Integration of annealing capability into a metal deposition tool or a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) tool. A wafer processing apparatus includes a metal deposition tool having annealing capability. The metal deposition tool can be an electroplating tool or a chemical vapor deposition tool or other metal deposition tool that deposits metal films, such as copper, onto silicon substrates for integrated circuit manufacturing. An annealing chamber is integrated into the metal deposition tool so that annealing of the metal film can be controlled such that the copper is consistently stabilized in preparation for a chemical mechanical polishing process. Alternatively, an annealing chamber can be integrated into a CMP tool.

The present invention relates generally to semiconductor manufacturing and, in particular, to the integration of annealing capability into metal deposition tools or chemical mechanical polishing tools.
In integrated circuit manufacturing processes, it is generally desirable to minimize the total number of steps in the process and the time between each step. While it is generally desirable to allow the greatest latitude in fabrication process parameters, in certain cases, known variations can be eliminated or controlled to an extent that provides a greater predictability of results of the process. One such variation occurs during the stabilization of metal films that are deposited on a wafer dielectric layer to form interconnects between active devices.
Integrated circuits (ICs) manufactured today generally include an elaborate system of metalized interconnects to couple the various devices that have been fabricated in the semiconductor substrate. The technology for forming these metalized interconnects is extremely sophisticated. Commonly, aluminum, copper or some other metal is deposited on a dielectric layer and then patterned to form interconnect paths. Another dielectric or insulation layer such as silicon dioxide (SiO2) is then deposited over this first metal layer (metal 1); via openings are etched through the dielectric layer; and the second metal layer (metal 2) is deposited. The metal 2 layer covers the dielectric layer and fills the via openings, making electrical contact down to the metal 1 layer. After a metal layer is deposited, the layer is usually planarized in a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process to remove the portions of the metal layer that do not form the desired interconnects such as lines or vias.
A considerable amount of effort in the manufacturing of modern complex, high density, multilevel interconnections is devoted to the planarization of the individual layers of the interconnection structure. Nonplanar surfaces create poor optical resolution of subsequent photolithographic processing steps. Poor optical resolution prohibits the printing of high density lines. Another problem with nonplanar surface topography is the step coverage of subsequent metalization layers. If a step height is too large there is a serious danger that open circuits will be created. Planar interconnect surface layers are a must in the fabrication of modern high density multilevel integrated circuits.
CMP employs polishing to remove protruding steps formed along the upper surface of the inter-layer dielectric. CMP is also used to xe2x80x9cetch backxe2x80x9d deposited metal layers to form planar plugs or vias. In a typical CMP process, a silicon substrate or wafer is placed face down on a rotating table or platform covered with a flat polishing pad that has been coated with an active slurry. A carrier, which is typically made of a thick, nonflexible metal plate, is used to apply a downward force against the backside of the substrate. The downward force and the rotational movement of the pad together with the slurry facilitate the abrasive polishing and planar removing of the upper surface of the thin metal film.
Nonuniform polishing can result in too much film being removed from some parts of the wafer and not enough film being removed from other parts. Also, lack of uniformity in the polishing rate from wafer to wafer can result in decreased process yield and reliability. Significant effort has been expended in attempts to control the polishing part of the process of integrated circuit manufacturing.
Electroplating is becoming the favored technique at least for copper deposition in the semiconductor industry. Electroplated copper, however, is known to be unstable at room temperature. Its physical properties such as resistivity and hardness continue to change with time. This process can last for weeks and can have significant impact on the stability of the subsequent process steps such as CMP. Annealing can accelerate the stabilization of the copper film, but adds an additional step in the process flow. Also, when annealing is performed by a separate annealing tool, the time between the deposition of the copper or metal layer can vary due to any number of reasons, such as unavailability of the annealing tools, imprecise scheduling or a physical distance between the annealing tool and the CMP tool.
Changes in the resistivity and hardness of the metal that has been deposited can affect the rate of polishing during the CMP portion of the process. It is desirable to minimize the variability of the stabilization of the metal. Annealing helps to stop the degradation or change in the properties of the metal. If the deposited metal is stabilized consistently, greater predictability can be achieved in the CMP process.
In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a metal deposition tool having annealing capability.

Integration of annealing capability into metal deposition or CMP tool


An apparatus, system and method for converting data in a first packet format, having overhead data in the form of headers and/or trailer padding, into a second, variable-length packet format, in which some of the header and/or trailer overhead is removed during conversion in order to more efficiently utilize the limited bit rate capacity of a link which will convey the data in the second format. Embodiments include a communication subnetwork for interconnecting a plurality of users to a wide area network through a wireless link, an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) switch for converting ATM cells into a variable-length packet format, and a convergence system for converting ATM cells into data packets in Media Access Control (MAC) format.

Data communication systems typically transfer data from a source to an end user by routing the data in packets through a series of nodes connected by links. All links have physical limits on their data-carrying capacity or available bandwidth, and therefore may benefit from compression of the data they convey in order to increase their effective data throughput.
A number of standardized data packet formats and protocols have been developed to facilitate various aspects of data communication. For example, Internet Protocol or IP format permits flexibility in the routing of data between a source and a destination, while other formats convey voice data with limits on the time delays, so as to ensure that the voice data can be reconstructed with adequate fidelity at the receiving end. It is often desirable for data in various formats to utilize the same data links as part of their transmission paths. This is particularly true for links directed to solving the "last mile" problem, that is, connecting end users to the various communications nets. Since such "last mile" solutions should preferably address all of the end user's needs, a wide range of protocols will need to be accommodated.

Compression of overhead in layered data communication links


A direct access storage device that (DASD) includes a sector servo control system that controls disk write operations by receiving a servo pattern readback signal in a sector, determining track centering for that sector, and generating a write inhibit signal before any write operations are initiated for that sector. The servo control system is able to make write inhibit decisions without software processing delays, enabling the system to produce a write inhibit signal quickly after an off-track excursion, and to terminate a write inhibit decision quickly after it is no longer needed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to direct access storage devices and, more particularly, to control of arm movement in disk drive devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional computer data storage system having a rotating storage medium, such as a magnetic or magneto-optical disk, data is stored in a series of concentric or spiral tracks across the surface of the disk. A magnetic disk, for example, can comprise a disk substrate having a surface on which a magnetic material is deposited. The digital data stored on a disk is represented as a series of variations in magnetic orientation of the disk magnetic material. The variations in magnetic orientation, generally comprising reversals of magnetic flux, represent binary digits of ones and zeroes that in turn represent data. The binary digits must be read from and recorded onto the disk surface. A read/write head produces and detects variations in magnetic orientation of the magnetic material as the disk rotates relative to the head.
Conventionally, the read/write head is mounted on a disk arm that is moved across the disk by a servo. A disk drive servo control system controls movement of the disk arm across the surface of the disk to move the read/write head from data track to data track and, once over a selected track, to maintain the head in a path centered over the selected track. Maintaining the head centered over a track facilitates accurate reading and recording of data. Positioning read/write heads is one of the most critical aspects of recording and retrieving data in disk storage systems. With the very high track density of current disk drives, even the smallest head positioning error can potentially cause a loss of data that a disk drive customer wants to record or read. Accordingly, a great deal of effort is devoted to servo control systems.
A servo control system generally moves a read/write head to a desired track and maintains the head in a position centered over that track by reading servo information recorded on the disk surface. The servo information comprises track identification information and a position-encoded servo pattern of high frequency magnetic flux transitions, generally flux reversals, that are pre-recorded in disk servo tracks. The flux transitions are recorded as periodic servo pattern bursts formed as parallel stripes in the servo tracks. When the read/write head passes over the servo pattern flux transitions, the head generates an analog signal whose repeating cyclic variations can be demodulated and decoded to indicate the position of the head over the disk. The position indicating information can be used to produce a corrective signal that is referred to as a position error sensing (PES) signal. The PES signal indicates which direction the head should be moved to remain centered over a selected track and properly read and write data.
In the sector servo method of providing servo track information, each disk surface is divided into angularly-spaced sectors, with each sector containing both pre-recorded servo track information and customer data. Typically, the tracks on a sector servo disk are partitioned by having a short servo track information area followed by a customer data area. FIG. 1 illustrates a portion of a track 102 from a conventional sector servo disk, showing a servo track information area and the customer data area that follows. The servo track information area typically includes a servo mark field 104 that indicates servo information follows in the track, and also serves an automatic gain control (AGC) function. The servo mark is followed by a sector identification field 106, and then a gray code field 108 that provides track number information. Next, a servo pattern field 110 contains a servo burst pattern. A synchronization field 112 then immediately precedes a customer data field 114, where disk users read and write their data. The servo read head is typically the same head used for reading the customer data.
In the FIG. 1 illustration, the servo burst pattern 110 is indicated as a quadrature pattern having four servo bursts labeled A, B, C, and D. Those skilled in the art will understand that the servo bursts will, when decoded, produce the PES signal described above. After a seek operation to move the read/write head to a desired track, a conventional digital servo control system generates a write inhibit signal that will prevent any data recording if the read/write head is not at the proper track and if it is away from the track centerline by more than a threshold limit. The servo control system typically achieves the write inhibit by shutting off the write gate of a write control processor, thereby preventing off-track write operations.
A conventional servo control system determines when the write inhibit signal should be produced by performing a series of steps that are implemented in software. First, the servo controller receives the servo track information, including the PES servo pattern burst signal, and calculates the distance of the read/write head from the track centerline. If the head is not at the desired track, no write occurs. If the head is offset from the track centerline by more than a predetermined threshold, the controller shuts off the write gate, preventing any write operations. Unfortunately, such software processing necessarily creates a delay in actually posting the write inhibit. Several operating cycles of the servo controller central processor clock may pass before the readback signal is demodulated, the off-track distance is calculated, and the distance is compared to the predetermined threshold to make the write inhibit decision. That is, if the read/write head is off-track, this fact is not detected until the next sector servo interval, after the servo burst has been transduced, the quadrature pattern has been demodulated, and the off-track distance determined.
The time delay imposed by the software-determined write inhibit scheme has two bad effects. First, the read/write head will likely be moved even farther away from the track center while the servo information is being processed and the write inhibit decision is being made. Second, the write inhibit decision from a prior sector may persist into the next following sector, so that the write inhibit will last too long. If a write inhibit decision could be processed and implemented during the same sector for which position information is transduced, an off-track excursion could be detected quickly after the head position moved out of tolerance, and a write inhibit decision could be cut off quickly after it is no longer needed.
From the discussion above, it should be apparent that there is a need for a disk drive servo control system that can provide write inhibit decision making without software processing delays, can produce a write inhibit decision quickly after an off-track excursion, and can terminate a write inhibit decision quickly after it is no longer needed. The present invention fulfills this need.

Hardware inhibit for a disk drive digital servo control system

International Business Machines Corporation


Antialiased lines are generated in a computer graphics system by drawing the pixels on one side of the ideal line segment in the minor axis direction on one pass and drawing the pixels lying on the other side of the line segment in the minor axis direction on another pass. A modified Bresenham procedure is used to generate the pixel positions on both passes. On either pass, intensity values are generated from the integral Bresenham determinant directly, rather than from the perpendicular or vertical distance between the pixel and the line.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for drawing antialiased lines on a raster scan display device of a computer graphics system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Images displayed on computer graphics displays often suffer from the presence of aliasing artifacts that give a jagged appearance to lines or polygon edges displayed on the screen. Antialiasing is a technique for smoothing jagged lines drawn on a computer graphics image.
Various methods of drawing antialiased lines are known in the art, including those described in the following references and the references cited therein:
Pitteway et al., "Bresenham's Algorithm with Grey Scale", Communications of the ACM, Vol. 23, No. 11, pp. 625-626 (Nov. 1980);
Gupta et al., "Filtering Edges for Gray-Scale Displays", Computer Graphics, Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 1-5 (Aug. 1981);
Akeley et al., "High-Performance Polygon Rendering", Computer Graphics, Vol. 22, No. 4, pp. 239-246 (Aug. 1988);
U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,037 (Rosener et al.);
U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,020 (Budrikis et al.);
U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,515 (Dickson et al.).
Several of these methods involve variants of the Bresenham incremental line-drawing procedure, in which an incrementally generated error term is used to determine intensity values as well as the pixel addresses of the line approximation. Thus, Gupta et al. (1981) use an incrementally generated term representing the perpendicular distance between the pixel center and the center of the ideal line as an index to a lookup table of intensity values representing a conical filter. Similarly, Rosenet et al. and Dickson et al. use incrementally generated terms representing the vertical distance between the pixel center and the center of the ideal line as indices to lookup tables. In each of these cases, the actual distance (perpendicular or vertical) of the line from the pixel center is used to determine the pixel intensity. Since the actual distance is generally a fractional number, the hardware required for such an operation can be quite expensive.
Most of these methods of antialiasing use a differential digital analyzer (DDA) line drawing procedure or slope method. To obtain the slope of a line, the minor axis increment is divided by the minor axis increment. A divide in hardware takes a lot of time and logic, and is therefore, undesirable.

Method and apparatus for drawing antialiased lines on a raster display


A substrate heat treatment apparatus includes a heat-treating plate having a flat upper surface, support devices formed of a heat-resistant resin for contacting and supporting a substrate, a seal device disposed annularly for rendering gastight a space formed between the substrate and heat-treating plate, and exhaust bores for exhausting gas from the space. The support devices are formed of resin, and the upper surface of the heat-treating plate is made flat, whereby a reduced difference in the rate of heat transfer occurs between contact parts and non-contact parts on the surface of the substrate. Consequently, the substrate is heat-treated effectively while suppressing variations in heat history over the surface of the substrate.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a substrate heat treatment apparatus for heat-treating substrates such as semiconductor wafers, glass substrates for liquid crystal displays, glass substrates for photomasks and substrates for optical disks (hereinafter simply called "substrates"). More particularly, the invention relates to a technique for heat-treating a substrate as sucked in a position slightly spaced from a heat-treating plate.
(2) Description of the Related Art
With an increasingly fine line width of patterns formed on substrates today, the requirements for line width uniformity have become stringent, which has led to a strong demand for temperature uniformity in baking treatment in photolithography, especially in baking treatment after exposure (PEB: Post Exposure Bake). However, with enlarged substrate sizes, increased curvatures of substrates take place in the semiconductor manufacturing process. It is difficult to satisfy the requirements for temperature uniformity in a proximity heating mode that heats each substrate only by placing the substrate as separated by a minute space from a heat-treating plate.
Thus, a suction bake mode has been proposed in order to perform uniform heat treatment even for curved substrates. This type of apparatus includes a heat-treating plate with a heater, support elements and a sealer arranged on the upper surface of the heat-treating plate, and exhaust bores formed in the upper surface of the heat-treating plate.
The support elements are in the form of bulges and dimples formed by machining the upper surface of the heat-treating plate (as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication H2-290013 (1990), for example), or metallic projections formed on the upper surface of the heat-treating plate and coated with resin (as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication H10-284360 (1998), for example). The sealer is in the form of a ring disposed in a position for contacting edges of a substrate. With these apparatus, the substrate is sucked as the sealer closes lateral areas of a space formed between the heat-treating plate and the substrate supported by the support elements, and gas is exhausted from this space through the exhaust bores. By sucking the substrate in this way, any curvature of the substrate is corrected whereby the substrate is heated uniformly.
The conventional apparatus noted above have the following drawbacks.
In the former construction, the bulges and dimples are formed of the same material as the heat-treating plate, and have a much higher thermal conductivity than air. Therefore, the thermal resistance between the bulges and the substrate in direct contact is much smaller than the thermal resistance between the dimples and the substrate not in direct contact but interposed by space. In time of heat treatment, therefore, heat is transferred faster to the parts (contact parts) of the substrate in contact with the bulges than to the parts (non-contact parts) of the substrate out of contact with the bulges. The rate of temperature increase differs greatly between the contact parts and non-contact parts, causing serious variations in heat history over the substrate surface. As a result, a pattern of uniform line width cannot be formed on the substrate.
In the latter construction, surfaces of the projections are coated with resin in order to prevent metallic contamination. Since the interiors of the projections are metal with high thermal conductivity, heat is positively transferred to the parts (contact parts) of the substrate in contact with the projections. On the other hand, heat transfer to the parts (non-contact parts) of the substrate out of contact with the projections takes place through a gas layer, and is relatively small in amount. This results in the inconvenience of the rate of temperature increase differing greatly between the contact parts and non-contact parts, causing serious variations in heat history over the substrate surface.


Mechanisms for sharing attributes between objects are provided. An object includes a special designation for at least one component, which is identified as a shared attribute. Data associated with the shared attribute is populated and managed from a central location within a processing environment. Multiple instances of a same object or of entirely different objects can reference, declare, and use the data from the central location.

Collaborative environments are becoming pervasive in the industry. One area of collaboration that is critical to an enterprise is that which is associated with new software development. During software development a variety of different developers can be working on the same or dependent modules at the same time and in entirely different processing environments.
When this occurs, each developer may be working on a different piece of the module but all the data and all the contents associated with each instance of the dual-checked out model are separately created in duplicate within memory and provided as separate independent copies to each developer.
Essentially, in a traditional versioning control or team environment data is stored on a per-instance basis for objects. This presents problems, such as inefficiency when the data that is set on one instance is shared or replicated in the other instances. In such a case, each instance has to get stamped with the changed data to keep things in synchronization.
This also results in a lot of additional memory overhead in the model environment at runtime. It also creates additional file overhead in that one has to keep saving out changes as they occur to multiple file instances. So, one update ends up causing a lot of file updates, which can degrade performance and cause tension because of the resulting file merges that have to occur, which would otherwise be unnecessary.
Even in object model environments with super class objects, the data in the super class is still saved to each instance derived and instantiated off that super class.
Thus, improved mechanisms are needed for data between objects in a team or project environment.

Mechanisms to share attributes between objects


A portable telephone 100 with broadcast receiving function has a portable telephone device and a digital broadcast receiving apparatus. A recording format selection section 116 in the digital broadcast receiving apparatus records, in a recording section 117 such as nonvolatile semiconductor memory, any of a video signal, an audio signal and a data signal which are separated by a transport stream (TS) separating section 105, in accordance with a designated recording format or contents of a broadcast program, from a recording start time to a recording end time. An attempt is made to make the quantity of data signal to be recorded in the recording section 117 appropriate, and diminish power consumed by a battery of the portable telephone 100 with broadcast receiving function.

In recent years, there has been remarkable advancement of electronic communication techniques in a mobile terminal device typified by a portable telephone. Such a mobile terminal device has become multifunctional and of higher functionality caused by convenience, and the range of application of the mobile terminal device is now expanding. Examples of multifunctionality and higher functionality include, e.g., a communication function such as Internet, an electronic mail function, a game, playback of music, reception of FM broadcasts, and the like.
Incidentally, as a result of a progress in digitization of satellite broadcasts and terrestrial broadcasts, high image quality, interactive (interacting) broadcasts involving audience participation, and digital broadcasts which enable data broadcasts have become possible. In addition to digitization of the broadcasts by audio and images, data broadcasts such as a weather forecast, stock market information, and various news have become digitized and aired.
A portable telephone having a built-in TV tuner has also been known, as described in, e.g., Patent Document 1. In the fields of terrestrial digital broadcasts and satellite digital broadcasts, broadcasts using a one-segment or three-segment transmission band designed mainly for a compact receiver having high portability are scheduled.
Under the above-described circumstances, a device capable of receiving, replaying, and recording the above digital broadcasts are desirably integrated into a single device, with a portable telephone typified by a mobile terminal device.
However, constraints such as life and power capacity of a battery and recording capacity cannot be surmounted by mere integration of an existing portable telephone and the above digital broadcast receiving apparatus.
One example configuration of a digital broadcast receiving apparatus intended for a case where a portable telephone and a device capable of receiving digital broadcasts are integrated by an existing method is described by reference to FIG. 13.
An antenna 713, a transmitting/receiving section 714, a nonvolatile memory 715, a camera 716, an operation section 717, and a microphone (MIC) 711 are provided for fulfilling the basic functions of the portable telephone.
The configuration of the digital broadcast receiving apparatus illustrated in FIG. 13 will now be described.
A broadcast wave is received by an antenna 701 for receiving a broadcast wave, and a channel is selected by a tuner section 702 used for tuning a frequency to a designated program. The signal extracted by the tuner section 702 is demodulated by a demodulation section 703, and the demodulation section 703 outputs a transport stream (TS).
Here, TS is information in which an image signal (a video signal), a voice signal (an audio signal) and a data signal have been multiplexed. Specific examples of TS will be described in association with descriptions of embodiments of the present invention by reference to FIG. 2.
When the transport stream (TS) output from the demodulation section 703 is scrambled, a descrambler 704 descrambles the scrambled TS.
A TS separating section 705 separates the descrambled transport stream (TS) into a video signal, an audio signal and a data signal.
The video signal separated by the TS separating section 705 is decoded by a video signal decoding section 707, and the decoded signal is displayed as an image on a display section 709. The audio signal separated by the TS separating section 705 is demodulated by an audio signal decoding section 706, and the demodulated signal is output as sound from a speaker 710.
The data signal separated by the TS separating section 705 is processed by a data signal processing section 708, to thus be converted into display data, whereupon the data are displayed in the form of characters, numerals, or drawings on the display section 709.
A control section 712 controls the portable telephone or tuning operation of the tuner section 702.
When digital broadcasts are recorded by the above digital broadcast receiving apparatus, a designated program is recorded at a designated time by a method for re-encoding the video signal and the audio signal, which have been replayed as mentioned previously, or by recording a transport stream.
Patent Document 1: JP-A-2002-9920


An optical component comprises a carrier plate (1) having a first main surface (2) and a second main surface (3) facing away from the first main surface (2), and a first lens structure (4) on the first main surface (2), wherein the first lens structure (4) has at least a first lens element (41) having a first polygonal form and a second lens element (42) having a second polygonal form, the first lens structure (4) completely covers the first main surface (2), and the first lens element (41) and the second lens element (42) are non-congruent with respect to one another and/or differ in terms of their orientation on the first main surface (2) of the carrier plate (1).

Light sources that give an observer an inhomogeneous luminous impression in the form of an inhomogeneous luminance distribution or an inhomogeneous color distribution are often used for illumination purposes. In order to homogenize an inhomogeneous luminance distribution or color distribution, use is made of components which are disposed downstream of the light source and which completely or partly diffusely scatter the light from the light source by means of surface or volume scattering. However, the diffuse scattering is associated with losses in the emitted power and a deterioration of the etendue, that is to say the product of the emission area and the solid angle into which the light is emitted.

Optical component and illumination device

OSRAM Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung


A system for transitioning a CPU from idle to active comprises a sequencer operable to receive a stopclock signal and generate a controlled transitioning signal in response thereto, and a speed control device coupled to the sequencer and operable to controllably ramp up the operation of the CPU in response to the controlled transitioning signal.

In order to reduce power consumption of computers and computing devices, central processing units (CPUs) typically enter into an idle state after a specified period of non-use from the users. Reduced power consumption is desirable because it minimizes operating cost, avoids overheating of the components, and, for battery-operated devices, increases time between charges and prolongs the operating life of the battery.
As CPUs have become faster and more powerful, their power requirements have also increased. In these systems, the sudden transition from an idle state to an active state causes an instantaneous current surge to the CPU, and has serious adverse effects on the CPU and its power supply. The result of an uncontrolled current surge, commonly called the load-step current, is system lockup and/or a failure of the power supply.

Systems and methods for transitioning a CPU from idle to active

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A principal catch basin defining a certain storage capacity, the catch basis situated below the level of the ground, having an upper level opening for receiving surface water drainage thereunto, and having side walls partially constructed of permeable geotextile fabric for allowing both sub-surface air to flow into the catch basin for providing additional water absorption by the ground, and for allowing water flow and sub-surface air to flow into the catch basin for providing additional water absorption by the ground, and for allowing water flow into the sub-surface water flow through the permeable basin to serve as a collection for sub-surface drainage. The system would include the ability to create a siphon within the system so that as water drains into the principal collection basin, the water may be automatically siphoned to a distant exit point or to an exit cylinder, so that there is a constant movement of water from the principal collection point to the distant exit point. In addition, there may be a plurality of collection basins which siphon into the principal collection basin which would then siphon into the distant exit point.

1. Field Of The Invention:
The present invention relates to drainage for land areas. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system for draining land areas, such as golf courses and farms through the collection of water into a principal catch basin having permeable walls, and subsequently siphoning the water collected from the catch basin to a distant exit point such as a lake, canal, ditch or the like. There could be further included a series of secondary catch basins draining into the principal permeable catch basin, so that an even larger area may be drained through siphoning from a single control system.
2. General Background:
In the present state of the art, drainage water such as water from heavy rains or the like may be collected either by a catch basin or a sub-surface drainage system that collects water through seepage. At the present time, a catch basin, which consist of a substantially box-like chamber is set within the ground and positioned at a low point where water would flow under gravity and be collected within the catch basin. At this point the water is exited through a solid pipe at a one percent slope whenever possible, so that the water then exits into some type of collection system such as a lake, pond or creek. However, often times there is insufficient fall from the point of the collection system to the exit point to either obtain a 1% grade or any positive grade at all. The only alternatives, therefore, in the past, have been to either not attempt to do the drainage at all or to attempt to build a gravel sump, dry well, or sump pump. The concept behind these systems relate to the fact that the gravel sump will provide some temporary storage capacity for the water moving out of the collection system and maintain it until it can slowly seep back into the soil profile. Often times there will be a dry well built that will extend deep enough to reach a permeable strata below the less permeable layers that are near the surface. The system has two main problems, i.e., (a) the sumps have very little capacity, and once the storage capacity is filled, the collection system will back up and stop functioning; and (b) for a system to extend deep enough into the ground to hit a sand strata, it can be a very expensive system to install, depending on the depth of the sand strata. The Environmental Protection Agency is now concerned that bringing surface water down to these strata may contaminate the water table.
The other alternative is to build a sump pump which operates a pump off of a float switch and pumps the water out every time the level of the water activates the float switch. The problem with these systems is that they require a large amount of maintenance, are expensive, and a pump has to be located at each sump.
There also is a problem with the existing type of catch basin that is presently installed. These systems operate very well when they are surrounded by an impermeable surface, such as asphalt or concrete for street or parking lot drainage. However, in land drainage such as farms and golf courses, these systems are surrounded by permeable areas of soil. The problem is that before the water can enter the catch basin system, many times a large amount of water is trapped into the permeable soil profile surrounding the catch basin itself. Once that water is trapped into the soil profile, it cannot enter through the solid walls constructed of concrete or brick, and stays in the soil profile, thus creating a wet soggy saturated area. The other problem with existing catch basins is that they are designed only to stop the largest particles from entering the pipe that is used to drain the water out of the catch basin. Therefore, many contaminants such as small rocks and branches become lodged into the piping system to prolong the time period before clogging occurs in drainage pipes, it has been a common practice to oversize the pipe in relation to the amount of water that is necessary to be drained. This oversizing of pipe to prevent clogging increases the expense of materials for the piping, as well as the installation costs because larger amounts of dirt must be excavated to install the pipe. Also, there is no system provided in existing drainage systems for allowing the escape of air trapped within the soil profile. This air reaches an equilibrium with the infiltrating water and stops the infiltration of the water into the soil profile. If this air were allowed to escape, a larger portion of the profile could absorb the infiltrating rainwater.
There have been several patents which address the drainage of water in a system. The most pertinent are listed as follows, including a narrative of each submitted in applicants Prior Art Statement, filed herewith:
______________________________________ U.S. PAT. NO. INVENTOR TITLE ______________________________________ 4,299,697 Curati, Jr. "A Liquid Containment And Storage System For Rail- road Tracks" 1,734,777 Pike "System Of Draining" 462,864 Hershberger "Catch Basin For Sewers" 2,432,203 Miller "Catch Basin" 4,472,086 Leach "Geotextile Fabric Construction" ______________________________________

System for draining land areas through siphoning from a permeable catch basin


The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for controlling the operating speed of a compressor of an inverter refrigerator. In an apparatus or method embodying the present invention, one knows the operating speeds which will cause the compressor to experience resonant vibrations. When it is necessary to change from a first operating frequency to a second operating frequency, and a resonant frequency band is located between the first and second frequencies, the controller will accelerate the rate of change of the operating frequency as it passes through the resonant frequency band to minimize the amount of time that the compressor is operating within the resonant frequency band.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for controlling a resonance frequency of an inverter refrigerator and, in particular, to an apparatus and method for controlling a resonant frequency of an inverter refrigerator whereby, in a compressor of an inverter refrigerator, when a current rotation frequency is converted to a target rotation frequency in the rotor detecting operation mode, an operation of the compressor is implemented in a frequency band higher or lower than a resonance frequency band.
2. Description of the Conventional Art
An inverter refrigerator rectifies a frequency(60 Hz) of an AC power source by a direct current and changes a supplied frequency(PWM) at the same time, whereby a rotation frequency of a compressor motor is adjusted and the amount of coolant compressed according to the adjusted frequency is controlled. Thus, in the case that there is much food in a refrigerator which food must be stored at a lower temperature as shown in FIG. 1, that is, in the case that the temperature in the refrigerator is higher than a set temperature, the rotation speed of a compressor is increased(usually, at a rotation frequency of higher than 60 Hz) for thereby taking much quantity of heat away. In the case that the amount of food is small or there is no food, that is, the temperature detected in the refrigerator is the same as the set temperature or is lower than the set temperature, the operation is performed at a lower speed(usually, at a speed of higher than 60 Hz) so that a small quantity of heat can be taken away from the foods, thereby reducing the energy consumed for compressing an unnecessary coolant.
The operation control of the compressor motor of the inverter refrigerator for performing the operation described above can be divided into three segments. As shown in FIG. 3, a first segment is an initial positioning mode for setting the rotor to a regular phase all the time by providing an electric current before starting the operation, a second segment is a synchronous operation mode for forcibly applying a current corresponding to a set starting torque, thereby accelerating the motor, because the initial rotation frequency of the motor is low and thus an induced electromotive force cannot be sensed, and a third segment is a rotor detecting operation mode for distributing a current appropriate for each phase of a stator according to a position information generated by an induced electromotive force and controlling the same when enough induced electromotive force can be detected based on an increased rotation frequency of the motor.
FIG. 2 is an example of a rotor position sensor of a conventional inverter refrigerator. The description thereof will be provided as follows.
There are two kinds of rotor position sensors; one is a hall sensor, and the other is a sensorless type. In a conventional inventor refrigerator motor, a stator 220 has an extra hall element for sensing an electric magnetic field when a magnet of a rotor 210 approaches the extra hall element. At present, the sensorless type is being generally used, considering a high pressure and current leakage in the compressor. The sensing principle thereof is that as a permanent magnet of the rotor is rotated near a coil wound on the stator 220, an induced electromotive force is generated at the coil based on the operation of an electric generator, thereby detecting the position of the rotor 210. In this way, the position of the rotor 210 is detected, whereby the current is flown to two phases(AB-BC-CA) of three phases(A, B, C) for sensing the induced electromotive force and supplying power, thus generating a rotation force, so that the rotor 210 is rotated.
FIG. 3 is a graph showing a frequency characteristic in the operation control mode of a compressor of a conventional inverter refrigerator. As shown in FIG. 2, the rotor 210 has a certain phase obtained by applying a current to three phases of the stator 220, respectively, for a certain time before starting the motor. The rotor is operated at the same phase for thereby obtaining a certain rotation. The above described operation is called as an initial positioning mode.
Thereafter, by selecting a starting pattern(a certain voltage and current), which is capable of generating a certain starting torque among a plurality of starting patterns according to the power voltage supplied when a start-up command signal is outputted to a semiconductor switching element having a certain phase, a current corresponding to the starting torque is supplied to thereby start the motor. Before performing the above starting operation, the rotor 210 must always be located at a certain position in the stator 210. The rotor 210 is located at a certain position based on an electric magnetic field formed by supplying a current corresponding to a certain phase of the stator. When the start-up operation is thusly prepared, a starting current is supplied for thereby driving the motor, so that the motor is operated in the synchronous operation mode.
Next, the rotor detecting operation mode will be described as follows referring to FIG. 4.
As shown in FIG. 3, when a transition segment is passed over, the position of the rotor is detected by a position detector 410 based on the induced electromotive force. The thusly detected position is outputted to a rotation frequency detector 440 to detect a rotation frequency. Then, the interior temperature of the refrigerator is judged by a set rotation frequency command unit 430 for thereby determining whether the rotor is operated at a lower RPM or a higher RPM. The current ratio supplied to each phase is differently set using a duty setting unit 450 according to a result of the determination. Six semiconductor switching elements each connected to a corresponding phase by a chopping signal generator 460 are controlled to thereby control the RPM of the compressor motor at a certain frequency.
In the above described conventional art, there is a problem that, as shown in FIG. 5, when an operating frequency passes through a frequency band in which a resonance occurs at the compressor or when the operating frequency is set in a resonance frequency band, the operating frequency is resonated, so that strong noises and vibrations occur.

Apparatus and method for controlling resonance frequency of inverter refrigerator


An exemplary method of controlling an elevator system includes determining a source floor of a new call from a passenger desiring elevator service. A direction of travel from the source floor for the new call is also determined. A path of a considered elevator car is simulated as if the new call were assigned to the considered elevator car by determining at least one of (i) a relationship between a position of the considered elevator car and the source floor or (ii) a relationship between a direction of movement of the considered elevator car and the direction of travel. The new call is assigned to one of a plurality of elevator cars if the assigning will satisfy each of (i) the one of the elevator cars will not move in a direction opposite the direction of travel during a time between the passenger boarding the one of the elevator cars and arriving at a destination of the passenger and (ii) the one of the elevator cars will not move in a direction opposite a travel direction of any currently assigned passenger during a time between the currently assigned passenger boarding the one of the elevator cars and arriving at a destination of the currently assigned passenger.

Elevator systems are in widespread use for carrying passengers between various levels in buildings, for example. For many years elevator systems operated based upon hall calls initiated by a passenger pressing a hall call button indicating a desire to be carried up or down from a particular floor. Many such elevator systems include hall lanterns that indicate a direction of movement of an elevator car arriving at a particular landing. The hall lanterns allow a passenger to determine whether they desire to get on a particular car based, in part, on whether that car is heading in the direction that passenger desires to travel.
Modern elevator systems may include a variety of different technologies for allowing passengers to place a call for elevator service. For example, destination entry systems allow a passenger to provide an indication of their intended destination floor before the passenger enters an elevator car. With such systems, a dispatch controller assigns a particular car to service that call. While such systems allow for improved efficiencies in traffic capacity, especially for larger buildings, they introduce certain difficulties in some situations.
For example, many destination entry systems do not have hall lanterns at the entrances to the cars, but instead have some other car indicator to allow a passenger to know which car they are supposed to take. Without a hall lantern indicating the direction that the car is moving, a passenger may get on a car expecting it to go in one direction when, in fact, it will travel in the opposite direction. This can be a source of confusion for passengers.
Such a situation is particularly problematic when a car arrives at the landing where the passenger expects to board an elevator car but that car is not yet traveling in the direction of that passenger's destination. It is possible for the passenger to enter that car and travel in the wrong direction. The car subsequently returns to the landing where the passenger already boarded the car. At that location the system expects the passenger to board the car and uses some sort of sensor for detecting whether somebody entered the car. As the passenger has previously boarded the car, the system assumes that passenger is not there and may cancel the passenger's intended destination. That passenger ends up confused and possibly frustrated because of what appears to the passenger as a malfunction of the elevator system.

Elevator dispatch control to avoid passenger confusion


A method of producing a power electronic assembly and a power electronic assembly including a power electronic module incorporating multiple of semiconductor power electronic switch components, the power electronic module including a base plate with a bottom surface, the power electronic assembly includes further a cooling arrangement for cooling the power electronic module, the cooling arrangement including a cooling surface adapted to be attached against the bottom surface of the base plate of the power electronic module, wherein the power electronic assembly includes further a thermal interface material arranged between the bottom surface of the base plate of the power electronic module and the cooling surface of the cooling arrangement to transfer heat from the power electronic module to the cooling arrangement, the thermal interface material includes a metal foil and a solid lubricant coating.

Power electronic modules are widely used components in which multiple of power electronic switches or devices are placed in a single module. The switches of a power electronic module are wired inside the module in specified manner such that power electronic modules can be used in different circuit structures. Such circuit structures are, for example, power stages of different power converters. For that purpose, the power electronic modules may comprise different half-bridge, full bridge or other bridge topologies in which controllable switch components are internally connected with power diodes. The power electronic modules comprise also terminals, such as control terminals and power terminals that allow connecting the modules to other required circuitry and possibly to other modules.
The components inside a power electronic module are typically mounted on a substrate that is thermally connected to the base plate of the module. The base plate is a metallic piece integrated to the bottom of the module and it is intended to be attached to a surface of a cooling member, such as heat sink. The semiconductor switches inside the modules generate heat when the switches are operated. The switched currents can be over hundreds or even thousands of amperes and the voltage blocking ability of the power semiconductors of the module is several thousand volts. These semiconductor switches are further operated at a relatively high frequency of several thousand Hertz.
A proper thermal design is crucial for a reliable operation of power electronic modules. A violation of the temperature ratings can lead to a reduced safe operating area and consequently a sudden device failure or to a reduced operational lifetime. For example, IEC 60747-9 gives a range of temperature ratings for IGBTs like storage temperature, case temperature and virtual junction temperature. To keep the temperature of the module at a tolerable range, it is known to attach the module to a heat sink. This is performed by attaching the planar surface of the base plate or of the substrate to a corresponding planar surface of a heat sink. The heat transfer between the bottom surface of the module and the heat sink is enhanced by using a thermal interface material (TIM). Such material or layer is placed between the surfaces of base plate and heat sink or surfaces of substrate and heat sink if the module is without a base plate.
Thermal connection between two surfaces depends on several properties including their surface roughness (Ra) and surfaces' planarity. In practice the contact of two surfaces is imperfect and there are gaps filled with air in between them. Because air is poor thermal conductor the contact thermal resistance (Rth) can be reduced by making the contact surfaces perfectly smooth and planar (very expensive) and/or by replacing the air by a better thermal conducting substance.
Specific materials have been developed to fill air gaps between the surfaces in contact and to reduce contact thermal resistance. These thermal interface materials are available in different physical forms like dispensable grease or paste, various thickness rubber like pads, metal foils and so on. These materials are typically mixtures that include carrier or substrate chemical (like silicone oil or rubber) that has been filled with higher thermal conducting material like boron nitride or carbon nanotubes. Some TIMs have also phase changing property, which may be beneficial for example in cyclic operation applications. This type of TIM is proven to work well in many applications where the contact surface area is relatively small and planar like with cooling of CPUs. Another working solution for CPUs and similar small footprint and planar surfaces is the use of graphite thermal interface materials. Known graphite TIMs have high temperature conductivity and are suitable for small footprint devices due to hardness of the material.
However, the base plate footprint size of PE modules is several times larger compared to CPU's footprint size. Also the base plate surface profile is far from planar in power electronic modules. The base plate's deviation from flatness may exceed 0.1 mm (>100 μm) over 50 mm length. This initial out-of-planarity causes uneven contact pressure at module mounting. Temperature gradient, power cycling and coefficient of thermal expansion differences within the materials of PE module cause dynamic variation to the thermal interface shape. This dynamic behavior causes complex deformation scenario to the thermal interface, which loads the TIM, and in many cases destroys TIM's capability to carry out the heat conduction function. For greases this means "pump-out" where grease is leaking away and for foils this means rupture and dropping pieces of foil. The above power cycling refers to uses of the power electronic module in which the loading of the module is periodical. The periodical or cyclic loading means further that the temperature of the module changes according to the cyclic loading.
As during the power cycling shear stresses are applied to the thermal interface material, the thermal interface material breaks down and loses its ability to conduct the heat effectively from the base plate to the cooling arrangement. This in turn leads to increase of temperature of the switching components and to premature breakdown of the components.


A turbomolecular pump includes a plurality of rotor and stator discs arranged alternatively one behind another and producing together a pumping effect, a plurality of spacer rings for retaining the stator discs at a distance from each other; and connection elements for fixedly connecting adjacent spacer rings with each other, so that the spacer rings together provide for securing and centering of the stator discs, taking over the function of a pump housing that is eliminated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a turbomolecular pump including a plurality of rotor and stator discs arranged alternatively one behind another and producing together a pumping effect, and a plurality of spacer rings for retaining the stator discs at a distance from each other.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The pump of the type discussed above has pumping active elements formed of rotor and stator discs provided with vanes and arranged alternatively one behind another. The rotor and stator discs generally are provided each with a support ring with vanes provided on the ring outer sides. The vanes, which are provided on the rotor discs rotate with a high speed and produce, together with the stator vanes, the pumping effect. The stator discs are retained at a distance from each other with spacer rings arranged at outer circumferences of the stator discs. The distance between separate stator discs is so selected that the rotor discs can rotate therebetween without contacting the same. The stator discs, together with the spacer rings, form the stator. The stator is centered by an inner wall of the pump housing. Such an assembly with stator discs, spacer rings, and a housing is disclosed in German Patent No. 3,722,164.
The drawback of the turbomolecular pump of the type disclosed in the German Patent consists in a large number of components which makes the construction of the pump rather complicated. Moreover, the pump has a rather rigid construction which makes the adaptation of the pump to the requirements of a particular usage rather difficult.
German Publication DE 19951954, which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 6,461,123, discloses a turbomolecular pump with a reduced number of components. In this turbomolecular pump, each stator disc, a respective spacer ring, and a section of the pump housing are formed as a one-piece part. However, a drawback of this construction consists in that additional parts are needed for securing and holding together separate stator components. The use of additional parts complicates the assembly of the turbomolecular pump and require additional space.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a turbomolecular pump having a reduced number of components in comparison with known turbomolecular pumps.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a turbomolecular pump characterized by reduced manufacturing costs and a simplified assembly.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a turbomolecular pump that can be easily integrated into different systems and, thus, can be easily adapted to particular usage.


A process for manufacturing a wafer having a multiplicity of MEMS devices such as mirrors with gimbals formed thereon is disclosed. A silicon wafer having a thickness less than about 300 xcexcm is attached to a carrier or support wafer by a layer of bonding agent such as a layer or coating of photo-resist. The MEMS devices such as a gimbal mirror are formed on the silicon wafer by providing a mask and etching through the wafer with a DRIE process. Undesired lateral etching at the bottom of the wafer caused by the formation of an electrical charge at the bonding layer is eliminated or substantially reduced by patterning the layer of photo-resist used as the bonding agent such that areas of the support wafer not covered by the bonding layer are aligned with selected etch lines which etch completely through the silicon wafer to form devices.

This unit relates generally to apparatus and methods for manufacturing MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) by forming a multiplicity of such devices on a wafer (such as silicon) using a DRIE (Deep Reactive Ion Etch) process. More specifically, the invention relates to a method of reducing undesired lateral etching while using such a manufacturing process.
Texas Instruments presently manufactures a two-axis MEMS type analog mirror device fabricated out of a single piece or sheet of material (such as a silicon wafer) typically having a thickness of about 115 xcexcm. The die layout defines an oval mirror, normally 3.8 mmxc3x973.2 mm supported on a gimbal frame by two torsional hinges which typically have a width on the order of about 8 microns. The gimbal frame is attached to the die frame by another orthogonal set of torsional hinges. The mirror die (i.e. each individual device) is fabricated by Deep Reactive Ion Etching (DRIE) the 115 xcexcm thick silicon wafer in a specialized ICP (Inductively Coupled Plasma) reactor.
As will be appreciated, the operation of the gimbal mirror depends upon the effectiveness, integrity and resilient support of the very narrow integrally formed torsional hinges. Therefore, it will also be appreciated that etching variations while forming the hinge can result in an unsatisfactory or even a failed mirror device.
One method of manufacturing the MEMS type mirror device discussed above is to bond a silicon wafer, which is typically less than 300 microns in thickness (and typically on the order of about 115 microns), to a thicker support or carrier wafer by using a coating or layer of a bonding agent or adhesive. Typically, the bonding agent provides a temporary bond such as is provided by a photo-resist or other organic layer of material such as xe2x80x9cWafer Gripxe2x80x9d available from Dynatex of Santa Rosa, Calif. The MEMS components are then formed by etching completely xe2x80x9cthrough the waferxe2x80x9d to the temporary bonding layer.
When the etching has progressed through or substantially through the is layer or wafer, the positively charged ion particles used to etch the wafer encounter the temporary bonding layer (such as photo-resist). This insulating layer of photo-resist is then positively charged by the impinging charged ions such that subsequent charged etching ions are repelled from the silicon wafer. Many of these repelled ions then encounter and laterally etch or erode the bottom of the wafer adjacent the location of the side wall of the etched area of line. Since as mentioned above, the torsional hinges of the mirror are on the order of only eight microns wide, this lateral etching can erode the silicon completely across the bottom of the hinge. Therefore, a method of etching through a wafer without lateral etching at the bottom surface of the wafer would improve the process.
The present invention relates to individual mirror devices formed on a wafer using processing steps which eliminate or substantially reduce undesirable lateral etching. Some of the processing steps are similar to steps used in manufacturing IC""s and other semiconductor devices.
The present invention provides a process for manufacturing one or more MEMS devices on a first layer of material, such as for example, a thin wafer of silicon typically having a thickness of less than about 300 xcexcm (microns) and according to one embodiment about 115 xcexcm. The process comprises providing a bonding agent such as a photo-resist on a backing layer or carrier wafer made of a conductive or semiconductive material. The bonding layer is applied and/or patterned on the surface of the backing layer of material so as to define uncoated areas of the backing layer. A silicon wafer or first layer of material is then attached to the backing layer with the bonding agent. A mask, such as a photo-lithography mask, is then applied or provided on the silicon wafer or first layer of material so as to define a pattern of etch areas and/or lines. Selected ones of the etch areas or lines of the mask are aligned with selected ones of the uncoated areas of the backing layer. The first layer of material, such as a silicon wafer, is then etched through the mask to form the MEMS device type mirrors. The devices are then separated from the backing layer.
Although as described above the first layer may be a silicon wafer, it should also be noted that the first layer used to manufacture the mirrors or the devices could be another suitable material. Further, the first layer or wafer may also undergo other processes before the device is etched. For example, electronics, sensors or other mechanical features can be created by standard IC or MEMS fabrication steps before proceeding to the etching step that forms the mirror.

Method for using DRIE with reduced lateral etching


The present invention enables a safety management of safety measures as well as the non-destructive testing of safety-relevant registers which are required for the configuration of a system, wherein the test method according to the invention can be carried out during each operating phase of a system to be tested.

In the present context, by a non-destructive testing of safety-relevant registers there is meant the testing of electronic storage registers the operatability of which is not impaired by the test and the data content of which will correspond again to the original value after the test. Safety-relevant registers which, in the following, will also be referred to as safety registers, are storage registers in electronic storage media in which relevant data for the safety and the correct functioning of a system are stored.
In order to comply with automotive safety requirements according to the automotive safety integrity levels which are for instance defined in the functional safety standard ISO 26262 for road vehicles, various application-independent safety measures have to be taken in the hardware implementation of safety-relevant parts of vehicle microcontrollers. The functional safety standard defines specific maximum time intervals for fault tolerances in safety parts of the microcontroller and in the built-in safety mechanisms.
The influences of external events, as for instance mechanical actions or radioactive alpha radiation, can lead to inverted states in storage registers, whereby safety-relevant submodules may be controlled incorrectly and serious malfunctions of the complete vehicle controller may be effected. This can affect configuration registers as well as universal registers of relevant system components or particularly critical internal registers, as for instance finite state machines and counters. Consequently, such safety registers have to be highly protected by at least indicating, if not correcting, faults, and by issuing an alarm or the indication for the triggering or activation of a safety function or a safety mechanism, whereby a corresponding action or a safety function, for instance a system reset, will be triggered or activated. Such safety mechanisms, safety functions or safety measures can be configured in a so-called safety management unit.
In order to guarantee the functional safety standard, the non-availability of a safety mechanism has to be detected within a maximum time interval, wherein the maximum time interval usually corresponds to an average driving cycle of a vehicle of, for instance, several hours.
A testing of the safety measure can be carried out by simulating the possible external influence, for example, a radioactive radiation with alpha particles. This can be simulated by inverting safety register bits at least one time during a driving cycle, whereupon it can be checked whether corresponding alarms or safety mechanisms will be triggered as expected. One difficulty in this test requirement is the selection of the point of time at which such a safety test can be carried out in the system, as the test method can cause a detrimental influence on the normal function of the tested system.
The following alternatives in the selection of the point in time for the testing of the safety measure can lead to the following different problems:    A. When the test is performed after termination of the current driving cycle, it will not interfere with the normal operation of the tested system. It can not be guaranteed, however, that the safety function of the tested system will still be faultless when the next driving cycle is started. Thus, this alternative has a decisive drawback.    B. When the test is performed at a point of time within the driving cycle, it must not affect the normal function of the tested system. Hence, when the normal operation shall be maintained, the question arises, however, at what time important register bits, which are constantly required during the driving cycle, can be modified for test purposes, as it cannot be generally assumed that there are idle cycles during which the tested register bits are not needed. Furthermore, it has to be guaranteed that values or data stored in the tested register bits are restored after the test.    C. A test during the start of the system to be tested is only acceptable when basic configuration settings, as for instance for a clock control, which are required for the correct performing of the tests themselves, will not be impaired during the testing. Therefore it cannot suffice to modify the safety registers for the testing at random and to restore the reset values again after the tests. Furthermore, the testing of the safety measures for the storage registers must not require too many clock cycles, as the acceptable time interval for starting the system to be tested is limited. The taking into account of such dependencies can lead to a considerable complexity with regard to the software for starting the system together with a high risk of error.
Also, the costs that are caused by the storage space required for the safety registers and by the supply power pose a problem. Another challenge is to be able to flexibly increase or decrease the safety functions of the system with minimum expenditure or overhead in order to avoid a too high or too low protection by safety functions.
A further demand consists in the methodological problem that the protection or saving of the registers must not detrimentally affect the production time and the time of delivery which are required for the product to reach the customer. Consequently, the development or the configuration of the hardware and the verification plans must not be considerably burdened by an additional overhead for the implementation and verification of the safety logic.
Hitherto, the following basic approaches for the register saving have been known from prior art:
For CPU cores of, for instance, the AURIX product family there is provided a redundancy at the system level in that complete CPUs are duplicated and operate simultaneously. A special lockstep control logic enables the constant comparison of the outputs of the master CPU and of a redundant checker CPU with a configurable delay of checker inputs and master outputs, wherein the compare logic can be tested via separate test inputs.
If applied to a register saving, such an approach would correspond to the duplication of the entire sequence and combination logic for the calculation of the states of the saved registers. This would result in higher operating expenses and would not provide any flexibility for the selection of individual register bit fields for the protection of the register saving without modifying the architecture. Furthermore, only the compare logic would then be tested, but not the redundant registers.
Another known method is based on special redundancy codes (Error Correction Codes) and is used for the protection of RAM blocks as well as for the detection and correction of errors, wherein additional check bits are added to the data words by ECC encoders during writing and are checked by ECC decoders during reading which, based on the ECC configuration, are able to not only detect a certain number of bit errors but also to correct them up to a certain extent. Such an approach could also be used for the register saving. As the ECC protection, however, requires regulated memory structures with predefined word lengths, the design structure would have to be modified substantially in order to, one the one hand, insert the ECC logic itself, and, on the other hand, to arrange the register logic such that the required regularity is achieved. Such a restructuring would cause a higher design expenditure and would lack the desired flexibility.
So-called library cells with dual or triple modular redundancy are another known alternative which, however, would influence the design up to the synthesis, as in the case of duplication the register cells would have to be equipped with additional inputs and outputs for the testing and for the triggering of a safety function or of an alarm.
A triple modular redundancy would make it possible that the ports of the original register cells would be retained if no alarm were necessary, as the register outputs could be created by majority vote. The triple redundancy would, however, result in an increase in the costs in this area, and the exchange of library cells would have an enormous influence on the design flow and would require either a manual intervention or complex scripts.
The addition of check bits to registers is another possible approach. The resulting long chains of XOR gates would, however, increase the power consumption and the combinatorial propagation delays in the design. Moreover, an even number of simultaneous errors could have the effect that these errors could cancel each other so that no safety function or alarm function would be marked or selected. Finally, individual solutions for the implementation of hardware safety measures in each module would lead to extremely heterogeneous solutions which would be difficult to verify, to test and to certify.
Alternatively, the register could be protected by means of safety software, in that all write values for safety registers are additionally stored in another memory and are read therefrom and compared from time to time. If the repetition cycles are not too short with regard to the safety requirements, and if the software does not increase the load of the CPU too much, this approach would be acceptable. Not all registers, however, can be saved and protected by the safety software, as internal registers are out of reach for the software, and some externally visible registers are additionally updated by hardware so that the safety software could not decide whether a change has taken place owing to a regular hardware update or owing to an isolated case error.

Apparatus and method for the protection and for the non-destructive testing of safety-relevant registers


In a method of making a high-pressure accumulator pipe as composite pipe of steel for pressures of up to 1800 bar and above with high static strength and fatigue strength for fuel injection systems with common rail systems for internal combustion engines, a first inner pipe part is inserted into a second outer pipe part with little clearance, and the inner pipe part is connected to the outer pipe part gap-free and by interference fit through mechanical forming. The mechanical forming includes a rolling-in process, wherein the inner pipe part is subjected to a ductile expansion and the outer pipe part is subjected to an elastic expansion using an oversized rolling tool that is moved within the inner pipe part, and wherein a residual compressive stress adjusted to the operating pressure is applied to the inner pipe part after the forming process via the elastic resilience of the outer pipe part.

The invention relates to a method of making a high-pressure accumulator pipe of steel for fuel injection systems as well as to a high-pressure accumulator pipe.
High-pressure accumulator pipes for fuel injection systems of internal combustion engines are also designated as common rail system. Pressure generation and fuel injection are decoupled from one another in the common rail system.
A separate high-pressure pump produces continuously pressure which is stored in the central high-pressure accumulator independently from the injection sequence. High-pressure lines extend from this accumulator to the individual injectors which are associated to the motor cylinders. The built-up pressure is constantly available in the fuel line.
in order to satisfy the high demands on the mechanical properties and the corrosion and cavitation resistances, when the injection pressures of today reach up to 1800 bar, components which assume to a lesser degree a storage function but rather a conducting function, such as the high-pressure fuel lines, e.g. known from the documents DE 203 17 565 U1, DE 198 08 012 C2, and DE 197 16 659 C2, are designed as composite pipes.
These composite pipes include a relatively thin-walled inner pipe part and an relatively thick-walled outer pipe part which are connected to one another via a press-fit. The press-fit is realized for example through cold drawing (DE 197 16 659 C2).
The inner pipe part is made of a high-alloy, corrosion-resistant and high-strength steel as a consequence of the direct contact with the fuel mixture under high pressure, while the outer pipe part is typically made of unalloyed or low-alloy steel.
High-pressure accumulator pipes which do not assume a conducting function but predominantly a storage function, must exhibit a high fatigue strength besides the required mechanical properties in order to be able to withstand the high and pulsating pressures during operation. This requires the presence of a superior inner pipe surface with a very low roughness that cannot be realized using known production methods for high-pressure accumulator pipes. For example, roughness values of Rz≦1.0 μm and Ra≦0.2 μm should be reached.
High-pressure accumulator pipes are disclosed e.g. in DE 10 2004 030 394 B3 and DE 199 36 685 A1.
In order to satisfy the high surface demands, it is known to make the high-pressure accumulator pipes from a pipe comprised only of one pipe part through deep drilling of solid material or to use cold-finished, seamless or welded precision steel pipes which are cold-rolled in two draws.
Deep drilling has shortcomings relating to the high material consumption and the complicated deep drilling process. The surface quality and the properties of the marginal drilling zone oftentimes do not meet the demands and the required high fatigue strength can only be realized through an additional autofrettage process.
As cold-finished pipes require two drawing processes, high costs are incurred and the pipes oftentimes exhibit insufficient surface quality and inadequate properties at the marginal zones, and the application of a cost-intensive autofrettage is also necessary. DE 103 03 853 A1 discloses a high-pressure accumulator pipe which involves a composite pipe of two pipe parts which are connected to one another through heat application and shrinkage. This is also disadvantageous because the inner pipe part produced by deep drilling.

Method for the production of a high-pressure accumulator pipe of steel for fuel injection systems and high-pressure accumulator pipe produced according to this method


A print drum for a postage meter has a drum structure provided with a plurality of recesses in its periphery. One of these recesses accommodates a print wheel assembly and at least some of the other recesses are provided with axially extending means whereby imprinting dies can be slid in and out. The movement in and out of the recesses is in a direction substantially parallel to the rotation axis of the print drum.

This invention relates to a print drum for a postage meter, and to a postage meter including a print drum.
Postage meters, also called franking machines, are well known machines used in the great majority of offices and mailing rooms throughout the industrially developed countries of the world. A print drum operates in a well known manner to make a single revolution at each operation thereby making a franking imprint on an envelope or other package which is to be franked. A print drum contains a print wheel assembly, whereby commonly four digits may be printed, each of the print wheels being rotatable so as to dispose any digit from 0 to 9 at their respective rotational positions i.e. the printing positions, in order to frank any desired currency amount on the envelope or other package. Various complex and ingenious mechanisms have been devised for rotating the print wheels of a print wheel assembly, in accordance with requirements.
Rotation of the print drum is normally effective to place other imprints, besides the franking amount, on an envelope or other package. Different countries have different rules and customs with regard to the nature and number of these extra imprints. For economy of manufacture, it is clearly desirable that a print drum design should be such as to be able to accommodate the maximum number of different imprints needed for any country, or alternatively such lesser number as other countries may require. It will be understood that when this is achieved, the same design of print drum may be used in post age meters intended for use in any country.
U.K. Pat. No. 328,332 discloses a postal franking machine which consists of a printing drum and a magazine drum which carries a plurality of printing dies for printing different monetary value. In operation the appropriate printing die is brought to a transfer location and then slid laterally onto the printing drum. The printing drum rotates between two fixed side plates which prevent lateral movement of the printing die. Further dies may be inserted at spaced locations about the printing drum when it is in a unique rest position. In this arrangement it is necessary to change a printing die each time a different monetary value is to be franked. Furthermore the removal and replacement of dies may be done only when the printing drum is at its rest position, and access to the interior of the drum is severely limited.
It is an aim of the present invention to provide a design of print drum which represents an improvement over prior knowledge.


A sensor apparatus and sensor apparatus system for use in conjunction with a cassette-based peritoneal dialysis system is described, including a disposable cassette. In some embodiments, the cassette includes a thermal well for permitting the sensing of various properties of a dialysate. The thermal well includes a hollow housing of a thermally conductive material. In other embodiments, the cassette includes sensor leads for sensing of various properties of a dialysate. The thermal well has an inner surface shaped so as to form a mating relationship with a sensing probe. The mating thermally couples the inner surface with a sensing probe. In some embodiments, the thermal well is located on a disposable portion and the sensing probe on a reusable portion.

Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) periodically infuses sterile aqueous solution into the peritoneal cavity. This solution is called peritoneal dialysis solution, or dialysate. Diffusion and osmosis exchanges take place between the solution and the bloodstream across the natural body membranes. These exchanges remove the waste products that the kidneys normally excrete. The waste products typically consist of solutes like sodium and chloride ions, and the other compounds normally excreted through the kidneys like urea, creatinine, and water.
Automated Peritoneal Dialysis (APD) is a popular form of PD. APD uses a machine, called a cycler, to automatically infuse, dwell, and drain peritoneal dialysis solution, or dialysate, to and from the patient's peritoneal cavity. A typical APD sequence lasts for several hours. It often begins with an initial drain cycle to empty the peritoneal cavity of spent dialysate. The APD sequence then proceeds through a succession of fill, dwell, and drain phases that follow one after the other. Each fill/dwell/drain sequence is called a cycle. During the fill phase, the cycler transfers a predetermined volume of fresh, warmed dialysate into the peritoneal cavity of the patient. The dialysate remains (or "dwells") within the peritoneal cavity for a time. This is called the dwell phase. During the drain phase, the cycler removes the spent dialysate from the peritoneal cavity. The number of fill/dwell/drain cycles that are required during a given APD session depends upon the total volume of dialysate prescribed for the patient's APD regime.
Systems for performing peritoneal dialysis are known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 5,350,357, entitled Peritoneal Dialysis Systems Employing a Liquid Distribution and Pumping Cassette that Emulates Gravity, and other patents, describe a cassette-based peritoneal dialysis system. PD systems of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,350,357 have been very well received by professionals and patients for the treatment of end-stage renal disease.
Despite the success of such peritoneal dialysis systems, there is a need for sensor apparatus and sensor apparatus systems capable of sensing the temperature, the conductivity, and/or other properties of the dialysate present in the cassette.
Additionally, there is a need for an accurate measurement apparatus to measure the temperature, conductivity, and/or other property of the dialysate in the cassette while avoiding contamination between with the measurement apparatus and the dialysate. There is also a need for an accurate measurement apparatus that can measure the temperature, conductivity, and/or other condition of a dialysate where such dialysate is contained in and/or flowing through a disposable cassette such that part or all of the sensor apparatus can be reused and need not be disposed of along with the disposable cassette.

Peritoneal dialysis sensor apparatus systems, devices and methods


A lens barrel includes: a frame for holding an optical lens, the frame having a bottomed circular recess formed in its outer peripheral surface; a cam follower fixed to an outer diameter portion of the frame with screws, the cam follower including a core and a collar provided on an outer periphery of the core; and a barrel member having a guide groove into which the cam follower is fitted, the guide groove determining a position of the frame, in which under a state in which the cam follower is mounted to the outer diameter portion of the frame, an outer diameter portion of the collar is fitted to an inner diameter portion of the circular recess, and one end surface of the core abuts on a bottom surface of the circular recess and another end surface of the core abuts on a head of the screw.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lens barrel and an optical apparatus including the same, which are suitably used for a digital camera, a video camera, or the like and are capable of holding stably, even under external impact or environmental change, a lens holding member that holds, for example, a lens unit and moves in an optical axis direction.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a lens barrel used for an optical apparatus such as a digital camera or a video camera, at the time of focusing and zooming, a lens holding member that holds a lens unit is moved in an optical axis direction by rotation of a rotation barrel.
In a drive mechanism for the lens barrel including the lens holding member that moves in the optical axis direction, there are used a cam barrel having a cam groove formed therein, a guide barrel (fixed member) having a longitudinal groove (translation groove) formed therein parallel to the optical axis direction, and a cam follower to be fitted into both the grooves. The cam follower is fixed to the lens holding member with a screw or the like. Further, the lens holding member supporting the cam follower is driven in the optical axis direction by the cam follower that is engaged with the cam groove of the cam barrel and the longitudinal groove of the guide barrel by rotation of the cam barrel about an optical axis.
At this time, in order to move the lens holding member along a cam locus with high accuracy, it is important to stably fix the cam follower at a fixed position of the lens holding member without shift. It is desired that, under a condition that the cam follower is mounted to the lens holding member with high accuracy, assembly be performed so that a diameter dimension of the cam follower is equal to a width dimension of the cam groove formed in the cam barrel and a width dimension of the longitudinal groove formed in the guide barrel, or the diameter dimension of the cam follower is slightly larger than the width dimensions of the cam groove and the longitudinal groove.
In addition, there is desired a holding mechanism for the lens holding member, which prevents a change in initial lens holding state as much as possible even under environmental change such as external temperature or under application of impact.
In this context, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-227964 discloses the following lens barrel. Specifically, the lens barrel uses the cam follower that has impact resistance and is held so as to be slidable in the cam groove of the cam barrel and the longitudinal groove of the guide barrel, and the lens barrel moves the lens holding member (moving frame). In the lens barrel disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-227964, the cam follower includes the collar member made of a synthetic resin, and the metallic intermediate member including the flange portion. Further, the initial lens holding state can be maintained stably for a long period of time while friction load at the time of sliding is suppressed. In the lens barrel disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-227964, the cam follower (coupling member) includes the collar member and the intermediate member including the flange portion. Further, the flange portion that abuts on the lens holding frame at the time of screw fastening is provided on the intermediate member side, thereby increasing stability of a screw fastening work and a resistance force to impact.
However, regarding the lens barrel disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-227964, how to position the cam follower with respect to the cam follower lens holding frame when fixing the cam follower to the lens holding frame (moving frame) is not specifically disclosed. If the cam follower is not assembled to the lens holding frame with high accuracy, it is difficult to maintain and move the lens holding frame with high accuracy.

Lens barrel and optical apparatus including the same


A parallel processing apparatus includes, a plurality of operational circuits that execute operations for data in parallel, and a control circuit that, upon an end of operations for a first portion of the data, finds estimated operation time for operations for a second portion that is an object of operations subsequent to the first portion, based on target time for operational processing for the data and a data amount of remaining data for which no operation has been executed in the data, finds a second parallelism of the operations for the second portion, based on a first parallelism of the operations for the first portion, a measurement value of operation time for the operations for the first portion, and the estimated operation time, and causes operational circuits, numbering in a number indicated by the second parallelism among the plurality of operational circuits, to execute the operations for the second portion.

A desired logic circuit may be produced by writing of functions of logic macros and interconnections among the logic macros into a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). With improvement in circuit integration levels and operating frequencies of FPGAs in recent years, applications have been contrived in which FPGAs are made to execute operational processing executed conventionally by central processing units (CPUs). Thus processing performance of operational processing systems may be improved.
In case where an FPGA is made to execute operational processing executed conventionally by a CPU, processing performance may be further improved by provision of a plurality of identical operational circuits in the FPGA and execution of operations in parallel by the operational circuits. A number of the operational circuits that execute the operations in parallel may be referred to as parallelism or parallel number.
There have been known a parallel computing controller that adjusts parallelism for each job so that all jobs may complete at the same time and a parallel processing apparatus that processes operations for data divided by processing unit with use of a plurality of processors.
Related arts are disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2013-140490 and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2010-277579.

Parallel processing apparatus and parallel processing method


A diagnostic extender card is plugged into a memory module socket on a personal computer (PC) motherboard. The extender card has a test socket that receives a memory module and an intercepting decoder chip that receives the chip-select (CS) from the motherboard that selects the memory module for access. When CS is activated, the intercepting decoder chip illuminates a visual indicator on the extender card, allowing a user to locate a memory module being accessed. The exact translation or mapping from logical addresses of test programs to physical addresses of the memory modules is not needed, since the visual indicator shows which memory module is really being accessed, regardless of proprietary address mapping by north bridge chips. Operating system memory accesses are filtered out by a counter that counts accesses during a period set by a timer. When the number of accesses exceeds a threshold, the visual indicator is lit.

Many computer systems such as personal computers (PCs) use memory modules as their main memory. Memory modules may be tested using PC-motherboard-based testers. Servers may use many memory modules.
When a memory modules fails on a server, it can be difficult to determine which of the many memory modules has failed. A software tool such as a memory diagnostics program can be executed on the server to write and read locations in the memory. However, these memory diagnostic programs access virtual or logical addresses, rather than the physical addresses of the memory modules.
The operating system (OS) running on the server (in conjunction with BIOS) may remap logical addresses while the processor and chips such as a north bridge chip translate logical addresses from the processor to physical addresses. While the address translation is deterministic, it may not be known to the end user, since manufacturers often keep address translation as a trade secret.
When a memory diagnostics program is executed on a processor or Central Processing Unit (CPU), a sequence of logical addresses are written and read back. Mismatched data read back indicates a faulty memory location within the logical address space. Since the mapping from the logical address space to the physical address space and the memory modules is not known to the user, it cannot be readily determined which memory module is malfunctioning despite the memory diagnostic program having located the error by its logical address. A technician cannot easily determine which of the many memory modules to replace despite running the memory diagnostic program and may have to replace memory modules one by one until the problem is fixed.
What is desired is a diagnostic method that can identify which memory module is malfunctioning. An extender card with a visual indicator is desired to show which memory module is malfunctioning when a memory diagnostic program is executed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Memory-module extender card for visually decoding addresses from diagnostic programs and ignoring operating system accesses