A apparatus and method for efficiently performing an HARQ procedure in a wireless communication system are disclosed. According to the method for performing an HARQ procedure, waste of unnecessary resources caused by continuous failure in packet transmission can be avoided, wherein the failure occurs due to the error of the uplink basic assignment A-MAP IE for retransmission.

Hybrid Automatic Retransmission request (HARQ) means an improved automatic retransmission request scheme where originally transmitted information and retransmitted information are decoded in combination to reduce the number of retransmission times according to an error occurring in initial data transmission. This HARQ scheme is used for an IEEE 802.16m system and other mobile communication system. Hereinafter, a method for allocating resources for uplink HARQ in an IEEE 802.16 system according to the related art will be described in brief.
A mobile station which has received an uplink basic assignment A-MAP information element (A-MAP IE) transmits sub-packets of HARQ data through resources allocated by the uplink basic assignment A-MAP IE. A base station attempts to decode a data burst, and if decoding is successfully performed, the base station transmits an acknowledgement (ACK) signal. However, if decoding is failed, the base station transmits a negative acknowledgement (NACK) to the mobile station. When the base station allocates resources to the mobile station for retransmission, it may not transmit the uplink basic assignment A-MAP. In this case, the base station allocates resources to the mobile station at the same position and size as those of a region allocated for a previous sub-packet at a subframe for retransmission. If the base station transmits the uplink basic assignment A-MAP to the mobile station to allocate resources for retransmission, it allocates resources to a region indicated by the corresponding A-MAP.
The mobile station which has received a NACK signal from the base station performs a retransmission procedure. If the mobile station fails to receive the uplink basic assignment A-MAP IE for HARQ data burst transmission through the retransmission procedure, it transmits next sub-packet to the base station through resources allocated during transmission of the last sub-packet having same ACID.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an uplink HARQ procedure.
Referring to FIG. 1, the base station transmits an uplink basic assignment A-MAP IE to the mobile station, wherein the uplink basic assignment A-MAP IE indicates that uplink resources for data transmission of the mobile station have been allocated to a region A (S110). The mobile station which has received the uplink basic assignment A-MAP IE from the base station transmits sub-packets of HARQ burst through a resource region (region A) indicated by the corresponding IE (S120). If the base station fails to decode the packets due to an error occurring in the packets transmitted from the mobile station, it transmits a NACK signal to the mobile station to indicate the fact that an error has occurred in the transmitted packets (S130). Afterwards, the base station allocates to the mobile station resources having the same position and size as those of resources for transmission of a packet, in which the error has last occurred, without uplink basic assignment A-MAP, so that the mobile station retransmits the packet having an error at the designated time (S140).
If the mobile station receives the NACK signal from the base station but fails to receive the uplink basic assignment A-MAP IE for retransmission, it transmits retransmission packets using a region (region A) having the same position and size as those of a resource region last transmitted (S150). Then, the base station transmits an ACK signal to the mobile station in response to the retransmission packets if it normally receives the packets retransmitted from the mobile station through the allocated region A (S160). In this way, the base station can allocate the region having the same position and size as those of the resource region last transmitted from the mobile station, so that the mobile station can retransmit the packets having an error.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating another example of an uplink HARQ procedure.
Referring to FIG. 2, in the same manner as FIG. 1, the base station transmits an uplink basic assignment A-MAP IE to the mobile station, wherein the uplink basic assignment A-MAP IE indicates that uplink resources for data transmission of the mobile station have been allocated to a region A (S210). The mobile station which has received the uplink basic assignment A-MAP IE from the base station transmits sub-packets of HARQ burst through a resource region (region A) indicated by the corresponding IE (S220). If the base station fails to decode the packets due to an error occurring in the packets transmitted from the mobile station, it transmits a NACK signal to the mobile station to indicate the fact that the error has occurred in the transmitted packets (S230).
Afterwards, the base station allocates the uplink basic assignment A-MAP IE to the mobile station to allocate resources having information (for example, different position or different size) different from that of resources most recently allocated for corresponding ACID, so that the mobile station retransmits the packets having an error at the designated time (S240). If the mobile station receives the NACK signal and the uplink basic assignment A-MAP IE for retransmission, it transmits retransmission packets to a resource region (region B) indicated by the corresponding A-MAP IE (S250).
Then, the base station transmits an ACK signal to the mobile station in response to the retransmission packets if it normally receives the packets retransmitted from the mobile station through the allocated region B (S260). In this way, the base station can allocate a new uplink resource region (region B) to the mobile station, so that the mobile station can retransmit the packets having an error.
In order to allocate resources for packet retransmission of the mobile station due to an error occurring in the packets transmitted from the mobile station, the base station can transmit the uplink basic assignment A-MAP IE to the mobile station. At this time, if the mobile station fails to decode the uplink basic assignment A-MAP IE, it transmits retransmission sub-packets to the base station through resources allocated to the sub-packet most recently transmitted for same ACID. In this case, ACID represents HARQ channel identifier.
Since the sub-packets transmitted by the mobile station are transmitted a wrong resource region, a problem occurs in that the sub-packets collide with packets transmitted from another mobile station. As a result, the base station fails to receive the packets transmitted from another mobile station. Also, the base station fails to receive retransmission packets from the corresponding mobile station through the resource region indicated by the uplink basic assignment A-MAP IE, and transmits NACK to the mobile station. Afterwards, if the base station allocates resources for retransmission without transmitting the uplink basic assignment A-MAP IE, the mobile station will continuously transmit retransmission packets using the wrong resource region. For this reason, waste of resources becomes serious.

Apparatus and method for performing HARQ procedure


A shaving composition comprising at least about 10 wt % aloe vera product, a cosmetically acceptable film forming agent, a cosmetically acceptable lubricity agent, and a cosmetically acceptable preservative. The shaving composition of the invention may be in the form of either a liquid or a gel. The composition can be used without prior application of water to the area to be shaved and can be packaged in a variety of forms which make it especially suitable for travelers, campers, and the like.

Since ancient times it has been known that shaving of human hair with a razor blade is greatly facilitated by the prior application of a suitable lubricant to the skin. Historically, these lubricants have comprised mixtures of water and a soap or surfactant which were agitated in a shaving cup to form a lather and applied with a shaving brush to the wetted surface to be shaved. The shaving cup and brush tended to be bulky and cumbersome, and the process of agitating the soap with water to form a lather often was untidy. In recent years manufacturers have sold foamable shaving lathers packaged in pressurized aerosol cans. These can dispense small amounts of a premixed composition of water and a soap or surfactant or in some cases a lather-forming water-containing gel. When applied to wetted skin, the compositions form a lather which provides a suitable lubricant for shaving. The pressurized cans, however, also have serious drawbacks. They tend to be bulky, which can be disadvantageous for travelers, campers, and the like. If the cans are subjected to extreme heat or high pressures they could explode, which can be not only a nuisance but dangerous. Thus, it is known that air travelers should not include aerosol cans in luggage which will be stored in an unpressurized airplane cargo compartment. Besides the problems with packaging, these compositions still require that the surface to be shaved be wetted before the shaving lubricant is applied. The necessity of proximity to a supplemental fresh water source while shaving can be a major inconvenience while traveling, camping, boating or the like. Shaving with lather and supplemental water can also be inconvenient and bothersome to bedridden patients in hospitals, nursing homes, and so forth.


A new cultivar of Wisteria floribunda named ‘Betty Tam’, characterized by its repeat blooming habit, its large panicles of blue-violet flowers, its cold hardiness to U.S.D.A. Zone 5 and its vigorous growth rate and ease of propagation.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Wisteria plant, botanically known as Wisteria floribunda 'Betty Tam' and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, 'Betty Tam'. The new cultivar represents a new Japanese wisteria grown as a vine or shrub for landscape use.
'Betty Tam' was discovered by the inventor in Claremore, Okla. in 1950 as a whole plant mutation derived from seed sown from unnamed plants of Wisteria floribunda. The new cultivar was observed over a period of 40 years and subsequently grafted onto understock for further evaluation.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished by grafting in Tulsa, Okla., by the inventor in 1996. Asexual reproduction by grafting and stem cuttings has determined that the characteristics of this cultivar to be stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.


A plastic closure for dispensing thixotropic fluids from a flexible bottle. The closure has a bottom part including a cover surface with a spout opening Beneath the cover surface a support surface in which several axially extending through-passages are disposed, which are radially offset relative to the spout opening. The support surface includes partial elements in the form of tongues, which are integrally formed on an annular jacket wall by way of integral hinges which engage in a pin in the installed state. This results in a closure that can be manufactured particularly inexpensively, is simple to install, and can be produced in one piece.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a one-part or a multipart plastic closure for fastening to the neck of a flexible bottle for dispensing thixotropic fluids, having a bottom part with a circumference wall and a top surface into which a pouring opening is formed.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Thixotropic fluids are fluids with a non-Newtonian flow behavior. A typical example of such a fluid is ketchup. Various liquid soaps also exhibit thixotropic behavior, as do many dispersions. Today, such fluids are sold in flexible plastic containers having closures with a so-called closure membrane. There are many known embodiments of closures with a so-called closure membrane. Examples include those taught by European Patent References EP-A-545 678 and EP-A-442 379, and also U.S. Pat. No. 2,175,052. The significant advantage of closures having a closure membrane is that the already open container can be stood on its head without the fluid leaking out of it. Pressure exerted on the flexible bottle deforms the closure membrane, as described in PCT International Application WO 2006/11915, or the usually slit-shaped opening spreads open and the fluid can be squeezed out of the bottle, as described in the above-mentioned documents. In this case, one problem arises if the membrane is tautly held, for a better closing force and the quicker the closure closes when the pressure on the container is released. As a result, an ever more powerful vacuum builds up in the container over time so that the bottle becomes more and more deformed as its contents are consumed and also the pressure required to dispense the fluid is increased. If the closure membrane is stretched less tautly, then at least sometimes, a certain amount of the displaced air can flow back into the container. Thus, the closure also tends to drip. Furthermore, the more tautly the closure membrane is stretched, the more the closure tends to open explosively when pressure is exerted, causing a jet to emerge at high velocity and the container to have a tendency to spray.
In order to reduce this problem, a variety of complex known closure membrane closures have a design of the closure membrane which is more and more complex and the very small component requires more and more effort to install it in the closure. With these complex closure membranes, it is possible to produce a closing action and an opening of the slit-shaped closure as soon as a pressure difference exists between the atmosphere and the internal pressure of the bottle. This possibility assures the venting of plastic bottles. But because of the variety of materials that must be used in these plastic bottles with closure membranes, such as the membrane must usually be made of a silicone rubber and the actual closure must be produced from a polypropylene, it is not possible to produce them in one injection procedure in the same machine. Also, the silicone rubber part is a relatively expensive part and for this reason alone, it is desirable for it to be as small as possible. When this part is small, however, and is at the same time highly flexible, its installation by machine is extremely complex and malfunction-prone.
The plastic closures mentioned here, which have closure membranes, are known, for example, from European Patent Reference EP 1 216 932 or German Patent Reference DE-A-196 406 29. Closures of this kind are suitable not only for thixotropic fluids, but also for practically all fluids, with the exception of very low-viscosity fluids or carbonated fluids. Development of the closure according to this invention is for providing a closure that avoids the above-mentioned disadvantages, but is simultaneously limited to the use of thixotropic fluids. Thixotropy is understood as the property of a non-Newtonian fluid in which the viscosity decreases in response to constant shear stress over a certain period of time. After the shear stress stops, the initial viscosity is reestablished. In other words, the longer a thixotropic fluid is moved, the lower its viscosity becomes. Normally, the faster the movement is carried out, the faster the viscosity decreases. In other words, in such a closure, the flow-through direction is changed and the flow is accelerated, thus achieving a good flow capacity of the thixotropic fluid while at the same time, a simple shut-off in the flow direction suffices to prevent leakage at a lower viscosity. This invention makes use of this knowledge, creating a plastic closure that is extremely economical, simple to manufacture and assemble, and that can even be manufactured in one piece.

Plastic closure for dispensing thixotropic fluids


An input device has a base, two shafts, a touchpad and a switch. The shafts are pivotally connected between the base and the touchpad, and intersect each other. When the touchpad is pressed, the shafts rotate relative to the base and the touchpad simultaneously. As the shafts intersect each other, an intersection of the shafts is nearby or exactly on a center of the touchpad, such that the shafts can pull down the touchpad from the center. Thus, no matter what location on the touchpad is pressed, a pressing force is spread uniformly, which makes the touchpad move down evenly without tilting. Besides, pulling down the touchpad from the center can further prevent leverage and deformation of the touchpad, thereby avoiding affecting the user's feel of pressing. To sum up, the input device can make the touchpad move down evenly, and prevent the touchpad from deformation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lifting structure for an input device, especially to a lifting structure for a touchpad.
2. Description of the Prior Arts
Touchpad is a common input device in electronic devices nowadays, and is especially common in portable electronic devices, such as laptop. The touchpad can replace a mouse and enable a user to control the portable electronic device to move a cursor on a screen without using the mouse.
The conventional touchpad has to be operated with two keys. The keys are disposed underneath the touchpad, and the two keys each respectively correspond in function to a left button and a right button of the mouse. For operating the touchpad and the keys, the user moves the cursor on the touchpad and clicks on the keys.
However, the touchpad nowadays can do without the keys and is pressable. The touchpad has to be operated with a switch disposed beneath the touchpad. When the touchpad is pressed down, the touchpad abuts and actuates the switch. Meanwhile, the touchpad detects that the user presses a right part or a left part of the touchpad, so as to identify whether the user intends to achieve the function of clicking the left button or the right button.
With reference to FIGS. 14 and 15, the user may press on any location on the touchpad 91, but the touchpad 91 should always be moved down evenly without tilting. Thus, there is a scissor mechanism mounted between the touchpad 91 and a base 92 disposed beneath the touchpad 91. The scissor mechanism has two frames 93. Each frame 93 is looped into a rectangle, and has a bottom segment 931, a side segment 932 and a top segment 933 connected to one another in sequence. The touchpad 91 has multiple hooks 911, 912 formed on a bottom of the touchpad 91. The base 92 has multiple hooks 921, 922 formed on a top of the base 92. Of one of the frames 93, the bottom segment 931 is pivotally connected to the hook 921 in right side of the base 92, and the top segment 933 is pivotally and slidably connected to the hook 912 in left side of the touchpad 91. In the other frame 93, the bottom segment 931 is pivotally and slidably connected to the hook 922 in left side of the base 92, and the top segment 933 is pivotally connected to the hook 911 in right side of the touchpad 91. The side segments 932 of the two frames 93 are pivotally connected to each other, and intersect each other to form an X shape.
The touch pad 91 may be touched on any location thereon, and the top segment 931 and the bottom segment 932 of the frame 93 nearer to the pressing point each respectively rotate relative to the touchpad 91 and the base 92. At the same time, the frame 93 moves the other frame 93 by the side segments 932 to move up and down simultaneously, thereby making the touchpad 91 move up and down evenly without tilting.
With reference to FIG. 16, the switch 94 corresponds to a center of the touchpad 91, such that a pressing force, which may be applied on any location of the touchpad 91, can transmit to the switch 94 effectively. However, when the pressing point is adjacent to a side of the touchpad 91, the touchpad 91 is pulled down by the top segments 933 in two opposite sides. Thus, the switch 94 in the center may function as a pivot to create leverage, thereby making the touchpad 91 deform and the two opposite sides of the touchpad 91 slightly bend downward. The deformation absorbs part of the pressing force, thereby reducing a moving distance of the touchpad 91. The pressing force must be increased to abut and actuate the switch 94. Besides, the touchpad 91 may deform and be bent, such that the user's feel of pressing is less smooth.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides an input device and lifting structure for the input device to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

Input device and lifting structure for the input device


Disclosed herein is a light emitting diode, the structure of the light emitting diode comprises a substrate, a first-type semiconductor layer, a structural layer, a light emitting layer, a second-type semiconductor layer, a transparent conductive layer, a first contact pad and a second contact pad in regular turn. The structural layer comprises a stacked structure having a trapezoid sidewall and nano columns extending from the trapezoid sidewall in regular arrangement. Also, a method for fabricating the light emitting diode is disclosed.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a light-emitting diode and the fabricating method. More particularly, the present invention relates to a light-emitting diode having nano columns and the fabricating method.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been widely used in illumination because of its long service life and compact size. However, to further replace the traditional lighting apparatus, the LEDs need to improve themselves at the luminous efficiency for higher brightness and lower heat generation.
Structurally, the LEDs is stacked by a continuous epitaxial growth, and the multi-quantum well therein is in a structure of platform, which limits the light emitting in an area same as that of the substrate of the stacked structure of an LED. Traditionally, the brightness of the LED is enhanced by way of forming a nano-scale structure on a multi-quantum well layer which increases the surface area thereof. However, since the formed nanostructure is randomly disordered and the improvement of the luminous efficiency is still limited.

Light emitting diode and method of fabricating the same


Disclosed are a glass embedded product and a method for fabricating same. The glass embedded product comprises a base, the base having a cavity, several hollowed holes being formed through a side wall of the cavity, and the hollowed holes communicate with the cavity. The glass embedded product further comprises a glass blown decorative structure embedded in the base, the glass blown decorative structure comprising a glass blown lining sheathed in the cavity of the base and glass protruding decorative parts embedded in the hollowed holes of the base. The glass protruding decorative parts and the glass blown lining form an integrated blow-moulded integral structure.

Glass is an amorphous material and cannot be manufactured by conventional methods such as strip mold. The glass products on the market today, such as hot spread paper, hollow animal product, solid animal product, abstract animal forms, and hemp rope crafts, are all based on glassblowing. However, the current blown glass products have monotonous shape and material, the decoration effect is monotonous, and it cannot obtain a blown glass embedded decorative structure.

Glass embedded product and method for fabricating same


A communications device is disclosed that adjusts a target signal to allow a reference phase locked loop (PLL) to lock onto a reference signal that is related to a desired operating frequency in a first mode of operation. The reference PLL locks onto the reference signal when the target signal is calibrated to be proportional to the reference signal. As the communications device transitions between the first mode of operation and a second mode of operation, the communications device performs a shorten calibration cycle on the reference PLL. The reference phase locked loop (PLL) locks onto the reference signal in response to the shorten calibration cycle in the second mode of operation.

1. Field of Disclosure
The present disclosure relates generally to a phase locked loop (PLL) and specifically to calibration of a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) for the cellular phone.
2. Related Art
Cellular phones have evolved from large devices that were only capable of analog voice communications to comparatively smaller devices that are capable of digital voice communications and digital data communications, such as Short Message Service (SMS) for text messaging, email, packet switching for access to the Internet, gaming, Bluetooth, and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) to provide some examples. In addition to these capabilities, the cellular phones of today have additional non-communication related capabilities, such as a camera with video recording, an MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 (MP3) player, and software applications such as a calendar and a phone book, to provide some examples. Even in light of these capabilities, manufacturers of cellular phones are placing even more capabilities into cellular phones and making these more powerful cellular phones smaller.
At the heart of each cellular phone lies a phase locked-loop (PLL). The PLL is responsible for providing an appropriate transmit frequency for the cellular phone prior to commencement of a transmit mode of operation. The PLL is also responsible for providing an appropriate receive frequency for the cellular phone prior to commencement of a receive mode of operation. In order to properly provide the appropriate transmit and/or receive frequency for the cellular phone, a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) located within the PLL is calibrated to the appropriate transmit and/or receive frequency of the cellular phone. Once the VCO is initially calibrated to be sufficiently proportional to a frequency and/or a phase of a reference frequency, the PLL locks the frequency of the VCO to be proportional to the frequency and/or the phase of the reference frequency to provide the appropriate transmit and/or receive frequency. Often, additional calibration of the VCO following the initial calibration is often required to ensure that the VCO is sufficiently proportional to the frequency and/or the phase of the reference frequency to the appropriate transmit and/or receive frequency. For example, an additional calibration may be required once the cellular phone transitions from the transmit mode of operation to the receive mode of operation and/or from the receive mode of operation to the transmit mode of operation.
Communications standards provide a certain time window for an initial calibration of the VCO. However, in certain communications standards often do not provide sufficient time for the additional calibration, which is typically necessary when the cellular phone transitions from the transmit mode of operation to the receive mode of operation and/or from the receive mode of operation to the transmit mode of operation. As a result, the cellular phone may not be aligned to the appropriate receive frequency when the cellular phone switches from the transmit mode of operation to the receive mode of operation, for example.
Thus, there is a need to calibrate the VCO following the initial calibration when transitioning from the transmit mode of operation to the receive mode of operation and/or from the receive mode of operation to the transmit mode of operation to the appropriate transmit and/or receive frequency of the cellular phone but to do so within the time allotted in the respective communications standard. Further aspects and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent from the detailed description that follows.
The present disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical, functionally similar, and/or structurally similar elements. The drawing in which an element first appears is indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the reference number.

Apparatus and method for fast phase locked loop (PLL) settling for cellular time-division duplex (TDD) communications systems


Frame for an electric apparatus for cutting ceramic elements preferably manufactured by a drawing and punching process starting from a metallic plate, being the frame a unique and continuous part in which one or more lined up going through grooves are arranged along which the cutting disc is movable to carry out the cutting of the ceramic tiles, having one or more bulgings directed in a convex form towards the interior part of the frame, being arranged in each of them a first orifice for draining out the water for cooling the cutting disc, second and third bulgings of the metallic plate being aimed at attachment means and abutment means for foldable legs and first bulgings for joining of the guide supporting and leading the cutting disc.

It is well known that common tiles and glazed tiles are widespread in the building industry and in public works for covering floors and walls. For its installation it is necessary in many cases to cut the pieces to adapt the tiles or glazed tiles to the forms needed, the cutting operations being made by means of hand or electric driven cutting apparatus for ceramic tiles.
The electric cutting apparatus correspond mainly to two different types, i. e. those in which the disc is mounted on the lower side of the frame and it is fixed in its position, for which reason the cutting action is performed by moving the ceramic element, and the types in which the disc is located on a bridge like guide located over the top side of the frame, to support and guide the cutting disc and the driving electric motor. In this tile cutting apparatus the ceramic element is fixed and the disc is movable.
In electric cutting apparatus, the surface to support the ceramic element is usually formed by two or more parts in order to make the cleaning and maintenance easier, having in its lower part a container aimed at collecting the water used for cooling the disc. As the support surface is made out of two or more parts a frame is required to obtain the necessary rigidity, for which reason the cost and weight of the cutting apparatus increase in a substantial extent, making as well difficult and complicate the transport of the apparatus to the site of utilisation.
The frame for electric cutting apparatus for ceramic tiles which is the object of the present invention solves the above problems, being made out of a unique part to which the rest of elements and devices are incorporated, among others, the guide for the cutting discs and the supporting legs.


A ceramic substrate in which even if rapid temperature rising or rapid temperature falling is conducted, no problem of cracking or warp of the ceramic substrate occurs. In a case that the ceramic substrate is a ceramic substrate constituting an electrostatic chuck, local dispersion of chuck power is eliminated, in a case that the ceramic substrate is a ceramic substrate constituting a hot plate, local dispersion of temperature of a wafer treating face is eliminated, and in a case that the ceramic substrate is a ceramic substrate constituting a wafer prober, dispersion of applied voltage of a guard electrode or a ground electrode is eliminated and a stray capacitor or noise can be eliminated. The ceramic substrate is provided with a conductor layer on the surface of the ceramic substrate or inside the ceramic substrate. A ratio (t2/t1) of the average thickness of the conductor layer (t2) to the average thickness of the ceramic substrate (t1) is less than 0.1, and a dispersion of the thickness of the conductor layer to the average thickness of the conductor layer is in a range of xe2x88x9270 to +150%.

The present invention relates to ceramic substrates used mainly in the semiconductor industry, and particularly to ceramic substrates suitable for hot plates, electrostatic chucks, wafer probers and so on.
Semiconductors are very important products necessary in various industries. Semiconductor chips are produced, for example, by slicing a silicon monocrystal into a predetermined thickness to produce a silicon wafer, and then forming a plurality of integrated circuits and the like on the silicon wafer.
In a process for manufacturing such semiconductor chips, a silicon wafer put on an electrostatic chuck is subjected to various treatments such as etching and CVD to form conductor circuits, elements and so on. At this time, a corrosive gas as a gas for deposition or a gas for etching is used. Therefore, since it is necessary to protect an electrostatic electrode layer and it is also necessary to induce adsorption power, an electrostatic electrode layer is usually covered with a ceramic dielectric film and the like.
Nitride ceramics have hitherto been used as such a ceramic dielectric film. For example, electrostatic chucks using nitrides such as aluminum nitride are disclosed in JP Kokai Hei 5-8140. Carbon-containing aluminum nitride having an Alxe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94N structure is disclosed in JP Kokai Hei 9-48668.
A process for manufacturing such electrostatic chucks is disclosed in JP Kokoku Hei 6-97677 and so on.
As disclosed, for example, in JP Kokai Sho 62-264638 and JP Kokai Sho 60-261377, such electrostatic chucks made of ceramic are manufactured by the so-called green sheet method wherein a lamination is prepared by laminating green sheets and then a ceramic substrate is produced by firing the lamination.
However, it was found: that an electrostatic chuck using a ceramic produced by the above-mentioned green sheet method has the problem in dispersion of chuck power, that a ceramic heater also has the problem in dispersion of temperature on a wafer treating face; and that a wafer prober has a problem in dispersion of applied voltage of a guard electrode or a ground electrode.
The present invention has been made for solving the above-mentioned problems. The objective of the invention is to provide: a ceramic substrate generating no dispersion of chuck power in case of a ceramic substrate with an electrostatic electrode embedded inside the ceramic substrate (an electrostatic chuck); a ceramic substrate having no temperature difference among positions on its wafer treating face and also being able to evenly heat an object to be heated such as a semiconductor wafer in case of a ceramic substrate with a resistance heating element provided on the surface of the ceramic substrate or inside the ceramic substrate (a hot plate); a ceramic substrate generating no dispersion of a voltage applied to the guard electrode or the ground electrode and being able to remove stray capacitor or noise with certainty in case of a wafer prober with a guard electrode or a ground electrode provided inside the wafer prober(a ceramic substrate).
Under the above-mentioned objective, the inventors of the present invention analyzed the causes for the generation of the above-mentioned problems and have found that a formed conductor layer has dispersion of thickness and thus the dispersion of thickness causes dispersion of chuck power, dispersion of temperature on a wafer treating face and dispersion of voltage applied to electrodes.
Thus, they have finally identified the following. By the adjustment of the dispersion of thickness of the green sheets, or roughness of surface of green sheets used for the preparation of a lamination, within predetermined ranges or, in case of the formation of a conductor layer using a metal foil and the like, by making the thickness of the metal foil and the like even and the like, local dispersion of thickness dependent on portions of a conductor layer of a ceramic substrate to be produced will be reduced with a consequent result of: the elimination of local dispersion of chuck power in case of the manufacture of an electrostatic chuck; the elimination of local dispersion of temperature on a wafer treating face in the manufacture of a hot plate; and the elimination of dispersion of voltage applied to a guard electrode or a ground electrode in the manufacture of a wafer prober.
Furthermore, besides above-mentioned problem, rapid temperature rising and rapid temperature falling are required for hot plates, electrostatic chucks and wafer probers in order to quicken through put, hence, ceramic substrates have another problem, in addition to the above-mentioned problems, that they tend to crack or warp due to such rapid changes in temperature.
However, the inventors have accomplished the present invention through their finding that such a problem can be solved by adjusting the dispersion of thickness of a conductor layer or by adjusting the ratio of the thickness of a conductor layer to that of a ceramic substrate.
That is, the ceramic substrate of the present invention is a ceramic substrate provided with a conductor layer on the surface of the ceramic substrate or inside the ceramic substrate,
wherein: the ratio (t2/t1) of the average thickness of the conductor layer (t2) to the average thickness of the ceramic substrate (t1) is less than 0.1 and; a dispersion of the thickness of the conductor layer to the average thickness of the conductor layer is in a range of xe2x88x9270 to +150%.
In the above-mentioned ceramic substrate, it is desirable that the ceramic substrate is in a disc-shape with a diameter exceeding 150 mm and is also desirable that the thickness of the ceramic substrate is 25 mm or less.
Moreover, in the above-mentioned ceramic substrate, it is desirable that the conductor layer is an electrostatic electrode and that the ceramic substrate functions as an electrostatic chuck.
Furthermore, in the above-mentioned ceramic substrate, it is desirable: that the above-mentioned conductor layer is a resistance heating element; and that the ceramic substrate functions as a hot plate.
Furthermore, in the above-mentioned ceramic substrate, it is desirable that the above-mentioned conductor layer is any of a chuck top electrode a guard electrode and a ground electrode and that the ceramic substrate functions as a wafer prober.
The conventional electrostatic chucks and ceramic heaters have a problem that the use of a green sheet 91 having large dispersion of thickness or having large roughness on its surface as shown in FIG. 15 results in a formation of a conductor layer whose ratio of thickness thereof to a thickness of a ceramic substrate is extremely large, therefore, warp or cracks are generated when rapid temperature increase is conducted.
Furthermore, there also are problems such that when it is used as a hot plate, big local temperature difference is generated in a wafer treating face; that, when it is used as an electrostatic chuck, dispersion of adsorbing power is generated; and that, when it is used as a wafer prober, dispersion of voltage applied is generated.
Such tendencies become particularly noticeable for those in a disc-shape with a diameter exceeding 150 mm. At the times of the filing of JP Kokai Sho 62-264638 and JP Kokai Sho 60-261377, since only those with diameters as small as about 150 mm were required in the market, dispersion of chuck power or temperature difference in a wafer treating face caused little problem.
In addition, since the green sheets used had a thicknesses of about 50 to 150 xcexcm, no serious problem was caused even if green sheets was uneven in thickness.
In the present invention, adjustment is made so that the ratio (t2/t1) of the average thickness (t2) of a conductor layer to the average thickness (t1) of a ceramic substrate becomes less than 0.1; and that a dispersion of the thickness of the conductor layer to the average thickness of the conductor layer is within a range of xe2x88x9270 to +150%.
The dispersion itself is desirably small, but it is not possible to make the dispersion exactly zero because some dispersion will inevitably be caused due to drying of a conductor containing paste, a green sheet and the like. However, even if there is such dispersion and the dispersion does not become exactly zero, adjustment of the thickness of a conductor layer and a ceramic substrate can control the problem that warp or cracks are generated, even when rapid temperature rising is conducted.
In particular, when a ceramic substrate is used as a heater (a hot plate), the fact that the ratio (t2/t1) of the average thickness of a conductor layer (t2) to the average thickness of a ceramic substrate (t1) is less than 0.1 means that the ratio of the thickness of ceramic substrate to the thickness of the resistance heating element becomes large. Therefore, even if some dispersion is caused in the calorific value generated from the resistance heating element, the heat diffuses during its transmission through the inside of the ceramic substrate and thus, the temperature of the wafer treating face is becomes even. It, however, is to be noted that the thickness is desirably 25 mm or less since, when the heat capacity becomes too large, the temperature controllability becomes poor.
If the dispersion of the thickness of a resistance heating element is beyond the range of xe2x88x9270 to +150%, it becomes difficult to make the temperature of a wafer treating face even.
In case where a ceramic substrate is used as an electrostatic chuck, the fact that the ratio (t2/t1) of the average thickness of a conductor layer (t2) to the average thickness of a ceramic substrate (t1) is less than 0.1 means to make the ratio of the thickness of the electrode to the thickness of ceramic substrate small and, therefore, a leakage current at high temperatures between the adjoining conductor layers can be decreased since the area of the side face of the conductor layers becomes smaller. Also, thus, it is possible to reduce the dispersion of apparent resistance value by adjusting the dispersion of the thickness of the electrode to the average thickness of the electrode, to the range of xe2x88x9270 to +150%. As a result, the dispersion of chuck power at high temperature can be reduced.
Moreover, when a ceramic substrate is used as a wafer prober, the fact that the ratio (t2/t1) of the average thickness of a conductor layer (t2) to the average thickness of a ceramic substrate (t1) is less than 0.1 means to make the ratio of the thickness of the electrode to the thickness of ceramic substrate small and, therefore, a leakage current at high temperature between the adjoining conductor layers can be decreased because the area of the side face of the conductor layers becomes smaller.
For this reason, it is possible to reduce the dispersion of apparent resistance value by adjusting the dispersion of the thickness of the electrode to the average thickness of the electrode, to the range of xe2x88x9270 to +150%. As a result, the dispersion of voltage applied to a guard electrode or a ground electrode can be reduced and the generation of noise can be reduced.
The above-mentioned conductor layer desirably has a dispersion of the thickness thereof to the average thickness thereof within the range of xe2x88x9230 to +30%.
JP Kokai Hei 11-251040 discloses a heater having a dispersion of thickness of a resistance heating element of xc2x110%, but there is no description about the thickness of a ceramic substrate.
It is to be noted that: the effect that no warp or no cracks are caused is not expected in the case where the relation of the thickness of a ceramic substrate and the thickness of a resistance heating element are within a specific range as in the present invention and, therefore, the patentability of the present invention is never affected by the cited reference.
Specifically, when manufacturing a ceramic substrate using a green sheet, it is desirable that the dispersion of the thickness of the green sheet to the average thickness of the green sheet is within the range of xe2x88x9210 to +10%, or that a green sheet having a surface with a roughness of 200 xcexcm or less in the value of Rmax is used. Even if the dispersion of the thickness of a green sheet to the average thickness of the green sheet is within the range of xe2x88x9210 to +10%, when the roughness of the surface of the green sheet exceeds 200 xcexcm in the value of Rmax, it is desirable to adjust the roughness within 200 Mm in the value of Rmax.
When a plate-like body or a film-like body such as a metal foil is used, it is desirable that the metal foil and the like has a dispersion of its thickness to its average thickness of xe2x88x9210 to +10%.
The above is the description about a method for disposing a conductor layer to a ceramic substrate. However, the method for disposing a conductor layer to a ceramic substrate of the present invention is not restricted to the above-mentioned method and it is only necessary that the dispersion of the thickness of a conductor layer formed to the average thickness of the conductor is, as a result, within the range of xe2x88x9270 to +150%.
The above-mentioned local dispersion of chuck power of an electrostatic chuck can be judged by the measurement of the surface temperature of the adsorbed semiconductor wafer by a thermoviewer. This is because if a semiconductor wafer is adsorbed firmly to the adsorbing face of an electrostatic chuck, the temperature of the portion adsorbed firmly becomes high and, therefore, the temperature distribution of the semiconductor wafer reflects the dispersion of chuck power.
It is also possible to measure the dispersion by putting a semiconductor wafer which is partitioned into a plurality of partitions and then measuring adsorbing power of the semiconductor wafer in each partition with a load cell. In the following Examples, both of the above-mentioned methods were adopted.
The above-mentioned local dispersion of the amount of the heat generated by a resistance heating element can be judged by measuring the surface temperature of a ceramic substrate or the surface temperature of a semiconductor wafer put on a wafer treating face using a thermoviewer. This is because the local dispersion of the amount of the heat generated is also reflected to the temperature distribution of the wafer treating face.
In this case, it is recommended to dispose only a resistance heating element inside a ceramic substrate and then measure the temperature distribution of a semiconductor wafer.
Alternatively, in the case of wafer probers, the dispersion of applied voltage of a guard electrode or a ground electrode can not be measured directly. Therefore, a continuity test should be conducted using a silicon wafer that has been judged to be an acceptable product which is commercially available. In this continuity test, if this silicon wafer is judged to be an acceptable product, it should be thought that there is little dispersion.
Next, a description will be made to the structure of the ceramic substrate of the present invention and to materials constituting the ceramic substrate.
The ceramic substrate of the present invention is desirably used at 100xc2x0 C. or higher, and most desirably at 200xc2x0 C. or higher.
In the above-mentioned ceramic substrate, the pore diameter of the maximum pore is desirably 50 xcexcm or less. The porosity thereof is desirably 5% or less. It is also desirable that no pores are present or, if present, the pore diameter of the maximum pore is 50 xcexcm or less.
If no pores are present, breakdown voltage becomes especially high at high temperature. Conversely, if pores are present to some extent, fracture toughness becomes higher. Thus, which is designed depends on required properties.
The reason why fracture toughness becomes higher due to the presence of pores is unclear, but the inventors presume that the reason is based on the stop of development of cracks by the pores.
The reason why the pore diameter of the maximum pore is desirably 50 xcexcm or less in the present invention is that if the pore diameter is over 50 xcexcm, it is difficult to keep high breakdown voltage property at high temperature, particularly at 200xc2x0 C. or higher.
The pore diameter of the maximum pore is desirably 10 xcexcm or less. This is because the warp amount becomes small at 200xc2x0 C. or higher.
The porosity and the pore diameter of the maximum pore can be adjusted by pressing time, pressure and temperature at the time of sintering, or additives such as SiC and BN. Since SiC or BN hinders sintering, pores can be produced.
When the pore diameter of the maximum pore is measured, five samples are prepared. The surfaces thereof are ground into mirror planes. With an electron microscope, ten points on the surface are photographed with 2000 to 5000 magnifications. The maximum pore diameter is selected from each of the photos obtained by the photographing, and the average of the 50 shots is defined as the pore diameter of the maximum pore.
The porosity is measured by Archimedes"" method. This is a method comprising the steps of crushing a sintered product to pieces, putting the pieces into an organic solvent or mercury to measure the volume thereof, obtaining the true specific gravity of the pieces from the weight and the volume thereof, and calculating the porosity from the true specific gravity and apparent specific gravity.
The diameter of the ceramic substrate of the present invention is desirably 200 mm or more. It is especially desirable that the diameter is 12 inches (300 mm) or more.
In a large substrate having a diameter exceeding 150 mm, the thickness of an electrostatic electrode or resistance heating element is set so that the dispersion of its thickness to its average thickness is within the range of xe2x88x9270 to +150% as described above, otherwise the dispersion of the temperature of a heated semiconductor wafer will become big due to the dispersion of chuck power. In addition, the heat capacity of the ceramic substrate will increase, resulting in unevenness of the temperature of the wafer treating face. Conversely, in a substrate with a diameter of about 150 mm, the surface temperature becomes even, even if there is some dispersion of chuck power because the semiconductor wafer treated thereof is also small. Furthermore, even if there is some dispersion of the resistance value of a resistance heating element, the temperature of a ceramic substrate rises easily and the temperature easily becomes relatively even since the ceramic substrate has a small heat capacity.
The thickness of the above-mentioned ceramic substrate is desirably 50 mm or less, and especially desirably 25 mm or less.
This is because, if the thickness of the ceramic substrate exceeds 25 mm, the heat capacity of the ceramic substrate may be too large, and particularly when a temperature control means is set up to heat or cool the substrate, the temperature following property may become poor because of the large heat capacity.
The thickness of the ceramic substrate optimally exceeds 1.5 mm and is 5 mm or less.
In the case where the thickness of the ceramic substrate is 1.5 mm or less, if the ceramic substrate is such a large one that its diameter exceeds 150 mm, it will warp too much and, therefore, is poor in practical utility.
The ratio (t2/t1) of the thickness of the conductor layer (t2) to the thickness of the ceramic substrate (t1) is adjusted to be less than 0.1. The ratio is more desirably less than 0.01. This is because less ratio of the thickness of the conductor layer to the thickness of the ceramic substrate results in less occurrence of crack or warp, in less leakage current at high temperature and in less dispersion of the temperature on the wafer treating face.
The ceramic material constituting the ceramic substrate is not especially limited. Examples thereof include nitride ceramics, carbide ceramics, oxide ceramics and the like.
Examples of the nitride ceramics include metal nitride ceramics such as aluminum nitride, silicon nitride, boron nitride and the like.
Examples of the carbide ceramics include metal carbide ceramics such as silicon carbide, zirconium carbide, tantalum carbide, tungsten carbide and the like.
Examples of the oxide ceramics include metal oxide ceramics such as alumina, zirconia, cordierite, mullite, beryllia and the like.
These ceramics may be used alone or in combination of two or more thereof.
Among these ceramics, the nitride ceramics and oxide ceramics are preferred.
Aluminum nitride is most preferred among the nitride ceramics since its thermal conductivity is highest, that is, 180 W/mxc2x7K.
The ceramic substrate preferably contains 0.05 to 10% by weight of oxygen. This is because the fracture toughness can be improved by segregating oxygen in grain boundary.
This is also because if the oxygen content is less than 0.05% by weight, the sintering does not proceed, resulting in an increase in the porosity and a drop in the thermal conductivity, and contrarily, if the oxygen content exceeds 10% by weight, the thermal conductivity drops due to too much oxygen in the grain boundary, resulting in the deterioration of the temperature-rising property and the temperature-falling property.
In order to incorporate oxygen into the above-mentioned ceramic substrate, ingredient powder is fired in an oxidizing atmosphere or a metal oxide is mixed with ingredient powder and then the mixture is fired.
Examples of the metal oxide include yttria (Y2O3), alumina (Al2O3), rubidium oxide (Rb2O), lithium oxide (Li2O) and calcium oxide (CaCO3) and the like.
The content of these metal oxides is preferably from 0.1 to 20% by weight.
In the present invention, the ceramic substrate preferably contains 5 to 5000 ppm of carbon.
This is because the ceramic substrate can be blackened by the incorporation of carbon and when the substrate is used as a heater, radiation heat can be sufficiently used.
The carbon may be either amorphous one or crystalline one. This is because the use of amorphous carbon can prevent a drop in a volume resistivity at a high temperature and the use of crystalline carbon can prevent a drop in heat conductivity at a high temperature. Accordingly, depending on the purpose, both crystalline carbon and amorphous carbon may be used together. The content of carbon is desirably 50 to 2000 ppm.
When the ceramic substrate is caused to contain carbon, the ceramic substrate is desirably caused to contain carbon so as to have a brightness of N6 or less based on the provision given in JIS Z 8721. This is because a ceramic substrate having such brightness is superior in radiation heat capacity and covering-up property.
Herein, the brightness N is defined as follows: the brightness of ideal black is made to 0; that of ideal white is made to 10; respective colors are divided into 10 parts in the manner that the brightness of the respective colors is recognized stepwise between the brightness of black and that of white at equal intensity intervals; and the resultant parts are indicated by symbols N0 to N10, respectively.
Actual brightness is measured by comparison with color chips corresponding to N0 to N10. One place of decimals in this case is made to 0 or 5.

Ceramic substrate for semiconductor fabricating device


A connection for a feed line at a feed pump pumping fuel out of a fuel tank, includes a nonreturn valve disposed in a horizontal portion of a connection stub. The connection stub is held on the feed pump by a latching device. The connection permits a particularly compact configuration of the feed pump.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connection for a feed line which leads to an internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle. The connection is disposed at a feed pump that pumps fuel out of a fuel tank. The connection has a connection stub with a horizontal portion. The horizontal portion projects away from the feed pump for connection of the feed line. A nonreturn valve is disposed in the connection stub.
Such connections are often used in today""s motor vehicles and are known in practice. In the case of the known connection, the nonreturn valve is mounted in a fixed manner in a housing cover of the feed pump. The connection stub has an angle with a vertical portion for form-locking connection to the housing cover. A form-locking connection is one which connects two elements together due to the shape of the elements themselves, as opposed to a force-locking connection, which locks the elements together by force external to the elements. The connection stub can be connected to the feed pump in various angular positions by virtue of that angle. The disadvantage of the known connection is that it has very large dimensions in the vertical direction. However, today""s fuel tanks have only very limited dimensions, often making it impossible to mount feed pumps with large dimensions.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a connection, which overcomes the hereinafore-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices of this general type in such a way that it allows a feed pump to be constructed in as compact a manner as possible in the vertical direction.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a connection for a feed line leading to an internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle. The connection is disposed at a feed pump pumping fuel out of a fuel tank, and the connection comprises a connection stub having a horizontal portion projecting away from the feed pump for connection of the feed line, and a nonreturn valve disposed in the horizontal portion of the connection stub.
As a result of this configuration, on one hand, the length of the feed pump can be made particularly small since it requires only a very small vertical portion, if any, for connection to the connection stub. The placement of the nonreturn valve in the horizontal portion, on the other hand, does not lead to an increase in the dimensions since this piece of the feed line projects sideways in any case. As a result, the feed pump that has the connection according to the invention has small dimensions in the vertical direction and therefore has a particularly compact construction.
In accordance with another feature of the invention, the connection is particularly economical if the connection stub is connected integrally to an adjoining part of the feed pump.
In accordance with a further feature of the invention, the mounting of the nonreturn valve is particularly simple if at least that part of the connection stub which has the nonreturn valve is secured releasably on the remaining region of the connection stub or on the feed pump. Another advantage of this configuration is that a standardized test adapter for all feed pumps can be used before securing the connection stub. The connection stub can be configured in almost any desired manner in accordance with the connection provided to the feed line.
In accordance with an added feature of the invention, the operation of the feed pump together with that of the nonreturn valve can be checked through the use of a standardized test adapter if a region of the connection stub that has the coupling device for the feed line is secured releasably on the remaining region of the connection stub or on the feed pump.
In accordance with an additional feature of the invention, the mounting of the connection stub on the feed pump is particularly simple if a device for fastening the connection stub to the adjoining part of the feed pump has a latching device.
In accordance with yet another feature of the invention, the nonreturn valve has, for example, a ball as a valve body. In accordance with yet a further feature of the invention, the radial dimensions of the nonreturn valve and flow losses through the valve body can be kept particularly small if a valve body of the nonreturn valve has a projecting guide element.
In accordance with a concomitant feature of the invention, the structure of the nonreturn valve is particularly simple if it has a cage with a guide for the guide element.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a connection, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.


The state of a fluid coupling in a motor vehicle powertrain is selectively controlled during neutral idle operation of the engine for increasing the engine temperature to a desired level. The fluid coupling includes an input member connected to the engine and an output member connected to the transmission, and the output member is selectively grounded under specified enable conditions to impose an engine load for raising the engine operating temperature. The output member is released to resume normal operation of the powertrain when the enable conditions are no longer met or an estimate of the fluid temperature in the coupling reaches or exceeds a predefined temperature.

In most motor vehicle powertrains, the heat generated due to operation of the engine is advantageously utilized, not only for cabin heating, but also for heating various exhaust gas emission control devices such as catalytic converters and particulate traps. While the heat generated during normal vehicle operation is sufficient for these purposes, the heat generated during idle operation can be insufficient, particularly during extended idle operation of a diesel engine. As a result, warming up the cabin during cold ambient temperatures can take an undesirably long time, and the exhaust gas temperature may be insufficient to activate the emission control devices. Accordingly, what is needed is a way of selectively and controllably increasing the engine temperature during idle operation.

Transmission control method for increasing engine idle temperature


A packer tool has safety devices to prevent premature and reverse setting and release operations. The safety devices are independent of shear-pin safety systems. Confined annular segments prevent a setting actuator piston from moving absent tool-setting hydraulic pressure. The setting pressure first moves a cylinder in an opposite direction to unroof the segments allowing them to exit confinement and free the piston to set the packing and the anchor slips. Release safety pins extend radially inward from a packing-holder collar into short slots formed on a mandrel surface, preventing the mandrel from being turned. Previous set motion causes the pins to leave the slots thereby freeing the mandrel to turn only after the tool has been set. A third safety device comprises an expanded ring which is dragged by the release cone during release motion until it lodges in a circumferential groove in the mandrel, locking against reverse movement.

The present invention concerns tools for borehole applications, in particular oil wells, gas wells or water-wells, more particularly including installations for primary, secondary or tertiary oil production, whether holes for injecting water, gas or another pressurizing agent (injector holes) or oil extraction (production wells). A particular application of the tool is in injector and producer multi-zone wells where the number of isolation zones is high and/or the wellbore casing is damaged or diverted, to quickly and economically isolate areas with damaged casing.
The present invention applies to tools carrying a packer device comprising seals mounted to a mandrel and forming with other operational components a tubing string (or just "tubing") of tools and components joined one after another for lowering down a multifunctional (or multizonal) well, i.e. having multiple layers or strata which should be isolated from one another. Packer tools are not unusual in the oil industry. The tubing string comprising a number of function-specific tools is lowered into a well, maintaining an annular space between the tubing string and a well casing.
Packer tools generally comprise two basic elements: packer seals for isolating annular regions thereabove and below and anchor slips to affix the tool to a point of the casing. A packer sealing element is a ring made of metal and typically dense synthetic rubber that fits around the tubing in a well. The packer seal (the "packing element") of a packer tool (the "packer") is typically a rubber ring that expands against the side of the casing lining the side of the wellbore. A packer may, and usually will, have more than one packing element. In the majority of active wells in the world today, this tubing is used to either produce oil or gas out of the well and serve as a conduit to transport water into the well for water injection and water flood applications. The packer provides a secure packer seal between everything above and below where it is set. The main reasons for using a packer are to keep sediment, sand and other potentially corrosive or erosive materials from flowing into the annulus and damaging the casing, and to control the zone of the well from which hydrocarbons are being produced in a producer well or to control the zone where water is being injected in an injection well.
Slips hold the packer in place and prevent them from moving once they are set in the well. A slip is a serrated piece of metal that grips the side of the casing. Some packers lack a specific anchor device (in which case they are known as packer-tandems).
Insofar as the present invention is concerned, the packer tool sequentially carries out the following phases:
Run-in: The tubing enters the well and the packer is lowered down to a set position.
Setting: Both the anchor slips and the packer seals are pushed outwards to respectively clamp the tool to the well while the tubing is down the well, isolating annular regions above and below the packer. The tool setting system may be mechanical, involving rotation or axial compression or traction, or else hydraulic by injecting a pressurizing fluid.
Release: This operation is carried out on removable tools to unset them from the well casing in order that they may be extracted. In tools having release systems, known as removable packers, release may be based on similar maneuvers or a combination thereof. Tools lacking a release system are known as permanent packers which need to be rotated to literally destroy the tool by machine milling. This operation is costly and time-consuming.
Extraction: The removable packer is hauled up to the mouth of the well.
The invention particularly relates to a packer tool that is removable, hydraulically set and mechanically released.
The present invention concerns packer tools—whether of the tandem type or not (i.e. without or with anchor devices), in particularly regarding safety features thereof for preventing accidental operations during the run-in, dwelling time and extraction from the well. More particularly, they refer to the sequence and time-frames involved in different operational movements which involve the packer seals—as well as the anchor means if present—to convey reliability to the tool operation, avoid undue movements causing the sequence to untimely jump ahead or go back at any time.
Use of mechanically- or hydraulically-actuated packer tools or, simply, packers for maintaining separation between production layers or fluid injection layers is well known in the oil industry.
The best known release systems are by rotation and traction. In the first system, the tool is released by rotating it several turns, which complicates the operation the deeper in the well because of the greater number of tools. This in turn makes the operation unreliable through uncertainty regarding which tool is actually being operated.
In traction release, tractive tension is applied to the piping to shear a number of brass or steel pins. Once set, this kind of tool is subject to stress from temperature and pressure variations down the well, which get worse with increased depth to the point that pins may shear producing accidental tool release.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,639 (Mott) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,129 (Sproul et al) are examples of the use of shear pins to prevent undue setting and release of the tool. The problem with shear pins is, precisely, that they are designed to fail when subjected to calculated shear forces. Sufficient shear forces may arise in unforeseen circumstances such a from jarring during run-in and downhole temperature-induced tool-length expansion and pressure surges.
In some operations, in which the tool has to be moved upwards for some reason, the setting anti-shear pins may fail leading to accidental tool setting. This may occur when for some reason (coupling, paraffin, casing failure, etc.) the packer or the packing mechanism receives a longitudinal up-to-down force, generally applied to the greater tool diameter, i.e. one of the calibrator rings, and transmitted to the setting shear pins which break off thereby undesirably setting the tool.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,175 (Ross & White) discloses a well packer with annular packing seals and anchor slips with a hydraulic setting actuator in between. The actuator includes a piston for setting the slips and a cylinder for setting the seal elements. A snap ring prevents the piston and cylinder from moving away from each other while they are mechanically interlocked thus preventing premature setting of the tool.
Some prior art packers have a split-mandrel system having several drawbacks. One such drawback is pasting of the screw-threads joining two mandrels thereby causing difficulties in tool release. Moreover, the release mechanism in split-mandrel systems tend to be unreliable. Another drawback thereof is dead time during the release operation during which the tool turns freely and are uselessly unable to transmit torque down to other tools in the tubing.
When connecting the packing device between upper and lower tubings at the mouth of the well, it is necessary to adjust them by turning the joints of the subs with the tubings in opposite directions, that is to carry out a counterscrew. Some packer tools may suffer a sudden accidental "release" when carrying out this maneuver and may not operate any further. Moreover, if the sudden "release" happens before setting, the tool may not be set later and operation is hampered thereafter.
Stresses caused by pressure and temperature variations as a result of changes and movements of flow control valves may affect the packer release mechanisms operating with pins, accidentally releasing some tools and hindering operation thereafter.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,141,053 (Restarik & White) discloses a packer with expandable seal and slip anchoring assemblies. Each anchor slip includes curved upper and lower gripping surfaces positioned to radially expand through cage windows. Radially retractile locking dogs prevent premature tool setting and release. The fact that the dogs are in an extended position protruding from the tool surface during tool run-in and extraction may hinder transit down and up a borehole.

Downhole packer tool with safety systems for preventing undue set and release operations


A method to model and change the state of associated content objects from one or more workflow and task management systems is provided. The method includes overlaying a business process model associated with a graphical content state overlay. A state of the content objects changes accordingly when the business process instance proceeds. Access rights are forwarded from human tasks in a business process to an associated content object. Concurrent access rights that are forwarded from multiple systems are handled. The graphical content state overlay areas include an active state overlay to graphically indicate a business process instance is active, an assessed overlay to graphically indicate a business process instance is assessed, an approval/rejected overlay to graphically indicate a business process instance has received one of an approval decision and a rejection decision, and a state archived overlay to graphically indicate a business process instance has been archived.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method and apparatus for modeling content states in business processes, and more particularly to providing overlays to illustrate content states in business processes.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 illustrates related art business process model 100. Referring to FIG. 1, related art business process model 100 includes inbound process interface 110 at the beginning and outbound process interface 180 at the end of the control flow. Throughout the process illustrated in business process model 100, different steps, including decision step 130, step one 120, step two 140, step three 150, step four 160, and step five 170 may be implemented and executed. The various steps may include any known, foreseeable, or related business decision steps. These steps may contain content objects.
Content objects are structured or unstructured data, stored in a content repository, and managed by a content management system. A content object might have different states (such as "draft", "read for approval", "approved", "published") and/or access control definitions (i.e. who is allowed to read, modify or delete the content object).
In today's complex enterprise-wide business processes, content objects are accessed, used and managed by back-end systems, such as workflow management systems, ERP and CRM systems, BI tools and the like. While conventional content management applications in a content-centric environment provide direct access and management functions to end users, this interaction is now performed more often through additional, business oriented applications.
As a consequence, end-users no longer interact with the content management system directly, but now access and manipulate content objects indirectly through the business oriented back-end applications. Because these (driving) back-end systems also include management functions, a notion of "state" and "access right" to data, an "intelligent" and flexible way to integrate with content objects needs to synchronize access definitions and state properly.
Furthermore, compliance and governance impose restrictions where content objects and associated back-end systems must properly work together in a controlled and defined way to satisfy certain requirements. Today, these distinct systems typically manage state and access controls independent from each other. For example, a content object storing information about a claim application is managed by a content management system. The content object is also used in a business process, managed by a workflow management system.
In some cases, the workflow model might include a human task step where a person in charge has to work on the content object. In this situation, it is important that the person in charge gets the access rights to the associated content object that he or she needs in order to complete the defined task. Completing the task in the workflow management system might also require a state change of the content object (for example, it should be set to "ready for approval").
However, conventional solutions require extensive manual implementation for interaction between (conceptually) independent software components.

Method and apparatus to model content state and access control in backend-systems and business processes

International Business Machines Corporation


Spin coating of resist on a semiconductor wafer is done in a controlled chamber, starting with introducing a resist solvent vapor into the chamber from a nozzle, applying the resist by spraying a very thin layer of the resist material, monitoring and adjusting the resist thickness during spinning in vapor, and then removing solvent from the chamber. The result is a saving in resist material and enhanced coating uniformity.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to manufacturing apparatus for use in photolithography, and more particularly to apparatus for to optimizing the quantity of photoresist applied to a substrate.
2. Description of Related Art
In photolithography, photoresist (also usually referred to in the art as resist and referred to both ways herein interchangeably) is deposited upon a work piece to be patterned by the photolithographic process. The expense of the quantity of photoresist used is the most or nearly the most expensive part of the cost of the process currently, depending upon prices of the materials used. Unfortunately, conventional resist spinners waste expensive resist material. In an application to manufacturing of semiconductor wafers, for example, a thick film of photoresist in the form of a puddle millimeters in height is delivered to cover most of a semiconductor wafer. Then the surplus photoresist material is spun off the semiconductor wafer surface, leaving an ultimate thickness of photoresist which is only on the order of several micrometers on the surface of the wafer. A very economical process currently requires 5 ml of photoresist material for each six inch diameter wafer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,836 of Yamamoto et al for "Resist Coating Apparatus" neither introduces nor removes vapor from the chamber in which the resist is dumped on the substrate. No spraying is employed and there is no delay after application.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,213 of Sakiya for "Rotary Coating Apparatus" does not control the environment of the deposited resist.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,290,384 of Ausschnitt et al for "Coating Apparatus" suggests use of a mist but no spray and no spinning.
Japanese J6001248-A 85.01.19 (8509) Fujitsu, describes a resist coating method in which the atmosphere of resist solvent vapor is formed adjacent a semiconductor substrate and the resist is coated onto the semiconductor substrate. The solvent is discharged from one side of a porous disc. The resist is dropped onto the substrate. There is no spraying and no savings in resist material.
Japanese J02113518A 90.04.25 (9023) Mitsubishi Denki KK describes a resist coating device with a circular passage to introduce resist mist at a place surrounding the wafer on a spin chuck.
Japanese J02100314A 90.04.12 (9021) NEC Corp. describes an inner wall cup to coat a film of solvent or gas of photoresist.
Copending, commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/784,290 filed Oct. 29, 1991 of Cardinali and Lin for "A Material Saving Resist Spinner and Process" describes resist coating with the spray-and-spin-in-vapor (SASIV) technique. With SASIV, the resist spin off is done in a vapor-rich environment so that spray resist application can be used to save resist material with a gain in thickness uniformity.
In the past resist thickness has varied even when employing the improvements in SASIV. That is a problem which needs to be overcome. Accordingly, there is a need to eliminate variations which occur with the SASIV process and the like.
In accordance with this invention, resist thickness is monitored and fine tuned in situ to achieve an accurate final thickness independent of variations of resist viscosity, vapor concentration, air flow, spin speed, and many other parameters.

In situ resist control during spray and spin in vapor

International Business Machines Corporation


An image processing apparatus scans an original document, coverts the original document into image data, creates an electronic file based on the image data, records a scanned mark on the scanned original document, and confirms whether the scanned mark is recorded. The scanned mark includes ID information assigned to the image processing apparatus. The electronic file is created when the scanned mark is not recorded on the original document and when the scanned mark including the ID information is recorded on the original document. The electronic file is not created when a scanned mark other than the scanned mark including the ID information assigned to the image processing apparatus is recorded on the original document.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and an image processing system for scanning an original document and generating image data, and creating an electronic file based on the image data, and more particularly to an image processing apparatus and an image processing system for protecting copyrights of original documents such as cut (disassembled) books.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there is known a technology of creating an electronic file of a book, by disassembling a book with a cutting machine, continuously scanning the pages of the book with an image scanning device capable of double-sided scanning, generating image data, and converting the image data into an electronic file format having high portability (such as PDF (Portable Document Format) of Abode).
However, the problem of protecting the copyright of a book arises. Making a personal copy of a book by performing the above method to create an electronic file of the book does not correspond to copyright infringement. Furthermore, it is not illegal to subsequently sell the cut (disassembled) book to a second-hand bookstore. Thus, the act of repeatedly creating electronic files from a cut book that has been resold by net-auction cannot be prevented legally or technically.
Conventionally, there is an image processing apparatus described in patent document 1, as a device for preventing a document that has been scanned once from being scanned again. This image processing apparatus has a function of recording, on a sheet that has been scanned, a special mark indicating that the sheet has been scanned (scanned mark), and a function of determining whether the special mark is recorded when scanning a sheet and preventing the sheet from being scanned if the special mark is recorded.
When a cut book is scanned by this image processing apparatus and the cut book is resold, the cut book can prevented from being scanned again by using this image processing apparatus. Therefore, an electronic file can be prevented from being created again from the cut book that has been resold. However, even in a case of creating personal copies of a book that is not protected by copyright, an electronic file can be created only once. Thus, if the electronic file has been lost or if an electronic file was not successfully created due to an error of the image processing apparatus, no other electronic files could be created if the scanned mark has been applied to the sheet.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 3412441

Image processing apparatus and image processing system


An interferometer with a dual laser source having a tunable frequency separation between the laser emissions is used to measure absolute distance to weakly-reflecting targets. A dual-laser source is commonly characterized by a synthetic wavelength, which is equal to the speed of light divided by the frequency separation with time over a total frequency range that is small compared to the average frequency separation. Simultaneously, a high-speed phase modulator generates a signal whose amplitude is proportional to the interferometric fringe visibility, and data acquisition means are used to record the fringe visibility as a function of time during the synthetic wavelength chirp. Signal processing means are then used to extract the frequency and phase of the resultant quasi-periodic fringe-visibility curve. The optical path is then determined to high accuracy without the phase ambiguity problems of prior-art synthetic-wavelength techniques. An optical fiber implementation of a preferred embodiment of the invention operates over a 0.1 to 10 inch range, using a 0.01-inch diameter 100 .mu.W laser beam, with an absolute error of less than 0.001 inch (25 .mu.m). The invention can be used for dimensional gauging, surface profiling and position measurement, and will improve productivity and quality control in manufacturing.

In the manufacturing environment, the traditional method of measuring dimensions is with mechanical gauges. Linear distances are measured with rulers, calipers, metal tape or precision mechanical stages. These methods involve mechanical contact with the surfaces, and can be very slow because of the manual adjustments required. Further, many types of objects such as rotating shafts, spindles and wheels cannot be conveniently measured mechanically while they are in motion.
Electronic alternatives to mechanical gauges are usually based on capacitance or eddy currents. These devices have the advantage of a direct measurement of a dimension without manual comparison with a standard. This direct measurement capability increases the speed of measurement and reduces errors due to distortion when a reference piece is contacted with the test piece. However, electronic gauges can be material dependent, and usually do not work at all with non-metallic materials such as fiberglass, plastics and some kinds of composite materials. Also, their operational range may be very limited.
Because of the recognized limitations of mechanical gauges, alternative optical methods involving time-off flight laser radar are of interest. The following articles discuss various examples of related prior art in laser techniques for distance measurement.
In an article entitled "Laser Radar Range Imaging Sensor For Commercial Applications" by K. G. Wesolowicz and Robert E. Sampson, SPIE Proc. Vol. 783, p. 152 (1987), there is described an imaging laser radar system employing a single frequency (0.72 GHz) intensity modulation of a GaAlAs laser diode operating at 0.82 .mu.m. The target range x is obtained from the phase delay of the modulation. Since the phase has an implicit 2.pi. ambiguity, the range measurement has a corresponding ambiguity interval. For a modulation frequency v of 0.72 GHz, this interval is 8.2 inches. The article claims a resolution for this radar of between 0.032 and 0.004 inches at 3 feet, depending on the type of target, the measurement time, and the application. It is not clear that the absolute accuracy of the instrument is also 0.004 inch, since this would appear to require 40 ppm linearity in the phase measurement.
In an article entitled "Laser-diode Distance Meter in a KERN DKM 3A Theodolite" by A. Greve and W. Harth, Applied Optics, Vol. 23, No. 17, p. 2982 (1984), there is described an intensity-modulated laser radar that uses a phase locking technique to measure the relative phase .phi.. The modulation frequency is in the 1.745-1.8 GHz range. The ambiguity in the range measurement, at least in principle, can be removed by varying the modulation frequency. In Table II of the article, a distance measurement variation of 85 .mu.m at 2.9 m is claimed. FIG. 3 of the article shows large distortions in the measurement curves that imply a much lower absolute accuracy.
In an article entitled "High-Precision Fiber-Optic Position Sensing Using Diode Laser Radar Techniques" by G. Abbas, W. R. Babbitt, M. de la Chapelle, M. Fleshner, J. D. McClure, and E. Vertatschitsch, there is described a linear position sensor with fiber-optic signal distribution. The sensor uses a frequency-chirped, intensity-modulated laser diode. The intensity-modulation bandwidth is 6 GHz. Absolute distance is obtained by determining the beat frequency between the laser modulation and the delayed modulation of the return signal. The beat frequency is found by high-speed digital Fourier transforming of the beat signal. This approach has the important advantage that several sensor heads may be connected by fiber optics to the same source and detection module, provided that the possible variations in range to each of the heads do not overlap. The experimental system described in the article achieves 58 .mu.m RMS range error over 100 cm using a 1 ms chirp duration and a signal processing time of 50 .mu.sec. A resolution of 10 .mu.m is projected for an improved version of this system. Although the achievements and specifications of this instrument are consistent with some of the objectives of the present invention, the system uses a highly cooperative target (a retroreflector) and expensive radio-frequency hardware. Modification of this system for non-cooperative surfaces in manufacturing may not be practical or cost effective.
In an article entitled "Utilizing GaAlAs Laser Diodes as a Source (sic) for Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) Coherent Laser Radars" by A. Slotwinski, F. Goodwin and D. Simonson, SPIE Vol. 1043, p. 245 (1989), there is described an instrument that uses optical interferometry to generate beat signals between local and time-delayed optical frequencies. The frequency modulation is achieved by thermal tuning of a laser diode cavity length. The thermal tuning is easily effected by precisely controlled variation of the laser excitation current and is thus much easier to obtain over large bandwidths (>5 GHz) than an intensity-modulation chirp. The article claims a resolution of 1 mil (25 .mu.m) by using a reference length for continuous calibration. However, high accuracy and reliability can only be obtained with carefully characterized and monitored single-mode laser diodes. The commercial system is also very expensive and may be sensitive to vibration.
Laser interferometers are widely employed for high-precision displacement measurement and very-high resolution surface profilometry. An example of a commercial instrument in use is the well-known Hewlett Packard Laser Gauge. However, a problem with these instruments relates to the interference phase ambiguity. Interferometry with a single, constant wavelength cannot be used to measure a distance without ambiguity of one-half of one wavelength. Thus, the beam cannot be broken and only highly-reflective, "cooperative" targets such as mirrors and retroreflectors can be used. This seriously limits the applicability of interferometry for measurement tasks in manufacturing.
One known method to extend the range of metrology applications for interferometry is to measure the interferometric phase at two or more distinct wavelengths. This is the method that most closely relates to the present invention. The difference between the interferometric phase measurements at two vacuum wavelengths .lambda..sub.1 and .lambda..sub.2 corresponds to a synthetic wavelength .LAMBDA. given by EQU 1/.LAMBDA.=1/.lambda..sub.1 -1/.lambda..sub.2 ( 1)
If the measured interferometric phase is .phi..sub.1 and .phi..sub.2 for the two wavelengths, then the distance x can be measured to within an interval .LAMBDA. by using EQU x=.LAMBDA.(.phi..sub.1 -.phi..sub.2)/4.pi. (2)
In that the synthetic wavelength may be large compared to visible-light wavelengths, it is possible to measure larger distances before phase ambiguities contribute to measurement errors. If several synthetic wavelengths of different size are used, it is possible to make measurements of successively higher precision to "ladder down" to high accuracy without the inconvenience of phase ambiguities. One of the advantages of this approach over the intensity-modulation techniques described above is that the synthetic wavelength can be made very much smaller and the precision proportionally better than is practical with direct-detection techniques.
An article entitled "Absolute distance interferometry, "by N. A. Massie and H. John Caulfield, SPIE Proceedings, Vol. 816, pp. 149-157 (1987) summarizes the prior art for this type of multiple-wavelength laser ranging technology. The basic principles are described, and several implementations described in other journal articles are presented. Most of these examples involve complex and expensive gas or tunable dye lasers for generating multiple wavelengths. In most cases, no more than two wavelengths are obtainable at any one time from the source, thus increasing the complexity by requiring time-multiplexing and automated laser tuning.
In an article entitled "Absolute optical ranging with 200-nm resolution" by C. Williams and H. Wickramasinge, Optics Letters, Vol. 14, pp. 542-544 (1989), there is described a two-wavelength interferometer requiring the use of two independently-controlled and aligned GaAlAs single-mode laser diodes. This system has the advantage that it uses relatively inexpensive and compact laser diodes. However, the data shows a very small demonstrated operational range (less than 1 mm) and a complex and expensive system of acousto-optic modulators for time-multiplexing the signals for the two wavelengths was used. Changing the synthetic wavelength required modifying the operating conditions (changing the temperature and excitation levels) of the lasers.
In an article entitled "Two-wavelength scanning spot interferometer using single-frequency diode laser" by A. J. den Boef, Appl. Opt., Vol. 27, pp. 306-311 (1988), there is described the use of two single-frequency laser diodes operating simultaneously, with the wavelength separation achieved by polarization. Only one synthetic wavelength is available at a given time.
In an article entitled "Laser diode technologies for in-process metrology," by P. de Groot, SPIE Proc., Vol. 1333, Paper 21 (San Diego, July, 1990), there is described a two-wavelength interferometer using a single, multiple-wavelength laser diode. The laser used was a conventional two-wall Fabry-Perot device exhibiting multiple longitudinal oscillation modes over a spectral width of about 1.2 nm. The interferometric phase for each of the wavelengths was detected with a wavelength-selective detection system involving a diffraction grating. Only one synthetic wavelength (700 .mu.m) was used because of the limited spectral width of the source. Further, the multimode diode had poor temporal coherence and could not be used for interferometry for optical path lengths exceeding 1 mm.
In an article entitled, "Interferometric displacement sensing by visibility modulation," by T. A. Berkoff and A. D. Kersey, OFS '89, 78-82 (Springer Verlag, 1989), there is described a fiber interferometer in which an integrated-optic intensity modulator is used to generate a carrier-suppressed, synthesized two-wavelength source with frequency separation between 10 and 100 MHz. Two kinds of measurements are described. One is the determination of distance by measuring the frequencies for which the fringe visibility is nulled. The other is displacement sensing by locking onto one of these fringe-visibility minima. Since the distance measurement method described in this article requires a variation frequency separation (90 MHz) that is comparable to the largest attainable separation (100 MHz), there is little advantage of this approach over the FMCW method described by Slotwinski et al. cited herein. Also, because the 100 MHz frequency separation of the synthesized modes is relatively small, the resulting resolution is only .+-.2 mm.
The above cited prior art does not adequately meet the simultaneous requirements of accuracy, operational range, cost and low power for the measurement applications of interest to this disclosure.

Chirped synthetic wavelength laser radar