A writing device is provided for color electronic paper which is capable of performing full color display. The writing device includes a head unit, a head unit moving mechanism which moves the head unit in a first direction, a feeding mechanism which moves electronic paper, and a controller. The head unit includes a writing head, an LED which emits light of three primary colors, an image sensing element consisting of a CMOS sensor, and an optical system. The writing head includes an optically transparent head main portion provided with pixel electrodes, and a common electrode (counter electrode). In the controller, an arrangement of three types of microcapsules in a microcapsule layer is detected to perform electric field formation for each of the pixel electrodes based on a detection result.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a writing device for color electronic paper which is capable of performing full color display.
2. Related Art
As a non-luminous type display device, there is known an electrophoretic display device which utilizes an electrophoresis phenomenon. The electrophoresis phenomenon is a phenomenon in which, when an electric field is applied to a dispersion liquid having particulates dispersed in a liquid phase dispersion medium, particles naturally charged by the dispersion (electrophoretic particles) migrate according to a Coulomb force.
In a basic structure of the electrophoretic display device, one electrode is opposed to the other electrode at a predetermined interval, and the dispersion liquid (electrophoretic dispersion liquid) is encapsulated between the electrodes. In addition, at least one electrode is made transparent, and this transparent electrode side is set as an observation surface. When a potential difference is applied between both the electrodes, electrophoretic particles are attracted to one of the electrodes depending upon a direction of an electric field.
Consequently, if the dispersion medium is dyed with a dye and the electrophoretic particles are constituted by pigment particles in this structure, a color of the electrophoretic particles or a color of the dye can be seen from the transparent observation surface according to a direction of an electric field. Therefore, an image can be displayed by forming the electrodes in a pattern associated with respective pixels to control a voltage to be applied to respective pixel electrodes.
Such an electrophoretic display device attracts attention as an electrooptic device which is preferable for a new display because the electrophoretic display device has advantages such as a simple structure, a wide viewing angle, low power consumption, and a performance for maintaining a displayed image (a memory property).
As an example of the electrophoretic display device, there is known a microcapsule type electrophoretic display device. In this device, a layer consisting of a plurality of microcapsules containing electrophoretic dispersion liquid is arranged between electrodes opposed to each other as an electrophoretic layer.
In order to perform full color display with the microcapsule type electrophoretic display device, a layer consisting of three types of microcapsules, which are formed so as to be capable of displaying one color among predetermined three primary colors, respectively, is required as the electrophoretic layer. As an example of the microcapsule type electrophoretic display device capable of performing full color display, JP-A-2000-35598 discloses an electrophoretic display panel including a microcapsule layer in which the three types of microcapsules are arranged orderly, a pixel electrode for each microcapsule, and a common electrode which is in contact with all the microcapsules.
On the other hand, JP-A-2000-127478 discloses a microcapsule type electrophoretic display device which is divided into a display medium with a structure, which includes a microcapsule layer but does not include a drive circuit and electrodes, and a writing device having electrodes and a drive circuit. In addition, JP-A-2000-127478 describes "electronic paper", which includes a sheet-like base material (paper) having flexibility and a microcapsule layer which is formed on the base material and has a plurality of microcapsules arranged in a planar shape and fixed by a binder therein, as the display medium.
Such electronic paper has an advantage that, while the electronic paper can perform the same high definition display as the display panel of the electrophoretic display device, it can be easily carried because it does not have a drive circuit and electrodes, and it is possible to rewrite a color image on the electronic paper with a writing device.
On the other hand, office documents have made progress in colorization through spread of color printers, and an electronic paper is required with full color display.
It will be possible to rewrite a color image with the electronic paper as a medium by dividing the microcapsule type electrophoretic display device capable of performing full color display into color electronic paper and a writing device. However, at the present point, there is no writing device which can perform rewriting with respect to the color electronic paper. It is difficult to perform writing with respect to the color electronic paper with the writing device described in JP-A-2000-127478.

Writing device for color electronic paper


A turbomachinery includes a labyrinth seal (2) to prevent unstable vibration of a rotor formed by dividing the seal into segments (7) in a circumferential direction and combining the segments (7) whose comb teeth (5) differ in height. The labyrinth seal (2) preferably includes two kinds of segments (7) whose comb teeth (5) differ in height for each kind of segment, and the segments (7a) of the greater comb tooth height are arranged in a certain reference direction on a cross section right-angled to a rotational axis, and in a direction opposite to the reference direction, and the segments (7b) of the smaller comb tooth height are arranged in a direction right-angled to the reference direction, and in a direction opposite to that right-angled to the reference direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to turbomachinerys, and for example, to a turbomachinery suitable for preventing unstable vibration of a rotor rotating at high speed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Turbomachinerys include a rotor with a rotating blade, and a stator for retaining the rotor and forming a flow path. A clearance exists between the stator and the rotor, and a labyrinth seal of a comb structure is usually used to reduce fluid leakage from the clearance.
High-speed rotation of the rotor may result in unstable vibration thereof due to the possible swirling flow of the fluid at grooves formed between the comb teeth of the labyrinth seal. To prevent unstable vibration, it is effective to reduce the swirling velocity of the fluid at the grooves. For example, as disclosed in FIG. 1 of JP-10-61407-A, a structure has been proposed that includes a guide vane set up at the fluid inlet side of a labyrinth seal in order to reduce a swirling fluid velocity.
An event of oil whip due to the swirling flow of a lubricating oil on fluid-film bearings possibly takes place as an event similar to the unstable vibration mentioned above. It is known that oil whip easily occurs with cylindrical bearings and that the occurrence of unstable vibration can be suppressed by adopting elliptical bearings or multi-robe bearings.


There is provided a dust compressing apparatus for a dust collecting unit of a vacuum cleaner. In the dust compressing apparatus, a compartment plate divides an inner space of a dust collection container into an upper foreign substance separating compartment and a lower foreign substance storing compartment, and a branching unit guides airflow. The branching unit includes a motor connection passage directed to a motor generating a negative pressure, a dust collection passage directed to the foreign substance separating compartment, and a compression passage directed to the foreign substance storing compartment. A flow passage control unit controls connections between the passages of the branching unit. A compression unit compresses foreign substances stored in the foreign substance storing compartment by moving the compartment plate to the foreign substance storing compartment using the negative pressure transmitted through the compression passage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner, and more particularly, to a dust compressing apparatus and method for compressing foreign substances such as dust and dirt collected in a dust collecting unit of a vacuum cleaner.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical vacuum cleaner includes a suction nozzle unit to suck air containing foreign substances such as dust and dirt while the suction nozzle unit moves along a floor, a main body in which a suction power generating unit is installed to generate air suctioning force through the suction nozzle unit, a dust collecting unit detachably installed to the main body to filter out the foreign substances, and an operating unit mounted on the main body so that a user grasps the operating unit in use.
The dust collecting unit separates foreign substances from the air sucked through the suction nozzle unit. In one type of the dust collecting unit, foreign substances are collected while air containing the foreign substances passes through a porous filter. In another type of the dust collecting unit, the foreign substances are collected from the air by the cyclone effect. The present invention relates to the cyclone type dust collecting unit much more.
In the cyclone type dust collecting unit, foreign substances contained in the air fall down by the cyclone effect while air is swirled, and the fallen foreign substances are gradually accumulated. When the foreign substances are accumulated to a certain degree, it is removed from the duct collecting unit. Since the cyclone type dust collecting unit utilizes the gravity to drop the foreign substances, the density of the accumulated foreign substances is low.
This low density of the accumulated foreign substances causes the following problems.
Since the limited space of a dust collection container of the dust collecting unit is easily filled up by the loosely accumulated foreign substances, the dust collection container should be emptied frequently, thereby causing inconvenience to users. If the dust collection container is not emptied periodically, the build up of the foreign substances disturbs the airflow and thereby lowers the collecting efficiency of the dust collecting unit.
Further, dust generates from the loosely accumulated foreign substances during the cleaning of the dust collection container. This causes health-related problems and makes the cleaning of the dust collection container more difficult.
Furthermore, when the collected foreign substances are spread throughout the dust collection container, the outer appearance becomes bad to give an unpleasant feeling to the user.

Dust compressing apparatus and method for dust collecting unit of vacuum cleaner


Techniques for providing a semiconductor memory device are disclosed. In one embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a semiconductor memory device including a plurality of memory cells arranged in an array of rows and columns. Each memory cell may include a first region connected to a source line extending in a first orientation, a second region connected to a bit line extending a second orientation, and a body region spaced apart from and capacitively coupled to a word line, wherein the body region is electrically floating and disposed between the first region and the second region. The semiconductor device may also include a first barrier wall extending in the first orientation of the array and a second barrier wall extending in the second orientation of the array and intersecting with the first barrier wall to form a trench region configured to accommodate each of the plurality of memory cells.

The semiconductor industry has experienced technological advances that have permitted increases in density and/or complexity of semiconductor memory devices. Also, the technological advances have allowed decreases in power consumption and package sizes of various types of semiconductor memory devices. There is a continuing trend to employ and/or fabricate advanced semiconductor memory devices using techniques, materials, and devices that improve performance, reduce leakage current, and enhance overall scaling. Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) and bulk substrates are examples of materials that may be used to fabricate such semiconductor memory devices. Such semiconductor memory devices may include, for example, partially depleted (PD) devices, fully depleted (FD) devices, multiple gate devices (for example, double, triple, or surrounding gate), and Fin-FET devices.
A semiconductor memory device may include a memory cell having a memory transistor with an electrically floating body region wherein electrical charges may be stored. When excess majority electrical charge carriers are stored in the electrically floating body region, the memory cell may store a logic high (e.g., binary "1" data state). When the electrical floating body region is depleted of majority electrical charge carriers, the memory cell may store a logic low (e.g., binary "0" data state). Also, a semiconductor memory device may be fabricated on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates or bulk substrates (e.g., enabling body isolation). For example, a semiconductor memory device may be fabricated as a three-dimensional (3-D) device (e.g., multiple gate devices, Fin-FETs, recessed gates and pillars).
In one conventional technique, the memory cell of the semiconductor memory device may be read by applying bias signals to a source/drain region and/or a gate of the memory transistor. As such, a conventional reading technique may involve sensing an amount of current provided/generated by/in the electrically floating body region of the memory cell in response to the application of the source/drain region and/or gate bias signals to determine a data state stored in the memory cell. For example, the memory cell may have two or more different current states corresponding to two or more different logical states (e.g., two different current conditions/states corresponding to two different logic states: a binary "0" data state and a binary "1" data state).
In another conventional technique, the memory cell of the semiconductor memory device may be written to by applying bias signals to the source/drain region(s) and/or the gate of the memory transistor. As such, a conventional writing technique may result in an increase/decrease of majority charge carriers in the electrically floating body region of the memory cell which, in turn, may determine the data state of the memory cell. An increase of majority charge carriers in the electrically floating body region may result from impact ionization, band-to-band tunneling (gate-induced drain leakage "GIDL"), or direct injection. A decrease of majority charge carriers in the electrically floating body region may result from charge carriers being removed via drain region charge carrier removal, source region charge carrier removal, or drain and source region charge carrier removal, for example, using back gate pulsing.
Often, a conventional semiconductor memory cell requires relatively large area and/or large power consumption when performing reading and/or writing operations. For example, a conventional semiconductor memory cell may be fabricated having various regions in a planar orientation and occupying a large area on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate or bulk substrate. Thus, a conventional semiconductor memory cell may have inefficient scalability and lead to an increase in the size of the semiconductor memory cell. Also, pulsing between positive and negative gate biases during read and/or write operations may result in an increase in power consumption of the conventional semiconductor memory cell.
In view of the foregoing, it may be understood that there may be significant problems and shortcomings associated with conventional floating body semiconductor memory devices.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A temperature-controlled focus ring assembly for use in a plasma chamber that includes a focus ring surrounding a wafer pedestal for confining plasma ions to a top surface of a wafer positioned on the wafer pedestal; a heat transfer means in intimate contact with the focus ring for decreasing or increasing the temperature of the focus ring; and a controller for controlling the temperature of the focus ring to a predetermined value. The invention further discloses a method for operating a plasma chamber equipped with a temperature-controlled focus ring assembly.

The present invention generally relates to a semiconductor processing equipment and a method for using the equipment, more particularly, relates to a plasma chamber that is equipped with a temperature-controlled focus ring and a method of operating the chamber.
In the fabrication of modern integrated circuit devices, one of the key requirements is the ability to construct plugs or interconnects in reduced dimensions such that they may be used in a multi-level metalization structure. The numerous processing steps involved require the formation of via holes for the plug or interconnect in a dimension of 0.5 xcexcm or less for high-density logic devices. For instance, in forming tungsten plugs by a chemical vapor deposition method, via holes in such small dimensions must be formed by etching through layers of oxide and spin-on-glass materials at a high etch rate. A high-density plasma etching process utilizing a fluorine chemistry is thus used for such via formation process.
The via hole formation process can be enhanced by improving the etch directionality by a mechanism known as sidewall passivation to improve the anisotropy of the etching process. By utilizing a suitable etchant gas and suitable reactor parameters, an etch-inhibiting film of a polymeric nature can be formed on vertical sidewalls. The etch-inhibiting film slows down or completely stops any possible lateral etching of horizontal surfaces in the via hole. For instance, when a fluorine-containing etchant gas such as CFH3 is used, a fluorine-type polymeric film is formed on the sidewalls. Many photoresist materials may also contribute to the formation of polymeric films on the sidewalls. After the sidewall is coated with a polymeric film, it is protected by the inhibitor film to preserve the line width or via hole diameter control.
In a modern etch chamber, an electrostatic chuck (or E-chuck), is frequently used in which the chuck electrostatically attracts and holds a wafer that is positioned on top. The use of E-chuck is highly desirable in the vacuum handling and processing of wafers. In contrast to a conventional method of holding wafers by mechanical clamping means where only slow movement is allowed during wafer handling, an E-chuck can hold and move wafers with a force equivalent to several tens of Torr pressure. Another advantage for the E-chuck is that no particle generation or contamination problem can occur since there are no moving parts acting on the wafer. Moreover, the electrostatic force utilized on an E-chuck is sufficient in preventing bowing of a wafer which normally occurs in mechanical clamping and thus promotes uniform heat transfer over the entire wafer surface.
In an etch chamber equipped with a plasma generating device and an E-chuck, a shadow ring may be utilized as a seal around the peripheral edge of the wafer. The shadow ring, also known as a focus ring, is utilized for achieving a more uniform plasma distribution over the entire surface of the wafer and for restricting the distribution of the plasma cloud to only the wafer surface area, i.e. and thus the name of focus ring. The uniform distribution function may be further enhanced by a RF bias voltage applied on the wafer during a plasma etching process. Another function served by the shadow ring is sealing at the wafer level the upper compartment of the etch chamber which contains the plasma from the lower compartment of the etch chamber which contains various mechanical components for controlling the E-chuck. This is important since it prevents the plasma from attacking the hardware components contained in the lower compartment of the etch chamber. In order to survive high temperature and hostile environments, a shadow ring is frequently constructed of a ceramic material such as quartz.
In an etch chamber equipped with a high density plasma and an E-chuck, problems sometimes arise in the operation of the E-chuck. High density gas plasma formed has a short debye length and consequently vary small sheaths are formed at boundaries of objects that are present in the gas plasma. In order to prevent the plasma from affecting the voltage on the electrode of the E-chuck, the electrode positioned in a plasma chamber must be sufficiently isolated from the plasma. In a typical E-chuck positioned in a high density plasma, the electrode has a voltage applied to it with respect to a ground reference point. The wafer is referenced back to the same ground reference by the plasma. The effective voltage for the electrostatic clamping of the wafer is then the voltage which appears across the E-chuck dielectric layer between the isolated electrode and the wafer. The voltage applied to the isolated electrode may be positive or negative with respect to the chamber ground. However, the electrostatic force depends on the algebraic difference between the wafer and the isolated electrode.
When the gaps around an E-chuck exceed several debye lengths, plasma may either be generated in the gaps or may be extracted into the gaps. When the plasma contacts the electrostatic chuck which has an imperfect dielectric layer or the E-chuck electrode, a current may flow between the E-chuck and the plasma. The voltage at the E-chuck electrode is therefore affected. Typically, the magnitude of the E-chuck voltage is reduced when a current flows between the chuck and the plasma which leads to a reduction in the electrostatic force. The efficiency of the E-chuck for holding a wafer is therefore affected. Ideally, the solution to the problem is to shield the E-chuck from the high density plasma by limiting gaps between the E-chuck and a shadow ring around the E-chuck to less than several debye lengths. In such an ideal situation, plasma can be prevented from being generated in the gaps or being extracted into the gaps. Since the ideal equipment conditions cannot be achieved in a manufacturing environment, the generation of plasma in the gaps or the extraction of plasma into the gaps and therefore attacking a shadow ring which is normally fabricated of quartz cannot be avoided. In a normal fabrication environment, it has been found that a quartz shadow ring would only survive about one preventive maintenance cycle or about 2,000 wafers. The corrosion occurred on the surface of the quartz shadow ring is usually severe enough that it must be replaced during a preventive maintenance procedure.
Referring initially to FIG. 1, wherein a conventional etch chamber 10 equipped with a shadow ring 12 around an electrostatic chuck 16 is shown. The etch chamber 10 is equipped with a coil antenna 14 as a plasma source in a reaction chamber 20 formed by a silicon ceiling block 22, a dome-shaped sidewall 24, a chamber wall liner 26 and the electrostatic chuck 16. The dome-shaped sidewall 24 and the chamber wall liner 26 are normally fabricated of quartz. The chamber wall liner 26 may be equipped with an opening for the passage of a wafer paddle in loading and unloading wafers. It may be removed from the vacuum chamber 10 for cleaning.
The shadow ring 12 is positioned inside the plasma reaction chamber 20 which can be lifted up to a process position by positioning pins 32. The positioning pins 32 lift the shadow ring 12 away from the wafer when a wafer is being loaded or unloaded. A multiplicity of cooling gas channels 34 is provided inside the electrostatic chuck 16 at near its top surface 36. A high heat conductivity gas such as helium can be circulated through the cooling gas channels 34 to provide a suitable gas pressure on the bottom side of wafer 30 for transferring heat away from the wafer to the water-cooled E-chuck 16 during an etch process. The supply lines for the cooling gas to channel 34 are not shown. The electrostatic chuck 16 is aligned by an electrostatic chuck collar 38. The etching gas is fed into chamber 20 through gas inlet 28. A thermal coupler 42 is mounted in the silicon ceiling block 22 for controlling temperature.
The shadow ring, or focus ring 12, is frequently formed of a ceramic material such as quartz for its high temperature stability. However, when quartz is bombarded by plasma ions, oxygen atoms may evolve from the quartz and become a serious contaminating species in the plasma chamber. To avoid contamination by oxygen atoms, silicon is frequently used as the material for fabricating the focus ring 12. This is shown in FIGS. 2 and 2A.
In plasma chambers that are used for plasma etching processes, the etchant gas of a fluorine-containing plasma cause a physical interaction, i.e. an adsorption process of the fluorine ions or radicals onto the surface of silicon. This is shown in FIG. 2. The plasma ions or radicals at close to the edges of the wafer 30 are diverted and attracted to the silicon focus ring 12 for attaching themselves to the top surface of the silicon focus ring. As a result, shown in FIG. 2A, the plasma density at the edges of the wafer 30 is decreased, resulting in a decrease in the etch rates along the edges of a wafer.
The decreases in the etch rates of silicon oxide, i.e. where the bias voltage is the smallest, is shown in FIG. 4A at various levels of source voltages. It is seen that a significant drop in the oxide etch rates has occurred along the edges of the wafer. It is to be noted that the bias voltage is the voltage applied to the E-chuck 16 shown in FIG. 2.
Similarly, the deterioration in the oxide etch rate is plotted against the source voltage at five different levels of bias voltages in FIG. 4B. The largest source voltage occurs along the edges of the plasma zone, indicative of the edges of the wafer 30 shown in FIG. 2.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a focus ring assembly for use in a plasma chamber that does not have the drawbacks or shortcomings of the conventional focus rings.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a focus ring assembly wherein the focus ring is fabricated of silicon for use in a fluorine-containing plasma.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a focus ring assembly for use in a plasma chamber that is constructed of a focus ring and a heat transfer means.
It is another further object of the present invention to provide a focus ring assembly for use in a plasma chamber that does not effect the plasma density along the edges of the wafer during etching.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a focus ring assembly for use in a plasma chamber which does not decrease the etch rates of oxide along the edges of a wafer.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a plasma chamber that is equipped with a temperature-controlled focus ring.
It is still another further object of the present invention to provide a plasma chamber that is equipped with a focus ring which is controlled in temperature by a heat transfer means.
In accordance with the present invention, a focus ring assembly for use in a plasma chamber that is temperature-controlled and a method for operating the chamber are provided.
In a preferred embodiment, a focus ring assembly for use in a plasma chamber is provided which includes a focus ring surrounding a wafer pedestal for confining plasma ions to a top surface of a wafer positioned on the wafer pedestal; a heat transfer means in intimate contact with the focus ring for decreasing or increasing a temperature of the focus ring; and a controller for controlling the temperature of the focus ring to a preset value.
In the focus ring assembly for use in a plasma chamber, the focus ring is fabricated of a material that adsorbs plasma ions on a top surface of the focus ring. The focus ring may be fabricated of silicon and the process chamber may generate a fluorine-containing plasma. The heat transfer means is in intimate contact with a bottom surface of the focus ring. The heat transfer means may be a cooling means, or a heating means. The heat transfer means may be formed in a ring shape that has a planar top surface area substantially the same as a bottom planar surface area of the focus ring. The focus ring surrounds an electrostatic wafer chucking device, and may be fabricated of silicon that is sufficiently cooled such that substantially no fluorine ions or radicals are adsorbed on a top surface of the focus ring. The focus ring may be controlled to a temperature within a range of 100xc2x0 C.xc2x130xc2x0 C.
The present invention is further directed to a plasma chamber that is equipped with a temperature-controlled focus ring including a chamber enclosure defining a cavity therein capable of maintaining a pressure not higher than 1 Torr; a plasma generating means for producing a plasma in the cavity; a wafer pedestal for holding a wafer thereon; a focus ring surrounding the wafer pedestal for confining plasma ions to a top surface of the wafer held on the wafer pedestal; and a heat transfer means in intimate contact with the focus ring for controlling a temperature of the focus ring.
In the plasma chamber equipped with a temperature-controlled focus ring, the wafer pedestal may be an electro-static wafer chucking device. The plasma chamber may further include a controller for controlling a temperature of the focus ring to a predetermined value. The plasma produced in the chamber cavity may be a fluorine-containing plasma for etching oxide layers on a wafer. The focus ring may be fabricated of a material that adsorbs plasma ions or radicals on a top surface of the focus ring. The focus ring may be fabricated of silicon. The heat transfer means controls a temperature of the focus ring to within a range of 100xc2x0 C.xc2x130xc2x0 C.
The present invention is still further directed to a method for operating a plasma chamber that is equipped with a temperature-controlled focus ring including the operating steps of first providing a plasma chamber that has a chamber enclosure defining a cavity therein; a plasma generating means; a wafer pedestal; a focus ring surrounding the wafer pedestal; and a heat transfer means in intimate contact with the focus ring; mounting a wafer to be processed on top of the wafer pedestal; controlling a temperature of the focus ring by the heat transfer means to a predetermined temperature; and igniting a plasma in the cavity and substantially confining the plasma to a top surface of the wafer by the temperature-controlled focus ring.
The method for operating a plasma chamber that is equipped with a temperature-controlled focus ring may further include the steps of providing a focus ring fabricated of silicon; and igniting a plasma including fluorine ions in the cavity. The method may further include the step of controlling a temperature of the focus ring by the heat transfer means to within a range of 100xc2x0 C.xc2x130xc2x0 C.

Plasma chamber equipped with temperature-controlled focus ring and method of operating

Taiwan SEmiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd


The invention relates to a vehicle comprising a tiltable material collecting container which is suspended in a tilt axle running parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle and a telescoping device. The tilt axle runs in a plane of symmetry of the material collecting container. The frame-side ends of the telescope arms are pivotably attached to the frame in the central plane. At least one rotary drive is arranged on the container-side end of at least one telescope arm (09) to enable a rotation of the material collecting container about the tile axle. At least one pivot drive, which enables pivoting of the telescope arms out of the center plane of the vehicle in both angular directions, is provided.

In conjunction with trucks and commercial vehicles, it is known that superstructures, which are to some extent adapted to the mobile use case, must be installed on the so-called vehicle chassis for the respective intended purpose. Such superstructures are connected to the vehicle frame, and in certain use cases, the main vehicle drive is also used as the drive for accessory functions of the unit, but these superstructures can occasionally also be operated independently of the vehicle. For example, trucks for bulk materials which have a receiving container for material are known, such that the receiving container is tilted about a tilt axle for unloading the bulk material, so that the bulk material runs out of the container by gravity. In this context, there are also known embodiments of trucks having a tilt axle running in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, sometimes even equipped with two tilt axles in order to be able to dump the bulk material on either side of the vehicle. The tilt axles running in the longitudinal direction are usually arranged as close as possible to the outside edge of the vehicle frame, so that it is possible to dump the load directly next to the vehicle.
So-called suction dredges are a special case of an application in the field of mobile work machines.
DE 38 37 670 A1 discloses such a suction dredge comprising a pneumatic suction blow pipe, a collecting container for the soil sucked into it with the suction blow pipe opening therein, and the soil from the suction air stream being deposited therein as well as a suction fan connected to the collecting container to generate the suction air stream. The additional conventional components of a suction dredge include guide elements for the suction blow pipe and filters for cleaning the suction air before it leaves the collecting container and is discharged to the surroundings. With the design of the suction dredge described in this document, a collecting tank which can be tilted about one of two tilt axes running in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle toward the respective side of the vehicle as an alternative to dump the material deposited in the collecting container. The tilting arrangement used for this corresponds largely to the design of dump trucks with tipping buckets. One disadvantage of such a design for tipping the collecting container at the side is that the material in the bucket then falls to the ground directly next to the vehicle and when large volumes of materials are involved, this may make it difficult to completely empty the material collecting container in just one tilting operation. Therefore, the vehicle must either be moved during the tilting process or the dumping of material must take place in an area at a lower level in order to be able to receive larger volumes of material in this way.
DE 10 2012 003 226 A1 discloses a tiltable container, in particular for suction dredges in which the tilt axle is arranged above the container bottom, preferably in the upper half of the container. To empty the container, it can first be raised by means of a hydraulic system and then shifted to the side so that the tilt axle is raised into an elevated position. Another linear drive then acts on the container to pivot it about the tilt axle. Before the emptying process, a cover placed on the container must be opened by means of its own hydraulic system and pivoted to the side to allow the container to be raised and tilted. The design of this suction dredge is complicated, high maintenance and expensive accordingly. Furthermore, the known suction dredge has the significant disadvantage that the container can be tilted to only one side of the vehicle, so that flexible use of the suction dredge is greatly restricted.
DE 28 11 186 A1 describes a transport container, which is arranged on a running gear and can be tilted by means of a tilting device transversely to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. The two front end walls of the container are arranged so that each can be pivoted about a bearing journal. The bearing journal is connected to the upper ends of a trestle which has two pivot arms each pointing to a longitudinal axis of the running gear. The pivot arms are releasably connected to the running gear such that only the two pivot arms in the direction of which the container is to be emptied are connected to the running gear via bearing bolts while the two other pivot arms must be released manually from the running gear. Hydraulic working cylinders which are connected at the lower ends at the center of the transverse beam and at their upper end to a strap rigidly connecting the pivot arms are used to tilt the container. A circular disk on which a cable acts is arranged concentrically on the bearing journal.
With such known approaches to emptying a collecting tank, the movements for raising and tilting are necessarily separate from one another, thus resulting in a fixed movement sequence and a fixed tilting sequence. The height of tilting cannot be altered and the lateral tilting width is also fixed. For example, this results in the disadvantage that some of the bulk material will land on the vehicle chassis unless separator deflectors or guards are provided. Furthermore, conversion components must be designed manually to be tiltable on both sides.
Starting from the documents cited above, the object of the present invention is to provide an improved vehicle with a tiltable material collecting container which allows the material collecting container to be tilted to either side of the vehicle while at the same time permitting a position of the tilt axle, which is variable in height and about which it is possible to empty the material collecting container, even on an elevated surface, for example, another vehicle at the side, and it makes do with proven and robust drive elements.
These and other objects are achieved by a vehicle having the features according to the accompanying claim 1.

Vehicle with a tiltable material collecting container as well as an emptying module


A rechargeable battery unit, which is intended for supplying a voltage to an electrical appliance, is charged by an external charging voltage by a charging circuit. The charging circuit is configured such that a charge regulator controls the charging process, and a monitoring unit monitors the voltage that is applied to the rechargeable battery unit and causes the charging regulator to limit the voltage that is applied to the rechargeable battery unit if any over-voltage occurs.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a charging circuit for charging a rechargeable battery unit, with the rechargeable battery unit supplying an electrical appliance with voltage, and to a method for charging a rechargeable battery unit by an external charging voltage.
The present commercial requirements result in the manufacturers of electrical and electronic appliances having to produce ever smaller appliances. In this case, the progress in the miniturization of electronic assemblies allows the production of convenient appliances, which can be used in a mobile form. A pronounced trend in this direction can be observed in particular in the field of telecommunications. This relates primarily to appliances such as mobile telephones, cordless telephones, pagers, palmtops, etc. Since these appliances are not connected to any mains supply, they must be operated via rechargeable batteries. In this case, it must be possible to charge the rechargeable batteries in the appliance itself. For example, the rechargeable battery that is located in the portable handset of a cordless telephone must be capable of being recharged via the associated base station. It would not be acceptable for the rechargeable battery to have to be removed from the appliance in advance for charging.
This requirement results in that not only the rechargeable battery but also the appliance which is operated by the rechargeable battery remains in contact with a charging voltage via the charging circuit throughout the charging process, with the charging voltage generally being obtained from the mains voltage. There is a risk of an incorrect (excessively high) charging voltage being applied to the appliance. In some circumstances, the mains voltage may also be subject to considerable short-term fluctuations. The electrical appliance must therefore be protected against being destroyed by excessively high voltages, by over-voltage protection circuits.
Discrete components are generally used for this purpose. Zener diodes are frequently used in this case. These diodes are characterized by a precisely defined breakdown voltage, at which the reverse current rises steeply. If the applied voltage exceeds the breakdown voltage, then the impedance of the zener diode in consequence becomes low. The voltage that is applied to the zener diode is thus always limited to the breakdown voltage.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a circuit for charging rechargeable batteries that overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art devices of this general type, in which the complexity resulting from discrete components is reduced.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a charging circuit for charging a rechargeable battery unit with an external charging voltage, with the rechargeable battery unit supplying an electrical appliance with a voltage. The charging circuit contains a charging contact for connecting to the external charging voltage, and a charge regulator for controlling a current and/or a voltage profile of a charging process. The charge regulator has a control transistor through which a charging current flows, and a series transistor with a collector-emitter path connected to the control transistor and through the collector-emitter path a control current of the control transistor flows. The series transistor has a base connection electrically coupled to the charging contact. A monitoring unit is provided for comparing a signal representing a given voltage applied to the rechargeable battery unit, with a predetermined maximum value, and, if the predetermined maximum value is exceeded, the monitoring unit causes the charge regulator to switch off or reduce the given voltage applied to the rechargeable battery unit.
The present invention relates to a charging circuit for charging a rechargeable battery unit by an external charging voltage, with the rechargeable battery unit supplying an electrical appliance with voltage. The charging circuit has a charging regulator, which controls the current and/or voltage profile of the charging process. Furthermore, the charging circuit has a monitoring unit, which compares a signal, which represents the voltage that is applied to the rechargeable battery unit, with a predetermined maximum value and, if this maximum value is exceeded, causes the charging regulator to switch off or to reduce the voltage that is applied to the rechargeable battery unit.
Electrical appliances which are powered by a rechargeable battery unit have until now been equipped with a charging regulator for controlling the charging process, and with additional components in order to protect the rechargeable battery unit and the electrical appliance against over-voltages. With the present invention, the charging regulator carries out both functions, that is to say it controls the process of charging the rechargeable battery unit while at the same time being used for protection against over-voltages when the monitoring unit indicates to it that an excessive voltage has occurred. This makes it possible to save additional, discrete components, such as zener diodes, which were used for over-voltage protection. In consequence, owing to the saving of discrete components, the charging circuit according to the invention allows the electrical appliance to be produced at a lower cost and to be more compact. The rechargeable battery unit can remain in the electrical appliance during the charging process.
If the predetermined maximum voltage is exceeded, the voltage that is applied to the rechargeable battery unit can either be switched off or reduced. The simplest solution is to completely switch off the voltage that is applied to the rechargeable battery unit when a predetermined maximum value is exceeded. This embodiment can be implemented by a simple comparison circuit.
A solution in which the voltage is only limited and is not switched off completely has the advantage that the electrical appliance is still supplied with a voltage, despite the excess voltage. This may be a critical factor for many applications, for example in the case of appliances with volatile electronic memories. The data stored there would be lost if the supply voltage were switched off completely.
One preferred embodiment of the charging circuit according to the invention provides for the charging regulator to have a control transistor through which the charging current flows. In this embodiment, the control transistor is the central component for controlling the charging of the rechargeable battery unit. The desired charging current can be set by the control transistor.
According to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the monitoring unit as well as parts of the charging regulator are implemented on a common silicon substrate, while the control transistor is in the form of a discrete component. All the control electronics for controlling the sequence of the charging process as well as the voltage monitoring for detection of over-voltages can be accommodated in an integrated circuit. The control transistor is a discrete component, in the form of the only power component. The control electronics are supplied with a signal that represents the voltage that is applied to the rechargeable battery unit. The control connection of the control transistor (the gate connection when using an FET, and the base connection when using a bipolar transistor) is connected to the integrated circuit in order to make it possible to use the control transistor to check the charging current by the integrated control electronics. One control transistor, which is connected to the integrated control electronics via two signal lines, is thus sufficient for providing combined charging regulation with over-voltage protection.
It is advantageous for the control transistor to be a field-effect transistor, via whose source-drain path the charging current flows. The charging current and/or the voltage that is applied to the rechargeable battery unit may in this case be adjusted via the gate potential of the control transistor. Thus, all that is necessary to vary the charging current is to change the charge on the gate electrode of the FET. Since no permanent control current flows, the use of an FET as a power transistor allows the charging current to be controlled with no losses and quickly.
As an alternative to this, the control transistor may be a bipolar transistor, via whose collector-emitter path the charging current flows. In this case, the voltage that is applied to the rechargeable battery unit can be adjusted via the base current of the control transistor. If a high base current flows, then the resistance between the collector and emitter of the control transistor is small, and a high charging current can thus flow. In contrast, if the base current is small, only a small charging current flows, as well. The charging process cannot only be switched on and off, but can also be controlled by varying the base current. This has the advantage that, for example, the magnitude of the charging current as well as its time profile can be matched to the state of charge, the capacity and to the type of rechargeable battery unit.
In a situation where the signal that represents the voltage that is applied to the rechargeable battery unit exceeds the predetermined maximum value, the base current of the control transistor is advantageously reduced. Reducing the base current not only reduces the charging current but also results in a higher voltage being dropped between the collector and the emitter of the control transistor. This measure provides effective protection for the rechargeable battery unit and for the assemblies disposed downstream against excessively high voltage values. The base current is reduced such that the voltage that is applied to the rechargeable battery unit is reduced to a level that can still be tolerated by the assemblies that are disposed downstream, and the voltage supplied to these assemblies is still maintained.
However, alternatively, it is also possible to switch the base current to the control transistor off completely in the event of an excess voltage, in order to completely decouple the externally applied charging voltage from the rechargeable battery unit and from the assemblies that are disposed downstream. In this case, the transistor is used just as a switch, which isolates the initially applied charging voltage from the appliance when a maximum voltage is exceeded.
The control transistor is always the major item in all the preferred embodiments of the invention described so far. It combines both of the requirements which are placed on the charging regulator in just one component: first, the charging process can be controlled by the control transistor while, second, the rechargeable battery unit and the assemblies which are disposed downstream can be effectively protected against over-voltages by the control transistor. No more components are therefore required, such as zener diodes, for over-voltage protection. A transistor is a comparatively small and low-cost electronic component, which can be configured for any power requirement and has a robust control response. The charging circuit according to the invention can thus be produced such that it is compact and has a low cost.
According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the charging regulator has a series transistor, via whose collector-emitter path the base current of the control transistor flows. This allows the base current of the control transistor to be controlled, and hence also the charging current for the rechargeable battery unit, via the base current of the series transistor. The charging voltage that is applied between VCHARGE+ and VCHARGExe2x88x92 is generally not the same as the supply voltage for the integrated circuit on which the charging regulator is located. The series transistor makes it possible to ensure that the base current for the control transistor can be reduced to zero despite the different voltage levels. To this extent, the series transistor decouples the two voltage levels.
One advantageous embodiment of the invention provides for the charging circuit to have a timer that controls the start and end of the charging process. This measure represents a simple option for limiting the charging time and for protecting the rechargeable batteries against being overcharged, in this way. This lengthens the life of the rechargeable batteries. The charging time is in this case matched to the type of the rechargeable batteries used.
The timer may also be configured such that it allows the rechargeable battery unit to be charged at regular intervals. This makes it possible to ensure that the electrical appliance is always ready for use. If necessary, the time interval between two successive charging processes must be shortened, if the heavy load is placed on the electrical appliance. According to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the charging circuit controls the charging process as a function of the state of charge and/or of the charge capacity of the rechargeable battery unit. In order to make it possible to use the charging circuit according to the invention as universally as possible, the state of charge and the charge capacity of the rechargeable batteries being used are recorded, in order then to charge the rechargeable batteries in an appropriate manner. Recording the state of charge and the charge capacity on the one hand makes it possible to prevent overcharging of the rechargeable batteries. Furthermore, the profile of the charging process can be matched to the type of rechargeable battery. Some electronic appliances, in particular laptops and mobile telephones, can be delivered with different rechargeable battery units, which differ with regard to the quality, capacity, electrochemical composition, life and price. Recording the rechargeable battery type makes it possible to match the charging current, the charging time, the profile of the charging current and charging voltage, etc. to the type being used.
In order to discharge the rechargeable batteries being used as completely as possible before the charging process, a sequence of charging and discharge processes can be carried out. This lengthens the life of the rechargeable batteries.
In the case of rapid charging processes, the relatively large amount of charge that is transferred within a short time can result in a considerable amount of heat being produced. In order to avoid the production of this heat, it is advantageous to connect the external charging voltage to the accumulator unit using the pulsed mode. A high charging current flows at the start of the charging process, and the phases during which the charging current is switched on are therefore considerably shorter than the phases during which it is switched off and during which the rechargeable batteries are decoupled from the external charging voltage, for cooling purposes. As the charging process continues, the charging current decreases, and the phases in which the charging current is switched on and off can be made more similar to one another.
In order to avoid overheating of the rechargeable battery unit and of the appliance, it is also possible to record the temperature of the rechargeable battery unit during the charging process. In the event of overheating, the charging current could be reduced or the charging process interrupted.
It is advantageous for the monitoring unit to have an analog/digital converter, which digitizes the signal and represents the voltage that is applied to the rechargeable battery unit. The digitized signal can then in each case be compared with the predetermined maximum value, in order to identify over-voltages.
According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the charging circuit has a signal line for charging voltage identification, via which the electrical appliance can be supplied with voltage. This has the advantage that the voltage supply for the charge regulator and for the electrical appliance can be maintained when the rechargeable battery unit is removed or discharged.
In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the signal line for charging voltage identification is connected to the base connection of the series transistor. No charging current can flow through the control transistor unless the base-emitter voltage of the series transistor is greater than a specific value and a base current is flowing through the series transistor. The connection between the signal line for charging voltage identification and the base of the series transistor thus ensures that the charging current can flow only when a sufficiently high external charging voltage is applied. When no external charging voltage is applied, the series transistor is switched off. This prevents the rechargeable battery from being discharged via the externally accessible charging contacts (for example as a result of a short circuit or creepage currents).
It is advantageous for any over-voltages that occur on the signal line for charging voltage identification to be dissipated by a shunt regulator. The shunt regulator protects the signal line for charging voltage identification against over-voltages in that, above a predetermined voltage level, it dissipates a sufficient amount of current, for example to ground, so that the voltage on the signal line for charging voltage identification cannot rise any further.
According to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, it is possible to use the signal line for charging voltage identification to measure whether an external charging voltage is applied. The control transistor for the charging current is switched on only when a sufficiently high external charging voltage is applied.
The signal line for charging voltage identification is advantageously decoupled from the rechargeable battery unit during the measurement process just described. This is because it is, in fact, possible for the rechargeable battery unit to produce a voltage on the signal line for charging voltage identification across the emitter-collector path through the control transistor, which voltage would then be incorrectly identified as an external charging voltage. In consequence, the decoupling ensures that only the external charging voltage is actually measured when measuring the voltage on the signal line for charging voltage identification.
The method according to the invention for charging a rechargeable battery unit by an external charging voltage, with the rechargeable battery unit supplying an electrical appliance with voltage, contains the following steps:
a) control of the current and/or voltage profile of the charging process by a charge regulator;
b) comparison of a signal, which represents the voltage which is applied to the rechargeable battery unit, with a predetermined maximum value; and
c) if the maximum value is exceeded, causing the charge regulator to switch off or reduce the voltage which is applied to the rechargeable battery unit.
In this method, the charge regulator carries out the function of controlling the charging process for the rechargeable battery unit, while on the other hand the rechargeable battery unit and the assemblies that are disposed downstream can be protected against over-voltages by the charging regulator.
Until now, separate components have been used for over-voltage protection. These can now be saved.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a circuit for charging rechargeable batteries, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Circuit for charging rechargeable batteries having a combined charging and overvoltage protection circuit


A circuit breaker for a multi-pole electrical distribution circuit includes a cassette associated with each pole in the multi-pole electrical distribution circuit. Each cassette includes a housing, a pair of electrical contacts disposed in the housing, and a thermal and magnetic trip unit supported by the housing. The housing includes a first compartment having the electrical contacts disposed therein and a second compartment having at least a portion of the thermal and magnetic trip unit disposed therein. A wall separates the first and second compartments for isolating the second compartment from gasses generated by separation of the first and second contacts. A duct adjacent to the second compartment allows the gasses to pass to an exterior portion of the housing. The housing includes a pair of opposing slots formed therein for receiving edges of a load terminal. A lever has a first end disposed proximate an end of a bimetallic element and a second end disposed proximate an armature in the magnetic assembly of the trip unit. The lever is rotated by at least one of the bimetallic element and the armature to unlatch an operating mechanism.

The present invention relates to circuit breakers and, more particularly, to circuit breakers including thermal and magnetic trip units.
Circuit breakers typically provide instantaneous, short time, and long-time protection against high currents produced by various conditions such as short-circuits, ground faults, overloads, etc. In a circuit breaker, a trip unit is the device that senses current (or other electrical condition) in the protected circuit and responds to high current conditions by tripping (unlatching) the circuit breaker""s operating mechanism, which in turn separates the circuit breaker""s main current-carrying contacts to stop the flow of electrical current to the protected circuit. Such trip units are required to meet certain standards, e.g., UL/ANSI/IEC, which define trip time curves specifying under what conditions a trip must occur, i.e., short time, long time, instantaneous, or ground fault, all of which are well known.
One type of trip unit is known as a thermal and magnetic trip unit. A thermal and magnetic trip unit includes a magnetic assembly and a thermal assembly. The thermal assembly typically includes a bimetallic element through which electrical current flows. As current flows through the bimetallic element, the bimetallic element heats up and bends due to the different coefficients of expansion in the metals used to form the bimetallic element. If the temperature rise is sufficient, the bimetallic element bends enough to move an associated trip latch, which unlatches the operating mechanism to separate the main current-carrying contacts. The thermal assembly is typically used to sense an overload condition.
The magnetic assembly typically includes a magnet core (yoke) disposed about a current carrying strap, an armature (lever) pivotally disposed near the core, and a spring arranged to bias the armature away from the magnet core. Upon the occurrence of a short circuit condition, very high currents pass through the strap. The increased current causes an increase in the magnetic field about the magnet core. The magnetic field acts to rapidly draw the armature towards the magnet core, against the bias of the spring. As the armature moves towards the core, the end of the armature moves an associated trip latch, which unlatches the operating mechanism causing the main current-carrying contacts to separate.
Thermal and magnetic trip units must be calibrated to ensure that the circuit breaker trips at the appropriate current conditions. Calibration typically includes adjusting a distance between the bimetal and its associated trip latch and between the armature and its associated trip latch. However, establishing and maintaining calibration can be made difficult due to relative motion of the operating mechanism and the trip unit.
The above discussed and other drawbacks and deficiencies are overcome or alleviated by a circuit breaker for a multi-pole electrical distribution circuit, the circuit breaker including a cassette associated with each pole in the multi-pole electrical distribution circuit. Each cassette includes a housing, a pair of electrical contacts disposed in the housing, and a thermal and magnetic trip unit supported by the housing. The thermal and magnetic trip unit initiates separation of the pair of electrical contacts in response to an overcurrent condition in the multi-pole electrical distribution circuit.
In one embodiment, the housing includes a first compartment having the pair of electrical contacts disposed therein and a second compartment having at least a portion of the thermal and magnetic trip unit disposed therein. The first and second compartments have a wall disposed therebetween for isolating the second compartment from gasses generated by separation of the pair of electrical contacts. The first compartment may be in fluid communication with an exterior portion of the housing through a duct adjacent the second compartment, such that the gasses pass through the channel to the exterior portion of the housing.
In another embodiment, an end of the housing includes a pair of opposing slots formed therein for receiving edges of a load terminal. The edges of the load terminal may each include a detent formed thereon for retaining the edges within the pair of opposing slots.
Another embodiment includes a lever having a first end disposed proximate an end of a bimetallic element and a second end disposed proximate an armature in the magnetic assembly of the trip unit. At least one of the bimetallic element and the armature rotate the trip lever to unlatch an operating mechanism. The lever and the bimetallic element may extend into the second compartment through an opening in the top of the housing.

Integrated thermal and magnetic trip unit


An actuator of the present invention includes a shape maintaining sheet, a piezoelectric member provided integrally on the shape maintaining sheet, and a pair of electrodes formed to sandwich the piezoelectric member, wherein the shape maintaining sheet is formed of synthetic resin. Since the piezoelectric member is thin, the stiffness is increased by the shape maintaining sheet made of synthetic resin, and thus resonance frequency can be adjusted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an actuator used in various electronic components and a method of manufacturing the same and to an information recording/reproducing device including an actuator.
2. Related Background Art
Devices with piezoelectric elements (piezoelectric microactuators) include micro pumps and a normally closed type micro valve as indicated in xe2x80x9cPrototype of Micropump for Integrated Chemical Analysis Systemxe2x80x9d by Shoji et al., IEICE (The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers) Transactions (C, vol. J71-C, No.12(1988), pp.1705-1711). Application examples of longitudinal effect piezoelectric actuators include positioning of a diamond tip in a precision lathe, driving of a needle in a scanning tunneling microscope. It has been discussed to use piezoelectric elements in micromachines, microsensors, or the like through further reduction in size and improvement in performance. In various fields in which the use of such piezoelectric elements has been considered as being impossible, it is expected to enable minute and precise control by the use.
On the other hand, with respect to actuators for HDDs (hard disk drives), it tends to be difficult to position a magnetic head with respect to a track of a medium due to the reduction in track width with the increase in density.
In conventional magnetic disk units, a seek drive of a magnetic head has been carried out using a voice coil motor (VCM) or a rotary VCM.
Based on such a background, two-stage actuators like those recently used in optical disk related devices (such as CD, MO, DVD, or the like) tend to be used in HDDs to increase positioning accuracy.
Generally, systems of the two-stage actuators include an electrostatic system, a piezoelectric system, a magnetostrictive system, and the like.
An example of such two-stage actuators is disclosed in JP 9(1997)-265738 A, which is shown in FIG. 24. In JP 9(1997)-265738 A, it is described that as shown in the figure, a head supporting mechanism (a suspension 25) to which a head slider (not shown in the figure) is fixed vibrates with respect to a coarse actuator (not shown in the figure) in a magnetic disk unit. In JP 9(1997)-265738 A, attention is directed to the increase in track density in a magnetic disk unit. In FIG. 24, a pair of planar piezo elements 23 are incorporated to be positioned on both sides of the rotation center of a head mount block (a mount part 22) as a fixation part where the head supporting mechanism (the suspension 25) to which a head slider is attached is fixed to the coarse actuator. The pair of planar piezo elements are operated differentially to allow the head supporting mechanism (the suspension 25) to shake minutely. Thus, the head slider and a head element fixed to the tip of the head supporting mechanism can be displaced minutely. The planar piezo elements 23 cannot generate a large displacement. However, the suspension 25 is allowed to rotate minutely about a hinge and thus the displacement of the planar piezo elements 23 is increased at the position of the head element by eight times. In JP 9(1997)-265738 A, it is described that the positioning of the coarse actuator and the minute positioning of the head slider and the head element by the minute movement of the head supporting mechanism are operated interconnectedly, and thus the accuracy in positioning of the head element in a track width direction is improved, which enables the track density to increase. It can be assumed easily from FIG. 24 that the suspension 25, the mount part 22, and the planar piezo elements 23 are formed individually and then are assembled to complete the positioning mechanism.
As described above, the piezoelectric elements in the conventional technique had a problem in that generally, the displacement generated thereby and the size thereof are small and the displacement is constrained depending on the configuration, which cause the decrease in displacement and voltage (i.e. efficiency). In addition, fine processing and the use of an adhesive or the like have been difficult in manufacturing processes requiring fine processing of elements with a piezoelectric thin film or the like.
In order to solve the aforementioned conventional problems, the present invention is intended to provide an actuator and an information recording/reproducing device in which synthetic resin is used as a shape maintaining sheet material, so that the element efficiency and processing precision are improved, and to provide a method of manufacturing the actuator.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an actuator of the present invention includes a shape maintaining sheet, a piezoelectric member provided integrally on the shape maintaining sheet, and a pair of electrodes formed to sandwich the piezoelectric member. The shape maintaining sheet is formed of synthetic resin.
An information recording/reproducing device with an actuator of the present invention includes a slider on which a head is mounted, a head supporting mechanism for supporting the head through the slider, and a tracking member for tracking by the head through the head supporting mechanism. The actuator includes a shape maintaining sheet, a piezoelectric member provided integrally on the shape maintaining sheet, and a pair of electrodes formed to sandwich the piezoelectric member. The shape maintaining sheet is formed of synthetic resin. The head supporting mechanism includes the actuator, and the actuator is driven to displace the head minutely.
A first method of manufacturing an actuator according to the present invention is a method of manufacturing an actuator including a shape maintaining sheet, a piezoelectric member provided integrally on the shape maintaining sheet, and a pair of electrodes formed to sandwich the piezoelectric member, with the shape maintaining sheet being formed of synthetic resin. The first method includes: forming a lower electrode by thin film processing on a substrate processed in a shape of the actuator; forming a piezoelectric thin film; forming an upper electrode; and forming a shape maintaining sheet made of synthetic resin.
A second method of manufacturing an actuator according to the present invention is a method of manufacturing an actuator including a shape maintaining sheet, a piezoelectric member provided integrally on the shape maintaining sheet, and a pair of electrodes formed to sandwich the piezoelectric member, with the shape maintaining sheet being formed of synthetic resin. The second method includes: forming a lower electrode by thin film processing on a substrate; forming a piezoelectric thin film; forming an upper electrode; then processing the substrate, the lower electrode, the piezoelectric thin film, and the upper electrode in a shape of the actuator; and forming a shape maintaining sheet made of synthetic resin.
A third method of manufacturing an actuator according to the present invention is a method of manufacturing an actuator including a shape maintaining sheet, a piezoelectric member provided integrally on the shape maintaining sheet, and a pair of electrodes formed to sandwich the piezoelectric member, with the shape maintaining sheet being formed of synthetic resin. The third method includes: forming a lower electrode, a piezoelectric thin film, and an upper electrode on a substrate; processing them in a shape of the actuator using a lithographic technique; and transferring the lower electrode, the piezoelectric thin film, and the upper electrode onto a pattern formed of synthetic resin.
According to the present invention, the piezoelectric element can be formed using no adhesive and furthermore, a minute element can be obtained and the element can be designed without constraint. In addition, a considerably larger displacement can be obtained as compared to that in a conventional piezoelectric element. Particularly, when the actuator of the present invention is used as one for a magnetic head or the like, it is possible to obtain an actuator and an information recording/reproducing device that can be controlled with high precision. When the resonance frequency is low and a high speed control is difficult, size reduction is required. Even when the size is reduced, the displacement and voltage (i.e. efficiency) can be drawn out efficiently. Furthermore, the reduction in film thickness also enables power consumption to be reduced.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


The present invention is directed to developer compositions for poly-alpha-acrylate or methacrylate based resists giving high contrast and whose components are closely matched in boiling points. The use of the present developer improved the critical dimensional uniformity of images developed in a positive electron beam resist. More particularly, the present invention is directed to developer formulations whose compositions are directed to enhanced printed linearity, better across the plate uniformity, and improved contrast of the imaged positive resists. Such a improved developer can be used for the positive resist exposed by photons, electrons, ions, or X-rays.

The production of binary masks consists of pattern definition by exposure of electron beam resists on a chrome coated glass plate. The image is then developed and the pattern is etched into chrome by either aqueous based wet etching or by reactive ion etching with a chlorine bases plasma, most typically Cl.sub.2 /O.sub.2. (C. Sauer, SPIE Proceed., U.S. Pat. No. 3,236,413 (1997), the teaching of which is incorporated herein by reference.
With the advent of shrinking dimensions, the photomask of nX enlargement (n=4-10X) is also shrinking to less than 400 nm in dimensions. Because wet etching causes undercutting or undesired enlargement, reactive ion etching (RIE) has been utilized (W. Tsai, etal, SPIE Proceed., U.S. Pat. No. 3,412,149 (1998), the teaching of which is incorporated herein by reference). In RIE, >50% of the resist film can be eroded away. The particular resists that have been used for electron beam exposure are polymers that undergo main chain degradation. The primary examples are derived from a positive resist such as polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,535,137 and polybutene sulfone described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,935,332, the teachings of both of which are incorporated herein by reference. Improved contrast developers for PMMA can be found such as amyl acetate such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,931,435 and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,078,098, the teachings of both of which are incorporated herein by reference, for a mixture of methyl isobutyl ketone and water. All of these resists and copolymers are described in W. Moreau, SEMICONDUCTOR LITHOGRAPHY, Plenum Press, 1989, Chapter 3, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference. All of these resists however are not dry etch resist and thus the pattern can not be transferred by an RIE process.
For reactive ion etching a commercial resist called ZEP manufactured by Nippon Zeon (T. Coleman, SPIE Proceed., U.S. Pat. No. 3,236,397 (1997), the teachings of which has been incorporated herein by reference) has been used. The ZEP is composed of a copolymer of alpha-chloromethacrylate and alpha-methyl styrene (PCMMS). Copolymers of polyalpha-chloromethacrylate are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,359,481; 4,011,351; 4,454,222, the teachings of which is incorporated herein by reference. A preferred example is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,259,407, the teachings which is incorporated herein by reference, which is directed to a copolymer of poly(alpha-chloroacrylate-alpha-methylstyrene) which is now sold commercially by NIPPON ZEON as ZEP 7000 electron beam resist. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,259,407, a developer is claimed of a ketone such as 3 pentanone mixed with another ketone. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,454,222 a developer described which is MIBK (4 methyl-2 butanone) and isoproponal or a mixture with 2 butanone is used for a trifluoromethyl alpha-chloroacylate-methacrylic acid copolymer in a spray develop mode. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,414,313, the teachings of which is incorporated herein by reference, a mixture of dimethylacetamide and toluene is used as developer for a poly(alpha-chloroacrylate-methacrylic acid copolymer. All of these developers use flammable solvent components or solvent partners which differ widely in evaporative rates. The large difference in volatility causes changes in the ratio of solvent/non-solvent particularly in spray development mode which is widely practiced for chrome plate development. The change in solvent composition results in poor development and poor linewidth control across the mask plate. Poor linewidth control across the plate control is characteristic of the developers which are offered with ZEP resists.
The ZEP resist uses a commercial developer preferably consisting of the following compositions: ZED 300-Methyl ethyl ketone/anisole 93/7 by wt; ZED 400-Diglyme/Methyl ethyl ketone 20/80 by wt; and ZED 500-Diethyl ketone/Diethyl malonate 50/50 by wt. All of these compositions suffer from rapid evaporative loss of the more volatile ketone developer (which has a lower boiling point than the other components of the developer) and provide non-uniform development across the electron-beam written mask
Also, with these developers very low contrast is attained. The best is 1.8 obtained from the diethyl ketone:diethyl malonate developer. The contrast of a resist is obtained from the slope of a plot of the percent of developed film remaining vs Log of the dose as described in Moreau (SEMICONDUCTOR LITHOGRAPHY, page 30).
High contrast electron beam resists are needed for chrome mask fabrication. Because of electron beam back scattering from the substrate, closely spaced images suffer from adjacent exposure and is known as the proximity effect. In order to correct for this effect, a scheme known as the GHOST correction has been popularized by G. Owen, J. Vac. Sci. and Tech. B9, 1888 (1990), the teaching of which is incorporated herein by reference. In this procedure, a second flood exposure of 40% of the dose to print is used after the initial line dose to normalize the background exposure of the proximity effect. The resist is then developed and the closely spaced line features are printed to size. In order for a resist to be an effective reactive ion etch mask, not more than 15% of film loss of the initially unexposed region at 40% GHOST dose should be developed away. For example, in a 3500 A thick resist, more than 2500 A resist remaining (<28% loss) is necessary to protect the chrome mask during reactive ion etching. A typical ZEP 7000 contrast curve is shown in FIG. 1. When the GHOST correction is applied 67% (33% loss) of the initial 3500 A resist film (2345 A) of the film will remain which is not adequate masking for reactive ion etching of chrome.
The present ZED developers are inadequate for GHOST correction since >30% of flood exposed film is lost at 40% background dose. What is needed are improved developers to result in a higher contrast resist (>2.0,) which in turn would result in greater film retention when the GHOST correction is applied.
A popular method of development is spray of the solvent onto the surface of the chrome plate. The spray process involves volatization of the developer in progressing from a liquid to a vapor. During this process, the less volatile liquid is dominant in the condensing liquid and the composition of the developer becomes richer in the higher boiling (lower vapor pressure) constituent. Since the ZEP developers utilize volatile and flammable solvent/non-solvent blends, the need for combustible and uniform composition developers is desired especially for spray development mode. The boiling point of solvents or non-solvents that can be utilized are as follows. Solvents which boil above 145 C. are generally combustible in nature and more desirable from a safety viewpoint. There is a need for improved developers for ZEP and other chloroacrylate based resists which result in high contrast and whose components are closely matched in boiling point.
In addition to using ZEP type resists for chrome mask fabrication, other masks, substrates, or direct exposure of silicon wafers could also be exposed and developed with the resist, exposure tools, and developer modes used in semiconductor fabrication.

Developers for polychloroacrylate and polychloromethacrylate based resists

International Business Machines Corporation


A front vehicle body structure for a vehicle defining a space which is distinguished from a passenger compartment by a dash panel between front side members disposed along a longitudinal direction of the vehicle. The front vehicle body structure includes: a front shock absorber housing in which a front shock absorber of a front wheel suspension of the vehicle is disposed; a cowl top outer panel connected with lower end portions of front pillars of the vehicle; and a cowl upper cross member disposed below the cowl top outer panel and having a front end portion attached to the front shock absorber housing and a rear end portion attached to the cowl top outer panel.

Generally, a front vehicle body of a vehicle is positioned forwardly along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle to have a skeletal structure forming an engine room.
The space positioned in front of a passenger compartment which a passenger gets on in the vehicle is traditionally equipped with an engine, which is called so-called "engine room." In an electric vehicle in which an engine is not generally mounted, the space located in front of the passenger compartment is also generally referred to as an engine room.
In general, the electric vehicle uses the vehicle body structure of the vehicle at which the engine is mounted as it is, and the parts for the electric vehicle are mounted inside the engine room. For example, referring to FIG. 1 which shows an example of a front vehicle body structure according to prior art, inside the engine room are provided a battery pack for supplying power, a drive motor 101 for generating driving torque, various electric components for converting the power of the battery pack to be suitable to the drive motor 101, and a transmission for shifting the driving torque of the drive motor 101. Further, a cooling module 102 for cooling is provided. On the other hand, an air heat pump 170 is applied to the electric vehicle for indoor air conditioning.
However, in accordance with the above-described vehicle body structure of the prior art, since the front vehicle body structure of the vehicle forming the engine room is formed to be optimized to the vehicle at which the engine is mounted, there has been a problem of interfering with each other in mounting the parts for the electric vehicle using this front vehicle body structure.
The drive motor 101 for generating driving torque is installed between a front side member 121 and a fender apron member 122 which are formed along the longitudinal direction and disposed in the width direction of the vehicle, and a cooling module 103 is installed at front end portions. Further, an air heat pump 170 for air conditioning inside the vehicle is mounted therein.
However, there was a problem that a part of the air heat pump 170 interferes with the front vehicle body structure. For example, a part of the air heat pump 170 interferes with a cowl member. An upper portion of the air heat pump 170 interferes with the cowl member such as a cowl upper cross member 145 or a cowl top outer panel 151 (a portion marked with dotted lines in FIGS. 1 and 2), so that there was difficulty in mounting.
Furthermore, although the electric vehicle has the available space in the interior of the engine room compared to the vehicle equipped with an engine, the vehicle body structure of a general vehicle is used to limit the expansion of the space forward in the passenger compartment.
On the other hand, in order to avoid the interference between the air heat pump 170 and the front vehicle body structure, it is possible to modify the form of each constituent element that constitutes the front vehicle body structure, but it may be difficult to maintain rigidity in this case. Each constituent element constituting the front vehicle body structure has been developed as a shape whose shape can exercise the performance required for torsion, bending, vibration or impact, but it may not be able to exert its required performance if the shape is modified arbitrarily.
The foregoing is intended merely to aid in the understanding of the background of the present disclosure, and is not intended to mean that the present disclosure falls within the purview of the related art that is already known to those skilled in the art.

Front vehicle body structure for vehicle


An apparatus includes a tool body having a bore that is aligned with a lengthwise axis and a rotating assembly coupled to the tool body. The rotating assembly includes a turbine wheel that is disposed adjacent to an inner surface of the wall and exposed to the bore. The rotating assembly includes an impeller that is disposed adjacent to an outer surface of the wall in a position corresponding to the turbine wheel. Each of the turbine wheel and impeller has a respective axis of rotation that is transverse to the lengthwise axis. The rotating assembly includes a link rod that couples the turbine wheel to the impeller and is used to transfer mechanical energy generated by the turbine wheel to the impeller. The apparatus is operable by fluid flow through a drill string to increase pressure in a wellbore annulus and enhance transportation of formation cuttings up the annulus.

While drilling a wellbore with a drill string, drilling fluid is typically circulated through the wellbore by pumping the drilling fluid into the drill string. At the end of the drill string is a drill bit with nozzles. The drilling fluid pumped into the drill string exits into the bottom of the wellbore through the nozzles in the drill bit and moves up an annulus between the drill string and the wellbore to the surface, where the drilling fluid is received, cleaned, and circulated back into the wellbore. Drilling fluid serves various purposes, including cleaning the bottom of the wellbore; cooling, cleaning, and lubricating the drill bit; maintaining the wall of the wellbore; transporting formation cuttings from the drill bit to the surface; and preventing formation fluid influx to the well.
The process of transporting formation cuttings from the drill bit to the surface is known as hole cleaning. Failure to perform efficient hole cleaning may lead to development of cuttings bed in the annulus. Cuttings bed in an annulus leads to complications in drilling, such as decreased annulus area for return flow to the surface, increased torque and drag on the drill string that can prevent continued drilling to a target depth, formation fracturing due to the increased effective density acting on the formation, and mechanical sticking of the drill pipe.
Hole cleaning is affected by various factors, such as flow rate of the drilling fluid, rheological properties of the drill fluid, inclination angle of the hole, rotation of the drill string, eccentricity of the drill pipe in the hole, rate of penetration of the drilling, and characteristics of the formation cuttings, e.g., density, size, and shape of the cuttings. A critical flow rate exists below which cuttings slump down and form a stationary cuttings bed in the annulus. It is generally desirable to maintain the flow rate through the annulus above the critical flow rate to avoid development of stationary cuttings bed. A higher flow rate is typically achieved by increasing the fluid pump rate. However, flow rate is constrained by the allowed equivalent circulating density, which is constrained at a lower end by formation pore pressure gradient and at an upper end by fracture gradient and by the standpipe pressure. In some drilling scenarios, it may not be possible to increase the flow rate to a level high enough to avoid development of stationary cuttings bed.
In current drilling operations, drilling rig crews depend on following a set of "best practices" to ensure proper hole cleaning. These best practices include applying a minimum pipe rotation and a minimum flow rate for each hole size, keeping drilling fluid rheology within a certain range based on hole size, pumping hole cleaning sweeps, and performing short round trips every 1000 ft of drilled new formation to evaluate the hole condition. A hole cleaning sweep is a drilling fluid with two different characteristics. When the sweep reaches the annulus, the sweep will create a turbulent flow, which will help in moving cuttings out of the hole.

Hydraulically driven hole cleaning apparatus


A reconditioning system for reconditioning a damaged polishing pad is disclosed. The reconditioning system includes a reconditioning disk including a plurality of diamonds for reconditioning the polishing pad, wherein each diamond fluoresces when being exposed to a light energy source.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to chemical mechanical polishing, and more particularly, to methods of detecting diamond contamination of a polishing pad.
2. Related Art
Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is a method of removing layers of solid for the purpose of surface planarization and definition of metal interconnect patterns, and is a key process in back-end of line integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing. Typically, CMP is carried out using a revolving pad in a slurry to polish a semiconductor wafer. The polishing pad is made of a porous polymeric material that retains the slurry on or within the pad. During use, the polishing pad surface may become damaged, which prevents the polishing pad from providing consistent etching rates and makes the pad unusable. In order to address this situation, polishing pads are reconditioned by applying a reconditioning disk to the polishing pad that contains an abrasive in the form of diamonds. One problem with this process is that the diamonds oftentimes fall off the reconditioning disk and may become embedded in the polishing pad or otherwise contacted to the polishing pad, which results in catastrophic polishing scratches on a wafer being polished.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need in the art for methods of reconditioning a polishing pad and detecting diamond contamination thereof.

Detection of diamond contamination in polishing pad and reconditioning system therefor

International Business Machines Corporation


A method for deploying virtualized network functions (VNFs) as virtualized implementations of logical network devices in a virtualized computing environment for providing network services, the method including determining a VNF deployment plan including a specification, for each point in time over a planning period, of zero or more VNF instances to be released at the point in time and zero or more VNF instances to be deployed at the point in time, wherein the deployment plan is determined by an optimization function based on: a constraint on a number of VNFs in all states of undeployed, being deployed, deployed and being release; constraints based on a demand for VNFs defined by characteristics of the VNFs and the virtualized computing environment; and constraints based on a capacity of the virtualized computing environment to accommodate a resource consumption of the VNFs, and wherein the optimization function is configured to minimize one or more of: a number of VNFs in a deployed state; and a resource cost of deploying and releasing VNFs; and executing the VNF deployment plan to deploy VNFs for the virtualized computing environment.

Network function virtualization (NFV) is the application of systems virtualization to computer network functions such as: deep packet inspection; network optimization; radio network access; and content delivery functions. This means that physical bespoke appliances are replaced with software equivalents operating in servers such as cloud computing devices. Virtualizing these appliances in this way permits: their provision by potentially many disparate service providers; their provision potentially remotely with access via the cloud service provider; network-wide deployment of new or alternate appliances in one go; modifying, updating or fixing appliances by software change without a need to invest in new hardware; a decoupling of software management from hardware management such that the physical devices can be managed, upgraded and provisioned separately from the software that can be managed remotely; and control over the scale, nature and extent of appliances deployed in a network centrally and potentially network-wide. A motivator for the use of NFV is a reduction in energy consumption with NFV offering up to 50% energy savings versus equivalent physical appliance deployments.
Virtualized network functions are deployed for virtualized computer systems providing services requiring the network functions. For example, a firewall service may require the deployment of: a deep packet inspection function; and a routing function. These services and the functions they depend upon are provisioned, deployed and released over time according to the execution of the computer system. The NFV resources are therefore instantiated and released potentially repeatedly for each of potentially multiple services in a virtualized system. There is a resource cost associated with the deployment of duplicate functions in a virtualized system. Further, there is a resource and time cost associated with provisioning and deprovisioning functions according to the needs of the services.

British Telecommunications Public Limited Company