The present invention provides a novel etching technique for etching a layer of C-doped silicon oxide, such as a partially oxidized organo silane material. This technique, employing CH2F2/Ar chemistry at low bias and low to intermediate pressure, provides high etch selectivity to silicon oxide and improved selectivity to organic photoresist. Structures including a layer of partially oxidized organo silane material (1004) deposited on a layer of silicon oxide (1002) were etched according to the novel technique, forming relatively narrow trenches (1010, 1012, 1014, 1016, 1030, 1032, 1034 and 1036) and wider trenches (1020, 1022, 1040 and 1042). The technique is also suitable for forming dual damascene structures (1152, 1154 and 1156). In additional embodiments, manufacturing systems (1410) are provided for fabricating IC structures of the present invention. These systems include a controller (1400) that is adapted for interacting with a plurality of fabricating stations (1420, 1422, 1424, 1426 and 1428).

The present invention relates to etch processes, materials and devices for plasma etching C-doped silicon oxide, such as oxidized organo silane compounds, to form dielectric materials and in particular to etch processes of these dielectric materials that provide improved etch selectivity to silicon oxide and organic photoresist.
A semiconductor device such as an IC (integrated circuit) generally has electronic circuit elements such as transistors, diodes and resistors fabricated integrally on a single body of semiconductor material. The various circuit elements are connected through conductive connectors to form a complete circuit which can contain millions of individual circuit elements. Advances in semiconductor materials and processing techniques have resulted in reducing the overall size of the IC circuit elements while increasing their number on a single body. Additional miniaturization is highly desirable for improved IC performance and cost reduction. Interconnects provide the electrical connections between the various electronic elements of an IC and they form the connections between these elements and the device""s external contact elements, such as pins, for connecting the IC to other circuits. Typically, interconnect lines form horizontal connections between electronic circuit elements while conductive via plugs form vertical connections between the electronic circuit elements, resulting in layered connections.
A variety of techniques are employed to create interconnect lines and via plugs. One such technique involves a process generally referred to as dual damascene, which includes forming a trench and an underlying via hole. The trench and the via hole are simultaneously filled with a conductor material, for example a metal, thus simultaneously forming an interconnect line and an underlying via plug. Examples of conventional dual damascene fabrication techniques are disclosed in Kaanta et al., xe2x80x9cDual Damascene: A ULSI Wiring Technologyxe2x80x9d, Jun. 11-12, 1991, VMIC Conference, IEEE, pages 144-152 and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,635,423 to Huang et al., 1997.
An example of a prior art dual damascene technique is illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1C, showing various IC structures. As depicted in FIG. 1A, a dielectric layer 110 is deposited on a semiconductor substrate 112. An etch mask 116, having a via pattern 118, is positioned on dielectric layer 110. A timed anisotropic etch is utilized to etch a hole 120 in layer 110 conforming to the via pattern. Mask 116 is subsequently replaced by mask 122 (FIG. 1B) having a trench pattern 124. A timed anisotropic etch is used to form trench 126 and to simultaneously deepen hole 120 to form via hole 128. This via hole can be etched to expose semiconductor substrate 112. Alternatively, the via hole can be over-etched partly into the substrate. As illustrated in FIG. 1C, the via hole and trench are then filled simultaneously with a suitable metal 130. Metal 130 thus forms a metallized interconnect line 132 and a via plug 134 that is in contact with semiconductor substrate 112. Additionally, a liner or barrier layer may be deposited inside the via hole and the trench prior to deposition of the interconnect metal and the via plug. The surface of layer 110 is planarized to remove excess metal 130 and to define interconnect line 132. Alternatively, metal etch-back can be utilized to define the line.
As described above in connection with etching hole 120 and trench 126, a timed etch procedure is required to form dual damascene structures exemplified by FIGS. 1A-1C. However, it is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art that timed etching techniques are not well suited for reliably forming holes of a predetermined depth. For example, a timed etch of holes across a semiconductor wafer can result in significant depth variations of holes across the wafer, particularly for 200 mm and 300 mm wafers. These depth variations can result in rejected semiconductor products that fail product specifications.
An example of prior art dual damascene that does not utilize a timed etch technique is shown in IC structures illustrated in FIGS. 2A-2C. As depicted in FIG. 2A, a first dielectric layer 210 is deposited on a semiconductor substrate 212. An etch stop layer 216, is deposited on first dielectric layer 210. A second dielectric layer 218 is deposited on etch stop 216, and an etch mask 220 is positioned on dielectric layer 218. Etch mask 220 is patterned (221) for etching a via hole. Second dielectric layer 218 is etched using a first anisotropic etch procedure, to form a hole 222 (FIG. 2A) conforming to the via pattern. This etching procedure is stopped at etch stop layer 216, by using an etch chemistry that is selective to the etch stop layer. Etch mask 220 is removed and another etch mask 224 (see, FIG. 2B) is positioned on second dielectric layer 218 such that it is patterned (226) for forming a trench. A second anisotropic etch procedure is used to etch trench 228 in layer 218. Simultaneously, hole 222 is extended to substrate 212, by etching through etch stop layer 216 and through first dielectric layer 210. In this dual damascene technique the first etch procedure has a greater selectivity to etch stop layer 216 than the second etch procedure. As shown in FIG. 2B, the second etch procedure results in forming trench 228 and via hole 230, that extends to semiconductor substrate 212. Mask 224 is removed, after which trench 228 and via hole 230 are simultaneously filled with a suitable conductive metal 232 (see, FIG. 2C) forming metallized line 234 and via plug 236 that contacts substrate 212. Excess metal 232 is removed from the surface of layer 218 to define line 234.
The techniques described in connection with FIGS. 2A-2C utilize an etch stop layer rather than a timed etch. Dielectric layers, such as layers 210 and 218 shown in FIGS. 2A-2C typically include materials that have a low dielectric constant such as silicon oxide and related silica glasses as well as dielectric polymeric materials. Etch stop layers include silicon nitrides such as Si3N4. The typical etch stop layer materials have a significantly higher dielectric constant than the materials utilized in the dielectric layers. It is known that the higher dielectric constant of these etch stop materials is disadvantageous because it can result in capacitive coupling between adjacent metal lines, that can lead to cross talk and/or RC (resistance coupling) delay that degrades the overall performance of the IC.
It is known to form dual damascene structures wherein one of the dielectric layers includes a SiOx material such as SiO2 or a silicon glass while the other dielectric layer comprises a dielectric material having a lower dielectric constant than SiOx. This combination can result in a combined dielectric structure having an improved, i.e. lower, dielectric constant as compared with a structure wherein both layers include SiOx. Dielectric materials having a lower dielectric constant than SiOx include C-doped silicon oxide materials, such as oxidized organo silane materials that are formed by partial oxidation of an organo silane compound, such that the dielectric material includes a carbon content of at least 1% by atomic weight, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,072,227 (Yau et al., 2000) and 6,054,379 (Yau et al., 2000) and U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 09/553,461 which was filed Apr. 19, 2000, a continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. No. 6,054,379. Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,072,227 and 6,054,379, and U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 09/553,461 are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties.
The oxidized organo silane materials, described in the ""227 and ""379 patents and the ""461 patent application, are formed by incomplete or partial oxidation of organo silane compounds generally including the structure:
In this structure, xe2x80x94Cxe2x80x94 is included in an organo group and some Cxe2x80x94Si bonds are not broken during oxidation. Preferably xe2x80x94Cxe2x80x94 is included in an alkyl, such as methyl or ethyl, or an aryl, such as phenyl. Suitable organo groups can also include alkenyl and cyclohexenyl groups and functional derivatives. Preferred organo silane compounds include the structure SiHa(CH3)b(C2H5)c(C6H5)d, where a=1 to 3, b=0 to 3, c=0 to 3, d=0 to 3, and a+b+c+d=4, or the structure Si2He(CH3)f(C2H5)g(C6H5)h, where e=1 to 5, f=0 to 5, g=0 to 5, h=0 to 5, and e+f+g+h=6.
Suitable organo groups include alkyl, alkenyl, cyclohexenyl, and aryl groups and functional derivatives. Examples of suitable organo silicon compounds include but are not limited to:
Preferred organo silane compounds include but are not limited to: methylsilane; dimethylsilane; trimethylsilane; tetramethylsilane; dimethylsilanediol; diphenylsilane; diphenylsilanediol; methylphenylsilane; bis(methylsilano)methane; 1,2-bis(methylsilano)ethane; 1,3,5-trisilano-2,4,6-trimethylene; dimethyldimethoxysilane; diethyldiethoxysilane; dimethyldiethoxysilane; diethyldimethoxysilane; hexamethyldisiloxane; octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane; and fluorinated derivatives thereof. The most preferred organo silane compounds include methyl silane and trimethyl silane.
The organo silane compounds are oxidized during deposition by reaction with oxygen (O2) or oxygen containing compounds such as nitrous oxide (N2O) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), such that the carbon content of the deposited film is from 1% to 50% by atomic weight, preferably about 20%. The oxidized organo silane layer has a dielectric constant of about 3.0. Carbon, including some organo functional groups, remaining in the oxidized organo layer contributes to low dielectric constants and good barrier properties providing a barrier that inhibits for example diffusion of moisture or metallic components. These oxidized organo silane materials exhibit good adhesion properties to silicon oxide and silicate glass as well as typical dielectric materials employed in IC structures. The above described oxidized organo silanes include BLACK DIAMOND(trademark) technology, available from Applied Materials, Inc. located in Santa Clara, Calif.
Plasma conditions for depositing a layer of the oxidized organo silane material having a carbon content of at least 1% by atomic weight, include a high frequency RF power density from about at least 0.16 W/cm2 and a sufficient amount of organo silane compound with respect to the oxidizing gas to provide a layer with carbon content of at least 1% by atomic weight. When oxidizing organo silane materials with N2O, a preferred high frequency RF power density ranges from about 0.16 W/cm2 to about 0.48 W/cm2. These conditions are particularly suitable for oxidizing CH3xe2x80x94SiH3 with N2O. Oxidation of organo silane materials such as (CH3)3xe2x80x94SiH with O2 is preferably performed at a high frequency RF power density of at least 0.3 W/cm2, preferably ranging from about 0.9 W/cm2 to about 3.2 W/cm2. Suitable reactors for depositing this material include parallel plate reactors such as those described in the ""379 and ""227 patents. As shown in the ""227 and ""379 patents and in the ""461 application, the oxidized organo silane materials including at least 1% of carbon can be utilized in multi-layered structures such as are used, for example, in fabricating dual damascene integrated circuit structures.
A conventional etch chemistry for silicon oxide was used to etch a trench through a layer of partially oxidized organo silane material that was deposited on a layer of conventional SiO2 as illustrated in FIGS. 3A, 3B and 5. As depicted in FIG. 3A, a layer 310 of silicon dioxide was deposited on a semiconductor substrate (not shown) by PECVD (plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition) using TEOS (tetraorthosilicate) and ozone reactants. Methods and technologies for depositing silicon dioxide such as layer 310 are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art, see for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,526 (Wang et al., 1994). A layer 312 of partially oxidized CH3SiH3 was deposited on layer 310, using N2O oxidizing gas in argon inert carrier gas, and employing PECVD layer deposition technology as described in the ""227 and ""379 patents. An ARC (antireflective coating) 313 including SiON was then deposited on layer 312. Subsequently, a layer 314 of deep U.V. organic photoresist was deposited on layer 313 and a trench mask 316 was developed in resist layer 314.
A trench 318 was anisotropically etched in ARC layer 313 and in oxidized organo silane layer 312, using etch mask 316, see FIG. 3B. Trench 318 etching was performed in an IPS (inductive plasma source) etch reactor available from Applied Materials, Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif. In this type of reactor a HDP (high density plasma) is generated wherein the plasma is independent from the biasing of the pedestal supporting the semiconductor wafer containing structures such as the structure illustrated in FIG. 3A.
The IPS etch reactor utilized in etching trench 318, shown in FIG. 3B, is schematically illustrated in FIG. 4. A semiconductor wafer 440 is supported on a cathode pedestal 442, that is supplied with RF (radio frequency) power from a first RF power supply 444. A silicon ring 446 surrounds the pedestal 442 and is controllaby heated by an array of heater lamps 448. A grounded silicon wall 450 surrounds the plasma processing area. A silicon roof 452 overlies the plasma processing area, and lamps 454. Water cooling channels 456 control the roof temperature. The temperature-controlled silicon ring 486, and the silicon roof 452, can be used to scavenge fluorine from the fluorocarbon or other fluorine-based plasma. Processing gas is supplied from one or more gas feeds 454 through a bank of mass flow controllers 456. Alternatively, a top gas fed may be formed as a small showerhead in the center of the silicon roof 452. An unillustrated vacuum pumping system connected to a pumping channel 458 around the lower portion of the chamber maintains the interior of the chamber at a preselected pressure. A system controller 460 controls the operation of the reactor and its auxiliary equipment.
In the used configuration, the silicon roof 452 is grounded, see FIG. 4. The semiconductor resistivity and thickness of roof 452 are chosen to pass generally axial RF magnetic fields produced by an inner inductive coil stack 466 and an outer inductive coil stack 468 powered by respective RF power supplies 470 and 472. Alternatively, a single RF power supply may be used in conjunction with a selectable power splitter. Other coil configurations are possible, for example, as in the TCP reactor having a flat, spiral inductive coil overlying the roof 452.
The system controller 460 controls the mass flow controllers 456, the heater lamps 448, 454, the supply of chilled water to the cooling channels 456, the throttle valve to the vacuum pumps, and the power supplies 444, 470 and 472. All these regulated functions control the etching chemistry in conformance to the processing conditions to be described in connection with FIGS. 3A, 3B and 5, and in Table A. The process recipe can be stored in the controller 460 in magnetic, optical, or semiconductor memory, as is well known in the art, and the controller 460 reads the recipe from a recording medium inserted into it. Recipes can be provided on magnetic media such as floppy disks or optical media such as CDROMs, that can then be read into controller 460.
Inductively coupled plasma reactors, such as shown in FIG. 4, are adapted to provide different amounts of power to inductive coils 466 and 468, and to capacitive pedestal 442. The inductive power creates a plasma source region located in large part remotely from the wafer 440 while the capacitive power controls the plasma sheath adjacent to the wafer 440 and thus determines the DC bias across the sheath at the wafer 440. The source power can be raised to increase the etching rate and control the number and type of excited radicals while the bias power can be varied to cause ions to be accelerated across the plasma sheath with either high or low energy and to then strike the wafer 440 with the selected energy.
The etch parameters for etching trench 318 (FIG. 3B) using C4F8/Ar chemistry are shown in Table A. These parameters are typical of conventional etch parameters for IPS etching of silicon oxide containing dielectric layers such as are employed in IC structures.
A typical example of a trench etch of the structure shown in FIG. 3A, using the etch reactor exemplified in FIG. 4 and the etch parameters shown in Table A, is depicted in the cross sectional view of FIG. 3B. As shown in FIG. 3B, etch front 320 does not exhibit high SiO2 etch selectivity under these etching conditions since the trench etch progressed partly into silicon dioxide layer 310 without removing all of the oxidized organo silane material from the bottom of trench 318. It is therefore difficult to achieve an effective etch stop with SiO2, when etching a dielectric material including at least 1% of carbon that is formed by a partially oxidized organo silane material, and using conventional etch chemistry such as C4F8 g/Ar chemistry according to the parameters of Table A. It has also been observed that micro trenches are likely to be formed at the interface between the oxidized organo silane layer and the underlying silicon oxide layer when a trench for depositing an interconnect line is etched through the oxidized organo silane layer employing a conventional etch recipe for etching silicon oxide.
FIG. 5 illustrates another example of using C4F8/Ar chemistry for etching a structure including SiO2 layer 510, oxidized organo silane material layer 512 and photoresist layer 514. Layers 510, 512, 513 and 514 of FIG. 5 correspond to layers 310, 312, 313 and 314 respectively illustrated in FIG. 3A. The etch parameters for etching this structure are shown in Table A. Returning to FIG. 5, etch front 520 shows that SiO2 does not provide an effective etch stop for this etching process of a dielectric material including at least 1% of carbon that is formed by a partially oxidized organo silane material.
A substantially flat etch front is highly desirable when etching for example trenches and via holes in dielectric layers for fabricating IC structures. The degree of flatness of an etch front of a typical cross section can be expressed as an EFF (etch front flatness) that can be calculated for an etch profile such that EFF equals the following ratio: delta etch front/maximum etch depth. xe2x80x9cDelta etch frontxe2x80x9d denotes the height difference between the highest and lowest points of the edge front, while xe2x80x9cmaximum etch depthxe2x80x9d constitutes the etch depth from the top of the dielectric layer to the bottom of lowest point of the edge front. The xe2x80x9cdelta etch frontxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cmaximum etch depthxe2x80x9d are both expressed in the same units. For example, the etch profile of trench 318 (FIG. 3B) as shown in FIG. 6 exhibits a delta etch front D1=87 nm and a maximum etch depth M1=382 nm, resulting in an EFF of 0.23, wherein the maximum etch depth is measured from the top of layer 312 to the bottom of the lowest point of edge front 320. Measurements D1 and M1 were conducted on an SEM (scanning electron micrograph) (not shown) of FIG. 6. Trench 318 was fabricated at a width of about 500 nm and a depth of about 330 nm
As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the resist layer is partly stripped following trench etching.
Silicon nitrides are known to have high selectivity to etch chemistries that are used for etching silicon oxides, such as the C4F8/Ar etch chemistry shown in Table A. It would thus be possible to use an etch chemistry such as C4F8/Ar for etching a top layer of a partially oxidized organo silane when a nitride etch stop is deposited between this top layer and an underlying layer of silicon oxide. However, the use of a nitride etch stop results in less favorable dielectric properties as described in connection with FIGS. 2A-2C, thus partly negating the advantages of the low dielectric constant of the partially oxidized organo silane material.
Accordingly, the need exists for etch chemistries for C-doped silicon oxide such as partially oxidized organo silane materials including at least 1% of carbon, that provide improved etch selectivity to silicon oxide.
The present invention provides novel methods and techniques for etching C-doped silicon oxide, such as partially oxidized organo silane materials, that overcome the prior art etching problems described above.
In one embodiment of the present invention a novel etch technique is employed for etching a layer of C-doped silicon oxide, such as a partially oxidized organo silane material including at least 1% of carbon by atomic weight. This technique utilizing CH2F2/Ar chemistry at low bias and low pressure.
In another embodiment of the present invention a layer of partially oxidized organo silane material including at least 1% of carbon by atomic weight, was deposited on a layer of silicon oxide. An etch pattern was anisotropically etched through the layer of partially oxidized organo silane material, employing the novel etch technique. High SiO2 etch selectivity and a substantially flat etch front were obtained, having an etch front flatness no greater than 0.1. Also, the novel etch technique resulted in improved selectivity to organic photoresist.
In an additional embodiment of the present invention, a layer of C-doped silicon oxide is deposited on a layer of silicon oxide that is formed on a substrate. A via pattern is etched sequentially through the layers of C-doped silicon oxide and silicon oxide. Subsequently, the novel etch procedure is employed for etching a trench through the layer of C-doped silicon oxide overlaying the hole formed by etching the via pattern.
In another embodiment of the present invention a layer of silicon nitride was deposited on a semiconductor substrate. This was followed by the deposition of layers of adhesion promoter, silicon oxide, adhesion promoter, oxidized organo silane material and photoresist. A via etch pattern was developed in the resist. The via etch pattern was then anisotropically etched to expose the silicon nitride layer. A trench etch pattern was developed overlaying the hole. Employing the novel etch technique, the trench pattern was anisotropically etched through the oxidized organo silane layer and the underlying layer of adhesion promoter, thus forming a trench on an underlying via hole. The bottom of the trench exposed the silicon oxide layer and it was observed that a substantially flat etch front was obtained at the bottom of the etch. The novel technique is not selective to silicon nitride. As a result, trench etching opens the silicon nitride layer at the bottom of the via hole. However, this technique utilizes a bias that is too low to cause copper sputter of a copper line that is exposed at the bottom of the via hole. The trench and via hole can simultaneously be filled with a conductive material to form a dual damascene structure. Alternatively, the via and trench can be lined with a liner such as a barrier liner or adhesive layer prior to simultaneously filling the via hole and trench with a conductive material. Additionally, silicon nitride exposed at the bottom of the hole can be protected from the trench etching process by partly filling the bottom of the via hole with an organic ARC (antireflective coating) material. It is also contemplated to protect the silicon nitride at the bottom of the hole by providing photoresist material in the hole, prior to etching the trench.
In additional embodiments novel IC structures were formed including a metallizing layer of partially oxidized organo silane material, deposited on a layer of silicon oxide. One or more cavities were etched in the metallization layer utilizing the novel etch technique, such that a substantially flat etch front was obtained.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, a manufacturing system is provided for forming fabricated structures, such as the IC structures of the present invention. This system includes a controller, such as a computer, that is adapted for interacting with a plurality of fabrication stations. Each of these fabrication stations performs a processing step that is utilized to fabricate the IC structures. Operative links provide connections between the controller and the manufacturing stations. A data structure, such as a computer program, causes the controller to control the processing steps which are performed at the fabrication stations.

Etch process for dielectric materials comprising oxidized organo silane materials


A bit mold is milled using a turning stage which forms a base mold component and a base gagering component. Next, a blade milling stage is performed in which the base mold component and base gagering component are milled to define integral junkslot formers separated by blade regions. Lastly, a pocket milling stage is performed in which the blade regions and integral junkslot formers of the base mold component are milled to define a plurality of cutter pockets in primary and perhaps secondary rows. Each cutter pocket includes a seat portion and a face portion. The milling of the pocket milling stage provides, at one or more of the cutter pockets, a facet. This facet is provided in an area about the junkslot former associated with the face portion of the cutter pocket, the face portion having, due to the presence of the facet, a surface for matching a cutter core displacement end surface without voids of a size which would require the use of fill material. The facet is also provided on either side of the pocket associated with the seat portion to avoid the need to clay the sides of the displacement for providing top-loading clearances. The milling process at the pocket milling stage further supports definition of relief and erosion resistance features in the mold.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the manufacture of earth boring bits, and more particularly to the manufacture of rotary bits through a molding process.
The present invention relates to a process utilized to manufacture rotary bits for drilling subterranean formations, as well as features created therein, by utilizing CNC machining to create one or more graphite parts used to cast the bit matrix with a single mold assembly. Such as assembly advantageously eliminates the need for multiple prefabricated components and artwork, such as performs and clay filling, as is known and used in the prior art fabrication process.
2. Description of Related Art
Fixed cutter drill bits known in the art include polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bits. The typical PDC bit includes a bit body which is made from powdered tungsten carbide infiltrated with a binder alloy within a suitable mold form. The particular materials used to form PDC bit bodies are selected to provide adequate toughness, while providing good resistance to abrasive and erosive wear. The PDC cutting elements used on these bits are typically formed from a cylindrical tungsten carbide substrate. A diamond table made from various forms of natural and/or synthetic diamond is affixed to the substrate. The substrate is then generally brazed or otherwise bonded to the formed bit body in a selected position on the surface of the body.
The materials used to form PDC bit bodies, in order to be resistant to wear, are very hard and are therefore difficult to machine. The shape and configuration of the bit bodies must accordingly, in most cases, be substantially defined during the bit body molding process. More specifically, the mold used in the molding process defines the size and shape of the gage of the bit body. The mold used in the molding process further defines the number and shape of the blades of the bit (along with the associated junkslots). Still further, the selected positions in the blade at which the PDC cutting elements are to be affixed to the bit body are also typically defined by the mold and formed substantially to their final shape during the bit body molding process.
Reference is now made to FIG. 1A which illustrates a junkslot plug mold 10 and to FIG. 1B which illustrates a junkslot plug 12, these mold structures being well known to those skilled in the art for use in producing a preform. When building a drill bit mold in accordance with known techniques of the prior art, the junkslot plug mold 10 and a junkslot plug 12 are machined in accordance with a desired design and specification. The junkslot plug 12 is placed within the junkslot plug mold 10 (turned upside down from what is shown in FIG. 1B) and the resulting assembly is then infiltrated with resin-coated sand that fills the open spaces 14 within mold 10 as defined by the shape of the plug 12. When the resin-coated sand cures, the junkslot plug can be removed from the mold.
The result of this preform molding process is shown in FIG. 2, where the material 16 as removed from the plug mold 10 is the cured resin-coated sand (which filled the open spaced 14 in the mold) and the material 18 is junkslot plug 12 which was inserted into the mold 10. The cured resin-coated sand material 16, after molding, becomes a set of sand junkslot formers 20. The material 16 for the sand junkslot formers 20 is carefully removed from the junkslot plug 12 material 18 for subsequent use in the actual bit mold from which the bit is cast. This will be described in more detail below. What is important to consider is the time, effort and expense which is expended in connection with defining and producing the sand junkslot formers. There would be an advantage if the perform molding process for producing the sand junkslot formers could be eliminated.
Reference is now made to FIG. 3 which shows how the sand junkslot formers 20 have been inserted into a bit mold 26 from which an actual bit will be created. The bit mold 26 includes a bottom portion 30 into which a number of cutter pockets 32 have been formed and an upper portion 36 (having a ring shape) defining the gage of the bit. Each cutter pocket includes a seat 37 and a face 39. The bottom and upper portions 30 and 36 of the bit mold 26 are assembled together as shown, and the sand junkslot formers 20 are then securely inserted into the assembled mold 26 in proper alignment with the cutter pocket 32 locations. More specifically, the sand junkslot formers 20 are positioned between sets of adjacent cutter pockets 32 to define the location of the junkslots for the bit and thus further define the shape of the bit blades associated with each set of cutter pockets.
Although described above in the context of forming junkslots, it is well known in the art that other preform pieces can be cast in the manner described using resin-coated sand. Such preforms are employed to define, in addition to junkslots, the internal fluid passages to deliver drilling fluid to the bit face, as well as cutter pockets, cutter faces, and nozzle displacements.
Reference is now made to FIG. 4. At this point in the bit manufacturing process, a cutter shaping element called a "displacement" 40 is installed in the bit mold at each of the formed cutter mounting positions (i.e., the cutter pockets 32). The displacement 40 is a cylindrical graphite piece which represents a PDC cutter. This displacement is placed resting in the seat 37 at each of the cutter pocket 32 location and is secured in a position such that a first end 41 of the displacement rests against the face 39 of the pocket facing towards the sand junkslot former 20. Each displacement 40 has the same size and shape as the polycrystalline diamond compact cutter which has been designated for use at that pocket 32 in the to-be-molded bit. Thus, the displacement 40 is used to form the shape of the PDC cutter mounting positions during the bit body molding process.
To extent there are any imperfections in the bit mold, for example due to problems with the size, shape and/or configuration of the sand junkslot formers 20, or for example due to problems with the relationship between the installed sand junkslot formers 20, cutter pockets 32 and installed displacements 40 (for example, at the seat 37 or face 39), these imperfections must be addressed prior to molding. It is common in the art to use a clay material 44 to fill any noted voids, misalignments, imperfections, and the like, in the bit mold. For example, clay 44 can be used to fill voids between the front first end 41 of the installed displacement 40 and the installed sand junkslot former 20 (generally at the seat 37 or face 39 locations). Clay 44 can also be used to fill the space between the installed sand junkslot formers 20 and the bottom and upper portions (30 and 36, respectively) of the mold. Imperfections, undercuts, edges, and the like may also be addressed through the selective application of filling clay 44.
The molded bit includes a bit body formed using a matrix of hard particulate material, such as tungsten carbide, that is infiltrated with a binder, generally copper alloy or similar material. The bit body is cast around a cylindrical piece of steel, also known as "blank," which is used for internal reinforcement of the bit body matrix. The blank, along with the sand pieces and graphite cutter displacement cores, are placed in the mold in order to cast the bit. This assembly of components is then filled with tungsten carbide powder that is infiltrated with binder in a furnace. During cooling, the matrix bonds to the blank. Once the assembly has cooled, the graphite of the mold 26 is chipped away and all of the sand preforms (such as junkslot formers 20), clay 44 artwork, and graphite cutter cores (displacements 40) are removed and cleaned away leaving the bit body. A threaded pin connection, also termed an "upper section", is then welded to the blank of the bit body. The upper section is used to attach the bit to the drive apparatus, normally a drill collar or a downhole motor. The PDC cutting elements are then bonded to the bit face, in the openings left by the removed displacements, by brazing. The process for casting the bit as described in this paragraph is well known to those skilled in the art.
The building process to fabricate a matrix drill bit is very costly and quite complex. This process requires the fabrication of a mold that is then used to cast the bit. The blank and sand pieces are individually designed and fabricated, and the design and configuration of these components are often times revised thus requiring costly production time in lieu of process adjustments that are needed to introduce new and different preforms. For many years, bit molds have been machined to a standard bit profile. Sand preforms cast from the junkslot plug are then glued between each blade location in the mold in reverse, along with all other graphite plugs and sand performs, by skilled technicians employing various files and sculpting tools. These technicians also employ the use of a special bit molding clay comprised of graphite powder, bee's wax, and permaplast modeling clay. This clay is used to correct any imperfections in the mold. There is a need in the art for a simpler, less expensive, and more accurate process for bit mold creation.
Reference is also made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,358,026, 6,073,518, and 7,159,487, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.


A method and apparatus for mitigation of magnetic fields from magnetic field sources operating at low frequencies, typically less than 100 KHZ, are provided. The method is based on placing magnetic bodies of proper shape, size and physical properties close to the source of the magnetic field to cancel or reduce the magnetic field at desired sites, located away from the source. The method is applicable to mitigating all sources of magnetic fields including those generated by electric power lines, transformers, various tools, electronic devices and appliances. The apparatus, an application of the method to electric power transmission lines, consists of body of magnetic material disposed adjacent to at least one conductor of a multi-line electric power transmission system. The body is disposed between the conductors and a right-of-way located along the power transmission lines in order to lie within the magnetic field generated by the power transmission line and to thereby reduce the magnitude of the magnetic filed at and beyond the right-of-way. In one example studied in conjunction with an electric power transmission line in the X-configuration, a reduction of 84% was achieved at the edge of the right-of-way with an arc-shaped magnetic body disposed adjacent to one of the lowermost conductors.

The physical phenomena pertaining to electricity and magnetism is described by Maxwell's equations, shown below: EQU .gradient..multidot.D=.rho. EQU .gradient..times.E=-.differential.B/.differential.t EQU .gradient..multidot.B=0 EQU .gradient..times.H=J+.differential.D/.differential.t EQU D=.epsilon.E EQU B=.mu.H
wherein D is the electric displacement, E is the electric field, B is the magnetic flux density, H is the magnetic field, .rho. is the charge density, J is the current density, .epsilon. is the permittivity and .mu. is the magnetic permeability.
Various sources of magnetic fields generally operating at low frequencies are encountered commonly in everyday life. The sources include but are not limited to electric power transmission and distribution lines, transformers, building wiring and such appliances as hair dryers, electrical blankets, video display terminals, electrical ovens, radios and telephones. The magnetic fields generated by such common sources pass through the human body, without significant attenuation since the magnetic permeability of the human body is similar to that of air, i.e. 4.pi..times.10.sup.-7 H/m. The response of living tissue to the magnetic fields passing through is not well understood. While it may take a number of years before scientific studies demonstrate the absence or presence of health effects from low frequency magnetic fields, public concern nevertheless presently exists. In response to this concern, this invention uses shielding to reduce human exposure to these magnetic fields.
In conventional techniques employed to reduce exposure to low frequency, i.e. less than 100 KHz, magnetic fields, the area to be shielded from the magnetic field existing outside is enclosed completely (J. D. Jackson, "Classical Electrodynamics", 2nd edition, John Wiley, NY, 1975, p. 199) or partially by a magnetic material of high relative permeability. Magnetic materials exhibit magnetic permeability values which are significantly greater than the permeability of free space. Such high permeability materials offer a path of low reluctance to the magnetic field lines and shunt the magnetic field lines. Thus, with a magnetic enclosure the magnetic filed magnitude within the enclosure is reduced when the source exists at the outside. However, such mitigation of the magnetic fields by completely enclosing large structures where the magnetic field needs to be reduced, is extremely costly. If it is desired to shield a currentbearing device of small dimensions, the device can again be completely or partially enclosed by a magnetic material of high relative permeability (W. R. Smyth, "Static and Dynamic Electricity", 2nd edition, McGraw-Hill, NY, 1950, p. 288). However, this method is not practical for cases where the source is large in dimensions and extends over long distances, A good example of such a magnetic field source is a high voltage electric power transmission line.
Electromagnetic interference shielding covers for shielding objects, such as radios, from receiving travelling electromagnetic waves are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,474,676 and for shielding computer terminals and the like from emitting electromagnetic fields, are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,136.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to mitigate the magnetic field of a magnetic field generating source at a minimum of cost.
It is another object of the invention to mitigate the magnetic field of a structure such as an electric power transmission line and a distribution line.
It is another object of the invention to provide a magnetic field mitigation body with an external field which can reduce the field of the source in an extended area that is large as compared to the size of the shield.
Briefly, the invention provides a method and apparatus for mitigating a magnetic field from a magnetic field source.
In accordance with the method, the pattern of a magnetic field generated about a magnetic field generating source is first determined and, thereafter, a body of magnetic material is positioned adjacent to the source in a predetermined area of the magnetic field pattern in a manner to reduce the magnitude of the pattern at an area remote from the source and the body, that is, at the area which is to be protected.
The method is particularly directed to altering the magnetic field generated by a source operating at a low frequency, typically less than 100 KHz, and by using a magnetic body of proper shape, size and physical properties. Thus, the method is also applicable to frequencies other than those used for electric power (50-60 Hz).
The magnetic body may consist of various materials, including pultruded strips of soft magnetic materials, which posses high permeability values, strips or assemblies of such magnetic materials, extruded profiles or molded bodies of magnetic composites consisting of soft magnetic fillers and conductive or non-conductive binders/matrices. The magnetic body used to mitigate the magnetic field generated by a source may be solid, hollow or of mesh design. The shape and size of the magnetic body depend on the magnetic field generated by the source, the physical properties of the magnetic body and the targeted magnetic field at specified locations. The method for the optimization of the size and shape of the magnetic body involves the detailed solution of Maxwell's equations, analytically or by employing numerical techniques. Experimental techniques may also be used for insight and validation of results.
It should be noted that the possibility of the mitigation of the magnetic field at locations far away from a source by placing a magnetic body into the vicinity of the source is not obvious to those skilled in the art. The classical problem of placing a cylinder with an infinite relative permeability into the vicinity of a single current carrying wire (E. Weber, "Electromagnetic Fields", Vol. 1, John Wiley, NY, 1950, p. 240) in the most favorable position of the cylinder touching the wire is an example. Little change in the magnetic field at far-away locations are observed associated with the presence of the cylinder with infinite permeability. If the radius of the cylinder is 5% of the distance of separation between the wire and the location where mitigation is desired, the magnetic field would be reduced to only 95% of the original field due to the presence of this relatively large cylinder.
After the body of magnetic material is placed in the vicinity of the magnetic field source, the body becomes magnetized under the influence of the source field. Then, the field of the magnetic material alters the field of the original source, reducing the field in some regions and enhancing the field at other locations. If the shape, physical properties and the size of the magnetic body are selected carefully, the size of the magnetic body can be kept comparable to the characteristic dimensions of the source and still mitigate the field at distances which are long compared to the characteristic dimension of the magnetic body.
In the case of electronic devices or other sources of magnetic fields, the use of a body of magnetic material close to the source may eliminate the need to completely or partially enclose the source of the magnetic field.
Mitigation of time varying magnetic fields requires a magnetic material which can change its direction of magnetization in response to the applied field. The magnetization of the material must follow the external field with a reasonable degree of efficiency. Such materials are called soft magnetic materials. The magnetic properties of some soft ferromagnetic alloys, which are commercially available, are given below. The magnetic permeability of the material is a measure of how well the material can become magnetized with the application of the external field. The coercive force is the magnetic field at which the magnetic flux density becomes zero. The saturation flux density of the material is the field up to which the material can be used without degradation of its magnetic permeability. High magnetic permeability high saturation flux densities and small coercive forces are desirable for this application.
______________________________________ MAXIMUM SATURATION MAGNETIC COERCIVE FLUX TRADE PERME- FORCE DENSITY NAME ABILITY (OERSTEDS) (KILOGAUSS) ______________________________________ Permalloy* 200,000 0.015 8.0 Supermalloy* 300,000 0.004 7.8 Metglas 600,000 0.015 7.7 2705M** Metglas 1,000,000 0.002 5.7 2714A** ______________________________________ *G.Y. Chin and J.H. Wernick, "Soft Magnetic Metallic Materials" in Editor E.P. Wohlfart, "Ferromagnetic Materials", Vol. 2, Ch. 2, North Holland, NY, 1986, p. 143. **Metglas Technical Bulletin, Allied Signal Metglas Products, Parsippany, NJ.
The above described method may also be used to increase the magnitude or the components of the magnetic field at targeted locations, if desired.
For field mitigation to be effective, the shape and size of the magnetic body should be properly selected. The size and shape of the magnetic body needs to be determined for each case, where mitigation is desired. The tools include the numerical or analytical solutions of Maxwell's equations or experimental studies.
In one embodiment, the apparatus is employed for an electric power transmission system including electrically conductive lines (i.e. conductors) for conducting electrical current with a corresponding magnetic field being produced transversely of each line. Generally, such a system employs two towers for supporting the conductors in an elevated position along and above a predetermined right-of-way. In accordance with the invention, a body of magnetic material is deployed adjacent to at least one of the lines which acts as a magnetic field generating source. This body is so disposed between the conductor and the right-of-way so as to intercept and distort the magnetic field relative to the right-of-way to an extent to reduce the magnitude of the magnetic field at and beyond the right-of-way.
In this system, the electrically conductive lines conductors may be disposed in a rectangular array or any other suitable array commonly used for electric power transmission lines. In accordance with the invention, the magnetic body is disposed adjacent to one of the lowermost conductors and between the conductor and the right-of-way. However, the body may be located adjacent to one of the other conductors and, also, multiple bodies may be used.
Generally speaking, the body is disposed close to the source of the magnetic field rather than to the object to be protected against the magnetic field.
The magnetic field mitigation body serves to mitigate magnetic fields that exhibit a dipole or multipole nature by using the external field of a soft magnetic material placed in the immediate vicinity of the source. In this respect, the body is not required to enclose the source.
The field of the magnetic body is a dipole field. In this respect, the body does not operate effectively against a source that has a monopole field such as a single current-carrying wire. However, as the order of the source field increases, for example from a monopole to a dipole or from a dipole to a quadrupole, the effectiveness of the body increases.
The body may also be employed in the mitigation of magnetic fields generated by sources other than electric power transmission lines and the like.
The shape and size of the body and the location of the body with respect to the source of the magnetic field are chosen such that the field magnitude will be reduced in certain directions.
In accordance with the invention, the magnetic field of the source magnetizes the soft magnetic body and the external field of the magnetized body opposes that of the source in some directions. The geometry and location of the body with respect to the source can be optimized to yield maximum reduction in the desired regions.
One characteristic of the body is that the external field of the body can reduce the field of the source in an extended area that is large as compared to the size of the body.
The shape of the body is chosen so as to conform to an original magnetic field plot in order to achieve optimum magnetization and maximum dipole moment for a given size. Further, the body may be solid, hollow, in the form of a mesh, laminated in layers and the like.

Method and apparatus for mitigation of magnetic fields from low frequency magnetic field sources


A catalyst for steam reforming of methanol, which includes a carrier material comprising a metal oxide and deposited thereon                a) indium oxide (In2O3) and at least one further metal from the group of palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt), rhodium (Rh) and iridium (Ir) and/or        b) an alloy comprising indium and at least one further metal from the group of palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt), rhodium (Rh) and iridium (Ir),        as catalytically active substances.

The present invention concerns a catalyst for steam reforming of methanol, the production of the catalyst according to the invention and the use thereof.
In the steam reforming of methanol, on the catalyst according to the invention, methanol (MeOH) and steam (H2O) are converted on the catalyst to give carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen (H2) in accordance with the following reaction:CH3OH+H2O→CO2+3H2  (i)
The division of methanol into carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen occurs as a secondary reaction:CH3OH→CO+2H2  (ii)
The production of hydrogen as an energy carrier is ever increasing in importance because of the decreasing availability of fossil fuels and for ecological and economic reasons. Obtaining energy from hydrogen by combustion in fuel cells is one of the most important applications.
The production of hydrogen from methanol by steam reforming of methanol is effected in a methanol reformer which can either be used in a static mode or in a mobile mode. In the methanol reformer a methanol-water mixture with a water-methanol ratio of between about 1.3 and 1.5 is compressed to up to 20 bars, evaporated, superheated to between about 250 and 280° C. and converted in accordance with the above-indicated reactions. The hydrogen is separated off by means of a hydrogen-permeable membrane catalytically or by pressure swing adsorption.
Mobile methanol reformers are used for example as mobile hydrogen sources for fuel cells in order not to have to carry the hydrogen in pressure gas tanks for safety reasons. Methanol has the advantage, as the starting material for mobile hydrogen production, that it can be carried along in the form of a liquid fuel and is thus safer than hydrogen although methanol is also not completely harmless to handle by virtue of its toxic nature and combustibility. Because of its high hydrogen-carbon ratio and its low sulfur content methanol is also highly suitable as a hydrogen source and can be produced from renewable sources such as for example biomass in environmentally fashion and independently of fossil fuel sources.
Two basic demands on a catalyst are a high catalytic activity and high selectivity in respect of the desired product or products. In the steam reforming of methanol a high catalytic activity is demonstrated by high conversion rates, in particular at temperatures which are as low as possible. Good selectivity of a catalyst for steam reforming of methanol is distinguished in that the product of the reaction of methanol and water in accordance with the desired primary reaction (i) has a high proportion of carbon dioxide and hydrogen and a proportion of carbon monoxide, that is as low as possible.
Known catalysts for steam reforming of methanol are for example the metals of subgroups 8 through 10 (Fe, Ru, Os, Co, Rh, Ir, Ni, Pd, Pt). They are distinguished however by poor selectivity for the desired primary reaction and lead predominantly to a breakdown of methanol to carbon monoxide and hydrogen.
Investigations with copper catalysts exhibited high catalytic activity and selectivity in steam reforming of methanol but the known copper catalysts suffer from some serious disadvantages including their pyrophoric properties upon being exposed to oxidizing conditions and the tendency of copper to sinter at temperatures above 300° C. and in that case to lose activity.
Iwasa et al., Catalysis Letters 54 (1998), pages 119 through 123, describe further catalysts for steam reforming of methanol, in which palladium or platinum is applied as a catalytically active metal to a metal oxide carrier such as ZnO, In2O3, Ga2O3, SiO2, MgO or CeO2. Isawa et al. found that the catalytic activity and selectivity of palladium and platinum were markedly improved if they are applied to the carriers ZnO, In2O3 or Ga2O3. The carriers alone exhibited no reaction.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,413,449 describes a catalyst for steam reforming of methanol, which has a palladium-zinc alloy and zinc oxide as catalytically active components on a carrier material of aluminum oxide, aluminum silicate, titanium oxide, zirconium oxide, a zeolite and mixtures or mixed oxides thereof.

Catalyst for steam reforming of methanol


A data transmission apparatus for implementing multiple service flow in a multiple service ring is described. The apparatus includes a trunk pipe and at least two nodes each with at least one flow. The apparatus also includes a flow Rx framer for converting data received from the flow into data packets of a predetermined protocol, a transmission setup device for setting up information for packets of the predetermined protocol to be transmitted, and a Tx framer for encapsulating the information into frames of the MSR and transmitting the same along the trunk pipe to a downstream neighbor node along the ring.

The present invention claims the priority of PCT international application No. PCT/CN02/00503 of the same applicant as filed on Jul. 17, 2002 describing a multiple service ring with capabilities of transmitting and switching data, video and voice, therefore all the contents and disclosure of PCT/CN02/00503 are incorporated in the present application as a part of the present application.
RPR is a data network solution developed by IEEE802.17. Regarding network and application issues.
(1) RPR can provides trunk based protection, but could not provide flow based or service based protection within 50 ms. Just like it can provide protection of multiplex section and regeneration section of SDH/SONET, but does not have virtual container or path based protection. (2) RPR can make multicast function of node based and packet based, can not make flow or service based multicast. (3) If RPR provides private-line services and QoS is required, RPR does not have QoS monitoring capabilities for a fixed services targeting to a customer. (4) RPR does not have a capability of providing a service with asymmetrical bandwidth. (5) If a customer needs more bandwidth than a standard bandwidth with granularity ITU-T Recommendation defined. RPR can not implement that, just like three times 100 Mbps. (6) When a customer needs a security filtering function for Layer 2, Layer 3 and layer 4, RPR does not have this function. (7) When a carrier needs loopback testing function of flow based, RPR could not do that. (8) RPR has a good application for two-fibre ring, but for other topologies, just like four-fibre ring, link topology and add/drop flow topology, it still have a problem.
The expansion of business and metro use of data network services are driving the need to deploy data services infrastructure facilities with pre-plan method in the way of flow or service. The dynamic bandwidth allocation and differentiated services over an trunk pipe, flow based bandwidth management, security function, protection, multicast, performance monitoring and their applications in the different topologies are the basic requirements of carrier class.

Implementation method on multi-service flow over RPR and apparatus therefor


A thermoplastic composition is provided comprising an acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene graft copolymer, polycarbonate and an epoxy functional silicone. The compositions exhibit reduced gloss and enhanced low temperature impact strengths and are useful as molding resins.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to thermoplastic molding compositions having an inherent matte or low gloss surface finish. The compositions are impact resistant alloys of polycarbonate and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene graft (ABS) polymers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many thermoplastics have a natural, high gloss finish when injection molded, particularly compositions containing styrenic polymers such as emulsion ABS polymers. For many applications, high gloss is a very desirable characteristic and it may be one of the most important factors in the selection of the material. On the other hand, for many other products, such as automotive and business equipment, for example computer and other electronic equipment, there is a trend toward matte or low gloss finishes, principally for aesthetic reasons.
One technique for obtaining low gloss is to use a textured mold surface. Textured molds are even used to mold low gloss materials in order to further accentuate the dull finish. Using a high gloss product in a textured mold does not provide optimum results because the parts are not uniform over a long run. The mold surface tends to pick up material in different areas resulting in varying degrees of gloss over the surface of the parts.
Some polymers, like polypropylene, naturally exhibit less gloss than other thermoplastic polymers. Other polymers can easily be made to exhibit low gloss by the introduction of one or more additional constituents. An example of such a polymer is high impact polystyrene which is made by mixing polybutadiene with polystyrene. The large domains of rubber within the polystyrene phase result in a low gloss material. Still another inherently low gloss thermoplastic is ABS graft polymer made by the bulk polymerization process. The latter process involves the dissolving of polybutadiene in styrene monomer and the subsequent graft reaction between the styrene and the polybutadiene together with acrylonitrile monomer. At the end of the reaction, relatively large particles of rubber are created which may contain some occluded styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer. The large particle size of these rubbery domains are believed to be responsible for the low gloss surface finish of such products.
Approaches to obtaining low gloss for materials which naturally exhibit high gloss include functionalizing the butadiene or butadiene/styrene backbone or substrate onto which the other monomers are grafted. U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,347, for example, describes an acid functionalized graft copolymer. Other methods copolymerize a glycidyl ester with acrylonitrile, a vinyl and a rubbery copolymer as described in Japanese Kokai No. 63-156847. U.S. Pat. No. 4,710,534 suggests the use of an olefin rubber in combination with ABS in a polycarbonate or polycarbonate/polybutalene terephalate blend. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,677,162, 4,624,986 and 4,526,926 all achieve low gloss by using mass or bulk polymerized ABS. U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,463 describes the use of vinyl compounds containing glycidyl esters of unsaturated acids for low gloss surfaces and U.S. Pat. No. 4,554,316 uses epoxy and acid (anhydride) functional olefins for the same purpose.
Low gloss resin compositions have been obtained by incorporation of a polyepoxide into blends of polycarbonate and ABS graft polymers, see Jalbert et al U.S. Pat. 5,026,777 which is incorporated herein by reference.
While there has been a desire to reduce the gloss of many polycarbonate/ABS resin blends, there has also frequently been a desire to improve the low temperature impact strengths of such blends.

Low gloss thermoplastic molding compositions


A first wire layer (19) including first memory wires (12) is connected to a second wire layer (20) including second memory wires (17) via first contacts (21) penetrating a first interlayer insulating layer (13). The first wire layer (13) is connected to and led out to upper wires (22) via second contacts (26) connected to the second wire layer (20) and penetrating the second interlayer insulating layer (18). The first contacts (21) penetrate semiconductor layer (17b) or insulator layer (17c) of the second wire layer (20).

In recent years, with advancement of digital technologies of electronic hardware, semiconductor memory devices which have a large capacity and are nonvolatile have been developed vigorously to store data of music, image, information and so on. Among the nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices, for example, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device using a ferroelectric as a capacitive element has been already used in many fields. In addition to the nonvolatile semiconductor memory device (hereinafter referred to as FeRAM) using such a ferroelectric capacitor, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device (hereinafter referred to as MRAM) which retains a changed resistance value by utilizing a tunneling magnetic resistive effect, and a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device (hereinafter referred to as ReRAM) using a material which is adapted to change a resistance value in response to electric pulses applied and retains the changed resistance value, have attracted an attention. The MRAM and the ReRAM also have attracted an attention because of its high compatibility with a standard Si semiconductor process step.
In the nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, memory cell holes are typically formed at cross points where word lines cross bit lines, respectively, memory elements and cell select elements such as diodes which are connected in series with the memory elements are arranged inside the memory cell holes, respectively, and memory cells each of which is composed of the memory element and the cell select element are integrated in matrix. In addition, a peripheral circuit is provided adjacently to the memory cells arranged in matrix to drive the memory cells to process data from the memory cells, etc. Depending on a wiring structure of wires for connecting lead-out wires connected to memory cells to wires in the peripheral circuit, high-dense integration of the nonvolatile semiconductor memory device is impeded.
To solve this problem and implement a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device which is highly integrated, for example, a structure of a cross-point MRAM is proposed, in which memory cells each consisting of a TMR (tunneling magneto-resistive) element and a cell select diode which are connected in series are arranged in matrix (see e.g., patent document 1). Lead-out wires connected to memory cells are electrically connected to a peripheral circuit which is disposed above and adjacently to the memory cells.
As in the above MRAM, a structure of a cross-point FeRAM is proposed, in which lead-out wires connected to memory cells are led out to the upper side and electrically connected to an adjacent peripheral circuit (see e.g., patent document 2). Furthermore, it is proposed that, to reduce a chip area, localized wires are formed to connect a ferroelectric capacitor array region and a transistor formed right below the ferroelectric capacitor array region to a peripheral circuit, in the cross-point FeRAM (see e.g., patent document 3).
In an example of a cross-point ReRAM, memory plugs each of which has seven layers are formed at cross points between X-direction conductive array lines and Y-direction conductive array lines, and a memory element including a composite metal oxide sandwiched between two electrode layers, a non-ohmic element which is formed on the memory element and has a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) structure, and an electrode layer are stacked together inside each memory plug (e.g., see Patent Document 4). Electric connections or wires between the memory plug including the memory element and non-ohmic element, and a drive circuit such as a transistor or an adjacent peripheral circuit are not disclosed. It is presumed that these wires are formed in a process step performed separately.    Patent document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2004-193282    Patent document 2: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2004-363124    Patent document 3: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2004-356313    Patent document 4: U.S. Pat. No. 6,753,561 Specification

Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device having a resistance variable layer and manufacturing method thereof


In one example, a method is described for an engine with a hydraulically actuated phaser for adjusting cam timing. The phaser is controlled by a hydraulic spool valve, for example, having a de-energized position that results in hydraulic force urging the phaser to a base timing. When it is desired to operate the cam timing at base timing, rather then leave the spool valve in a de-energized position that can generate leakage, the spool valve is adjusted to near a null position to reduce the hydraulic pressure drop across the cam journal and thus reduce oil leakage. In this way, it is possible to maintain base timing, while also reducing leakage.

Internal combustion engines may use variable cam timing (VCT) to improve fuel economy and emissions performance of a vehicle. One method of variable cam timing uses an Oil Pressure Actuated device (OPA), such as a vane type cam phaser. The phaser may be controlled by an electromechanically actuated spool valve that directs oil flow to one side or the other of the vane. The performance of this device is thus dependent on oil pressure, which can be a function of engine speed and leakage through various oil subsystems. Therefore, the Oil Pressure Actuated device may have unacceptable performance at low engine speeds or when hydraulic subsystems exhibit high oil leakage.
One example VCT system includes a vane type actuator as well as an optional biasing spring to hold the cam timing in a base position whenever insufficient oil pressure is available to control position of the actuator via the spool valve. For example, the base timing may be a fully retarded timing desired for engine starting, since sufficient oil pressure is typically unavailable during engine starting operation.
The inventors herein have recognized that OPA cam phasers may be particularly prone to oil leakage and slow response time when held at base timing by hydraulic actuation force controlled by the spool valve. Specifically, under this condition, the spool valve is positioned in a full retarding actuation position, as the full retarding actuation position is often the default (de-energized) state of the spool valve. For the example of a cam-fed oil pressure actuated system, oil leakage may occur between the advance and retard oil passages in the cam journal bearing due to the pressure differential between the two passages. In the base position, oil fully pressurizes the base position oil passages in the cam journal. Because the oil control valve may have one port fully pressurized and another open to tank (atmosphere) in the de-energized position, too much oil may flow across the small radial clearance and the lateral seal land distance between the two passages in the cam journal (flow from high to low pressure). Oil flows through the oil passages and out of the drain port in the spool valve may reduce main galley oil pressure and thus create a significant oil pressure drop in the system.
As such, one approach to address the above issues includes a method of controlling an engine, the engine including a hydraulically actuated variable cylinder valve actuator coupled to a cylinder valve of the engine. The actuator is controlled by a hydraulic valve adjustable among a plurality of ranges including a first range generating a hydraulic force in a first direction on the actuator toward a first end position, a second range generating a hydraulic force in a second, opposite direction on the actuator toward a second, opposite end, position, and a neutral range between the first and second ranges. The method comprises during selected conditions and when the actuator is held at the first end position by a biasing spring, adjusting the valve to within the first range and closer to the neutral range than to a full actuation boundary of the first range. In one example, the variable cylinder valve actuator may include a variable cam timing system that further includes oil passages integrated into a cam journal. In another example, the hydraulically actuated variable cylinder valve actuator includes a variable cam timing vane type actuator having a biasing spring biasing the actuator toward a retarded cam timing base position.
In this way, when operating with the variable cam timing actuator at base timing, such as during idle conditions, the valve can be adjusted away from the full actuation boundary of the first range, thus reducing oil leakage, such as across a cam journal. This reduced leakage can thus increase main galley pressure and improve the performance of other hydraulic systems in the engine. Further, such positioning of the valve is acceptable as the actuator can still be maintained at base timing. In addition, when it is desired to move the cam timing away from base timing, a faster response (e.g., movement in the advance direction) can be achieved because there is less retard pressure to overcome.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Engine with hydraulic variable valve timing


An electronic device (200) and method (300) with rollable display is disclosed. The method (300) can include: providing (310) a rollable housing and a controller configured to control the operations of an electronic device, the rollable housing including a rolled position (402) and an unrolled position (212); locating (320) a conductive pattern in proximity to an edge portion of the rollable housing; and enabling (330) a wireless transaction when the rolled housing is scrolled in a rolled position. Advantageously, when in the rolled position (402), the device can be easily placed in proximity to a pad, for simple battery charging and/or data transfer.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a method and device with a rollable display.
2. Introduction
A rollable display is a flexible display device which can be rolled up into a scroll. Technologies involved in building a rollable display include electronic ink, Gyricon, and OLED.
Electronic paper displays which can be rolled up have been developed by E Ink. E Ink refers to it as electrophoretic technology. At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in 2006, Philips showed a rollable display prototype. Philips represented that the screen could retain an image for several months without electricity.
Some rollable displays use flexible Organic LED display technology. There is a major interest and desire to commercialize rollable displays, for many use cases, such as in gaming, the enterprise, tablets, electronic devices, wristwatches and the like.
As background, many electronic devices, such as wireless communication devices, displays, smart phones and tablets, can barely get through a day on a single charge with normal use. With high use, or if the user cannot charge a wireless communication device at the end of the day, then a user will be left with a dead battery (or energy storage device, these terms used interchangeably), resulting in a non-operational devices.
There is a need for electronic methods and devices with a rollable device, that can be configured to be easily charged, so that a device can maintain its usefulness to a user.
It would be considered an improvement in the art, if an electronic device with an enhanced rollable display were developed.
Thus, an electronic method and device with a rollable display that addresses many of these needs, would be considered an improvement in the art.

Electronic device and method with rollable display


A coated material comprising a substrate which has micropores and a reaction product coated thereon along the surface configuration of the substrate and an inner wall of the micropores thereof. The coated material is preferably produced by performing a supercritical coating step wherein a reaction precursor is dissolved in a supercritical fluid to form a precursor fluid and then the precursor fluid is brought into contact with a substrate in the presence with a reaction initiator to allow a reaction between the reaction precursor and the reaction initiator, thereby coating a reaction product onto the substrate.

As a method for obtaining a material which is excellent in terms of chemical and physical properties such as a catalytic activity and adsorptivity, a method in which a microporous substrate is coated with an organic or inorganic coating material and a method in which a coated material formed by a coating step is peeled off to obtain a microporous-surfaced material having on its surface an inverted configuration of the microporous configuration of the substrate is known.
In such a method, a coating material such as a sol or gel is coated on a surface of a substrate. However, this method involves a problematic closure of a micropore opening with the coating material when the substrate has a micropore whose diameter is less than a micron order(.mu.m).
Accordingly, the coating material can not be penetrated into the innermost of the micropore, resulting in difficulty in obtaining an intended microporous-surfaced material effectively.
On the other hand, a method in which a coating material is coated onto a substrate by means of a gaseous phase method such as CVD is also proposed. However, in this method, a prolonged time period is required to allow the vapor of the coating material to be penetrated into the micropore. Especially in the case of a material having a low vapor pressure, only a small amount can be vaporized and the coating time is extremely prolonged.
In an attempt to overcome the problems mentioned above, a method in which a supercritical fluid containing a polymeric material dissolved therein is brought into contact with an inorganic porous membrane is proposed (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 7-144121). Also a method is known in which a supercritical fluid containing a ceramic precursor such as a polycarbosilane or a polysilane dissolved therein is impregnated in a carbon/carbon complex where it is allowed to precipitate and then subjected to a heat treatment to form a ceramic membrane of SiC, SiN and the like on its surface thereby heightening its oxidation resistance (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 1-308873).
Nevertheless, the methods disclosed in the publications described above involve, similarly as in the former two methods, the problematic closure of a micropore opening with the polymeric material when the micropore has a diameter less than a micron thereby preventing the supercritical fluid containing such a material from being penetrated sufficiently.
As a result, an intended coating can not be achieved.
An objective of the present invention is to overcome such conventional problems by providing a coated material and a method for producing the same, by which a coated material formed by coating the surface of a substrate efficiently with a reaction product can be obtained, and also by which a reaction product transferring or reproducing the microstructure of the substrate can be obtained after removing a part or all of the substrate from the coated material.

Coated object and process for producing the same


A DC/DC power converter provides high voltage gain using integrated boost and voltage multiplier (VM) stages. The boost cell operates according to a switching sequence to alternately energize and discharge a primary winding. A VM cell electrically coupled to the primary winding of the boost cell charges a multiplier capacitor to a DC output voltage greater than the input voltage when the primary winding is energized and discharges the multiplier capacitor when primary winding is discharged.

With increased penetration of renewable energy sources and energy storage, high gain DC/DC power electronic converters find increased applications in, for example, green energy systems. They can be used to interface low voltage sources like fuel cells, photovoltaic (also called PV or solar) panels, batteries, and the like with a high voltage (e.g., 400 V) bus in a DC microgrid system. These converters also find applications in different types of electronic equipment such as high-intensity-discharge (HID) lamps for automobile headlamps, servo-motor drives, X-ray power generators, computer periphery power supplies, and uninterruptible power supplies (UPS).
Conventional DC/DC converter topologies feature varying levels of integration between commonly used topologies, such as boost and flyback topologies, in order to provide a high-gain. However, each proposed topology is deficient in requiring at least one of the following: a large inductor ripple current due to a high duty cycle requirement, or a discontinuous current input.
To achieve high voltage gains, classical boost and buck-boost converters require large switch duty ratios. Large duty cycles result in high current stress in the boost switch. The maximum voltage gain that can be achieved is constrained by the parasitic resistive components in the circuit and the efficiency is drastically reduced for large duty ratios. There are diode reverse recovery problems because the diode conducts for a short period of time. Also the high current and output voltage along with large current ripples would further degrade the efficiency of the converter. Typically high frequency transformers or coupled inductors are used to achieve high voltage conversion ratios. The transformer design is complicated and the leakage inductances increase for achieving larger gains, as the design requires higher number of winding turns. Increased leakage inductance leads to voltage spikes across the switches and voltage clamping techniques are required to limit voltage stresses on the switches. Implementing these design features results in a more complicated design.
Therefore, there is a need for a high-gain DC/DC power electronic converter that is energy efficient and cost-effective without the limitations as described above and that benefits from a continuous input current.

High voltage gain DC/DC power electronic converters

The Curators of the University of Missouri


An optical head apparatus applicable to an optical disc apparatus comprises, a case body having an open surface and a window through which an opto-electronic component can be positioned and housing optical components inside it, a lid being attachable and detachable with respect to the open surface of the case body, and a flexible printed circuit board having a base portion which is adhered to the lid and on which electronic components are mounted and a protruding portion protruding from the base portion and having an opto-electronic component fixed to the distal end portion of it, the opto-electronic component being electrically connected with an electronic circuit which is formed by the electronic components, the distal end portion of the protruding portion of the flexible printed circuit board being fixed to the case body so that the opto-electronic component is position to the window.

The present invention relates to an optical head apparatus applicable to an optical disc apparatus.
After this type of optical head apparatus is assembled, it is sometimes required to perform an optical adjustment or an exchange and/or a repair of optical components and the like. Accordingly, it is desirable that the structure facilitate the optical adjustment and the like performed after assembly.
The structure of a conventional optical head 10 is shown for example, in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. The optical head 10 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid Open Application No. 90189/1989.
The optical head 10 has a case body 12 and a lid 13. The outer shape of the case body 12 is rectangular parallelepiped, with the top surface open. In the case body 12 are stored lenses, mirrors, prisms and other optical components 9. A printed circuit board (not indicated in the figure) having a pattern formed is fixed in the lid 13 and this printed circuit board has IC, transistors, condensors, resistors and other electronic components inserted into it and fixed with solder or the like. The circuit configured by wiring these electronic components on the printed circuit board is a laser output control circuit and the like. The lid 13 is placed over the opening of the case body 12 and fixed in place on the case body 12 with screw 11a and 11b.
Two side surfaces of the case body 12 are provided with light receiving element 17 (such as a photodetector) and light emitting element 18 (such as a semiconductor laser). The light receiving element 17 and light emitting element 18 are in electrical contact with contact wiring 15 and 16. Then, in the status where the lid 13 is mounted to the case body 12, the contact wiring 15 (16) is connected to a connector 19 provided on the lid 13. When the contact wiring 15 (16) is connected to the connector 19, the light receiving element 17 and the light emitting element 18 are brought into electrical contact with the electronic components provided in the lid 13.
In a structure such as that described above, after the optical head 10 has been assembled, when readjustment of the optical components 9 inside the case body 12 is performed, it is necessary to remove the lid 13 from the case body 12. However, it is not possible to remove the lid 13 while the contact wiring 15 and 16 are connected to the connector. Accordingly, when the lid 13 is removed from the case body 12, it is necessary to detach the contact wiring 15 and 16 from the connector. In addition, when the optical components 9 are adjusted, the light emitting element 18 and the light receiving element 17 are made active and so it is necessary to connect the contact wiring 15 and 16 to the connector once again after the lid 13 has been removed from the case body 12.
In addition, when position adjustment of the light receiving element 17 on the side surface of the case body 12, it is also necessary to remove the lid 13 from the case body 12.
As has been described above, in a conventional optical head 10, when readjustment and other operations are performed for the optical components 9, it is necessary to remove the contact wiring 15 and 16 from the connector and to reconnect them and these operations require unnecessary time and trouble.

Optical head apparatus applicable to optical disc apparatus


Disclosed herein are a refrigerator and a control method of the same. The refrigerator includes a purified water pump which increases a pressure of water, a carbon dioxide regulator which decreases a pressure of carbon dioxide, a mixing pipe which mixes water which introduced from the purified water pump and carbon dioxide which introduced from the carbon dioxide regulator, and produces carbonated water, a user interface which receives a production condition of carbonated water from a user, and a controller which controls the purified water pump and the carbon dioxide regulator such that the pressure of the water and the pressure of the carbon dioxide reach a target pressure corresponding to the input production condition.

1. Field
The present disclosure is related to a refrigerator and a control method of the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a refrigerator refers to an appliance which includes storage chambers for storing food and a cooling air supply unit for supplying cooling air to the storage chambers to maintain the freshness of the stored food. To meet the requirement of users, the refrigerator may include an ice-making device for making ice and a dispenser from which a user extracts purified water or the ice from the outside of the refrigerator without opening doors.
Although there have been demands for refrigerators which supply not only purified water or ice but also processed beverages, the conventional refrigerators merely supply purified water or ice to users, and cannot supply processed beverages.
In addition, in a carbonated water production, when tap water supplied through a tap is purified, and carbonated water is produced with the purified water, there is a problem in that a pressure of the water is low, and thus solubility of carbon dioxide is low. Accordingly, a study related to this has been actively performed recently.

Refrigerator and control method of the same


A stackable pipette tip tray is described. The pipette tip tray includes a deck having first and second opposing longitudinal side edges. A plurality of shaft apertures is arranged into a plurality of longitudinal rows on the deck. Each of the shaft apertures has a first size or shape configured to receive a shaft of a pipette tip. The deck also includes a plurality of tip apertures that is also arranged into a plurality of longitudinal rows such that at least one of the longitudinal rows of tip apertures is located between an adjacent pair of longitudinal rows of shaft apertures. Each of the plurality of tip apertures has a second size or shape, different from the first size or shape, and is configured to receive a distal tip end of a pipette tip when one tray of pipette tips is stacked above another tray of pipette tips. The plurality of longitudinal rows of shaft apertures is further arranged such that an outer one of the plurality of longitudinal rows of shaft apertures adjacent the first side edge of the deck is positioned closer to the first side edge than an outer one of the plurality of longitudinal rows of shaft apertures adjacent the second side edge of the deck is positioned relative to the second side edge.

Disposable pipette tips are often packaged within trays that function to support and organize the pipette tips and to aid in the placement of one or more pipette tips onto a pipetter having one or more channels. These trays may be housed within a container or rack that is convenient for bench-top applications.
Often, the trays are either refillable, i.e., pipette tips may be reloaded into an empty tray, which may or may not be sterilized between uses, or disposable and replaceable with a filled tray. In either situation, multiple trays may be packaged together in a stack for storage convenience and for efficient reloading of a rack with a new filled tray of pipette tips after the previous tray is emptied of its pipette tips during use. However, the stacking of multiple trays containing pipette tips is not straightforward because the overall length of each pipette tip is often greater than the thickness of the tray. That is, the shafts of the pipette tips extend beyond the bottom of each tray. Simply stacking the trays would cause the distal tip ends of the pipette tips in an upper tray to fall within the lumens of the pipette tips in a lower tray. When an upper tray is then removed from the stack, the pipette tips of the lower tray may be ejected from the lower tray along with the upper tray. This defeats the organizational purposes and convenience of stackable trays.
While in some applications this may not present a problem, the known conventional stacking arrangements are not practical for stacking trays containing filter pipette tips. Filter pipette tips have a structure that is similar to standard pipette tips but further include a semi-porous structure within the lumen of the pipette tip. As a result, the distal tip ends of the filter pipette tips in an upper tray cannot fall within the lumens of the filter pipette tips in a lower tray without interfering and/or damaging the semi-porous structure and/or the pipette tip. Because known alternative arrangements for stacking pipette tip trays have not provided satisfactory solutions for filter pipette tips, i.e., stacking is neither efficient with respect to storage capability nor conducive to the laboratory environment where technicians often wear gloves with diminished dexterity or handling by laboratory robotics, there remains a need for a pipette tip tray that is capable of supporting pipette tips, particularly filter pipette tips, and that is stackable in a simple but efficient manner for use with a pipette tip rack.


An apparatus and method are described for delivering hygroscopic, corrosive chemicals such as hydrogen chloride from a source such as a tube trailer to a use point such as a semiconductor fabrication tool minimizing infiltration of moisture, and entrainment of particulates, while still reducing moisture contents below 100 parts per billion and achieving appropriate pressure drops without two phase flow.

Hygroscopic, corrosive chemicals are frequently used in sophisticated semiconductor fabrication processes. Typical of such a chemical is anhydrous hydrogen chloride which is a colorless gas which fumes strongly in moist air. Bulk hydrogen chloride is shipped in tube trailers or Y-cylinders as a liquified compressed gas under a vapor pressure of 613 psig at 70.degree. F. Chemically, hydrogen chloride is non-corrosive in the anhydrous state. However, hydrogen chloride readily adsorbs water to yield highly corrosive hydrochloric acid, which can attack metals and other equipment, such as the containment and delivery systems, meant to provide hydrogen chloride to semiconductor fabrication facilities.
It is known to provide apparatus and methods for transfer and delivery of high purity chemicals as is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,148,945, including hydrochloric acid. The patent uses vacuum to initially fill a reservoir which is subsequently pressurized with inert gas to deliver chemical to the end use application.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,137,047 discloses a process for delivery of reactive gases to a semiconductor fabrication area using a pigtail having reduced dead volume and a vacuum system which allows for purge and evacuation of the delivery system. The patent is specifically directed to the delivery of tungsten hexafluoride.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,148 discloses a process and composition for drying gaseous hydrogen halides, such as hydrogen chloride using a metal halide or metal halide supported on a substrate or resin.
In an article "Joule-Thomson Expansion and Corrosion in HCL System", by Paul M. Bhadha, et al. appearing in Solid State Technology, July 1992, pages S3 through S7, a discussion of the formation of liquid in conveyance of HCL through various pressure drop mechanisms is disclosed and techniques including heating are described for avoidance of such condensation, which otherwise facilitates higher rates of corrosion.
Presently, the industry engaged in high flow hydrogen chloride delivery for semiconductor fabrication attempts to provide high purity in hydrogen chloride using sophisticated alloys having greatly reduced corrosion rates in conjunction with traditional materials of construction. Despite the use of such alloys, such as Hastelloy, the industry has experienced corrosion of hydrogen chloride delivery systems, unstable process control and increased levels of impurity in delivered hydrogen chloride comprising either moisture or metal entrainment. The present invention overcomes these shortcomings of the prior art using a unique integration of various pieces of apparatus and processes taking into account sources of corrosion and the methods for metal entrainment in hydrogen chloride delivery, wherein the present invention enjoys the capability of delivering high purity hygroscopic, corrosive chemicals, such as hydrogen chloride, with extremely low moisture levels and extremely low levels of impurity, such as metal contaminants, below which the industry has generally been able to achieve. Such objectives are achieved by the present invention as set forth in greater detail below.

High purity bulk chemical delivery system


The disclosed technology addresses the need in the art for a conference room device configured to aid the initiation, organization, and management of a conference meeting. A conference room device is configured to determine that a user is within a threshold distance of a conference room device and that the user is associated with a conference meeting at a current time. The conference room device is further configured to prompt the user to start the conference meeting, receive a confirmation from the user; and start the conference meeting.

Multiparty conferencing allows participants from multiple locations to collaborate. For example, participants from multiple geographic locations can join a conference meeting and communicate with each other to discuss issues, share ideas, etc. These collaborative sessions often include two-way audio transmissions. However, in some cases, the meetings may also include one or two-way video transmissions as well as tools for the sharing of content presented by one participant to other participants. Thus, conference meetings can simulate in-person interactions between people.
Conferencing sessions are typically started by having users in each geographic location turn on some conferencing equipment (e.g., a telephone, computer, or video conferencing equipment), inputting a conference number into the equipment, and instructing the conferencing equipment to dial that number.

Initiating a conferencing meeting using a conference room device


The invention provides a method, system, and program product for providing a competitive sales environment in a virtual world. In one embodiment, the invention comprises receiving a request for product or service information from a consumer avatar, querying a database of vendors based on the request for product or service information, identifying at least one vendor relevant to the request for product or service information, notifying the at least one vendor of the request, and making available to the consumer avatar a sales environment based on the request for product or service information.

Avatars in virtual worlds can have a wide range of business and social experiences. In fact, in some virtual worlds, such as Second Life® (a registered trademark of Linden Research, Inc.), the avatar-to-avatar business interactions and the virtual economy they generate, represent a significant portion of the experiences available in the virtual world. Just as in the real world, however, the increased complexity and depth of the business interactions available in virtual worlds pose obstacles to an avatar's ability to take full advantage of the opportunities available.
For example, where an avatar is interested in purchasing a class or type of product or service, as opposed to a specific product or service available from only one source, the avatar may need to visit or otherwise contact multiple vendors in order to obtain the best price or conditions. Where a large number of vendors of the product or service exist, it is often the case, as in the real world, that not every vendor will be contacted and, as a result, the prospective purchaser will not receive the best price or conditions available.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art to overcome the deficiencies and limitations described hereinabove.

Competitive sales environment in a virtual world

International Business Machines Corporation


An adjustment system of an aeroplane, having: at least one adjustable flap on each of the wing of an aeroplane, adjustable with an adjustment device, a drive device for purposes of driving the adjustment devices, and a load sensor for purposes of recording the load occurring in the load path between the actuator and the adjustable flap of the respective adjustment device. The load sensor is embodied as a sensor for purposes of measuring the longitudinal force occurring in a drive rod along its longitudinal direction.

From the general prior art landing flap systems with a central drive and a central torsion shaft train are known art, by means of which the adjustment devices for purposes of adjusting a flap are actuated. The shaft train transfers the mechanical drive power from a central drive motor to the actuators that move the flaps. In the event of e.g. jamming of the adjustment devices any further transference of drive power onto the adjustable flap must be prevented. For the detection of such an event the use of a load sensor is of known art.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,195,209 a load sensor for the drives of high-lift systems is disclosed, with which the load at the output of an actuator is measured, any overload is detected, and accordingly the drive system is rendered passive.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,195,209 discloses a high-lift system with a drive system, elements to transfer the drive energy over the whole width of the span to drive stations of individual segments of landing flap systems/leading-edge slat systems and with overload protection provided by electrical load sensors, which are arranged at the points at which the drive power from the respective gearbox is introduced into the flap body, in other words at the points at which the drive power is transferred from the output lever of the gearbox.

Adjustment system of an aeroplane with an adjustable flap