. A collar formed about one end of the sleeve is located between the diaphragm and the wall section and the three components are then welded together. This arrangement is effective at separating the compression screw from the expanding or contracting outer wall but, because the body itself is separated from the diaphragm, the inherent integrity of the body, which is defined by the wall/diaphragm unit, is lost and the resulting device must be subjected to pressure testing to ensure fitness for purpose.
It is an object of the present invention to address the above mentioned problems; or to provide a method and/or apparatus applicable to a level detection instrument, which will at least provide a novel and useful choice.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A battery pack that prevents a short from being generated when an insulation film near coupling holes formed in the conforming cover is broken by the connection tab due to external impacts and penetrates into the wire while or after the connection tab is assembled with the conforming cover through the coupling holes. The battery pack includes battery cells, a connection tab connecting the battery cells to each other in series or parallel, a conforming cover having a wire and coupling holes formed at one side thereof to allow the connection tab to pass therethrough, the conforming cover electrically connected to the connection tab, a protection circuit module electrically connected to the conforming cover and controlling charging and discharging of the battery cells, and a reinforcing member surrounding at least both sides of upper and lower edges among outer peripheral portions of the coupling holes formed in the conforming cover.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a battery pack that has a more durable structure that is less apt to be damaged by external impact and is less apt to be damaged upon assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
A battery pack includes a plurality of battery cells, a connection tab connecting the battery cells to each other in series or in parallel, a protection circuit module (PCM) controlling charging and discharging of the battery cells, and a conforming cover electrically connecting the battery cells to the PCM. However, as designs for battery packs become more compact, and as the designs use less expensive components, the resultant battery pack is more apt to be damaged during assembly, upon external impact or with ordinary use of the device. Therefore, what is needed is a design for a battery pack that is less apt to be damaged or shorted out during assembly, during external impact, and during ordinary use.


A female electrical terminal of the present invention has a box-like electrical contact section; a resilient contact member contained in the electrical contact section for electrical connection with a male terminal; and a low force insertion enabling means provided on the resilient contact member, which enables a reduction in the force with which to insert the male terminal into the electrical contact section and into electrical connection with the resilient contact member. The low force insertion enabling means is a cutout or a thin wall portion formed between a central portion of the resilient contact member and at least one of its front and rear ends.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a female electrical terminal which requires a low insertion force for a mating male terminal to be fitted therein.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional female electrical terminal 80, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, has a box-shaped electrical contact section 82 for insertion therein of a male terminal 81 and a cable connection section 83 at which a cable (not shown) is solderlessly attached, the electrical contact section 82 being internally provided with a resilient contact member 84 for electrical connection with the male terminal 81.
The resilient contact member 84 is, at its front and rear ends 84a and 84b (FIG. 7), lockedly engaged on a bottom wall 85 of the electrical contact section 82 to provide between the front and rear ends 84a, 84b a raised central contact portion 84c for the male terminal 81. When inserted into the electrical contact section 82, the male terminal 81 is squeezed between a ceiling wall of the electrical contact section 82 and the resilient contact member 84 to be electrically connected with the electrical contact section 82.
In order to enable the male terminal 81 to be inserted into the female terminal 80 with a low insertion force, if the deflection A (FIG. 7) within which the resilient contact member 84 is deflectable is made small, it requires accurate dimensions inside the electrical contact section 82, resulting in difficult designing. If the wall thickness B of the entire resilient contact member 84 is thinned (FIGS. 7 and 8), it also requires accurate dimensions for preventing lowering of the contact pressure between the male terminal 81 and the contact portion 84c, resulting in difficult designing. Likewise, if the wall width C of the resilient contact member 84 and thus of the contact portion 84c is made small (FIG. 9), it causes an unstable contact between the male terminal 81 and the contact portion 84c. Further, if the structure of the resilient contact member 84 itself is changed, it requires a renewed designing from the beginning, resulting in a cost increase. Generally, the more the reduction is made in the force required for inserting the male terminal 81, the more the contact between the male terminal 81 and the resilient contact member 84 becomes unstable, and the more the contact is made stable, the less the reduction can be made in the insertion force of the male terminal 81.

Female electrical terminal with a low insertion force resilient contact member


An internal voltage generating apparatus for a semiconductor memory device is described herein. The internal voltage generating apparatus is configured to execute an internal voltage margin test with a small number of pads by installing a forcing pad and fuse (or switch) in an initial reference voltage generating terminal during a multi-chip product test of the DRAM to cut down expenses, and to overcome load or noise due to the forcing pad by cutting (switching off) the fuse after a wafer level test during a normal operation.

The present disclosure relates generally to semiconductor memory devices, and more particularly, to an internal voltage generating apparatus for a semiconductor memory device.
According to high integration of the DRAM, a number of net dies per wafer must be maximized. Thus, an area allocated as a peri region in each die is gradually decreased. When the area of the peri region is decreased, it is difficult to use general pads in the narrow die. Even if a number of the pads used in the peri region is decreased, a multi-chip product test of the DRAM must be normally executed.
In addition, expenses are increased because of an increased time required for testing products, and a number of test items that cannot be tested by a specific equipment is increased because of deterioration of the equipment. To solve the foregoing problems, the test time may be reduced by using the multi-chip test technique that increases a number of dies which can be tested at a time.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional internal voltage generating apparatus for executing the multi-chip test. The conventional internal voltage generating apparatus includes a reference voltage generator 1, a core voltage amplifying unit 2, a peri voltage amplifying unit 3, a core voltage driver 4, a peri voltage driver 5, a core voltage pad 6, a peri voltage pad 7, a core reference voltage pad 9 and a peri reference voltage pad 10. Here, an amplifier A1 of the core voltage amplifying unit 2 receives an initial reference voltage VR0 from the reference voltage generator 1 through its positive (+) terminal. The amplifier A1, which has its negative (xe2x88x92) terminal connected to a common node of resistors R2C and R1C, outputs a core reference voltage VREFC through its output terminal. An amplifier A2 of the peri voltage amplifying unit 3 receives the initial reference voltage VR0 from the reference voltage generator 1 through its positive (+) terminal. The amplifier A2, which has its negative (xe2x88x92) terminal connected to a common node of resistors R2P and R1P, outputs a peri reference voltage VREFP through its output terminal.
The core voltage driver 4 drives the core reference voltage VREFC from the core voltage amplifying unit 2 and outputs a core voltage VCORE to a core unit of a cell and peri unit 8. The peri voltage driver 5 drives the peri reference voltage VPERI from the peri voltage amplifying unit 3 and outputs the peri voltage VPERI to a peri unit of the cell and peri unit 8. The core voltage pad 6 is connected to an output terminal of the core voltage driver 4 and outputs a core voltage for forcing the core voltage VCORE. The peri voltage pad 7 is connected to an output terminal of the peri voltage driver 5 and outputs a peri voltage for forcing the peri voltage VPERI.
The core voltage and the peri voltage are forced by the core voltage pad 6 and the peri voltage pad 7. As a result, one can test the operation of the cell and peri unit 8 in response to variation of internal voltages as one method for testing device property on completed wafers. That is, the device property test can be executed by forcing levels of the core voltage VCORE being internally-generated for a DRAM core region and the peri voltage VPERI being internally-generated for a DRAM peri region. In the device property test, an internal voltage margin is checked by increasing or decreasing the level of the core voltage VCORE or the peri voltage VPERI.
In the case of the aforementioned multi-chip test, 8, 16 or more devices are tested at the same time. Here, a current driving unit of the test equipment for forcing the core voltage VCORE and the peri voltage VPERI cannot handle current consumption of 8, 16, or more devices. Accordingly, the core reference voltage pad 9 for forcing the level of the core reference voltage VREFC is additionally provided in input terminal of the core voltage driver 4 in the chip, and the peri reference voltage pad 10 for forcing the level of the peri reference voltage VREFP is additionally provided in input terminal of the peri voltage driver 5.
In the conventional internal voltage generating apparatus, however, the core reference voltage pad 9 and the peri reference voltage pad 10 become loads of the core reference voltage VREFC and the peri reference voltage VREFP in a normal operation. In addition, wires connected to the core reference voltage pad 9 and the peri reference voltage pad 10 are exposed to external noise, which may change the levels of the core reference voltage VREFC and the peri reference voltage VREFP.
An internal voltage generating apparatus for a semiconductor device is described herein. The disclosed apparatus is configured to execute an internal voltage margin test with a small number of pads by installing a forcing pad and fuse (or switch) in an initial reference voltage generating terminal during a multi-chip product test of the DRAM for cutting down expenses. Further, the disclosed apparatus is configured to overcome load or noise due to a pad during a normal operation by cutting (switching off) a fuse after a wafer level test.
In particular, the internal voltage generating apparatus for a semiconductor memory device includes a reference voltage generator configured to generate an initial reference voltage, an internal voltage supply circuit configured to generate a core voltage and a peri voltage by using the initial reference voltage, and a forcing circuit configured to force different level voltages for a test. The forcing circuit includes an initial reference voltage pad connected to an output terminal of the reference voltage generator to output a forced initial reference voltage for test, a core voltage pad connected to a core voltage output terminal of the internal voltage supply circuit to output a forced core voltage for a test, and a peri voltage pad connected to a peri voltage output terminal of the internal voltage supply circuit to output a forced peri voltage for a test.

Internal voltage generating apparatus for a semiconductor memory device


A suspension trauma relief strap assembly comprises a sling and a housing. The sling includes an intermediate portion interconnecting a first end and a second end. The first end is looped back and secured onto itself proximate the intermediate portion to form a connector portion. The housing is operatively connected to the first end proximate the intermediate portion, and the housing includes a cavity configured and arranged to receive at least a portion of the intermediate portion.

Orthostatic intolerance, also commonly referred to as "suspension trauma", may include symptoms such as light-headedness, breathlessness, palpitations, tremulousness, poor concentration, fatigue, nausea, dizziness, headache, sweating, paleness, increased or unusually low heart rate, unusually low blood pressure, loss of vision, weakness, and faintness. While in a sedentary position, blood can accumulate in the veins, commonly referred to as "venous pooling," and cause orthostatic intolerance. Venous pooling typically occurs in the legs due to gravity and a lack of movement, and an accumulation of blood in the legs reduces the amount of blood in circulation throughout the rest of the body. The body reacts by speeding up the heart rate in an attempt to maintain sufficient blood flow to the brain. If the blood supply is sufficiently reduced, this reaction will not be effective. The body will abruptly slow the heart rate and the blood pressure will diminish in the arteries. During severe venous pooling, the reduction in quantity and/or quality of oxygen content in the blood flowing to the brain will cause one or more of the above-mentioned symptoms. This reduction of oxygen in the blood can also have an effect on other vital organs such as the kidneys, which may result in renal failure. If these conditions continue, they may be fatal.
Orthostatic intolerance may be experienced by workers using fall protection systems including full body harnesses. After a fall, a worker is suspended by the dorsal D-ring of the full body harness, and the worker is left suspended in a relatively vertical/upright position by the fall protection system until rescued. The worker may remain suspended in the full body harness for a length of time, and the sustained immobility may lead to a state of unconsciousness and/or any of the other above-mentioned symptoms. Depending upon the length of time the suspended worker is unconscious and/or immobile and depending upon the level of venous pooling, the resulting orthostatic intolerance may possibly lead to death. While not common, such fatalities are often referred to as "harness induced pathology".
Unconscious and/or immobile workers suspended in their harnesses will not be able to move their legs and will not fall into a horizontal position as they would if they were standing. While in the relatively vertical/upright position, venous pooling is more likely to occur and cause orthostatic intolerance, especially if the suspended worker is left in such a position for a length of time. If the worker is not rescued timely, in less than 30 minutes, venous pooling and orthostatic intolerance could result in serious injury or even death as the brain, the kidneys, and other organs are deprived of oxygen. Care must be taken during the rescue because moving the worker quickly into a horizontal position could cause cardiac arrest due to the abrupt increase in blood flow to the heart.
OSHA has suggested that footholds may be used to alleviate pressure on the workers' legs and provide support for "muscle pumping" to activate the leg muscles and reduce the risk of venous pooling. Therefore, a full body harness incorporating such a foothold is desired to reduce the risk of suspension trauma.

Suspension trauma relief strap assembly for use with a full body harness


A vehicle control system includes an automated driving control unit that automatically controls at least one of acceleration/deceleration and steering of a subject vehicle, the automated driving control unit performing automated driving control in any one of a plurality of modes with different degrees of automated driving, and an interface control unit that receives an operation of an occupant of the subject vehicle and restricts an operation with respect to an interface device on which predetermined information is output, according to the mode of automated driving performed by the automated driving control unit, and when the change to the mode of the automated driving in which the degree of automated driving decreases is performed in a state in which the restriction is relaxed or released, the interface control unit causes a state of the interface device to return to a state before the restriction is relaxed or released or performs a predetermined notification before a predetermined time at which the change of the mode of the automated driving is performed.

In recent years, research on technology for automatically controlling at least one of acceleration/deceleration and steering of a subject vehicle so that the subject vehicle travels along a route to a destination (hereinafter referred to as automated driving) has been performed. In relation to this, an information display device including a display control means for determining an automated driving level on the basis of a system state of an automatically driven vehicle and causing an image of an operating unit of the vehicle and an image of a part of a person operating the operating unit to be simultaneously displayed on a display means according to the automated driving level is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Vehicle control system, vehicle control method, and vehicle control program


A method for content insertion during video playback, including: receiving, by a computing terminal including at least one processor, a setting parameter and insertion content, the setting parameter comprising an insertion time period and an insertion region of the insertion content in a video; and importing, by the computing terminal, the insertion content to the insertion region within the insertion time period.

A video player, such as a player embedded in a web browser or a standalone player, usually refers to a software application capable of playing a video that is stored in a form of digital signal. A video player obtains a video file from a local memory or a network to obtain information such as an audio or a video coding parameter or a video duration from the file and play the video according to data obtained by parsing the video file.
To insert video content during video playback, when the content of a video needs to be modified or content insertion needs to be performed, a producer modifies a source file of the video, adds an image or a new video segment, and then re-uploads and stores a modified source file of the video. Because modification of a source file of a video can only be implemented by a professional, and relates to a relatively large quantity of complex operations, the modification is often time-consuming.

Method and apparatus for content insertion during video playback, and storage medium

TENCENT TECHNOLOGY (SHENZHEN) COMPANY LIMITED


A method and apparatus for correlating two signals representing a live image and a reference image are disclosed. The reference signal is processed to provide a polarity bit and mask bit for each pixel position in the reference image. The processed video signal is stored in a memory 20 and used in a convolver and summer section 18 in which the polarity bits between the reference and live images are gated by gate 17 and are used in generating a correlation output from summer 23. However, the polarity bits do not affect the correlation output if the logical output from gate 19 is of a given state which occurs if the associated mask bits indicate that the gradient value at the particular pixel position does not exceed certain minimum threshold values.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to image processing techniques and, more particularly, to techniques for matching patterns using area correlators.
2. Discussion
Area correlation is an important signal processing function in many image processors. Applications include trackers, pattern recognizers, scene stabilizers, and sensor line of sight (LOS) alignment. Traditionally area correlation has been implemented using either greylevel product correlation or bilevel correlation. These two techniques represent opposite extremes in the performance/complexity tradeoff.
The product correlator performs the matching function by multiplying each pixel in a reference image with a corresponding pixel in a live image and accumulating the sum of the products. In order to keep up with the sensor imaging rate (typically 60 Hz), parallel processing in hardware is usually necessary. This results in high cost, high power consumption and bulky hardware which is unsuitable for applications where the available volume is small. In addition, the large amount of multiplications also tends to limit the search range of the correlator. This means the correlator is unable to perform matching when the LOS offset between the sensors is large. This limitation makes it unsuitable for boresight alignment applications.
The bilevel correlator performs the matching function by comparing the polarity of the spatial gradient between the reference image and the live image. A gradient operator is applied to the raw greylevel image and each pixel is replaced by the polarity of its spatial gradient. The match function is computed by accumulating the number of pixel pairs in the two images with polarity coincidence. This process effectively performs the "multiplies" in the product correlator with a logical "exclusive nor" operation and results in a simplification of the hardware with a corresponding improvement in throughput. Thus, bilevel correlators can be implemented in relatively low cost and compact hardware that is suitable for applications where the available volume is small. The increased throughput also allows for increased search range which makes the correlator applicable for sensor alignment applications.
The problem with the bilevel correlator is that all pixels in the reference image are treated equally. In those pixels where the scene content is relatively uniform, the amplitude of the gradient is small and the polarity of the gradient often is dominated by noise. Statistically, the cross correlation of noisy pixels can add or detract from the correlation function with equal probability. Thus the inclusion of noisy pixels does not add to the mean peak of the correlation function but increases its variance. This effectively reduces the signal to noise ratio at the output of the correlator. In bland scenes where most of the reference image is fairly uniform, the noisy pixels can overwhelm the number of signal-occupied pixels. In this environment the bilevel correlator does not perform well.


A pliers having a replaceable gripping member for pliers jaws in the form of a threaded cylinder received in a threaded bore with part of the threaded cylinder extending out of the jaw in which it is mounted to provide a gripping surface formed of a segment of the threaded cylinder. The mating jaw has a recess to receive the projecting segment. A method of renewing the gripping surface includes rotating the threaded member to expose a different portion of the threads in the projecting segment, after removal of damaged threads in the projecting segment by filing the cylinder, if necessary. A hexagonal recess is formed in the end of the cylinder to enable installation, renewal of the segment and replacement of the entire cylinder using an Allen wrench. For non-sparking applications, the pliers are formed of aluminum bronze and the gripping member is formed of beryllium copper.

This invention relates to the field of hand tools designed for gripping, such as pliers.
In the past, gripping tools such as pliers typically had serrations permanently formed in the jaws thereof to provide increased ability to grip objects placed in the jaws of such tools. Typically those serrations were formed in the bulk material of the jaws. As a consequence, the hardness and resistance to wear were a function of the bulk material from which the jaws (and usually the rest of the tool) were made. Typically there are somewhat conflicting ideals for the material properties of the jaws and handles of such tools. Jaws often are desired to be hard and wear resistant, while handles are most often desired to have good tensile strength and fracture resistance, and usually do not need to be particularly wear resistant. If the jaws and the handles are made from the same bulk material, compromises in the desired material properties often must be made. Furthermore, typical pliers jaws (even with serrations) have opposed planar surfaces which come together to grip work objects. This is typically true even in pliers that may have replaceable inserts in the jaws. Many pliers have their serrated teeth formed by a broaching operation, with economies of production dictating shallow depth for the serrations. Again, typically, the jaw serrations are not hardened beyond the base overall tool body hardness, although it has been observed that some xe2x80x9clinesmanxe2x80x9d type pliers have had their jaws induction hardened.


A method is provided for controlling an output/input speed ratio of a continuously variable transmission (CVT) plant including primary and secondary pulleys actuated by primary and secondary pressures (Pp,Ps,), respectively, which generate forces to move the pulleys and adjust a corresponding belt, thereby adjusting the output/input ratio. The method includes calculating a desired force ratio for the CVT plant. Desired primary and secondary pressures (PP,PS) are then determined based, in part, upon the calculated desired force ratio, and the desired PS and PP signals are sent to the CVT plant to control operation of the CVT plant. An actual speed ratio is calculated based on measurements of input and output speed from the CVT plant. An error signal is generated based upon the measured actual speed ratio for use in calculating a next sample time desired force ratio which is then used to calculate desired PS and PP signals to be sent as inputs to the CVT plant, thereby using the desired force ratio as the controlled variable in controlling the output/input speed ratio of the CVT plant.

The present invention relates to a method of controlling an output/input speed ratio of a continuously variable transmission (CVT) in which primary and secondary pressures are controlled.
Continuously variable automatic transmissions, also called CVT, for motor vehicles usually include a first cone pulley pair on an input shaft as a primary pulley set and a second cone pulley pair on an output shaft as a secondary pulley set. Each cone pulley pair consists of a first axially stationary pulley and a second axially movable pulley. Between the cone pulley pairs rotates a belt or torque transmission member which is wound around the cone pulley pair.
The running radius of the torque-transmitting belt may be adjusted by adjustment of the cone pulley pairs. Adjustment of the cone pulley pairs, accordingly, adjusts the running radius of the pulley at the input shaft and output shaft, thereby adjusting the output/input speed ratio of the CVT.
In order to adjust the primary or secondary pulley, the respective axially movable pulley is actuated with a pressure medium from a pressure source.
In a typical prior art CVT system, a stepper motor is used to actuate a ratio control valve to control the primary pressure associated with the cone pulley pair at the input shaft. By way of example, a look-up table may be used to control the stepper motor position versus the primary pressure. Accordingly, the primary pressure is not directly monitored or controlled, but rather the stepper motor is directly controlled leading to an indirect control mechanism. The physical delay in the response of the cone pulleys to the pressure input will not allow high control gains, thereby limiting the transient response.
The present invention provides an improved method of controlling the output/input speed ratio of a CVT by using the force ratio as the controlled variable. The control algorithm uses logic-based switching to boost either the primary or secondary pressure and incorporates dead time compensation along with a model of the CVT plant to overcome delay-induced instability. The controller is a proportional integral (PI) controller having integral anti-windup compensation.
More specifically, one aspect of the invention provides a method of controlling the output/input speed ratio of a continuously variable transmission (CVT) (also called the CVT plant herein) which includes primary and secondary pulleys actuated by primary and secondary hydraulic pressures (PP,PS), respectively. The pressures generate forces to move the pulleys and adjust a corresponding belt, thereby adjusting the output/input ratio. The method includes calculating a desired force ratio of the CVT plant. Desired primary and secondary pressures (PP,PS) are then determined based, in part, upon the calculated desired force ratio, and PS and PP signals are sent to the CVT plant to control the operation of the CVT plant. The actual speed ratio is calculated based on input and output speed measurements from the CVT plant. An error signal is generated based upon the actual speed ratio for use in calculating a next sample time desired force ratio which is then used to calculate desired PS and PP signals to be sent as inputs to the CVT plant, thereby using the desired force ratio as the controlled variable in controlling output/input speed ratio of the CVT plant.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, a method is provided for controlling the output /input speed ratio of a CVT which eliminates the possibility of belt slip and also improves transient response. The method includes logic-based determination of which one of the primary and secondary pressures should be boosted. The minimum pressure at which the other one of the primary and secondary pressures may be set to avoid belt slippage is then determined at each time instant, and that minimum pressure is set accordingly. That one of the primary and secondary pressures which is determined to be boosted is then boosted to a higher desired pressure, thereby achieving quick output/input ratio adjustment while avoiding belt slippage.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, a further method is provided for controlling the output/input speed ratio of a CVT which overcomes both instability due to plant delay and poor response due to actuator saturation. The method includes the following steps: (A) calculating desired PP and PS signals, providing the desired PP and PS signals to a CVT plant with inherent delay, and calculating actual CVT speed ratio (output speed/input speed) from measurements of the input and output speeds from the CVT plant; (B) converting the calculated desired PP and PS signals to a calculated force ratio, and inputting the calculated force ratio to a model of the CVT plant; (C) determining a model speed ratio from the model of the CVT plant, and adjusting the model speed ratio for time delay; (D) subtracting the adjusted model speed ratio from the actual CVT speed ratio to provide an adjustment signal; (E) adding the adjustment signal to the determined model speed ratio prior to the delay adjustment of the model speed ratio to provide a delay-adjusted plant speed ratio; and (F) subtracting the delay-adjusted plant speed ratio from a speed ratio reference value to provide an error signal, which is then used in the calculation of desired PP and PS values for a next sample time using a proportional-integral anti-windup compensator.


The present invention provides a process of starting from N-alkoxycarbonyl-ethylamine compounds having a leaving group at the β-position to prepare oxazolidinone derivatives of β-hydroxyethylamine compounds having an inverted steric configuration at the β-position carbon, which comprises introducing a step of treating in contact with water with heating under acidic to neutral conditions into the process. Also, the present invention provides a process of starting from N-alkoxycarbonyl-ethylamine compounds having a leaving group at the β-position to prepare β-hydroxyethylamine compounds having an inverted steric configuration at the β-position carbon, which comprises subjecting the oxazolidinone derivatives prepared as described above to a step of treating in contact with water under basic conditions.

To date, a variety of methodologies have been intensively investigated for the processes of synthesizing optically active β-hydroxyethylamine compounds, in particular, optically active β-hydroxyethylamine compounds having a desired steric configuration, or their equivalents (i.e. oxazolidinone derivatives of the β-hydroxyethylamine compounds). A process of converting optically active β-hydroxyethylamine compounds into their enantiomers or diastereomers may be mentioned as one of the methodologies [JP-A-09/169,744; JP-A-55/145650; Adv.Carbohydr. Chem.Biochem., vol. 22, p. 109 (1967)].
As one example of the production by this methodology, a process of converting N-alkoxycarbonyl-ethylamine compounds having a leaving group at the β-position, which are obtained by converting a hydroxyl group of optically active β-hydroxyethylamine compounds into a leaving group, into oxazolidinone derivatives of β-hydroxyethylamine compounds having an inverted steric configuration at the β-position carbon is known [Adv.Carbohydr.Chem.Biochem., vol. 22, p. 139 (1967)].
If the oxazolidinone derivatives of β-hydroxyethylamine compounds obtained by this process are contacted with a base, without isolation and purification up to a pure or almost pure form from the operational and/or economical viewpoint in the industrial production, for example, if the derivatives are supplied to a further derivatization under basic conditions, however, there arise problems such as the secondary production of impurities as a side reaction and the decrease of the yield. More particularly, for example, if the derivatives are derivatized into β-hydroxyethylamine compounds by contacting with water under basic conditions, impurities are apt to be produced secondarily and the yield tends to decrease. Accordingly, there is a strong need for establishment of a production process of oxazolidinone derivatives of β-hydroxyethylamine compounds suitable for contact with a base, which process is economically advantageous and is suitable for an industrial production.
In view of the above circumstances, the object of the present invention was to provide a process for preparing oxazolidinone derivatives of β-hydroxyethylamine compounds which is economically advantageous and is suitable for an industrial production, and thereby, to provide a process for preparing β-hydroxyethylamine compounds in a high quality and a high yield which is economically advantageous and is suitable for an industrial production.

Processes for preparing oxazolidinone derivatives of β-hydroxyethlamine compounds and for preparing β-hydroxyethlamine compounds


A management apparatus connected to a information processing apparatus includes a first processing unit that receives a data request containing the identification information identifying the first information processing apparatus according to a first protocol from a second information processing apparatus connected to the first information processing apparatus through the management apparatus, an information storage unit that stores the address information indicating the address of the first information processing apparatus and a second processing unit that receives the data request from the first processing unit, acquires the address information from the information storage unit based on the identification information and transmits the data request according to a second protocol to the first information processing apparatus corresponding to the acquired address information.

One of the methods of managing the information processing apparatus as a server is to use a protocol called SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol). In this method using SNMP, the management information for each server managed is called an object which is identified by an object ID (OID: Object IDentification). The server managed has a data base (DB) called a management information base (MIB) for managing the OID in a tree structure. A control manager transmits a management information acquisition request to an agent of each server. When the agent operating on each server receives the management information acquisition request, the agent accesses the MIB based on the OID in the management information acquisition request and acquires the management information on the server with the agent operated and transmits the management information to the control manager. As a result, the control manager can acquire the management information on the server.
In the case where server is managed directly by the control manager as described above, the control manager needs to communicate with each agent operating on each server that is target of management to manage the particular server, however, this is liable to complicate the server management by the control manager.
See [Patent Document 1] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 7-334445, [Patent Document 2] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2002-215479, [Patent Document 3] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2002-14883, [Patent Document 4] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 11-65951, [Patent Document 5] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-23922.

Management apparatus for managing communication between plural information processing apparatuses, information processing system including the management apparatus, method for controlling the management apparatus, non-transitory computer-readable recoding medium storing program for controlling the management apparatus


A memory device includes a memory array with at least one memory macro, a flag, and a controller. The controller is coupled to the memory array. Each bit of data stored in the at least one memory macro is presented as a first bit type or a second bit type. The controller is configured to select one of a first situation mode and a second situation mode as a selected situation mode according to a first retention time of the first bit type and a second retention time of the second bit type. The first situation mode is that a number of bits with the first bit type in data is larger than a number of bit with the second bit type in data, and the second situation mode is that the number of bit with the first bit type in data is not larger than the number of bits with the second bit type in data. In a write operation of the at least one memory macro, the controller determines that an input data is meet the selected situation mode or not. In response to the input data is meet the selected situation mode, the controller disables the flag and writes the input data into the at least one memory macro. In response to the input data is not meet the selected situation mode, the controller enables the flag, inverts the input data, and writes an inverted input data into the at least one memory macro.

The present disclosure relates to a memory device for data store, and more particularly relates to the memory device, an access controller thereof, and a method for accessing the memory device of asymmetric data store.
One of leading technology in a semiconductor manufacture is a memory device. The memory device contributes a significant impact on the development of electronic devices. Capability to store data for a long period of time is one of objectives of the memory device development. Maintaining data to be stored in the memory device as long as possible is crucial, especially for privacy data i.e., password, credit card number, identity verification code, fingerprint profile, etc. Due to the manufacturing technology, each memory cell in the memory device has two different phases. However, due to the limitation of the current technology, the retention time of both phases is different. Moreover, during write operation, data may be stored to the memory cells as the phase having a lower retention time. As a result, the data stored as the lower retention time phase may be deteriorate faster than the data stored as a higher retention time phase. Thus, the data stored in the memory cells become defective and the correctness of the data cannot be maintained for a long period of time.

Memory device, access controller thereof and method for accessing memory device

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


The toner binder of the present invention contains a crystalline resin (A) and a resin (B) that is a polyester resin or its modified resin, the polyester resin being obtained by reaction of an alcohol component (X) and a carboxylic acid component (Y) as raw materials, wherein a temperature (Tp) of the top of an endothermic peak derived from the crystalline resin (A) as measured by a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) is in the range of 40° C. to 100° C., and endothermic peak areas S1 and S2 during heating satisfy the following equation.(S2/S1)×100≧35  (1)S1 is an area of the endothermic peak derived from the crystalline resin (A) in the first heating process, and S2 is an area of the endothermic peak derived from the crystalline resin (A) in the second heating process, when the toner binder is heated, cooled, and heated.

Along with recent advancements in smaller and higher speed electrophotographic devices with higher image quality, there is a strong demand for improving low-temperature fixability of the toner in view of energy saving by reducing the amount of energy consumption in a fixing step.
Usually, a method that reduces the glass transition temperature of a binding resin is used to reduce the fixing temperature of the toner.
However, if the glass transition temperature is reduced too much, the hot offset resistance will be reduced and aggregation of powder (i.e., "blocking") will easily occur, thus reducing the storage stability of the toner. Therefore, the practical lower limit of the glass transition temperature is 50° C. The glass transition temperature is a design point of the binding resin, and the method that reduces the glass transition temperature cannot provide a toner that can be fixed at even lower temperatures.
Patent Literatures 1 and 2 disclose toner compositions containing a polyester-based toner binder. These toner compositions are excellent in low-temperature fixability and hot offset resistance. Yet, a recent demand to ensure storage stability and maintain the balance between low-temperature fixability and hot offset resistance (fixing temperature range) is further increasing, and the above toner compositions are yet to meet the demand.
In another method, a combination of an amorphous resin and a crystalline resin is used for a binding resin. It is known that such a combination improves the low-temperature fixability and gloss of the toner due to the melt characteristics of the crystalline resin.
Yet, in some cases, a higher crystalline resin content reduces the resin strength, and the crystalline resin becomes amorphous during melt-kneading due to miscibility between the crystalline resin and the binding resin, resulting in a decrease in the glass transition temperature of the toner, thus causing the same problems as mentioned above.
Some methods are suggested as countermeasures to the above problems. For example, Patent Literature 3 discloses a method for recrystallizing the crystalline resin by a heat treatment after a melt-kneading step, and Patent Literatures 4 and 5 each disclose a method in which different monomer components are used.
With the above methods, it is possible to ensure low-temperature fixability and gloss of the toner; however, properties such as hot offset resistance, toner flowability, and heat-resistant storage stability (i.e., stability during storage at high temperatures) are insufficient. These methods are also faced with problems such as a decrease in electrostatic stability and grindability during grinding.
Patent Literatures 6 to 9 each suggest a method in which the core is encapsulated by a shell layer obtained by a melt suspension method or an emulsification aggregation method. Yet, the crystalline resin is miscible with the binding resin as the core, and the crystals cannot be sufficiently re-precipitated in a short time. Thus, it is still not possible to provide sufficient image strength after fixing or sufficient folding resistance.
In addition, Patent Literature 10 discloses a method in which a crystalline resin is added to a styrene-acrylic based amorphous resin, and crystal precipitation is induced by immiscibility between the amorphous resin and the crystalline resin. Yet, since the amorphous resin is a styrene acrylic resin, the resulting toner has sufficient low-temperature fixability.


At least one secure object of a security module is bound to a secure guest. A trusted component determines whether metadata of the secure guest includes a confidential binding attribute for the security module. Based on determining that the metadata includes the confidential binding attribute, the trusted component configures the security module for the secure guest in a select mode. The select mode prevents certain operations from being intercepted by a hypervisor associated with the secure guest. The trusted component intercepts a security module communication and performs a cryptographic operation on one or more secure objects of the security module communication using the confidential binding attribute to provide a cryptographic result. An outcome of the security module communication, which includes the cryptographic result, is provided to a receiver.

One or more aspects relate, in general, to processing within a computing environment, and in particular, to protecting data within such an environment.
In computing environments, cryptographic elements are useful technological components in protecting data. Information may be stored or transmitted in a cryptographically secured form in order to avoid unauthorized access to the information stored or transmitted. In some cases, software-based techniques may be used to perform such data protection; in other cases, hardware support and security specific elements may be used. These specific elements may be named hardware security modules (HSMs) which may be used as part of a computer or an information transmission system of a computing environment.
A hardware security module may include specific circuitries to provide functions for data encryption and data decryption. The functions may also include generating and storing cryptographic keys for use of guest systems, also referred to as guests. Various guests (e.g., virtual machines, virtual servers, etc.) are controlled by a hypervisor or virtual machine manager. Different guests managed by a common hypervisor can be generated by different owners. A traditional hypervisor has full control over the guests it hosts. In particular, the hypervisor has the capability to inspect and even modify memory of the hosted guest. In a cloud environment, the hypervisor and its administrators are to be fully trustworthy.
Some guests managed by a hypervisor are secure guests. A secure guest is a guest that can be hosted by one or more hypervisors that are not fully trustworthy. The image of such a guest would be protected when loaded and the protection of the contents of the resources assigned to the guest (e.g., memory, central processing unit (CPU) registers, etc.) would be maintained throughout the lifetime of the guest. The protection of the guest includes at least integrity protection (e.g., hypervisor cannot maliciously change any guest states) and in addition can include maintaining the confidentiality of the initial image, code and data running in the guest. Examples of environments that support secure guests include AMD SEV (Advanced Micro Devices Secure Encrypted Virtualization) and POWER® protected computation. POWER is a trademark or registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation in at least one jurisdiction.

Binding secure objects of a security module to a secure guest

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


The invention relates to a device for the variable actuation of gas exchange valves for internal combustion engines, wherein at least one cam (2) pertaining to a camshaft (1) mounted in a housing rotates according to the engine speed. The cam (2) first drives an intermediate member (4) which performs a clear oscillating, rotary movement and has a rotational axis (7) that can be displaced in the housing parallel to itself along a curve of displacement (8), said intermediate member comprising a control cam (5) having a lifting region (5b) and actuating an output member (11) that, in turn, actuates at least one valve (13). The aim of the invention is to enable one such device to be reliably controlled. To this end, the control cam (5) has a catch region (5a), and the intermediate member (4) is mounted on a bearing having an axis which corresponds to the rotational axis (7), said bearing being arranged in such a way that it is guided in a forced manner and can be displaced parallel to the curve of displacement (8, 28, 35), by means of an articulation (16, 24, 26) connected to the cylinder head or the housing or by a slide (34) that is guided in the housing in a positively locking manner. The invention also relates to a method for operating an internal combustion engine comprising a plurality of cylinders using at least one of the inventive devices.

Such devices are used to control gas exchange valves in such a way, that it becomes possible to operate reciprocating engines without the throttle valve that would otherwise be necessary.
Such a device is disclosed in DE 101 23 186 A1, for example. In this device, a rotating cam first drives a connecting link, which executes a pure oscillating rotary motion and carries a radial cam which is composed of a rest area and a lift area. The radial cam transfers the lifting curve necessary for actuation of the valve to the roller of a driven element similar to a cam follower which in turn actuates the valve. The desired different valve lifting curves are produced by the fact that the center of rotation of the connecting link is displaced on an arc-shaped path which is concentric to the roller of the driven element when it is in the position that it assumes when the valve is closed. The center of rotation is formed by a roller which is provided on the connecting link and which is supported in a non-positive manner on an arc-shaped track in the housing; this track is also concentric to the roller of the driven element, that is, it forms an equidistant to the path of the center of rotation and is designated as the courses. In addition, the roller on the connecting link is supported against a cam disk, whose angular position determines the position of the center of rotation on its arc-shaped path. However, the prior art device is encumbered by some disadvantages.
First, the roller on the connecting link only lies against the courses when the gas forces and inertial forces of the valve train are correspondingly oriented and the roller is actually supported on the courses. If this is not the case, which can happen when an overspeed occurs, for example, then the non-positive connection is lost and a liftoff occurs, which causes noise and even damage when it comes back down. In addition, it is relatively difficult to machine the coulisses, which are segments of an inside cylinder and cannot be machined in a continuous manner, and the commonly used housing materials are insufficiently hard for the contact between the roller and the courses. There is a disadvantage concerning mounting, which is that the valve gear housing cannot be set on the cylinder head in completely premounted form.
Other devices of this type have been disclosed in which the center of rotation of the connecting link driven by the cam is supposed to be adjusted on a circular path (OS 195 32 334 A1; EP 0 717 174 A1; DE 101 64 493 A1). However, the previous publications do not contain any teaching about how to construct the devices to realize such adjustment.
It is a common disadvantage of all devices that, due to manufacturing tolerances, as the valve strokes of the individual cylinders are reduced further for the purpose of controlling the load, the differences between the valve strokes of the individual cylinders become greater.
It is an object of the invention to create a device, which avoids the disadvantages of the prior art and allows secure control.

Device for the variable actuation of the gas exchange valves of internal combustion engines, and method for operating one such device


Described is a system for treating traumatic memories. During a wake stage, a virtual environment is displayed to a subject. A traumatic episode that may be similar to a traumatic memory of the subject is displayed to the user in the virtual environment in a benign setting. A transcranial current stimulation (tCS) controller applies a pattern of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to the subject during the traumatic episode, such that the traumatic memory in a benign setting is associated with the pattern of tDCS. During a sleep stage, if slow-wave sleep in the subject is detected via electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings, then in a first time period, the tCS controller may a transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) to the subject followed by a second time period without stimulation. In a third time period, the tCS controller may apply the pattern of tDCS to the subject. The sleep stage may be repeated until a desired weakening of the traumatic memory is reached.

(1) Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a system for treatment of traumatic memories and, more particularly, to a system for treatment of traumatic memories using a combination of transcranial current stimulation and virtual reality.
(2) Description of Related Art
Traumatic memories are intense, stressful, and emotionally paralyzing. The reconsolidation hypothesis states that when a consolidated memory is recalled, it becomes unstable and susceptible to modification for a discrete period of time, gradually becoming stable again. The most common method for treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is aversion therapy under the guidance of a psychologist or psychiatrist, in order to associate more benign, safe feelings with the stressful memory. However, this process is inefficient; it can take years of therapy to overcome the painful memory, since the intense emotion of the initial experience causes it to be strongly encoded.
Prior art methods to impair existing declarative memories in humans by disrupting reconsolidation either use a behavioral re-conditioning paradigm during waking (see Literature Reference No. 4 of the List of Incorporated Literature References) or employ drugs that inhibit protein synthesis during or following the experience of a traumatic memory (see Literature Reference No. 5). Often, medication such as Prozac or Zoloft is prescribed to PTSD sufferers, but these antidepressants do not treat the causes, only the symptoms, and have the potential for psychological dependence and addiction. Midazolam specifically disrupts reconsolidation (see Literature Reference No. 2), but it is a powerful sedative, also used as a lethal injection drug, and can be dangerous.
Furthermore, prior art psychological trauma counseling is a very slow process that can take years. As an alternative to traditional "talk therapy", Virtual Reality is recently being explored to increase the power of a recalled traumatic episode. One example is the BRAVEMIND program being funded by ARL for military PTSD treatment. Another example is used to treat a fear of flying. However, none of these methods use cued recall during sleep to consolidate the treatment into long-term memory.
Thus, a continuing need exists for a system that employs high-definition transcranial current stimulation during both waking and sleep to proactively disrupt the cycle of reconsolidation of a traumatic memory and to promote consolidation of a new, more benign association, to weaken the effect of the trauma electrically.

Transcranial current stimulation system and virtual reality for treatment of PTSD or fears


A dual-phase refrigeration system for chilled storage containers (CSC) aboard boats maintains cold temperatures in the CSC by chilling the airspace in the upper portion of the CSC. A cooling liquid is circulated through coils installed on an interior sidewall about an upper margin of the CSC. The cooling liquid chills the air in the upper portion of the CSC which creates a thermodynamic airflow within the CSC which aids in cooling. The temperature of the cooling liquid is maintained by a heat exchange with a Non-Ozone Depleting Hydrofluorocarbon (NODHFC) refrigerant which, in turn, is cooled by a heat exchange with circulating water sourced from the body of water supporting the boat. If ice is added to the CSC, the cooling liquid in the coils reduces the air temperature differential across air/ice interface and maintains the quality of the ice.

The present invention relates to refrigeration systems for chilled storage containers (CSC), or more particularly, to a refrigeration system for CSC's aboard boats.
Currently, cold temperatures are difficult to maintain in CSC's or other storage containers aboard boats. The natural process of warming is often accelerated by inadequate insulation, frequent opening and closing of the unit, intrusion of saltwater into the box, and the radiant heating from the sun warming the top of CSC. If the CSC contains ice for enhanced cooling, these warming processes can result in the melting of the ice.
Current systems use a single-phase cooling system to chill freezer plates, which are inadequate for the task. A "single-phase system" means that the system operates with a single refrigerant as the cooling agent that is delivered directly to freezer plates in the CSC. The design of these systems usually requires the use of rigid, typically copper, tubing to carry high pressure refrigerant in a liquid form to expansion valves which must be located in close proximity to the freezer plates. This often requires the construction of a compartment within the CSC to contain the expansion valve and other components. This system is prone to failure because in an environment with significant vibration, impact, and other stresses, the rigid lines are susceptible to failure and may leak the coolant out of the system. Such leaks can lead to the venting of potentially ozone depleting gases like chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) used in some competitive systems. Additionally, "walling off" this space reduces the size of the chilled storage container available for use by boaters. The "walling off" process does not fully prevent, water, debris, fish blood, slime, and potentially fish meat and entrails from entering and potentially becoming trapped in the "walled-off" area, creating unsanitary conditions. The equipment in the space, including the expansion valve, is exposed to corrosive saltwater and powerful chemicals and cleaners used to try to prevent harmful bacteria growth.
"Single-phase" systems also lack cooling capacity, particularly during a "recovery phase" which occurs when heat is added to the CSC, which occurs during normal opening and closing, or the addition of a heat source like a fish or other warm product like beverages. The systems have a low mass of cooling inertia which is a function of the volume and temperature of coolant in the CSC. Since the plates are mounted lower in the box, they often "freeze up," meaning that ice accumulates rapidly on the plate, but the cooling effect is not evenly distributed across the box.
There exists a need for a cooling system that removes heat and maintains any ice in the box, is easy to clean, optimizes thermodynamic effectiveness, is eco-friendly, and improves the ability to achieve low temperatures in the CSC.

Refrigeration system for chilled storage container


A plasma processing control system and method which can suppress influences caused by disturbances. The control system includes a plasma processor for performing processing operation over a sample accommodated within a vacuum processing chamber, a sensor for monitoring process parameters during processing operation of the plasma processor, a processed-result estimation model for estimating a processed result on the basis of a monitored output of the sensor and a preset processed-result prediction equation, and an optimum recipe calculation model for calculating correction values of processing conditions on the basis of an estimated result of the processed-result estimation model in such a manner that the processed result becomes a target value. The plasma processor is controlled on the basis of a recipe generated by the optimum recipe calculation model.

The present invention relates to plasma processing systems and methods and more particularly, to a plasma processing system and method which can suppress influences caused by a disturbance.
As a plasma processing system, there is known, for example, a system wherein an etching gas is introduced into a vacuum processing chamber so that plasma is generated under a vacuum pressure, and radicals or ions generated in the plasma react with a surface of a wafer to be processed for etching. In the dry etching system for performing such processing, the etching is carried out under manufacturing conditions (gas flow rate, gas pressure, input power, etching time, etc.) called recipe. The recipe is always kept constant in a specific manufacturing step (in the same process) of a semiconductor device. In this connection, the single process may sometimes be divided into several steps and the manufacturing conditions may be changed for each of the steps.
When a process using a dry etching system is executed in a semiconductor manufacturing step, wafer processing is carried out with manufacturing conditions called the recipe set constant for each wafer processing.
In a recent dry etching process which demands finer processing, however, a product generated by a reaction between a wafer and an etching gas is deposited on an inner wall of a processing chamber, an unnecessary gas called outgas is produced from the deposit, which results in a change with time in an environment within the processing chamber. Further, the environment within the chamber is also changed even by the temperature change of parts associated with the chamber and by the wear of the parts. Such a dry etching system is susceptible to various disturbance factors.
In addition, even variations in the shape dimensions of a mask formed in a lithography step as a pretreatment of the above etching processing have also a great effect on its etched result.
That is, even when etching processing is carried out with a constant recipe, it is difficult to obtain a constant performance due to various disturbances.
In view of the problems in the prior art, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a plasma processing control system and method which can suppress influences caused, in particular, by disturbances.
In order to solve the above problems, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plasma processing control system which includes a plasma processor for performing plasma processing operation over a sample accommodated within a vacuum processing chamber, a sensor for monitoring process parameters during processing operation of the processor, means for providing a processed-result estimation model to estimate a processed result on the basis of a monitored output from the sensor and a preset processed-result prediction equation, means for providing an optimum recipe calculation model to calculate optimum processing conditions in such a manner that the processed result becomes a target value on the basis of the estimated result of the processed-result estimation model, and a controller for controlling the plasma processing system on the basis of the recipe generated using the optimum recipe calculation model.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for performing plasma processing operation over a sample accommodated within a vacuum processing chamber, which includes the steps of monitoring process parameters during the processing operation, estimating a processed result on the basis of the monitored result, calculating correction values of processing conditions in such a manner that the processed result becomes a target value on the basis of an estimated result of the processed result to thereby generate an optimum recipe, and controlling a plasma processor on the basis of the generated optimum recipe.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Disturbance-free, recipe-controlled plasma processing system and method


A light emitting diode (LED) backlight driving system drives at least one LED array, and includes a boost power stage circuit, a controller, a multi-channel constant current driving circuit, a voltage dividing circuit, and an offset voltage generating circuit. The boost power stage circuit boosts direct current (DC) power signals to output driving voltage to drive the LED array. The multi-channel constant current driving circuit controls current flowing through the LED array, and outputs regulating voltage to the controller to regulate the driving voltage. The voltage dividing circuit divides the driving voltage to generate feedback voltage to send to the controller. The offset voltage generating circuit generates offset voltage to modify the feedback voltage according to at least one mode selection signal. The controller controls the driving voltage according to the modified feedback voltage and the regulating voltage.

1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates to backlight driving systems, and particularly to a light emitting diode backlight driving system.
2. Description of Related Art
LEDs are arranged in parallel strings in liquid crystal displays (LCDs) driven by a direct current (DC) to DC converter and a multi-channel constant current driver. The multi-channel constant current driver outputs regulating voltage to regulate output voltage of the DC to DC converter to achieve high converting efficiency. However, several values of driving current need to be supplied to the LEDs to achieve different brightness levels. Thus, the regulating voltage of the multi-channel constant current driver varies greatly, which reduces converting efficiency.

Light emitting diode backlight driving system


A compressor has a hermetic container filled with a lubricant and accommodates an electric element provided with a stator and a rotor and a compressing element, wherein the compressing element includes a shaft, a cylinder block, a piston, a connection mechanism, a bearing, and a thrust ball bearing provided between the rotor and a bearing end surface as an end surface of the bearing, and wherein the thrust ball bearing includes a plurality of balls, a holder portion for holding the balls, upper and lower races disposed on and beneath the balls, a rotation regulation portion for regulating a rotation of the lower race, and a thrust surface provided at the bearing end surface so as to contact with a lower surface of the lower race.

In recent years, regarding a compressor used for a freezing device such as a freezer or a refrigerator, it is required to obtain high efficiency for reducing power consumption, low noise, and high reliability.
In the past, this kind of compressor adopts a thrust ball bearing for the purpose of efficiency improvement so that a shaft is rotatable with respect to a main bearing (for example, see Patent Document 1).
Hereinafter, a general compressor will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a general compressor disclosed in Patent Document 1. A hermetic container 1 accommodates an electric element 2 including a stator 52 and a rotor 54 and a compressing element 4 rotationally driven by the electric element 2 while being disposed beneath the electric element 2, and a lubricant 6 is filled in a bottom portion thereof. The electric element 2 is integrally formed with the compressing element 4 to form a compression mechanism 8, and the compression mechanism 8 is elastically supported to the inside of the hermetic container 1 by a plurality of coil springs (not shown).
A cylindrical compression chamber 22 is formed in a cylinder block 20 forming the compressing element 4, and a piston 24 is fitted to the inside of the compression chamber 22 so as to reciprocate. A bearing 26 is fixed to the upper portion of the cylinder block 20, and a thrust surface 28 is formed on the bearing 26.
A shaft 30 includes a main shaft portion 34 axially supported to the bearing 26 in a vertical direction and having a spiral oil-feeding groove 32 formed in the outer periphery and an eccentric shaft portion 36 formed therebelow. The eccentric shaft portion 36 is connected to the piston 24 via a connection mechanism 44.
Additionally, a pipe-shaped oil filling pipe 42 is press-inserted into an oil-feeding hole (not shown) formed in a lower end 38 of the eccentric shaft portion 36 so that one end of the oil-feeding pipe 42 is communicated from the oil-feeding hole to the spiral oil-feeding groove 32.
The electric element 2 includes a stator 52 fixed to the upper portion of the cylinder block 20 and a rotor 54 fixed to the main shaft portion 34 of the shaft 30 by shrinkage fitting.
It is assembled so that a center position of a rotor iron core 53 of the rotor 54 is substantially identical with that of a stator iron core 51 of the stator 52 in a height direction.
Additionally, FIG. 11 is an enlarged view showing a main part of the general compressor. A thrust ball bearing 60 includes a plurality of balls 62, a holder portion 64 for holding the balls 62, and upper and lower races 66 and 68 disposed on and beneath the balls 62. The upper race 66 comes into contact with a bore plane 58 in a counter bore 56 as a concave portion of the rotor 54, and the lower race 68 comes into contact with the thrust surface 28 of the bearing 26. The plurality of balls 62 roll while coming into contact with the upper race 66 and the lower race 68.
Hereinafter, an operation of the compressor with the above-described configuration will be described.
When a current is supplied from an external power source to the electric element 2, the rotor 54 rotates. In accompany with the rotation, the shaft 30 rotates, rotation motion of the eccentric shaft 36 is transmitted to the piston 24 via the connection mechanism 44, and then the piston 24 reciprocates in the compression chamber 22, thereby enabling the compressing element 4 to perform a predetermined compression operation.
Accordingly, a refrigerant gas is sucked from a refrigeration system (not shown) into the compression chamber 22 to be compressed therein, and is again discharged to the refrigeration system.
At this time, the oil-feeding pipe 42 feeds the lubricant 6 by a centrifugal force so as to lubricate each slide movement portion (not shown), and a part of the lubricant is supplied from the spiral oil-feeding groove 32 to the thrust surface 28 so as to lubricate the thrust ball bearing 60.
The weight of the rotor 54 and the shaft 30 is supported by the thrust ball bearing 60. Since the ball 62 rolls between the upper race 66 and the lower race 68 upon rotating the shaft 30, a torque for rotating the shaft 30 becomes smaller than that of a thrust sliding bearing. For this reason, since it is possible to reduce a loss in the bearing, an input is reduced, thereby obtaining a high efficiency.
However, in the above-described general configuration example, a slide between the ball 62 and the lower race 68 forming the thrust ball bearing 60 or a slide between the lower race 68 and the thrust surface 28 of the bearing 26 coming into contact with the lower race 68 may cause an abrasion of the thrust surface 28 of the bearing 26, the ball 62, and the lower race 68.
Additionally, the abrasion of the thrust surface 28 of the bearing 26, the ball 62, and the lower race 68 may cause an increase of an input of the compressor to thereby deteriorate the efficiency or abrasion powder may be moved by each slide movement portion together with the lubricant 6 to thereby deteriorate the reliability.
[Patent Citation 1]
    Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No.Sho61-53474


A new class of micromechanical dynamometers has been disclosed which are particularly suited to fabrication in parallel with other microelectromechanical apparatus. Forces in the microNewton regime and below can be measured with such dynamometers which are based on a high-compliance deflection element (e.g. a ring or annulus) suspended above a substrate for deflection by an applied force, and one or more distance scales for optically measuring the deflection.

The present invention relates generally to force measurement instrumentation, and more particularly to instrumentation adaptable to the special challenges of micromechanical applications.
The development of practical micromechanical devices which can be operated reliably and manufactured routinely and with high process yield is currently hampered by a virtual absence of standard diagnostic instrumentation. Such fundamental parameters as physical structure, displacement distance, spring constants, fracture strength, forces, and many others cannot at present be measured routinely. Relative values for such parameters can at times be inferred from operating voltage, measured capacitance, and the like, but such indirect estimates fail badly when absolute accuracy is needed.
Among the practical problems generated by this lack are the difficulty of efficiently designing a set of devices which are intended to function properly and reliably with each other. Owing to process variations and independent development, a device which in its ideal design will take 8 xcexcNewtons to operate and an actuator which ideally will deliver 12 xcexcNewtons may not function properly together when integrated into and fabricated on a single chip. Modification of the fabrication process also can result in unexpected changes in functionality for complex devices. The ability to measure absolute fundamental material and device properties would greatly reduce the time and expense required to make such adjustments.
Several approaches exist to estimate relative forces in specific situations. For example, for a parallel plate electrostatic actuator, the output force can be estimated given the area of the plates, the voltage difference between the plates, and the distance between the plates. In most cases, this works fairly well for large plates and near-zero displacements. However, because no technique exists to directly calibrate the force produced by such an actuator, many potentially defective assumptions must be made to calculate the actuator force. Among these are that the areas for the plates are correct, that the plates are flat, that the plates are parallel, that the plate supports have not warped from residual stress (which could change the plate""s separation at rest), that doping or interlayer electrical difficulties do not reduce the voltage or charge being applied to the plates, and so on. With most of these problems, the actuator will give 4 times the force when twice the voltage is applied, so relative measurements can be made using this approach, but absolute measurements do not presently appear practical.
Another approach which has been used is to measure the bending of a cantilever under an applied force. The equations describing the bending of a cantilever are then used to extract the force being applied. This approach has a number of problems. As before, assumptions concerning the dimensions and structure of the cantilever and its anchor have to be made to do the analysis.
Beyond that, the strain acting on a bent cantilever is highly inhomogeneous owing to the stress concentration associated with the cantilever anchor. The response of the cantilever therefore depends sensitively on structural flaws, particularly those which may exist near the anchoring structure.
Also, the strains encountered in making practical force measurements in the realm of micromechanical devices are a sufficiently large that the material from which the cantilever and at least part of its support are made exhibit nonlinear mechanical responses. This factor complicates the analysis, and makes the measurement even more susceptible to process variations and similar unintended factors.
Accordingly, there is a long-felt need for a micromechanical device which can measure absolute forces with reasonable accuracy. Ideally, such a device would be integrable with production microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and could be calibrated independent of other MEMS devices. Further, interpreting the output of such a device would be simplified if the basic design required limited material strain for operation. Finally, real-time diagnostics for proper functioning of the device would be useful.
A new class of micromechanical dynamometers is disclosed. The combination of the small size scale and the enormous strength of micromechanical materials allows a wide range of applied forces to be measured directly. These dynamometers can be externally calibrated against a reference.

Micromechanical apparatus for measurement of forces


A method for forming an opening in a semiconductor device is provided. In one embodiment, a bottom anti-reflective coating (BARC) layer is formed overlying an insulation layer of a substrate. A patterned photoresist layer including at least one opening therein is formed overlying the BARC layer. The BARC layer and the insulation layer are etched by employing the patterned photoresist layer as a mask in a process comprising: positioning the semiconductor device into a chamber and introducing a first gas including fluorocarbon gas for etching and polymer formation; introducing into the chamber a second gas containing oxygen for polymer formation control; partial etching the BARC layer defined by the at least one opening and subsequently forming a polymer layer on the inside of the at least one opening; repeating the step of partial etching and polymer formation to form the at least one opening in the BARC layer; and continuing the step of partial etching and polymer formation to form the at least one opening in the insulation layer.

The present invention relates generally to the formation of integrated circuit structures, and particularly to methods for forming novel BARC opens for precision critical dimension control.
As semiconductor wafers continually progress to higher density chips with shrinking geometries of 0.13 μm and below, the materials and processes used in wafer fabrication are undergoing dramatic changes. There is a concurrent scaling of all device features to maintain electrical performance. This trend is made possible by the development of new manufacturing techniques as well as innovative improvements of existing procedures thereby extending their utility further towards miniaturization and higher density.
One area where the limits of technology are constantly tested is the formation of contact and via openings in insulating or dielectric layers on semiconductor substrates. These openings pass through the various dielectric layers and are filled with a metal, such as tungsten to form an electrical connection at the silicon surface between the devices in the silicon wafer and the first metal layer in the case of contacts; and, in the case of vias, they form an electrical pathway from one metal layer to the metal layer either above or below it.
Contact and via openings having submicron geometries represent one of the smallest microlithographically defined features on the integrated circuit. The openings are typically formed by anisotropic etching through the insulating layer using a patterned photoresist mask and can provide deep vertical openings having high-aspect ratios (ratio of height to width for an opening).
One desirable etch sidewall profile for submicron feature sizes is an anisotropic profile, where the rate of etching is in only one direction perpendicular to the wafer surface. As there is very little lateral etching activity, the benefit is that this leaves vertical sidewalls, permitting a higher packing density of etched features on the chip. Anisotropic etch is critical for the patterning of submicron devices with small linewidths and features. Advanced IC applications usually require 88 to 89° vertical sidewall profiles.
One goal of anisotropic etching is to reproduce the image of a mask on the wafer surface with a high degree of integrity to ensure critical dimension and profile control. Unfortunately, several drawbacks may occur in the formation of contact and via openings as a result of anisotropic etching. One such drawback is the occurrence of etch bias, which is a measure of the change in linewidth or space of a critical dimension (CD) after performing an etch process. It is usually caused by undercutting and/or overetching which occur when the etch process removes excessive material below the mask, causing the top surface of the etched film to be recessed from the resist edge.
Additionally, current photolithography tools may not be able to achieve the high resolution critical for 0.12 μm or below wafer features such as contact or via openings
and these tools are unable to reduce photoresist degradation during the anisotropic etching process.
Further, there is the high cost associated with the use of photolithography equipment such as lens, scanner and stepper tools. Photolithography require lens with higher numerical aperture (NA) to achieve better resolution for deep submicron features. However, higher numerical aperture lens require the purchase of current model scanner tools which will lead to higher costs.
For these reasons and other reasons that will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description, there is a need for a method of controlling the critical dimensions in the formation of contact, via and damascene openings in insulating or dielectric layers on wafers.

Method for forming novel BARC open for precision critical dimension control


An electronic device includes, a circuit board including a through hole, a member including a screw hole, a screw including a screw body having an outer diameter smaller than an inner diameter of the through hole and a screw head having an outer diameter larger than the inner diameter of the through hole, wherein the screw body penetrates through the through hole to engage with the screw hole and the screw head is disposed on an opposite side of the circuit board to the member, and a first washer provided between the screw head and the circuit board, the first washer including a first washer body and a plurality of first washer legs extending from the first washer body toward the circuit board, the first washer legs being in contact with the circuit board and having a characteristic of reducing stress on the circuit board upon being heated.

Screw-fastening is commonly used to fix components to a casing (for example, see Japanese Registered Utility Model No. 2509235, and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publications No. 2001-105310 and No. 2005-239049).
In an electronic device in which a circuit board is installed in a metal casing, the circuit board is often screw-fastened to the casing. In such an electronic device, the circuit board and the casing are often subject to temperature load resulting from, for example, heat generated during operation of the electronic components mounted on the circuit board. The circuit board, which is often made of resin or the like, has a coefficient of thermal expansion larger than that of the metal casing. Under the temperature load, an elastic deformation of the circuit board which has a relatively large coefficient of thermal expansion is suppressed by the metal casing which has a relatively small coefficient of thermal expansion. As a result, a distortion (for example, warpage) may occur in the circuit board. Such a distortion may cause damage to, for example, soldered joints between the electronic components and the circuit board.

Electronic device, washer and method for manufacturing washer


An audio signal measurement method for a speaker and an electronic apparatus having the speaker are provided. The electronic apparatus further has a processing circuit and a power amplifier. The processing circuit is coupled to the speaker and configured to execute a time domain to frequency domain transform according to a voltage value of an audio signal and a current value of current feedback from the speaker so as to obtain a frequency response curve. The power amplifier is coupled to the speaker and configured to drive the speaker according the voltage value of the audio signal. The processing circuit is capable of determining whether the frequency response curve is located within a predetermined area such that the processing circuit generates a signal when the frequency response curve is located out of the predetermined area. Thereby, the electronic apparatus may measure its transducer distortion and acoustic box leakage.

1. Technical Field
The disclosure is directed to an audio signal measurement method for a speaker, and an electronic apparatus having the speaker, and more particularly to an electronic apparatus capable of self-testing a speaker thereof and an audio signal measurement method for the speaker.
2. Description of Related Art
In current modern society with increasingly developed multi-media, the quality of speakers is often one of the keys leading to virtue or vice of sounds heard by users. A speaker having bad quality usually results in a certain level of transducer distortion and acoustic box leakage. Conventionally, a microphone is usually used to test transducer distortion and acoustic box leakage for the speaker. However, such measurement method typically requires enough spaces and cost for installing an anechoic room and an acoustic analyzer. Thus, for the users, the conventional audio signal measurement method for the speaker in the related art will be difficult to put into use due to an obstacle to budgets and spaces that is difficult to overcome.

Audio signal measurement method for speaker and electronic apparatus having the speaker


Systems and methods for sanitizing a fluid mixture dispensing system are disclosed. One system comprises at least one reservoir for storing a substance, a mixing area, and a controller. The controller is programmed to cause the system to execute a mixing cycle and a cleaning cycle. During the mixing cycle the substance is dispensed from the at least one reservoir to the mixing area to prepare an ingestible fluid mixture. During the cleaning cycle, the substance is dispensed from the at least one reservoir to the mixing area to sanitize the mixing area.

Typical beverage dispensing systems combine a diluent (e.g., water) with a basic beverage component. In an ideal case, the dilutants and components are provided to the device in a sterile state and all the surfaces of the system which interact with the dilutants and components within the machine are sanitized. However, over time, the various fluid channels and surfaces of the device will accumulate detritus from prior beverages which pose a risk of reducing the performance of the device, degrading the quality of beverages generated by the device, and increasing the risk of unsanitary conditions such as microbial growth within the device.

Sanitizing systems and methods for fluid mixture dispensing device