A stage is driven along guide surfaces of a supporting member with a stator that is provided independent from the support member vibration-wise and a mover connected to the stage. In addition, when a drive amount of the supporting member exceeds a predetermined amount in, for example, the vertical direction, a connection between the stage and the mover by a connection mechanism is released. That is, the connection between the stage and the mover is released before the mover connected to the stage on the supporting member comes into contact with the stator and both parts are put under a large stress, which can prevent the mover and stator from being damaged. Furthermore, since the stator is provided independent from the support member vibration-wise, position control of the stage can be preformed with high precision. Accordingly, the stage can be driven stably, for over a long period of time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to stage systems, exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing methods, and more particularly to a stage system comprising a stage main body that moves along a movement plane of a supporting member, a mover that is connected to the stage main body, and a stator that is provided independent of the supporting member of vibration, an exposure apparatus that comprises the stage system as a drive system for at least one of a mask and a substrate, and a device manufacturing method that uses the exposure apparatus when exposure is performed.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional photolithographic process for manufacturing devices such as semiconductors and liquid crystal display devices, projection exposure apparatus of a sequential moving type such as a reduction projection exposure apparatus based on a step-and-repeat method (a so-called stepper) that reduces and transfers a pattern formed on a mask or a reticle (hereinafter generally referred to as a xe2x80x9creticlexe2x80x9d) onto a substrate such as a wafer or a glass plate (hereinafter generally referred to as a xe2x80x9cwaferxe2x80x9d) coated with a resist or the like via a projection optical system, and a scanning projection exposure apparatus based on a step-and-scan method (a so-called scanning stepper), which is an improvement of the stepper, are being widely used.
For example, in a scanning stepper, a reticle stage supporting member is a movement reference of a reticle stage on which a reticle is held. And, since it plays an important part when setting an imaging plane on which an image of a pattern formed on the reticle is formed by a projection optical system, vibration of the reticle supporting member is preferably suppressed as much as possible, even when the reticle stage is being driven.
In addition, with a wafer stage of a projection exposure apparatus, in most cases a wafer table that can be driven at least in a Z tilt is arranged on an XY stage that can be driven in an XY plane in order to make the wafer surface coincide with the image plane on which the image of the pattern on the reticle is formed, and the wafer is held on the wafer table. In such cases, when vibration occurs in a wafer stage supporting member that exceeds a predetermined amount, the vibration cannot be attenuated sufficiently, which causes the control accuracy of the position of the wafer table in the Z-axis direction to decrease.
Therefore, when the reticle stage or the wafer stage is driven, such as by a linear motor, in order to keep a reaction force that occurs when the stage is driven by the linear motor from traveling to the stage supporting member, the stator of the linear motor on which the reaction force due to the drive of the stage acts is to be separated from the stage supporting member, or a so-called counter mass mechanism where the stator moves for conservation of momentum by the action of the reaction force is to be employed. With the above arrangement, the stage supporting member is isolated from vibration caused by the reaction force that occurs when the stage is driven.
In addition, in order to prevent the stage supporting member from vibrating due to vibration from the floor, dampers are preferably arranged in between the stage supporting member and the floor so as to isolate vibration with respect to the stage supporting member.
In both the reticle stage and the wafer stage, a linear motor is used in many cases as a means for driving in at least a long stroke direction (normally a direction along one axis within a horizontal plane). With such a linear motor, permissible relative displacement in between the mover and the stator in a direction perpendicular to the horizontal surface (a height direction) is small, such as around the range of xc2x10.5 mm, which is the limit for obtaining effective thrust.
Meanwhile, as the damper referred to above, in order to obtain a sufficient vibration attenuation effect, an AVIS (a vibration isolator the performs vibration attenuation by a combination of a mechanical damper that can bear heavy weight such as an air damper and an electromagnetic actuator such as a voice coil motor) is frequently employed. That is, the AVIS proactively drives the stage supporting member, so as to prevent the vibration in the stage bed caused by the vibration from the floor. With the AVIS, however, the permissible movable stroke from a neutral position to a position where a stopper (mechanical stopper) that mechanically limits its drive is arranged is around xc2x13 mm. Therefore, when the AVIS goes out of control, since the drive strokes of the stage supporting member by the AVIS exceeds the above permissible range of the linear motor the linear motor may consequently be damaged due to the stator and the mover of the linear motor coming into contact with each other.
As a method of preventing such a situation, for example, guide portions of the stator and the mover of the linear motor may each be arranged separately from a guide surface on the stage supporting member. With such an arrangement, however, since the guide surface of each of the stages is originally arranged on the stage supporting member, it becomes difficult to maintain a suitable positional relationship between the guide surfaces of the stages and the guide portions of the stator and mover of the linear motor. And, as a consequence, the guide portions of the stator and the mover of the linear motor could be damaged.
Therefore, in the conventional art, maintenance had to be frequently preformed on the linear motor or on its guide portion. This, however, leads to an increase in the downtime of the exposure apparatus, which in turn, becomes a cause of decreasing the productivity of a device as an end product.
The present invention was made under such circumstances, and has as its first object to provide a stage system that can stably drive a stage main body for a long period of time.
In addition, the second object of the present invention is to provide an exposure apparatus that can improve operation efficiency.
Moreover, the third object of the present invention is to provide a device manufacturing method that can improve productivity of a device.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a stage system comprising: a stage main body that is movable along a movement plane of a supporting member; a mover that is coupled with the stage main body; a stator that cooperates with the mover to move the stage main body, the stator being provided independent of the supporting member regarding vibration; a driver that drives the supporting member; and a releaser that releases a coupling between the stage main body and the mover when a drive amount of the supporting member by the driver exceeds a predetermined amount.
With the stage system, the stage main body is driven along the movement plane of the supporting member, with the stator provided independent of the supporting member regarding vibration cooperating with the mover coupled with the stage main body. The driver drives the supporting member, however, when the drive amount of the driver exceeds a predetermined value, the coupling between the stage main body and the mover is released. That is, when the drive amount of the supporting member exceeds a predetermined value, the releaser releases the coupling between the stage main body and the mover before the mover coupled with the stage main body comes into contact with the stator and both parts are put under a large stress. As a consequence, the mover and stator can be kept from being damaged from the contact. In addition, since the stator is provided independent of the supporting member regarding vibration, the reaction force generated in the stator when the stage main body is driven does not make the supporting member vibrate, therefore, position control of the stage main body moving along the movement plane of the supporting member can be performed with high precision. Accordingly, with the stage system, the stage main body can be driven stably, for over a long period of time.
In this case, the direction in which the driver drives the supporting member is not limited in particular. For example, the driver can drive the supporting member in a direction substantially perpendicular to the movement plane.
With the stage system in the present invention, various methods of coupling the stage main body and the mover and configurations of a releaser can be considered. For example, the stage main body and the mover may have a magnetic coupling, and the releaser may release the magnetic coupling, or the stage main body and the mover may have a coupling by vacuum chucking force, and the releaser may release the coupling by vacuum chucking force.
With the stage system in the present invention, it can comprise a support mount that is provided independent of the supporting member regarding vibration, and the stator can be coupled with the support mount.
With the stage system in the present invention, it can comprise a support mount that is provided independent of the supporting member regarding vibration, and the stator can be movably supported by the support mount.
In this case, the stator that is supported movably by the support mount can move in a direction opposite to a drive direction of the stage main body due to a reaction force generated when the stage main body is driven.
With the stage system in the present invention, when the stator is movably supported by the support mount, the stage system can further comprise a position correction mechanism that corrects a positional change of the stator occurring when the stage main body moves.
With the stage system in the present invention, when the stator is movably supported by the support mount, an acting point of a cooperative drive force of the stator and the mover can coincide with a center of gravity of the stage main body and a center of gravity of the stator, and the releaser can release the coupling between the stage main body and the mover when a positional displacement between the movement plane of the supporting member and a movement plane of the stator on the support mount exceeds a predetermined value due to the driver driving the supporting member.
With the stage system in the present invention, the stage main body and the mover can have a coupling by suction force, and the releaser can include an on/off mechanism that stops generating the suction force when it detects the mover coming into contact with the stator due to the driver driving the supporting member.
With the stage system in the present invention, it can further comprise an elastic member that has a degree of rigidity that avoids mechanical damage in the stage system when the releaser releases the coupling, and couples the stage main body and the mover.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a first exposure apparatus that transfers a pattern formed on a mask onto a substrate, the exposure apparatus comprising: a first drive system that drives the mask; and a second drive system that drives the substrate, whereby the stage system in the present invention is used as at least one of the first drive system and the second drive system in the exposure apparatus.
In the exposure apparatus, the stage system in the present invention that stably drives the stage main body for over a long period of time is used in at least one of the first drive system, which drives the mask, and the second drive system, which drives the substrate. Therefore, at least one of the mask and the substrate can be stably driven for over a long period of time, and the overlay accuracy of the mask and the substrate can be favorably maintained. In addition, in the stage system, since the stator and the mover of the driver that drives the stage main body are not likely to be damaged by coming into contact, maintenance is not required. Accordingly, the downtime of the exposure apparatus can be reduced, and as a result the operation rate can be improved.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a second exposure apparatus that exposes a photosensitive object with an energy beam and forms a predetermined pattern on the photosensitive object, the exposure apparatus comprising: at least one object stage movable along a first movement plane holding the photosensitive object; a first stage driver that has a first mover coupled with the object stage and a first stator driving the object stage by a driving force generated by physical interaction with the first mover; and a first releaser that releases a coupling between the object stage and the first mover when the first mover and the first stator come into contact due to relative displacement of the first movement plane with respect to the first stator.
In the exposure apparatus, the first stage driver drives the object stage coupled with the first mover by a suction force along the first movement plane, by a drive force generated by physical interaction between the first mover and the first stator (such as an electromagnetic interaction). And, when the first mover and the first stator come into contact due to relative displacement of the first movement plane with respect to the first stator for some reason, the releaser releases the coupling between the first mover and the object stage. Therefore, in the second exposure apparatus, damage in the first stator and the first mover of the first driver caused by coming into contact can be almost prevented, which reduces the maintenance frequency of the first stage driver since maintenance on the first stage driver due to the first stator coming into contact with the first mover will not be required. Accordingly, the downtime of the exposure apparatus can be reduced, and as a result the operation rate can be improved.
In this case, the object stage and the first mover can have a coupling by suction force, and the first releaser can release the coupling between the object stage and the first mover by releasing the suction force.
With the second exposure apparatus in the present invention, the first movement plane can be formed on a supporting member that is isolated from the first stator regarding vibration.
With the second exposure apparatus in the present invention, a plurality of object stages can be provided, and the first stage driver can have a plurality of first movers individually coupled by suction force with each of the object stages, and at least one of the first stator that can generate the driving force driving each of the object stages by physical interaction with each of the first movers, and the first releaser can release the suction force between at least a specific first mover and its corresponding object stage when the specific first mover comes into contact with its corresponding first stator.
In this case, the exposure apparatus can further comprise: a projection optical system that projects the energy beam emitted from a mask, which is an original plate of the pattern, on the photosensitive object; a focus detection system that detects a position of the photosensitive object held on each of the object stages in a direction of an optical axis of the projection optical system; a position measurer that measures a position of each of the object stages within a plane perpendicular to the optical axis; and an adjuster that adjusts a positional relationship between the movement plane and each of the object stages in the direction of the optical axis, based on a map regarding a position of each of the stages and a positional relationship between at least two of the object stages, measurement results of the position measurer, and detection results of the focus detection system.
With the second exposure apparatus in the present invention, it can further comprise: a mask stage that is movable along a second movement plane holding a mask, which is an original plate of the pattern; a second stage driver that has a second mover coupled with the mask stage and a second stator driving the mask stage by a driving force generated by physical interaction with the second mover; and a second releaser that releases a coupling between the mask stage and the second mover when the second mover and the second stator come into contact due to relative displacement of the second movement plane with respect to the second stator.
In this case, the mask stage and the second mover can have a coupling by suction force, and the second releaser can release the coupling between the mask stage and the second mover by releasing the suction force.
With the second exposure apparatus in the present invention, the second movement plane can be formed on a supporting member that is isolated from the second stator regarding vibration.
With the second exposure apparatus in the present invention, the suction force of the exposure apparatus can be one of a vacuum chucking force and a magnetic suction force.
In addition, in a lithographic process, by performing exposure using one of the first and second exposure apparatus in the present invention, the downtime of the exposure apparatus can be reduced, which can improve the productivity of the devices. Accordingly, in the present invention, furthermore from another aspect, there is provided a device manufacturing method using one of the first and second exposure apparatus in the present invention.

Stage system, exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method


Disclosed in the present application are an uplink control channel transmission method, a terminal, a base station and a device, for solving the problem, in the prior art, that no relevant solution addresses how to perform long NR-PUCCH transmission in multiple slots. The method applied to a terminal comprises: determining a total transmission length T of an uplink control channel (PUCCH) to be transmitted in P slots; determining the transmission structure of the PUCCH on the basis of T; and transmitting the PUCCH in the P slots according to the transmission structure. The present invention defines the transmission structure for long PUCCH transmission in multiple slots, realizing the normal transmission of the long PUCCH in multiple slots.

With the development and change of mobile communication service requirements, organizations such as ITU (International Telecommunication Union) and 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) have begun to study new wireless communication systems (e.g. 5G NR, namely 5 Generation New RAT). A new frame structure is defined in a new wireless communication system, which supports different baseband parameters (numerology, including parameters such as subcarrier spacing).
For different baseband parameters, it is defined that the length of one subframe is 1 ms, and one subframe contains multiple slots; the number of slots contained in one subframe may vary with different baseband parameters, and the length of one subframe needs to be 1 ms. For different baseband parameters, a slot may contain 7 or 14 symbols (OFDM or DFT-S-OFDM and other symbols). For example, when the subcarrier spacing is 30 kHz, assuming that one slot is agreed or configured to contain 7 symbols, in order to meet the requirement that one subframe is 1 ms in length, one subframe needs to contain 4 slots, and assuming that one slot is agreed or configured to contain 14 symbols, in order to meet the requirement that one subframe is 1 ms in length, one subframe needs to contain 2 slots. A slot may have multiple slot structures, and different structures correspond to different uplink and downlink resource divisions in a slot. For example, multiple symbols in a slot may all be used for downlink transmission, i.e. DL only slot, and may all be used for uplink transmission, i.e. UL only slot, or, some symbols are used for uplink transmission and some for downlink transmission, i.e. DL+UL slot. A slot structure can be semi-statically notified to a terminal through RRC signaling, or can be dynamically notified to the terminal through multicast common signaling so that the slot structure is dynamically changed.
Since the number of uplink symbols contained in one slot may change, two types of NR-PUCCH, long NR-PUCCH and short NR-PUCCH, are defined in a 5G NR system, wherein the long NR-PUCCH may occupy 4 to 14 symbol transmissions and the short NR-PUCCH may occupy 1 or 2 symbol transmissions. In order to improve uplink coverage, the long NR-PUCCH may also be transmitted in multiple slots. At present, there is no clear plan on how to carry out long NR-PUCCH transmission in multiple slots.

Uplink control channel transmission method, terminal, base station and device

DATANG MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT CO., LTD.


An ultrasonic anemometer employs three ultrasonic transducers arranged in a configuration defining a horizontal equilateral triangle. Each of the transducers has a response profile characterized by a primary central lobe and secondary or side lobes angularly inclined from and surrounding the primary lobe. Each transducer is tilted from the horizontal to align the secondary lobes with signal propagation paths between it and the other transducers, thus affording a minimum number of transducers performing at a high degree of efficiency. Circuitry is employed to cause the ultrasonic transducers to generate either continuous wave acoustic signals or single pulse acoustic signals on an alternating basis. In each case only one of the transducers transmits the acoustic signal while the other two transducers receive the signal. Propagation measurements based upon the continuous wave and the single pulse are combined to provide a composite propagation time, for each of two opposite directions in connection with each propagation path. These values in turn are combined to obtain a single vector representation of wind speed and direction.

The present invention relates to fluid flow characterizing devices, and more particularly to systems employing ultrasonic transducers to measure wind velocity and direction.
Ultrasonic anemometers are known to have advantages over conventional mechanical anemometers employing vanes and propellers or cups. Ultrasonic anemometers have no moving parts, and avoid the substantial maintenance and repair costs associated with mechanical anemometers, particularly for devices located in remote or relatively inaccessible locations. Ultrasonic anemometers have a longer useful life and respond more rapidly to changing wind conditions as compared to mechanical anemometers. In freezing rain or other severe weather conditions, an ultrasonic anemometer detects the absence of a received signal and reports that the signal is unavailable. Ultrasonic anemometers are easier to de-ice. By contrast, the mechanical anemometer tends to freeze or jam, and report a wind velocity of zero. Frost can alter readings by influencing the coefficients of static and dynamic friction in the mechanical anemometer.
Generally, the ultrasonic anemometer employs two or more ultrasonic transducers for generating and receiving ultrasonic signals. Signal propagation times along linear paths between transducers are determined and used to calculate wind speed and direction.
A primary disadvantage of a ultrasonic anemometers, as compared to mechanical anemometers, is their expense. The ultrasonic probes or transducers themselves are costly, and further expense arises due to the need for complex electrical signal processing circuitry. The electrical signals that cause the transducers to generate acoustic signals are generally either continuous wave signals or individual pulses. The continuous wave, typically sinusoidal, allows measurement based on phase shift. This permits accurate measurement, as phase shift can be determined by detecting zero crossings of the signal. This approach has limited utility, however, in that the phase angle "wraps" or repeats itself every cycle or every 360 degrees. Accordingly, measurement circuitry can not differentiate between two air flows, one of which causes a 360 degree greater phase shift as compared to the other. An example employing continuous wave ultrasonic energy is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,003,256 (Donelan et al). In the Donelan patent, free running acoustic oscillators propagate acoustic energy either along non-parallel paths or along single, periodically reversing path. Each oscillator is in a circuit that also includes acoustic transducers that determine the frequency of the circuit.
The pulsed time delay (individual pulse) approach has no inherent range limitation. However, the accuracy of this approach is relatively poor compared to the continuous wave approach, largely due to uncertainties in detecting thresholds as opposed to the unambiguous zero crossing measurements in the continuous wave approach. The shape of the acoustic pulse influences the time instant at which the pulse is detected, introducing significant error into propagation time measurements. U.S. Pat. No. 4,112,756 (MacLennan et al) discloses an ultrasonic air flow measuring system employing individual pulses and a counter for determining pulse propagation times between two spaced apart transducers.
A known approach to enhancing the accuracy of measurements based on pulse time delay is to digitize the received signal and then employ digital correlation. This requires additional costly circuits such as fast high resolution analog-to-digital converting circuits and random access memory (RAM) to store the data before it is processed.
Another disadvantage of ultrasonic anemometers arises when one of the linear signal propagation paths is parallel or nearly parallel to the wind direction. Such alignment causes turbulence along the signal path, causing significant random variations in signal transit times and signal amplitudes. The upwind transducer causes a wind shadow that coincides with the signal propagation path, resulting in further error.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic anemometer with relatively straight-forward and inexpensive signal processing circuitry yet capable of obtaining accurate wind velocity and direction measurements.
Another object is to provide a process for determining ultrasonic energy propagation times based on a combination of continuous wave forms and individual pulse wave forms.
A further object is to provide an ultrasonic anemometer in which an array of ultrasonic transducers is configured for maximum effectiveness while using a minimum number of transducers.
Yet another object is to provide, in a device employing ultrasonic transducers to measure the velocity and direction of a fluid flow, a means for selectively ignoring signal propagation information along one of the linear propagation paths, when the selected path is at least substantially parallel to the direction of fluid flow.


A constant-speed running apparatus for a vehicle comprising a throttle-valve actuator for activating a throttle-valve opening angle of a vehicle engine, a constant-speed running controller for controlling the throttle-speed running, a continuously variable transmission (CVT) which is constructed in a power transmission path of the vehicle engine, and a CVT controller for controlling a transmission-ratio of the CVT; further comprising a detecting element constructed in the constant-speed running controller for a control efficiency of the constant-speed running for detecting an acceleration demand of a driver and for informing the CVT controller of the demand; and further comprising a correction element for calculating a corrected transmission-ratio as a corrected vehicle acceleration corresponding to a target vehicle accelerating force on the basis of the acceleration demand detected by the detecting element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a constant-speed running apparatus for a vehicle in which a desired accelerating force of the vehicle is obtained by changing a transmission ratio if the acceleration force is not enough when a driver specifies acceleration of the vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional constant-speed running apparatus for vehicles are disclosed in the Japanese Patent Official Gazette, for example, a patent application laid-open No. 60-135335, a patent application laid-open No. 58-39311, and a patent application laid-open No. 58-29018. The same applicants have already filed a patent application No. 61-200562 relevant to the present invention, a conventional constant-speed running apparatus is disclosed in the specification of the above application.
FIG. 1 shows a block diagram briefly explaining one of the prior art devices mentioned above. FIG. 1 shows substantially the same structure as FIG. 3, which will be mentioned later, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a constant-speed running apparatus, for a vehicle according to the present invention. The prior art will be described with reference to FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, the numeral 100 denotes a constant-speed running controller, which comprises a vehicle speed detecting means 101, a vehicle-speed storage means 102, a desired-speed generating means 103, a cancel-signal generating means 104, a logical calculating means 105, and an actuator driving means 106.
A vehicle speed sensor 111 supplies an actual vehicle-speed Vw to the constant-speed running controller 100. The actual vehicle-speed Vw is detected by the detecting means 101 and outputted to the logical calculating means 105 to which the content stored in the vehicle-speed storage means 102 is also inputted. The vehicle-speed storage means 102 stores a desired vehicle-speed. Further, the numeral 112 denotes a main switch for activating the constant-speed running controller 100.
The numeral 120 denotes a group of command switches comprising a number of switches for setting driving conditions by the driver, that is, a setting switch 121, a COA switch 122, an ACC switch 123, and an RES switch 124.
The setting switch 121 is a command switch which stores a present vehicle-speed and controls vehicle-speeds on the basis of the stored vehicle-speeds.
The COA switch 122 is a command switch which is used when the present vehicle-speed is to be decelerated.
The ACC switch 123 is a command switch which is used when the present vehicle-speed is to be accelerated.
Some ACC switches carry out acceleration control in order to improve the accelerating feeling which a driver feels when he accelerates the vehicle.
The RES switch 124 is a command switch for obtaining a desired acceleration, deceleration, or constant speed condition to arrive at a speed previously stored.
The outputs of the respective switches of the above-mentioned command switch group 120 are supplied to the desired-speed generating means 103 of the constant-speed running controller 100.
The desired-speed generating means 103 generates desired-speed signals corresponding to the output of each switch of the command switch group 120 and outputs these desired-speed signals to the logical calculating means 105.
Further, the numeral 130 includes a cancel switch group comprising a clutch switch 131, breaking switch 132, and a canceling switch 133. The cancel switch group 130 supplies its output to the cancel-signal generating means 104 of the constant-speed running controller 100 in order to cancel a control function for driving at a constant-speed by the driver.
In general, it is well-known that the structure of the cancel switch group 130 and the command switch group 120 and how they are installed depend on the vehicles in which these switch groups are equipped, but they are equivalent in the functions to be performed.
The logical calculating means 105 carries out predetermined logical calculations on the basis of the outputs from the vehicle-speed detecting means 101, the vehicle-speed storage means 102, the desired-speed generating means 103, and the cancel-signal generating means 104, and then controls the actuator driving means 106 thereby causing a throttle actuator 140 to control an opening-angle of a throttle valve 150. Thus, constant-speed control at the desired running speed is affected.
A controller 200 for a continuously variable transmission (CVT) comprises a regulated oil-pressure generating means 201, an oil-pressure generating means for the varying speed 202, and a CVT actuator driving means 203.
The above controller 200 for the CVT is supplied with the outputs from an input rotational angle sensor 211 and an output rotational angle sensor 212 for obtaining an actual transmission-ratio, the output of a range position sensor 213 for bringing out a driving efficiency desired by the driver, the output of a throttle valve opening angle sensor 214 for obtaining a desired opening-angle of the throttle valve as a demanded acceleration amount of the driver, the output of an engine control information detecting means 220 for judging other conditions of the engine, and the output of a driving control information detecting means 230 for judging conditions for driving. Therefore, the controller 200 for the CVT drives an actuator 240 for regulating oil-pressure and an actuator 241 for an oil-pressure varying speed in order to control a transmission-ratio of a continuously variable transmission (CVT) 250 and also to regulate the pressure between a belt pulley and a V-belt.
FIG. 2 denotes a flowchart showing a flow of operation of the controller 200 for the CVT which is disclosed in the Japanese Patent Official Gazette of patent laid-open No. 60-135335.
In step S401 shown in FIG. 2, the controller 200 receives a throttle-valve opening angle .theta.th from the throttle valve opening angle sensor 214, a rotational speed at input side Ni from the input rotational angle sensor 211, a rotational speed at output side No from the output rotational angle sensor 212, a driving efficiency Sel desired by the driver from the range position sensor 213, respectively.
The next step S402 is a decision routine for deciding whether a transmission-ratio compensation should be carried out or not. This decision routine generates a transmission-ratio compensating demand when the throttle-valve opening angle .theta.th is fully open or fully closed. The operation of the controller 200 proceeds to the step S410 upon the transmission-ratio compensating demand.
The step S410 is a routine for processing various compensation. A target rotational speed of an input shaft Nis is calculated in the step S411, and in the step S412, a target transmission ratio Rs is calculated, thereby a transmission-ratio control is carried out.
In normal control of the transmission ratio, if it is decided in step S402 that a compensation is not necessary, an engine-generated torque .tau.e is calculated by the engine characteristic routine of the step S403 on the basis of the throttle-valve opening angle .theta.th and the input shaft rotational speed Ni which are read out in the step S401.
After that, the regulating oil-pressure actuator 240 is started after calculating a regulated oil-pressure on the basis of the engine-generated torque .tau.e and the actual transmission-ratio R by means of a regulated oil-pressure calculation routine in the step S404.
Subsequently, the oil-pressure varying speed actuator 241 is driven after calculating, by means of a varying speed oil-pressure calculating routine in the step S405, a varying speed oil-pressure P.sub.R corresponding to the difference between the target rotational speed of the input shaft Nis and the actual input shaft rotational speed Ni.
In such a manner mentioned above, the transmission-ratio control for the CVT 250 is carried out.
However, in the process routine shown in FIG. 2, the throttle-valve opening angle is not opened sufficiently because of insufficient negative pressure when the vehicle runs on an up-hill at a constant speed. From this point of view, the conventional constant-speed driving apparatus is constituted such that a sufficient acceleration is gained by executing the transmission-ratio control.
Similarly, a force of an engine brake is regulated by the transmission-ratio control. Further, when the throttle-valve opening angle .theta.th is fully open or totally closed causing insufficient engine brake force, the conventional constant-speed running apparatus is arranged in such a way that the transmission-ratio control is also applied to an ordinary control.
Further, the conventional apparatus cannot provide the transmission-ratio determined by ordinary transmission-ratio control of the CVT corresponding to the acceleration demanding command from the driver.
Therefore, when acceleration is required or acceleration is too large, precise vehicle acceleration cannot be obtained, thus the driver cannot feel acceleration corresponding to what he intended to get.

Constant-speed running apparatus for vehicle


An artificial intelligence system which utilizes a unique technique for storing data, analyzing data, and reducing the complexity of data is disclosed. The technique involves identifying "world" states that have a unique exclusive relationship. The identification of these unique states considerably reduces the complexity of the world under study. Furthermore, the identified unique states are useful in combination with any way the system has to affect the world under study. These identified unique states, when placed in a hierarchical scheme, further reduces the complexity of the world under study.

This invention relates generally to Artificial Intelligence (AI), and more specifically to planning systems capable of operating in a distributed processing environment.
Artificial intelligence, or AI, deals with the science of making machines with the intelligence of human beings. AI covers areas including cognition, understanding, learning, knowledge representation and searching. This invention touches on all of these aspects of AI.
The idea of making a machine with the intelligence of a human being has existed since at least the 1940's when the first computers were made. Many predictions have been made since then as to when an intelligent machine will be created. Most of these predicted dates have come and gone and there is still no evidence that an intelligent machine will be created in the near future.
The field of AI has gone through several periods when great breakthroughs were thought to be close at hand. However, each time, more barriers were found that frustrated the goal of creating an intelligent machine. These barriers included the exponential growth of the search space, consequent slowness in the search process, inability to generalize knowledge, and encoding and storing knowledge in a useful and efficient way. These problems apply to the AI field in general.
One subcategory of AI systems is planners. A planner can be thought of as a system for searching through a space of possible world states for a path to a particular world state (a goal state) which satisfies a number of externally or internally imposed criteria. An example would be a system for searching through the states of the familiar Rubic's Cube puzzle to find the sequence of operations to achieve the goal state (i.e. the solution). There are various strategies for solving these planning problems. Two of these strategies are the standard planners and the hierarchical planners.
A standard planner is a planner which develops plans at a single abstraction level, typically by developing a set of subgoals to be achieved in order to reach the main goal. A hierarchical planner is a planner which develops plans at several levels of abstraction. The plan at the highest level is a simplification, whereas at the lowest level it is a detailed plan, ready for execution.
Planners face barriers similar to the barriers other AI systems face and which were discussed above. These include an exponentially growing search space, consequent slowness in planning, inability to generalize knowledge from previously generated plans, and difficulty in encoding knowledge in a domain independent way.
Another problem faced in the field of AI and planners is the lack of techniques for producing programs which can control a number of activities in a distributed fashion. Distributed processing is when multiple processors or computers are connected together so that they can work on a common problem. Distributed processing has the advantage of greatly increasing the computing power of a system merely by adding additional processors. A technique that can utilize this increased computing power is a great advantage.
Therefore, a need exists for a new technique to overcome these problems in the AI and planning fields.


In a crimp terminal for crimping at least one bare conductor of at least one sheathed electric wire, the at least one bare conductor is placed on a bottom plate. A pair of crimp craws extend from the bottom plate to crimp the at least one bare conductor placed on the bottom plate. A plurality of serrations are formed at least on an inner face of the bottom plate to bite the at least one bare conductor crimped by the crimp claws. At least one of the serrations has a depth different from a depth of each another serration.

The present invention relates to a crimp terminal for connecting electric wires by crimping, and more particularly to an improvement of conductor engaging grooves (serrations) which are formed on an inner face of a bottom plate part, etc. of the terminal, and advantageously contribute to an improvement of electrical connecting performance as well as an improvement of mechanical connecting performance between the terminal and conductors of the electric wires.
FIGS. 6 and 7 show examples of related-art crimp terminals.
A crimp terminal 1 as shown in FIG. 6 is the crimp terminal for screw fitting, and includes a terminal portion 2 for screw fitting which has a screw insertion hole 2a formed at its distal end, a conductor crimping portion 4 and a sheath crimping portion 5 which are provided in order behind the terminal portion 2. These portions are integrally formed of a sheet of metal plate by stamping process.
The conductor crimping portion 4 is a portion for connecting bare conductors 7b by crimping, which are exposed by removing an insulation sheath 7a from a sheathed electric wire 7, as also shown in FIG. 8. The conductor crimping portion 4 has a bottom plate part 4a on which the bare conductors 7b are placed, and a pair of crimp claws 4b which are adapted to be crimped onto the bare conductors 7b placed on this bottom plate part 4a, by a crimping equipment 9 (See FIG. 9).
The sheath crimping portion 5 is a portion for crimping the sheathed electric wire 7 to fix it together with the insulation sheath 7a, and includes a bottom plate part 5a on which the sheathed electric wire 7 is placed, and a pair of crimp claws 5b which are crimped onto the sheathed electric wire 7 placed on the bottom plate part 5a, by the crimping equipment 9 (See FIG. 9).
The crimping equipment 9 is a kind of pressing apparatus which includes, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, an anvil 9a for supporting the bottom plate parts 4a, 5a of the conductor crimping portion 4 and the sheath crimping portion 5, and two crimpers 9b, 9c provided above the anvil 9a so as to move up and down for respectively crimping the crimp claws 4b and the crimp claws 5b.
Meanwhile, a crimp terminal 11 as shown in FIG. 7, is a relaying crimp terminal for connecting conductors of a plurality of sheathed electric wires 12a, 12b, 12c together in a bundle, and has a bottom plate part 11a on which a plurality of bare conductors 13 are placed, and a pair of crimp claws 11b which are extended from both sides of the bottom plate part 11a and adapted to be crimped onto the bare conductors 13 placed on the bottom plate part 11a, by a crimping equipment. The bottom plate part 11a and the crimp claws 11b are integrally formed of a sheet of metal plate by stamping process.
It has been known that in order to enhance electrical connecting performance and mechanical connecting performance between the bare conductors and the bottom plate parts of these crimp terminals, a plurality of conductor engaging grooves 17 in a concave shape (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cserrationsxe2x80x9d) extending in a direction intersecting axes of the bare conductors (usually, in a perpendicular direction) are provided on an inner face 16 of the bottom plate part, etc. of the terminal to be contacted with the bare conductors, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12.
In this case, all the serrations have a groove width and a groove depth of the same size, and are in the same shape.
When the crimp claws 4b, 11b have been crimped, groove edges of the serrations 17 are intensively pressed so as to adequately bite the bare conductors 7b, 13 on the surface, and both the mechanical connecting performance and the electrical connecting performance can be improved, ensuring reliability of the connection by crimping.
By the way, in order that oxidized coatings formed by oxidation on the surfaces of the conductors may be removed when the edges of the serrations 17 have bitten the bare conductors 7b, 13 by the edges, it is necessary for the serrations 17 to be set to have a large amount of bite, and it is necessary to make the serrations 17 deep for an increase of the amount of bite.
On the other hand, in case where the serrations have been set to have a large amount of bite, stresses will be converged on crimped areas of the conductors when a tensile force is exerted on the bare conductors 7b, 13 from outside. As the results, the bare conductors 7b, 13 will be likely to be broken, resulting in deterioration of the mechanical connecting performance.
Under the circumstances, in order that improvements of the electrical connecting performance and the mechanical connecting performance may be obtained while keeping their balance, the depth of the serrations 17 and crimping amounts of the crimp claws can be determined in consideration of outer diameters of the bare conductors.
However, there have been many cases in which the crimp terminals employed in a wire harness or the like for a motor vehicle must connect the sheathed electric wires having various diameters, or must crimp the conductors having different outer diameters together in a bundle.
For this reason, it is extremely difficult to determine the depth of the serrations 17 and the crimping amounts of the crimp claws so that improvements of both the electrical connecting performance and the mechanical connecting performance can be obtained while keeping their balance. For example, in case where a plurality of the bare conductors having different outer diameters have been crimped together in a bundle, even though the large diametered bare conductors may be improved both in the electrical connecting performance and the mechanical connecting performance, the small diametered bare conductors may be too much engaged by the serrations 17, resulting in a probability that even a slight tensile force may break the bare conductors.
Moreover, in case where the mechanical connecting performance is intended to be ensured, by setting the depth of the serrations 17 according to the bare conductor having the smallest diameter among the bare conductors 7b, 13 to be crimped, there has been such an anxiety that in the bare conductors having the larger diameters, the edges of the grooves cannot sufficiently remove the oxidized coatings on the surfaces of the conductors, incurring defective electrical connecting performance.
In order to eliminate such disadvantages contradicting each other, a crimp terminal 21 as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 has been proposed.
This crimp terminal 21 is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. JP 59-165390A, and includes two conductor crimping portions 23, 24 having different crimping amounts. The conductor crimping portion 23 positioned at a proximal end side of the bare conductors forms a crimping part having a small amount of bite of the serrations with respect to the conductors, by adjusting a height of the crimp claws 23b, 23b and controlling a crimper 26b in a crimping equipment 26 so as to obtain a smaller crimping amount.
On the other hand, the conductor crimping portion 24 which is positioned at a distal end side of the bare conductors forms a crimping part having a large amount of bite of the serrations with respect to the conductors, by adjusting a height of the crimp claws 24b, 24b and controlling a crimper 26c in the crimping equipment 26 so as to obtain a larger crimping amount.
In this manner, by providing two types of the conductor crimping portions 23, 24 having different crimping amounts, incomplete or excessive amount of bite by the serrations has been eliminated, even in case where the bare conductors having small diameters and large diameters are mixed, and both the electrical connecting performance and the mechanical connecting performance have been able to be improved.
However, in the crimp terminal 21 as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, an increase in number of the conductor crimping portions 23, 24 has incurred a problem that a structure of the terminal has become complicated and large-sized. In addition, the crimping equipment 26 has become also complicated due to an addition of the crimper 26c, and there has arisen a problem that cost for the equipment might be increased.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a crimp terminal in which, on occasion of crimping operation when the bare conductors of both small diameters and large diameters are mixed, an excessive or incomplete bite in any conductor can be eliminated, without incurring a complicated and large-sized structure of the crimp terminal, and also without incurring a complicated crimping equipment, and both electrical connecting performance and mechanical connecting performance can be improved at a low cost.
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a crimp terminal for crimping at least one bare conductor of at least one sheathed electric wire, comprising:
a bottom plate, on which the at least one bare conductor is placed;
a pair of crimp craws, extending from the bottom plate to crimp the at least one bare conductor placed on the bottom plate; and
a plurality of serrations formed at least on an inner face of the bottom plate to bite the at least one bare conductor crimped by the crimp claws,
wherein at least one of the serrations has a depth different from a depth of each another serration.
In this construction, when the crimping operation is performed, the shallow serration will prevent an excessive bite thereby to attain improvement of the mechanical connecting performance, and on the other hand, the deep serration will prevent the oxidized coating from remaining due to an incomplete bite thereby to attain improvement of the electrical connecting performance.
Further, the serrations having different depths can ensure appropriate amounts of bite with respect to both the bare conductors having a small diameter and a large diameter, although no additional crimping structure is required.
Therefore, on occasion of crimping operation when the bare conductors having both a small diameter and a large diameter are mixed, an excessive or incomplete bite with respect to either conductor can be eliminated, without incurring a complicated and large-sized structure of the crimp terminal, and also without incurring a complicated crimping equipment, and both the electrical connecting performance and the mechanical connecting performance can be improved at a low cost.
Preferably, a depth of a serration situated closer to an end of the bottom plate at which the sheathed electric wire is placed is shallower than a depth of another serration.
When plural sheathed electric wires are placed at both ends of the bottom plate, it is preferable that depths of serration closer to the both ends of the bottom plate are shallower than a depth of another serration.
In these cases, it is possible to decrease an amount of bite between the serrations and the bare conductors at the proximal end side of the bare conductors, so that deterioration of the mechanical connecting performance due to an excessive bite can be reliably prevented.
Preferably, a depth of a center portion of the at least one serration in an extending direction thereof is shallower than depths of both end portions thereof.


A capacitive MEMS microphone structure is provided, which micromechanical microphone structure of component is realized in a layer construction and includes: a diaphragm structure sensitive to sound pressure, which is deflectable in a direction perpendicular to the layer planes of the layer construction; an acoustically penetrable counter-element which has through holes and is formed above or below the diaphragm structure in the layer construction; and a capacitor system for detecting the excursions of the diaphragm structure. The diaphragm structure includes a structural element in the middle area of the diaphragm structure, which structural element projects perpendicularly from the diaphragm plane and which, depending on the degree of excursion of the diaphragm structure, variably extends into a correspondingly formed and positioned through hole in the counter-element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a component having a micromechanical microphone structure which is realized in a layer construction. The microphone structure includes at least one diaphragm structure which is sensitive to sound pressure and is deflectable essentially in a direction perpendicular to the layer planes of the layer construction; an acoustically penetrable counter-element having through holes, which is formed above or below the diaphragm structure in the layer construction; and a capacitor system for detecting the excursions of the diaphragm structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical-System) microphones of the type discussed here have been known for years and are employed within the framework of widely varying practical applications.
MEMS microphones are common which have a flat diaphragm structure that is parallel to the chip or substrate plane and is excited to vertical (out-of-plane) vibrations by exposure to sound on the front or back side. The signal acquisition is generally carried out capacitively. To that end, disposed on the diaphragm structure is an electrode which, together with a further electrode on a stationary counter-element, forms a capacitor system, so that excursions of the diaphragm structure produce a change in capacitance of this microphone capacitor.
The larger the diaphragm surface, the more sensitive the diaphragm structure is with respect to changes in pressure or acoustic excitation, and the larger it is possible to dimension the surface area of the electrodes of the capacitor system, in order to attain the greatest possible change in capacitance in response to a given diaphragm excursion. For this reason, high microphone sensitivity and the miniaturization of the component are only conditionally compatible with each other. In addition, the production, adjustment and conditioning of large, self-supporting, thin layers as needed for microphone diaphragms are associated with considerable expenditure for development and processing.

Component having a micromechanical microphone structure


An imaging device, an imaging method, and a recording medium storing an imaging program are provided. Each of the imaging device, imaging device, and the recording medium storing the imaging program outputs image data of an object on an image output unit, stores multiple levels of luminosity of the object in a memory in association with a plurality of set values that are referred to when image processing is performed on image data, specifies the level of luminosity of the object, selects one of the set values stored in the memory based on the level of luminosity specified by the specifying, and performs image processing on the image data output from the image output unit, based on the set value selected by the selecting.

Technical Field
Example embodiments of the present invention generally relate to an imaging device, imaging method, image processing device, and a recording medium storing an imaging program.
Background Art
It is desired for a vehicle-installed imaging device to output an image where an object is appropriately recognizable regardless of the capturing condition such as the white balance and the exposure at the time of capturing the image (such an optimal image may be referred to as an "appropriate image" in the description below). For this reason, imaging devices in which the capturing conditions are automatically set are known in the art.
It is known for vehicle-installed imaging devices that the conditions for an object change widely due to various factors such as changes in weather, reflection light from sign boards around street, changes in illumination/lighting, changes in brightness inside and outside a tunnel, and sunlight filtering down through the trees. For this reason, it is desired for the capturing conditions of a vehicle-installed imaging device to be changed frequently in a wide range.

Imaging device, imaging method, image processing device, and recording medium storing imaging program


An actuator for releasing a pressurized fire extinguishing composition from the cylinder of a fire extinguisher has an elongated body made of a single piece. The body has a longitudinal chamber that extends through it for holding a ram that moves along the chamber and a spring for propelling the ram, a first transverse aperture for holding a trigger that releases the spring and a second transverse aperture for holding a member that moves due to movement of the ram, where both apertures join the chamber. Movement of the member releases the composition from cylinder. A microswitch or a cable, activated by the ram, may be attached to either or both ends of the chamber.

This invention relates to an actuator for releasing a pressurized fire extinguishing composition from a fire extinguisher. In particular, it relates to an actuator that has a body made from a single piece.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,572 shows a fire extinguisher having an actuator that is activated when a fusible link breaks, releasing a trigger. A version of that fire extinguisher has been commercialized by the inventor, who is also the inventor of the instant application. FIGS. 2 and 3 of the patent show the parts of the actuator (valve opening mechanism 40). While the patent does not describe how the actuator was made, the drawings show that header 26 is a tube that has a second tube (not numbered) inside and that various other parts are attached to those tubes. Several of those parts were attached by welding them to the tubes. Misalignments sometimes occurred, resulting in defective actuators that had to be discarded.


A projection system includes: a first image forming unit which releases the first image light; a second image forming unit which releases the second image light; a polarization combining system which combines the first image light and the second image light; a projection unit which projects the first image light and second image light combined; a pixel shift control unit which controls a pixel shift unit; a display timing control unit which controls display timing; and an image display control unit having a function which controls the pixel shift control unit and a function which controls the display timing control unit. The image display control unit performs the pixel shifting control when the image is a still image, and performs at least display timing control out of the pixel shifting control and the display timing control when the image is a dynamic image.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a projection system and a projector.
2. Related Art
A projector which can easily display large-screen images has been used in a broad application field such as a projection device for presentation, movie, and the like. Recently, resolution of an image input device such as a digital camera has been increasing, which can produce extremely fine images. However, resolution of a projector as an image output device for displaying the images produced by such an image input device having high resolution is lower than the resolution of the digital camera or the like. Moreover, according to a projector using liquid crystals as light modulation elements, the response speed of liquid crystals is relatively low, and thus visual recognizability of dynamic images needs to be improved.
Various technologies for overcoming these problems have been proposed (for example, see JP-A-10-304284 and JP-A-2006-203615). According to the method disclosed in JP-A-10-304284 (hereinafter referred to as first related art), highly fine image display can be achieved by shifting pixels on two images projected on a screen, that is, by so-called pixel shifting.
According to the method disclosed in JP-A-2006-203615 (hereinafter referred to as second related art), which is a technology for improving the visual recognizability of dynamic images, the visual recognizability can be increased by shifting the display timing of two projection images at the time of stack projection of projection image from plural projectors on a screen, that is, so-called synchronization shifting. Moreover, in the second related art, an intermediate image is produced based on image data to be displayed, and synchronization shifting is performed for the produced intermediate image by at least one of the plural projectors before projection. Thus, the visual recognizability of dynamic images improves.
According to the first related art, highly fine images can be displayed on the screen by performing pixel shifting for plural images. In the first related art, however, no consideration is given to improvement of visual recognizability of dynamic images. Thus, the problem of low visual recognizability of dynamic images cannot be solved.
On the other hand, the visual recognizability of dynamic images can be enhanced by synchronization shifting of the projection images projected by two projectors in the second related art. However, increase in the degree of fineness of images is not specifically considered, and thus no improvement over the fineness of image display can be achieved.
Which of pixel shifting and synchronization shifting is an appropriate method differs depending on the contents to be projected. For example, in case of still images, finer image display is typically desired. In case of dynamic images, highly recognizable dynamic display is typically desirable. It is therefore important to select pixel shifting or synchronization shifting according to the contents. In the first and second related arts, however, processing according to the contents is difficult.


A data handling system for monitoring and/or managing a complex system includes computing hardware operable to execute support software products for assimilating information and/or data from the complex system and for sending information and/or data thereto for monitoring and/or managing the complex system The handling system is provided with interface software products executable on computing hardware for implementing a data interface between personnel and the support software products and/or directly to the complex system. The interface software products implement workflows defined in a top-down strategy. The workflows define data filters and/or aggregators for selectively filtering and/or aggregating information and/or data provided from the complex system and/or from the support software products for presenting to the personnel via the interface software products for selectively reducing a quantity of data to be interpreted by the personnel. The data handling system is especially pertinent to oil/gas exploration and/or production, although not limited thereto.

Control and optimization of complex systems is a frequently encountered contemporary technical problem. For example, in a European Patent Office appeal decision T26/86 relating to a European patent application EP78101198, an invention pertaining to a control computer coupled to a known type of X-ray tube for controlling operating parameters of the X-ray tube is described. The invention concerns a control computer configured to execute software for rendering the computer operable to control the X-ray tube for achieving an optimum exposure whilst providing adequate protection against overloading the X-ray tube. In the aforesaid decision T26/86, the European Patent Office deemed subject matter claimed in claims of the patent application EP78101198 to be potentially patentable in view of the subject matter being directed towards solving a technical problem and not relating solely to software as such.
Moreover, in a European Patent Office appeal decision T6/83 relating to a European patent application no. EP79101907, another invention is described concerning co-ordination and control of internal communication between programs and data files held at different processors in a data processing system having a plurality of interconnected data processors in a telecommunication network. The invention is not concerned with the nature of data communicated within the data processing system, but rather with coordination of internal basic functions of the data processing system for permitting a plurality of software programs for specific applications to be executed. The invention was deemed by the European Patent Office to be solving a problem which was essentially technical in nature, thereby rendering the claimed invention patentable.
From the foregoing, a principle has evolved that software executable on computing hardware for solving a problem having a technical nature is considered to relate to potentially patentable subject matter.
Software products executable on computing hardware for controlling logistics within complex systems are generally known. Such logistics software products are used, for example, to control movements of containers on maritime cargo ships between various seaports. Alternatively, such software products can be used to control movements of vehicles distributing goods over a geographical area, wherein operational problems can arise such as breakdown of the vehicles, traffic accidents delaying movements of the vehicles, adverse weather conditions and so forth. The software products are capable of dynamically adapting to problematic situations arising in systems for which they are configured to control and manage.
A problem arises when proprietary software products have been incrementally brought into use to monitor and control extremely complex systems. For example, an oil and/or gas field indicated generally by 10 in FIG. 1 comprises many thousands of oil and/or gas wells from which oil and/or gas is substantially continuously extracted; an example oil and/or gas well is denoted by 20. For example, the oil field 10 includes in an order of eleven thousand oil and/or gas wells. Oil and/or gas extraction and handling equipment 30 associated with each of the oil and/or gas wells 20 is prone to exhibiting imperfect reliability, namely occasionally subject to breakdowns and thereby requiring maintenance. Moreover, physical conditions such as well-pressure can be dynamically varying in each of the oil and/or gas wells 20, thereby affecting a yield of oil and/or gas obtainable therefrom. A control centre 50 including computing hardware 60 operable to execute software products is coupled in communication with arrays of sensors 40 included in the extraction and handling equipment 30 of the wells 20 of the oil and/or gas field 10. The control centre 50 is operated by a group of personnel denoted by 70, the group 70 employing the computing hardware 60 to monitor and manage operation of the oil and/or gas wells 20 by way of signals supplied from the arrays of sensors 40 to the computing hardware 60.
The computing hardware 60 itself is illustrated schematically in FIG. 2. The computing hardware 60 comprises, for example, data memory 90 for storing a plurality of databases 100 and computers 110 with one or more associated display monitors 120. The one or more display monitors 120 are spatially disposed to be viewed by the group of personnel 70. The computers 110 are operable to receive the aforesaid signals and store data derived therefrom in the databases 100. Moreover, the computers 110 are operable, under control of the aforementioned software products, to selectively extract data from the databases 110 and/or the aforesaid signals from the arrays of sensors 40 for visually presenting various categories of information to the group of personnel 70.
A technical problem which is encountered in practice in the control centre 50 is that the group of personnel 70 are often overwhelmed by an huge volume of data from the arrays of sensors 40 such that it is difficult for the group of personnel 70 to derive a clear overall indication of functioning of the oil and/or gas field 10 quickly for making decisions. For example, data stored in the databases 100 is often not cross-related on account of an incremental manner in which the software products executing on the computing hardware 60 have been brought into operation during development of the oil and/or gas field 10. Moreover, a further problem arises in that the software products are often from more than one vendor and are thereby not designed to mutually interoperate.
A further issue is that the group of personnel 70 are subject to human characteristics such as impatience and limited concentration time span which renders it difficult for them to handle a vast amount of information being presented to them by the computing hardware 60. The group of personnel 70 can optionally simply chose to ignore certain information presented to them but then risk overlooking important issues which prevent the oil and/or gas field 10 from being operated in an efficient manner, for example the group of personnel 70 miss an opportunity to extract greater quantities of oil from certain oil and/or gas wells 20 exhibiting unusually high well pressures by ignoring pressure measurement data pertaining to the certain oil and/or gas wells 20.
Thus, a conventional approach to addressing the technical problem as described in the foregoing is to execute several contemporary proprietary software products on the computing hardware 60 to process measurement data derived from the oil and/or gas field 10 to generate several diverse sets of processed measurement output data, and to rely on the group of personnel 70 to manually correlate the sets of output data to extract pertinent information therefrom for managing operation of the oil and/or gas field 10.
Although the technical problem addressed by the present invention has been elucidated in the foregoing, for example in relation to the oil and/or gas field 10, it will be appreciated that similar technical problems arise when controlling other types of complex systems, for example control systems including one or more of solar cell arrays, wind farms comprising arrays of wind turbines, arrays of coastal wave energy collectors, arrays of geothermal bore holes and so forth.


A radio base station according to this invention includes: a radio resource allocation determination unit for determining whether or not to allocate a radio resource to a mobile communication device; a radio resource control unit for allocating the radio resource to the mobile communication device to which the radio resource allocation determination unit has determined to carry out the allocation of the radio resource; and a backhaul line control unit for providing control of outputting data received from the mobile communication device to a backhaul line for relaying the data to a higher-level network. When congestion occurs, the radio resource control unit reduces an amount of the radio resource to be allocated, and the radio resource allocation determination unit determines whether or not to allocate the radio resource to another mobile communication device, depending on whether or not the received data satisfies predetermined service quality.

The communication speed increases in the Long Term Evolution (LTE), which is a next generation mobile communication, compared with the third generation mobile communication. The increase in communication speed is realized by an increased radio bandwidth, which is used between a mobile communication device and a radio base station. It is thus necessary to increase a line speed or a line capacity of a backhaul line connecting a higher-level network, which includes the mobility management element (MME) and the serving gate way (S-GW), with the radio base station. However, an amount of data transmitted from the mobile communication device to the radio base station may exceed an amount of data which can be transmitted on the backhaul line depending on a quality of a network or the backhaul line built based on a network design of a telecommunications carrier. In this case, the radio base station carries out flow control to limit the amount of data transmitted to the backhaul line.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2006-197605 (hereinafter, referred to as Patent Literature 1) describes a technology for efficiently transmitting a control traffic and a bearer traffic on a backhaul line. In general, a resource on the backhaul line is sufficiently allocated to the control traffic requiring a high reliability. Therefore, a bandwidth available for transmitting the bearer traffic is reduced. To address this problem, Patent Literature 1 discloses a communication method involving monitoring the control traffic transmitted on the backhaul line, and allocating a proper amount of the resource to the control traffic transmitted on the backhaul line.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2007-336488 (hereinafter, referred to as Patent Literature 2) discloses a method involving allocating a resource to be allocated to channel quality information transmitted from a mobile station to a base station. If an amount of data to be transmitted from the mobile station to the base station is large, the resource to be allocated to the channel quality information is reduced. Moreover, if the amount of data to be transmitted from the mobile station to the base station is small, the resource to be allocated to the channel quality information is increased. As a result, if the amount of data other than control information is large, the resource allocated to the channel quality information corresponding to the control information can be reduced, and hence a large amount of data can be transmitted.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2009-111498 (hereinafter, referred to as Patent Literature 3) discloses a control method of receiving a new call from a radio terminal in a radio base station. If a throughput of an existing call, to which a priority lower than a priority set to a new call is set, is lower than a threshold, the radio base station rejects a reception of the new call. As a result, it is possible to prevent a decrease in throughput of an existing call of low priority.

Radio base station, control processor, program and radio resource allocation control method


The present invention relates to a fastener having a pair of elements capable of being engaged to each other and relates to a wrapping bag having the fastener. The fastener is arranged in such a manner that at least its portion to be welded to the bag body is mainly made of ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer resin containing vinyl acetate by 1 to 9% and having melt index of 0.5 to 6.0 g/10 minutes. The wrapping bag having the fastener can be obtained by welding the fastener to a base body, and by sealing the ends of the base film with heat.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fastener and a wrapping bag having a fastener of this type capable of being used in wrapping food, drugs, sundries, or the like which must have excellent moisture-proof performance or excellent oxygen resistance, and which must be sealed again after being opened.
2. Description of the Related Art
Bags (zipper bags) of a type which can be freely opened and closed by a band-shaped fastener (engagement member) consisting of male and female elements and disposed at the portion to be opened are widely used in a variety of fields such as food, chemical and sundry fields. A variety of methods have been disclosed in order to manufacture bags having fasteners. For example, a method has been disclosed in which a tubular film, having a fastener constituted by a male element and a female element is integrally extrusion-molded by using an extruding die. Another method has been disclosed in which the fastener is extrusion welded on the surface of a film. Furthermore, a method has been disclosed in which a tape having a fastener is previously manufactured, and the tape thus manufactured is secured on the surface of a base film forming the bag by heat-welding or by using an adhesive.
However, the two former of the three above-described methods encounter problems in terms of difficulty in handling and high cost, for example, the type of resin which can be employed is limited, these methods cannot be easily applied to multilayered film base materials, they are difficult to apply to material of various sizes, printing is difficult, and the like. Therefore, a method based on the latter method has been employed recently, this method being arranged such that only the fasteners are manufactured and they are heat-welded on the surfaces of the films forming the bodies of the bags.
In order to manufacture the fasteners, low density polyethylene (LDPE) is usually used, the LDPE however requiring a high temperature of about 140.degree. C. to be melted and welded. Therefore, it takes an excessively long time to raise the temperature of the portion to be welded. As a result, manufacturing speed must be lowered, causing a problem in terms of low manufacturing efficiency. Furthermore, because of the excessively high welding temperature described above, other problems arise, namely the use of this method results in excessively high energy cost, and wrinkles due to the sealing cannot be prevented, causing the quality of the products to deteriorate. In addition, relatively high rigidity involved sometimes causes a problem in terms of handling depending on the type of articles to be wrapped.
Therefore, it is required that the welding temperature be lowered, bag manufacturing speed be raised, and rigidity be lowered for the purpose of improving manufacturing efficiency, saving energy, and improving the appearance of the products.

Fastener and wrapping bag having the same


A method for preparing a light-emitting diode having a vertical structure by stripping a GaN base epitaxial layer and a sapphire substrate by a wet process, the method including: a) preparing a graphical growth substrate; b) growing a GaN base light-emitting diode epitaxial layer on the graphical growth substrate, the GaN base light-emitting diode epitaxial layer from the bottom to the top successively including a N-type GaN layer and a P-type GaN layer; c) successively forming a transparent and electrically conductive film, an omni-directional reflection layer, an electrically conductive reflection layer, and a passive metal protection layer from the bottom to the top on the GaN base light-emitting diode epitaxial layer; and d) removing the first layer of stable material with a high melting point of the growth substrate by dry etching, exposing the N-type GaN layer, and preparing an N electrode on the N-type GaN layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for preparing a light-emitting diode having a vertical structure, and more particularly to a method for preparing a light-emitting diode having a vertical structure by stripping GaN base epitaxial layer and sapphire substrate by a wet process.
2. Description of the Related Art
A light-emitting diode is a light-emitting device which converts the electrical energy to the light energy and is currently the most promising next-generation light source. The light-emitting diode usually gives out light through intrinsic transitions of direct band gap semiconductor and has a high photoelectric conversion efficiency, namely internal quantum effect.
The luminous efficiency of the GaN base light-emitting diode is significantly improved in recently years, but it cannot completely replace the conventional light resource. At present, the quantum efficiency, the current distribution uniformity and device cooling capacity has become main technical bottlenecks which limit further improvements of the performance of light-emitting diodes.
Semiconductor light-emitting diodes can be divided into two categories according to geometry structures: semiconductor light-emitting diodes with lateral structure and semiconductor light-emitting diodes with vertical structure.
The main disadvantages of the semiconductor light-emitting diodes with lateral structure include low heat dissipation efficiency, current congestion, low current density and high production cost. In order to resolve the heat dissipation problem of the semiconductor light-emitting diodes with lateral structure, flip chip technology is provided. However, the flip chip technology is very complicated and the production cost is high.
In addition, the sapphire which is usually used as a support substrate of a light-emitting diode has drawbacks that the electrical conductivity is very low and its lattice constant does not match with the GaN material. The thermal resistant of the device is increased due to the very low electrical conductivity, which causes serious self-heating effect. Moreover, the mismatch of the lattice constant between the sapphire and the GaN material leads to a high defection density in the GaN epitaxial layer and also results in a strong biaxial stress existing in the GaN. Especially, when the temperature of the chip is changing, the difference of thermal expansion coefficients will bring additional thermal stress into the GaN.
At present, a lot of researches are carried out for the semiconductor light-emitting diodes with vertical structure. Two electrodes of the semiconductor light-emitting diode with vertical structure are located on two sides of the epitaxial layer, which has the same advantage of high heat dissipation efficiency as flip chip technology and does not have disadvantages of flip chip technology, and also has advantages such as uniform current distribution, increased current density, and high light extraction efficiency and so on.
However, during the preparing process of the semiconductor light-emitting diode, the growth substrate is usually stripped by laser or mechanical grinding. The production cost for stripping the growth substrate by laser is high, and the laser beam causes damage to the epitaxial layer, therefore resulting in a low yield. For the method which strips the growth substrate by mechanical grinding, since the precision of the mechanical grinding is low and the grinding has non-uniformity, the grinding precision cannot be controlled and the products yield is low.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a method for preparing a light-emitting diode having a vertical structure without stripping the growth substrate by non laser or mechanical grinding method.

Light-emitting diode and method for preparing the same


Disclosed herein are thermally conductive blended polycarbonate compositions with improved flame retardant properties. The resulting compositions, comprising a polycarbonate polymer, a phosphorus-containing flame retardant, a metal hydroxide, optionally an anti-dripping agent, and optionally a silicone-containing char-forming agent, can be used in the manufacture of articles requiring thermally conductive materials with improved flame retardant properties such as electronic devices. This abstract is intended as a scanning tool for purposes of searching in the particular art and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure.

Decreasing the dimensions and weight of components as well as increasing performance in portable electronics is a key market demand. However, the reduction in size of electronic devices results in greater heat retention which can degrade product performance. Thermally conductive materials are typically used to dissipate heat in many devices such as, for example, LED lamps, e-motors, circuits, processors and coil bobbins. Despite significant research and development efforts in the field, there remains a need for suitable polymer compositions that have improved thermal conductivity, while retaining required properties of robust flame retardance, superior heat dissipation, and good impact strength performance.
Accordingly, there is a growing need for thermally conductive polymer compositions formed from amorphous polymer resins which provide robust flame retardance, superior heat dissipation, and good impact performance.

Polycarbonate based thermally conductive flame retardant polymer compositions


A semiconductor device includes: a rectifying element; an electrode pad electrically connected to the rectifying element; and a resistance and a depletion transistor arranged between the rectifying element and the electrode pad, and electrically connected to each other. The semiconductor device has a configuration in which the rectifying element, the resistance, the depletion transistor, and the electrode pad are serially connected. The semiconductor device is configured to generate a gate potential of the depletion transistor based on a difference in potential across the resistance and to produce a depletion layer in a channel of the depletion transistor based on the gate potential. As a result, a semiconductor device having reasonably large current at low voltage and small current at high voltage can be obtained.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, and in particular, to a semiconductor device that produces a depletion layer in a channel of a transistor.
2. Description of the Background Art
Generally, as for a passive element such as a diode and a resistance, the more voltage is applied, the more current flows through the element. As for a diode, in particular, the more voltage is applied, the larger an increase in current becomes. In a bootstrap diode, for example, a relatively large voltage is applied instantaneously during power-on until a capacitor is charged, and thus, a large current flows through the diode. On the other hand, in the normal operation state, a voltage of only approximately several volts is applied, and thus, a small current flows through the diode. In the bootstrap diode, a resistance is serially connected to the diode in order to cancel the characteristic of the diode that the more voltage is applied, the larger an increase in current becomes.
A component for limiting a current flow includes, for example, a current-limiting semiconductor switch. In Japanese National Patent Publication No. 2000-505239, for example, the current-limiting semiconductor switch is proposed.
The characteristics desired in the bootstrap diode are to avoid the large current during power-on and to decrease the loss during the normal operation or increase the operation speed during the normal operation. In order to have such characteristics, desired is the characteristic of reasonably large current at low voltage and small current at high voltage. In the conventional bootstrap diode, however, this characteristic cannot be obtained because the resistance is serially connected to the diode.