An ink-fouling preventing sheet which is attached to a feed or delivery cylinder that supports and moves a printed paper in an offset press. The sheet comprises a flexible sheet base; an adhesive layer formed on the base; many small balls partially buried in the adhesive layer; a primer layer applied over the exposed convex portions of the small balls in the adhesive layer; and a set resin layer made of a silicone-modified urethane resin and applied on the primer layer to take the convex shapes of the small balls.

The offset printing ink used in a sheet-fed offset press is known to dry slowly. Also, it is well known that the drying speed is considerably influenced by the temperature and humidity.
Therefore, the feed cylinder and deliver), cylinder on which printed papers are carried, are likely to be fouled with the ink from the printed papers, causing a trouble in the printing process.
Accordingly, it has been proposed to use an ink-fouling preventing sheet on the surfaces of a feed cylinder and delivery cylinder of an offset printing press to prevent the cylinders from being fouled with the printing ink oil printed papers. For example, the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 57-169360 discloses a protective sheet of this type made of a woven fabric having a surface support layer made of a low-friction material, such as fluoroplastic (applied with a repellant). This is shown in FIG. 1. The woven fabric 11 is attached to a metallic surface 10A of a skeleton wheel 10 having an appropriate fixture (such as Velcro or the like) attached on either end thereof to securely hold the woven fabric 11 on the wheel 10. However, such woven fabric is disadvantageous in its low durability and thus not usable for a long continuous printing.
Also, a similar sheet is disclosed in the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 53-7841. It is shown in FIG. 2. This is a sheet comprising a base 14 on which ball-like glass beads 12 are attached with an adhesive 13. It is attached to a feed or delivery cylinder to prevent the same from being fouled with the printing ink. This prior art is intended to assure point contact of the glass beads with printed papers to minimize the area of contact with the surface of the printed paper and the amount of friction with the printed paper. This prior art is effective in minimizing the transfer of the ink from printed papers.
However, it is difficult to continuously prevent the glass beads from being stained with the ink on printed papers only at the point contact of the glass beads with printed papers. As offset printing is continuously done for a certain length of time, the glass beads repeatedly touch printed papers and thus have a cumulated transfer of the ink from printed papers. The ink thus cumulated on the glass beads will stain the subsequently printed papers.
To avoid such fouling with the ink on printed papers, it is frequently necessary to stop the offset press and clean the glass beads with a solvent such as cleaning oil (petrolic cleaning solvent of a high boiling point) in order to remove the ink from the beads. Therefore, the press cannot be continuously operated for a long time. The time and labor required for the cleaning, those required for removing and cleaning the sheet or the those required for replacing the fouled sheet with a fresh one, share a considerably large part of the time and labor needed for a printing process.
Accordingly, the present invention has an object to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art by providing an ink-fouling preventing sheet which can be used for a long time for daily printing for a long term without any cleaning with a cleaning solvent (a petrotic type of a high boiling point). The present invention provides for an offset printing press to be operated continuously for a long time of daily printing for a long term, and can be used as it is repeatedly washed in the cleaning oil after it is used for a long time, It has a highly improved durability.


An automated seed sampler includes a sampling station; a sampler for removing material from a seed in the sampling station; a seed conveyer for conveying the seed from the sampling station to a compartment in a seed tray; and a conveyor for conveying the material removed from the seed to a corresponding compartment in a sample tray. The method of the present invention comprises feeding seeds individually to a sampling station, removing a sample from the seed in the sampling station; conveying the sample to a compartment in a sample tray, and conveying the seed to a corresponding compartment in a seed tray. The samples can be tested, and the seeds can be sorted according to the results of the testing of their corresponding samples.

This invention relates to systems and methods for taking samples from biological materials such as seeds.
In plant development and improvement, genetic improvements are made in the plant, either through selective breeding or genetic manipulation, and when a desirable improvement is achieved, a commercial quantity is developed by planting and harvesting seeds over several generations. Not all seeds express the desired traits, and thus these seeds need to be culled from the population. To speed up the process of bulking up the population, statistical samples are taken and tested to cull seeds from the population that do not adequately express the desired trait. However this statistical sampling necessarily allows some seeds without the desirable trait to remain in the population, and also can inadvertently exclude some seeds with the desirable trait from the desired population.

Automated seed sampler and methods of sampling, testing and bulking seeds


Apparatus for transporting discrete objects or bulk goods from a first station at a first level to a second station at a second level, which may but need not be above or below the first level, has an endless belt conveyor which is trained about pulleys at the two stations and has an upper reach which is braced from below by a table and defines a straight horizontal or a hilly path for the commodities. The marginal portions of the belt, at least in the region of the upper reach, are guided by pairs of idler rollers whose axes are inclined relative to each other. The rollers are mounted in bearing units which, in turn, are adjustably coupled to elongated bases of a frame.

The invention relates to transporting apparatus in general, and more particularly to improvements in conveyors which employ endless belts. Still more particularly, the invention relates to belt conveyors which can be utilized with advantage to transport discrete objects or bulk goods along an elongated straight path extending from a first station to a second station, especially a second station which is located at a level above or below the level of the first station.
Heretofore known belt conveyors for the transport of commodities between stations which are disposed at different levels normally employ a plurality of endless belts in series, i.e., each such endless belt defines a portion of the path for the transport of commodities from the first station to the second station. The drives for discrete endless belts must be adjustable so that the movements of neighboring endless belts can be properly synchronized. The transporting stretches or reaches (normally the upper reaches) of neighboring endless belts define transversely extending clearances or recesses which affect the versatility of such conveyors, i.e., certain types of commodities cannot be transported by a conveyor which is assembled of a series of discrete endless belts. Moreover, the recesses or clearances affect the ability of conventional multiple-belt conveyors to transport goods having a particular weight, size and/or shape; for example, such conveyors cannot be used for the transport of goods consisting of discrete particles having a size below a certain range of acceptable sizes or consisting of lightweight particles. Still further, the transfer of conveyed objects or articles from belt to belt normally affects the orientation of transported objects and renders it necessary to guide the objects at both sides of the path and/or to reorient the objects at the second station. Still further, conventional belt conveyors which employ several endless belts must be equipped with complex, bulky and expensive control systems for individual belts; it is often necessary to drive each belt by a separate prime mover and each prime mover must be separately connected to a discrete energy source or to a common energy source for two or more belts. Moreover, the initial, maintenance and repair costs of such conveyors are very high.
For the aforedescribed reasons, presently known belt conveyors employing two or more endless belts which operate in series have failed to gain acceptance in many branches of the industry. As already mentioned above, such conveyors are not suitable for the transport of commodities in the form of small particulate material and/or lightweight material.

Belt conveyor with rotary guides for marginal portions of the belt


A photoneutron conversion target for generating photoneutrons by directing an x-ray beam at the photoneutron conversion target includes an elongated body having a first end and a second end. When the photoneutron conversion target is in use, the x-ray beam enters the body and propagates in a direction from the first end to the second end. The body of the photoneutron conversion target is shaped such that propagation of the x-ray beam is substantially proportionate to an intensity distribution of the x-ray beam, so that the greater an intensity of x-rays of the x-ray beam, the greater the propagation distance of the x-rays within the body of the photoneutron conversion target. The photoneutron conversion target according to the invention can make full use of the x-ray beam so as to increase a yield of photoneutrons.

At the present time, terrorism constitutes a great threat to international and domestic social stability. Governments of countries are endeavoring in anti-terrorism. Detection technology of contraband such as explosives is the core of anti-terrorism.
An existing contraband detection technology is x-ray imaging detection technology. X-ray imaging detection technology is a broadly applied safety inspection technology. Many devices based on the x-ray imaging detection technology can be seen in airports and at railway stations. Since x-ray mainly reacts with the orbital electrons outside the atomic nucleus, it has no capability in distinguishing the characteristics of the atomic nucleus. Therefore, only the density (mass thickness) of the detected object can be measured using x-ray, and it is impossible to determine the kinds of elements of the detected object. In practice, when contraband is mixed with daily articles and the density thereof is hard to be distinguished from that of the daily articles, it is difficult to find the contraband by the x-ray imaging detection technology. Although some new x-ray imaging detection technologies, for example, dual-energy x-ray and CT technology, have been somewhat improved in recognition or discrimination capability, they still cannot overcome the inherent disadvantage of inability to recognize the kinds of elements.
Another existing illicit-article detection technology is neutron type detection technology. As to the neutron type detection technology, neutrons can react with the atomic nucleus of a substance and emit characteristic γ-rays. It is possible to determine the kinds of the elements of the analyzed substance based on the energy spectrum of γ-rays. A disadvantage of the neutron type detection technology is modest imaging resolution which, at best, reaches a spatial resolution of 5 cm×5 cm×5 cm at the present time, far lower than the millimeter-grade resolution of x-ray imaging. Additionally, a separate neutron source is usually expensive and limited in life-time, and neutron yield is not high enough.
Therefore, a method and/or system is desirable which is capable of combining the above-mentioned x-ray imaging detection technology and neutron type detection technology so as to obtain the advantages of high resolution of the x-ray imaging detection technology and the element recognition capability of the neutron type detection technology.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,952 refers to an explosive detection system which combines a plurality of detecting means including an x-ray imaging means and a neutron detecting means to realize high detection probability and lower false positive. U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,952 further discloses associating the data obtained by the x-ray imaging means with the data obtained by the neutron detecting means so as to make up, with a high resolution x-ray image, for the of the low resolution of the neutron type detection technology. However, an x-ray source and a neutron source, which are independent of one another, are used in U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,952, and so the cost thereof is more expensive.
A neutron generating technology can be used to bombard a conversion target with x-rays to generate neutrons from the conversion target. The neutrons generated in this way can be called photoneutrons. This photoneutron generating technology provides a possibility of generating both x-rays and neutrons from single source, which would reduce cost as compared to generating x-rays and neutrons using two sources respectively.
International Patent Application Publication WO 98/55851 refers to a system of detecting and recognizing contraband by photoneutron imaging and x-ray imaging. The system works in two steps. Specifically, the system first generates an x-ray beam using a linear accelerator x-ray source and detects an object by x-ray imaging. If no abnormality is found, the detected object is allowed to pass; if a suspect region is found, a photoneutron conversion target (beryllium) is temporarily inserted into the x-ray beam so as to generate photoneutrons, and the suspect region is detected based on characteristic γ-rays emitted from the radiative capture reaction between the photoneutrons and the atomic nucleus of the substance. The system performs the first step of detection using only x-rays. Due to the limit of the recognition capability of the x-ray imaging detection technology as stated above, the system has a low probability of detection (PD). Besides, the system does not simultaneously generate x-rays and photoneutrons for detection, but generates x-rays and photoneutrons for detection in two separate steps. That is, only x-rays and no photoneutrons are generated in one step, while photoneutrons are generated using the x-rays in another step. However, the x-rays generated in said another step are only used for generation of photoneutrons not for detection purpose. Further, the generated photoneutrons are only used for detection of the suspect region of the detected object; not for overall detection of the detected object.
Chinese Patent Application No. 200510086764.8 discloses a method of recognizing materials using fast neutrons and x-rays. The application describes a method and device of simultaneously generating x-rays and photoneutrons, which splits the x-rays generated by an accelerator into two beams one of which is used in generating photoneutrons. In the application, however, as far as the neutrons are concerned, detection is performed by way of the intensity of photoneutrons that pass through the object to be detected; not by way of the characteristic γ-rays emitted from the reaction between the neutrons and the detected object. Additionally, such a detection usually requires for the x-ray beam to be laterally spaced apart from the neuron beam by a distance in order that the x-ray beam and the neutron beam do not interfere with one another in their detections.
The contents of each of the above-referenced applications and patents are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.


Some embodiments are directed to a patch panel including a frame, at least one plug-in module including connectors, arranged in such a way as to slide between a pushed-in position in which the plug-in module is placed in a housing in the frame and an extracted position in which the plug-in module is outside the housing, the panel further including a device for attaching the plug-in module to the frame, the attachment device including: at least one flexible elongate body arranged in such a way as to slide with respect to the frame and/or to the plug-in module; a first end designed to attach the plug-in module to the attachment device when the plug-in module is in the extracted position; and a second end designed to attached the attachment device to the frame when the plug-in module is in the extracted position.

Some embodiments relate to installations of IT and telecommunications networks, and more particularly to a patch panel and associated device for attaching to a drawer.
A patch panel makes it possible to make the links between several cables connected to the various ports of the panel by connecting the ports concerned by patch cords. In particular, the patch panels of RJ45 connectors make it possible to create a cabling between the twisted pair cables and RJ45 cords in order to establish the links between various peripheral devices.
Certain panels include drawers placed in a frame in dedicated housings that make it possible to slide a row of connectors supported by the drawer in order to allow for easier access to the cables connected to the connectors.
Current panels are not designed in such a way that the drawer support of connectors is entirely extracted outside of the frame of the patch panel during the mounting of the cables. The opening in the front face of the panel is thus not sufficiently cleared to allow for an ergonomic mounting of the cables and of the connectors inside the panel.

Patch panel including a device for attaching a plug-in module


Butadiene polymer rubber compositions containing a polymeric activator have particularly beneficial characteristics. The activator is an interpolymer of a vinylpyridine monomer and a diene hydrocarbon monomer which interpolymer contains from 20% to 65% by weight of vinylpyridiene units. Composite articles made from these rubber compositions together with contiguous portions of a dissimilar rubber compound show greater strength and adhesion as a result of the presence of a activator in the butadiene polymer rubber composition.

Interpolymers from vinylpyridine monomers and conjugated diene monomers are known. These interpolymers have been used as oil-resistant rubbers in a variety of applications and, in latex form, as adhesives between textile cords and rubber.
The particular behavior of vinylpyridine interpolymers in the vulcanization process has also been noted, when these interpolymers were combined with other vulcanizable rubber. An increase in modulus, tensile strength and tear strength was noted in rubber vulcanizates containing large (30-70%) proportions of vinylpyridine interpolymers (with low levels of vinylpyridine, e.g. 5-15%) blended with such rubbers as natural rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber and butadiene-acrylonitrile rubber.
Terpolymers from butadiene, styrene and a small amount of vinylpyridine have also been shown to have a faster cure rate and a resultant higher modulus than control copolymers from butadiene and styrene alone.

Rubber compositions containing polymeric activators


The image pickup apparatus of the present invention sets at least an imaging magnification of an optical system included in a second image pickup device or a sampling pitch of a signal in the second image pickup device; calculates, using image data of a plurality of frames captured by second image pickup device during exposure of first image pickup device for image data of a first frame, the amount of subject motion in the image data of the plurality of frames; and controls the exposure of the first image pickup device for the image data of the first frame, on the basis of the calculated amount of subject motion.

In recent years, image pickup apparatuses having a photographing mode that gives a higher priority to shutter speed have been known. Examples of such image pickup apparatuses include camera-equipped smartphones and digital cameras. The photographing mode described above allows the photographer to set a desired shutter speed while allowing the image pickup apparatus to automatically set other exposure settings, such as an aperture and ISO speed. With this photographing mode, the photographer can capture an image at a desired shutter speed. For example, by setting a shutter speed that provides short exposure time, the image of a fast-moving subject, such as waterfall spray or racing cars, can be captured with less motion blur. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-197192 discloses an image pickup apparatus that detects the amount of subject motion in an image captured before capturing the still image, and determines the shutter speed on the basis of the result of the detection.
To capture an image with less motion blur, the image needs to be captured at a high shutter speed which provides short exposure time. However, even when the shutter speed is set high before image capturing, the captured image may still have motion blur.
For example, the photographer or the image pickup apparatus predicts how fast a moving body will move before image capturing, and the image of the moving body is captured at a shutter speed set such that motion blur can be reduced. However, if the subject moves unexpectedly fast during capturing of the image to be recorded, the captured image of the subject may be blurred even when captured at the shutter speed set beforehand.

Image pickup apparatus, control method of image pickup apparatus, and storage medium


Disclosed is a data processing system-implemented method, a data processing system and an article of manufacture for controlling access to data stored on a database having relational objects for which access restrictions are defined for elements of the relational objects The data processing system-implemented method includes receiving a user request to access one or more relational objects of the database, identifying any access restrictions defined for the one or more relational objects, determining whether any identified access restrictions are applicable to the user request, determining whether any determined applicable access restrictions are to be enforced for the user request, and allowing access to the one or more relational objects based on the determined enforceable access restrictions.

Access control for data and information contained in databases is of increasing importance for reasons relating to security and privacy. In a database management system (DBMS), data is stored in data containers made up of records having one or more data fields. In a relational database management system, the data container is a relational object made up of rows and columns wherein each row represents a record and the columns are fields in those records. A relational object may be, for example, a relational table or relational view.
Fine-grained access control (FGAC) has grown in importance to commercial and government users of relational databases especially with recent government initiatives to increase overall security. FGAC is typically defined as the ability to control the access to data by any user at the object level and lower levels. For example, FGAC can be used to limit user access to a specific set of rows in a relational table. This level of access control is desirable for all areas of relational data access such as utilities, but is particularly desirable for data manipulation language (DML) SQL statements such as SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE and DELETE.
Traditional methods of implementing FGAC within relational databases have relied upon the use of views. A view is a logical table which is derived from existing tables and can be queried by users in the same manner as a regular table. A view is defined by metadata known as a view definition. The view definition contains mappings to one or more columns in one or more tables stored on a database. Typically, the view definition is provided a priori by the user of the database in the format of a CREATE VIEW SQL statement.
Views provide one method for implementing FGAC that works well when the number of different restrictions is few or the granularity of the restrictions is such that it affects large, easily identified groups of users. When these conditions are not true, a number of issues arise with the use of views including: (1) view definitions may become quite complex in an effort to contain all the restrictions in one view, straining system limits and making maintenance of the view difficult; (2) if a large number of simple views is desired, each one implementing a unique view of a table based on the restrictions for a specific set of users, the routing of user requests becomes difficult with the solution often being resolved within the database application instead of the DBMS; and (3) if a user can bypass the view when accessing data, for example by having direct access to the underlying tables for query access, then restrictions may be not enforced.
Another known implementation of FGAC uses context attributes of a user session to modify SQL statements by adding a predicate into the query. A predicate is a condition that must be satisfied for the DBMS to return a value. In this approach, the context attributes of a user session (e.g. user identifier) are compared against a security policy defined within a procedure provided by the user on a table or view to make decisions regarding access to data. This approach allows row restrictions traditionally handled by views to be dynamically added to queries without requiring application modification, however this approach has several disadvantages. Firstly, this approach requires user programming of a strictly defined "predicate producing" procedure in order to implement a security policy. The creation of user defined procedures for each policy is time consuming and error prone. Secondly, this approach does not provide access control at the column level. Thirdly, this approach interferes with dynamic SQL caching because the modified SQL statement will no longer match the original text from the request which makes statement matching problematic and thus, has an impact on the performance benefits of the caching. Cached SQL statements can not generally be shared because the result of the security policy applicable to cached statements (i.e. the predicate to be added to the query) is not known in advance.
Users of modern relational databases desire the following capabilities in an FGAC implementation:
(1) an implementation which solves the problem within the DBMS without application changes or application awareness of the implementation;
(2) a pervasive implementation that ensures that all users of the table being controlled are affected, regardless of how the table is accessed;
(3) an implementation that minimizes the complexity and maintenance of the fine-grained access control policies defined by the user;
(4) the ability to apply the implementation to both tables and views;
(5) the ability to control access to rows as well as columns as desired; and
(6) the ability to have unlimited granularity control within the implementation.
In view of the shortcomings of known FGAC implementations, there exists a need for an improved method of implementing fine-grained access control to a database.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for implementing fine-grained access control using access restrictions

International Business Machines Corporation


It is an object of the present invention to provide a reliable display device and a method for manufacturing the display device reducing the number of manufacturing steps, and with higher yield. A display device according to the invention includes a plurality of display elements each having a first electrode, a layer containing an organic compound, and a second electrode. The display device further includes a heat-resistant planarizing film over a substrate having an insulating surface, a first electrode over the heat-resistant, planarizing film, a wiring covering an end portion of the first electrode, a partition wall covering the end portion of first electrode and the wiring, a layer containing an organic compound, and a second electrode over the layer containing an organic compound.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a display device having an element in which a light emitting material is sandwiched between electrodes (hereinafter referred to as a light emitting element).
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, the development of a liquid crystal display device and an electroluminescent display device in which thin film transistors (TFTs) are integrated over a glass substrate has been in progress. As to each of such display devices, TFTs are manufactured over a glass substrate by thin film formation technologies, and a liquid crystal element or a light emitting element (electroluminescent (hereinafter simply referred to as EL) element) formed over various circuits configured with the thin film transistors, thus functions as a display device.
A circuit formed with TFTs has some surface irregularities, hence in forming the liquid crystal elements or the light emitting elements over the circuit, the circuit is generally planarized with an organic resin film or the like (Reference 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-236826). Each pixel provided for a display area of a display device includes a pixel electrode inside, and the pixel electrode is connected to a TFT through a contact hole formed in the organic resin film used for planarization.
(Patent Document 1)
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-236826

Display device and manufacturing method of display device

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A collaborative on-demand system allows a user of a head-mounted display device (HMDD) to obtain assistance with an activity from a qualified service provider. In a session, the user and service provider exchange camera-captured images and augmented reality images. A gaze-detection capability of the HMDD allows the user to mark areas of interest in a scene. The service provider can similarly mark areas of the scene, as well as provide camera-captured images of the service provider's hand or arm pointing to or touching an object of the scene. The service provider can also select an animation or text to be displayed on the HMDD. A server can match user requests with qualified service providers which meet parameters regarding fee, location, rating and other preferences. Or, service providers can review open requests and self-select appropriate requests, initiating contact with a user.

Augmented reality is a technology that allows virtual imagery to be mixed with a real world physical environment. For example, an augmented reality system can be used to insert an image of a dinosaur into a user's view of a room so that the user sees a dinosaur walking in the room. In many cases, augmented reality is accomplished using an apparatus that can be viewed by one person or a small number of people. Therefore, the augmented reality system can provide a personalized experience. There is an opportunity to use augmented reality in various entertainment and task situations.

Service provision using personal audio/visual system


An integrated circuit die that may have one vertical transistor and one horizontal transistor is disclosed. The transistors may have substantially different breakdown voltages. The vertical transistor may be used in power circuitry applications and the horizontal transistor may be used in logic circuitry applications.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to semiconductor devices and, more specifically, to integrated semiconductor dies having vertical and lateral devices.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to certain aspects of art that may be related to aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it may be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Semiconductor-based devices have been frequently used to implement electronic devices, such as diodes and transistors. One class of semiconductor devices is the class of metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs). MOSFETs are frequently used in electronic devices due to the relatively small currents used to control the transistor (e.g., low gate currents). MOSFET devices may be further be classified between power transistors or power MOSFETs, which are commonly built in a vertical arrangement and can be used to provide switching functionality in circuitry that operates with large currents and/or voltages, and logic transistors or logic MOSFETs, which are usually found in fast switching logic circuitry and may employ relatively small voltages (e.g., gate-source voltages). Due to differences in the voltage levels of vertical power MOSFETs and logic MOSFETs, there are substantial challenges to produce integrated devices that share a common semiconductor die without crosstalk.

Integrated vertical and lateral semiconductor devices


A container and a method of containing an accessory. The container comprises a base having an external side and a cover rotatably connected to the base. A rear wall connects to the base and the cover while a front wall positioned opposite the rear wall has a height smaller than the rear wall. The container further comprises an accessory holding structure rotatably connected to the base by the front wall. The accessory holding structure has at least one accessory holder wherein the at least one accessory holder integrally positions an accessory between the cover and the base. The method of containing comprises rotating an accessory holding structure over a base while placing an accessory in at least one accessory holder positioned in the accessory holding structure. Then the cover is rotated over the accessory to enclose the accessory between the base and the cover. Next, a set of distribution instructions are recorded on the base wherein the accessory is distributed while enclosed between the base and the cover based on the set of distribution instructions.

The present disclosure relates to a container and a method of containing an accessory. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a container having a structure to hold the accessory within the container.
In the field of containers, various items are packaged for distribution and display in many different ways. Typically, containers merely cover the item for protection purposes. Although the container protects the item, the container prohibits access to the item unless the user separates the item from the container. Additionally, current containers require additional distribution materials such as mailing boxes and packaging materials for distribution. This arrangement, though, increases the manufacturing cost of the items since the container requires the mailing/packing materials which become disposable distribution pieces. The additional packaging arrangement also increases the cost and space needed for storage and shipping. Still further, this arrangement leads to unwieldy and bulky handling by the distributor due to the container incorporating the additional requisite packaging material.
For commercial success, containers must present a configuration which properly stores, displays and distributes the contained item in a cost efficient and user friendly manner. The success depends on factors such as manufacturing cost of the container, the functionality of the container, the distribution capability of the container, and the consumer acceptance of the container. Thus, the container should be cost effective, convenient, distributable and protective while presenting an aesthetic quality to the consumer. Additionally, the items should be integrally stored, distributed and displayed within the container for marketing advantages.


An integrated circuit device includes a substrate that has a trench formed therein. An isolation layer is disposed in the trench and covers a first sidewall portion of the trench. A gate electrode is disposed on a second sidewall portion of the trench.

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2000-63711, filed Oct. 28, 2000, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates generally to field effect transistors and, more particularly, to integrated circuit devices incorporating field effect transistors and methods of manufacturing same.
As the integration density of a semiconductor chip increases, the size of a semiconductor chip generally decreases. Accordingly, as a semiconductor device, such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) device becomes more minute, it may be difficult to ensure that a cell transistor (cell Tr) maintains a sufficient drive capability.
In the case of a DRAM device, although the size of a memory cell transistor may decrease, the threshold voltage across a memory cell transistor is still typically kept at about 1 volt based on the refresh characteristics of the DRAM device. The gate length of a memory cell transistor and the width of an active region within a memory cell transistor may decrease as the size of a semiconductor device is reduced. To maintain the threshold voltage across a memory cell transistor at about 1 volt, channel density may be increased. Increasing the channel density, however, may cause the junction electric field to increase and the density of defects to increase, which may degrade the refresh characteristics of the DRAM device.
Also, a shallow junction is generally needed to reduce the size of a semiconductor device and to decrease the impurity concentration of a drain or a source region. Consequently, parasitic resistance may rapidly increase and the driving ability of a memory cell transistor (e.g., the current through the cell transistor) may fall sharply.
As the size of a semiconductor chip decreases and the integration density increases, shallow trench isolation (STI) may be used to isolate individual devices from each other. STI is advantageous in that it may be used as an isolation technique in devices that have high pattern densities and it generally exhibits favorable isolation characteristics. The advantages of STI notwithstanding, if a transistor has an active region with a generally small width, then the threshold voltage across the transistor may decline.
According to embodiments of the present invention, an integrated circuit device comprises a substrate that has a trench formed therein. An isolation layer is disposed in the trench and covers a first sidewall portion of the trench. A gate electrode is disposed on a second sidewall portion of the trench. The effective width of an active region, which may act as a transistor channel under the gate electrode, may be increased by the length of the second sidewall portion of the trench. Moreover, the increased channel width of the transistor may result in an increase in the current driving capability of the transistor.
In other embodiments of the present invention, a gate insulating layer is disposed between the gate electrode and the second sidewall portion of the trench, a buffer layer is disposed between the isolation layer and the trench, and a liner layer is disposed between the isolation layer and the buffer layer.
In still other embodiments of the present invention, the second sidewall portion of the trench comprises a layer that has been doped with an impurity, such as boron.
In further embodiments of the present invention, the trench may be formed by forming an oxide layer on the substrate, forming a mask on the oxide layer, patterning the mask to expose at least a portion of the oxide layer, and then etching the exposed portion of the oxide layer.
In still further embodiments of the present invention, the isolation layer may be formed by filling the trench with insulating material so as to cover the mask. The insulating material may then be planarized until a surface of the mask is exposed. The insulating material is then patterned so that the mask extends through a surface of the insulating material. Etching is performed to substantially remove the mask from the upper surface of a mesa adjacent to the trench. The insulating material is etched so that the insulating material covers the first portion of the sidewall and exposes the second portion of the sidewall.

Integrated circuit devices having active regions with expanded effective widths and methods of manufacturing same


A method automatically controls the engine brake of a motor vehicle in which, in the coasting operation during a transmission shifting operation, the resulting braking torque acting upon the internal-combustion engine is reduced. In order to be able to control as precisely and inexpensively as possible the torques acting upon the internal-combustion engine in the engine braking operation of the vehicle during a transmission shifting operation, the injected fuel quantity is increased during the shifting operation.

This application claims the priority of German Application No. 198 15 711.8, filed Apr. 8, 1998, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The present invention relates to a method for controlling or automatically controlling the engine brake of a motor vehicle, and more particularly, to a method in which, in the coasting operation during a transmission shifting operation, the resulting braking torque acting upon the engine is reduced.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,348, shows an engine braking system for a motor vehicle which consists of a closable valve in the exhaust gas system of the internal-combustion engine and an associated valve in the intake system. In order to generate braking power in the coasting operation and brake the vehicle, the valve in the exhaust gas system can be closed by an electrically operable control element so that an excess pressure is built up in the exhaust gas system which counteracts the piston movement.
In the motor vehicle, an automatic transmission is used which automatically triggers a shifting change as soon as the vehicle speed falls below a defined value and the accelerator pedal is simultaneously not acted upon. During the shifting change, the transmission is uncoupled from the engine so that no external output torque can be transmitted to the engine by the transmission, and the engine is acted upon without any opposing output torque only by the braking power of the engine brake. In order to avoid the rotational engine speed of the internal-combustion engine from falling considerably as the result of the braking power and a back kick taking place onto the transmission, a control signal is generated in a control system. The control signal is supplied to the control element of the valve in the exhaust gas system whereupon the engine brake is rendered inoperative during a shifting change. As a result, a falling of the rotational engine speed is prevented by the engine brake so that both blades of the converter of the automatic transmission rotate approximately at the same rotational speed.
This known system has the disadvantage that, because of the inherently dynamic behavior of the components of the engine brake, a precise adjustment of the time period during which the engine brake is rendered inoperative cannot be sufficiently achieved. A premature or late disconnection or reconnection of the engine brake results either in an unnecessary loss of braking power or in an undesirably large drop of the rotational engine speed.

Motor vehicle engine brake control method


A busbar system includes a busbar with at least two parallel arranged phase conductors running between a first end and a second end of the busbar and at least two feeders connected onto the busbar, each feeder including contacts for at least some of the phase conductors of the busbar; a first supply line and a second supply line interconnecting the first feeder and the second feeder with a common power supply; wherein a first feeder of the at least two feeders is connected onto the first end of the busbar and a second feeder of the at least two feeders is connected onto the second end of the busbar; wherein each of the first supply line and the second supply line has a higher impedance than the busbar.

In electric cabinets, busbars may be used that provide the ability to distribute currents between a power supply and several loads. One or more feeders may be connected to a busbar, which supply the busbar with electrical current. Furthermore, one or more load taps may be connected to the busbar, which receive electrical current and distribute the electrical current to loads electrically interconnected with one or more of the load taps.
The present invention relates to subject matter addressed by the standard IEC-61439.
Feeders of busbars are usually positioned at one end of a busbar or in the middle of the busbar. Such feeders may be used as single feeders or multiple feeders to increase the feeding current to the busbar. However, the disadvantage of using multiple feeders may be that the current carrying capacity of the busbar may have to be increased and/or that load taps may have to be specifically placed on the busbar, such that an overload of the busbar is avoided.
US 2009/109 606 A1 relates to a bus bar block with a feed-in, which is connected to parallel bus bars at a first end and a second end.
US 2001/039 133 A1 relates to an electric power transmission and distribution system. A distribution component is connected at its ends via tab-off devices to a transmission component.
EP 3 151 350 A1 relates to a bus line structure and distribution board. A first horizontal bus bar and a second horizontal bus bar are shown, which are supplied form the same system. Vertical bus bars interconnect the horizontal bus bars.


A semiconductor laser device including a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type, a double hetero structure, including of a lower cladding layer of the first conductivity type, an active layer, and a first upper cladding layer of In.sub.1-w (Ga.sub.1-y Al.sub.y)wp of the second conductivity type formed on the semiconductor substrate, a second upper cladding layer of In.sub.1-w (Ga.sub.1-w Al.sub.z).sub.w P of the second conductivity type partially formed on the first upper cladding layer, a first contact layer of In.sub.1-w (Ga.sub.1-s Al.sub.s).sub.w P (0<s<z.ltoreq.1) of the second conductivity type formed on the second upper cladding layer, and a second contact layer of GaAs of the second conductivity type formed on the first upper clad layer and the first contact layer. The value of y in In.sub.1-w (Ga.sub.1-y Al.sub.y).sub.w P which constitutes the first upper cladding layer, and the value of z in In.sub.1-w (Ga.sub.1-z Al.sub.z).sub.w P which constitutes the second upper cladding layer satisfy a relation 0.6.ltoreq.y<z.ltoreq.1.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor laser device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, a semiconductor laser device having a short wavelength has been developed for the purpose of application to, e.g., a high density optical disc system, a high speed laser printer, and a bar code reader. Among such semiconductor laser devices each having a short wavelength, in particular, an InGaAlP series semiconductor laser device having an oscillation wavelength in a 0.6 .mu.m band has received a great deal of attention as a promising device.
In order to use a semiconductor laser device as a light source for optical information processing, transverse mode control must be performed. The present inventors manufactured a ridge-buried type semiconductor laser device shown in FIG. 1 as an InGaAlP series semiconductor laser device having a transverse mode control structure to confirm fundamental transverse mode oscillation.
Referring to FIG. 1, an n-type GaAs buffer layer 2, an n-type InGaAlP cladding layer 3, an InGaAlP active layer 4, a p-type InGaAlP cladding layer 5, a p-type InGaP cap layer 6, and a p-type GaAs contact layer 7 are sequentially stacked on an n-type GaAs substrate 1. Electrodes 8a and 8b are formed on both surfaces of the above structure.
When the p-type InGaAlP cladding layer 5 contains a large amount of Al, a large hetero barrier is present at the hetero junction interface between the p-type GaAs contact layer 7 and the p-type InGaAlP cladding layer 5 to cause voltage drop. In view of this, when a p-type InGaP layer having an intermediate band gap as compared with those of p-type GaAs and p-type InGaAlP is formed at the hetero junction interface, a voltage drop can be decreased. In the semiconductor laser device shown in FIG. 1, utilizing such a decrease in voltage drop, the p-type InGaP cap layer 6 is formed at only the interface between the p-type GaAs contact layer 7 and the p-type InGaAlP cladding layer 5, formed on a ridge portion of the p-type InGaAlP clad layer 5, thus blocking a current. In addition, a light guide and a transverse mode are stabilized by forming a ridge in the p-type clad layer 5, and by arranging the p-type GaAs contact layer 7 close to the InGaAlP active layer 4 outside the ridge.
A method of manufacturing the above-mentioned semiconductor laser device will be described hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B.
First MOCVD (metal organic chemical vapor deposition is performed to sequentially form the n-type GaAs buffer layer 2, the n-type InGaAlP cladding layer 3, the InGaAlP active layer 4, the p-type InGaAlP cladding layer 5, and the p-type InGaP cap layer 6 on the n-type GaAs substrate 1. Then, a resist pattern 9 is formed on the above structure (FIG. 2A).
Using the resist pattern 9 as a mask, the p-type InGaP cap layer 6 is etched using a stirrer in an aqueous solution containing Br.sub.2 and HBr. In addition, the p-type InGaAlP cladding layer 5 is etched by hot phosphoric acid at 60.degree. to 80.degree. C. to form a ridge (FIG. 2B).
After the resist pattern 9 is removed, the p-type GaAs contact layer 7 is formed by second MOCVD, thus completing a ridge-buried type semiconductor laser device shown in FIG. 1.
The semiconductor laser device thus manufactured is promising as a device having excellent performance. However, when the above-mentioned manufacturing method is employed, it is difficult to manufacture the device at high production yield. More specifically, in the above-mentioned etching process, it is difficult to control a thickness h of each portion of the p-type InGaAlP cladding layer 5 located on both sides of the ridge, which largely affects transverse mode control, due to unstability of an etching rate. In addition, a large variation in etching amount in the wafer surface occurs.


The present invention is a novel non-splined shaft for connecting cam units (cam sections) in a series to construct a camshaft having zero degree backlash for use within an engine. Such engines typically use a camshaft comprised of a plurality of separate camshaft units (cam sections) which are connected in a series by one or more cam connecting shafts. The entire series of camshaft units and cam connecting shafts may be, for example, 40 feet in length. Examples of natural gas engines in which the cam connecting shafts described herein may be used include, but are not limited to, the INGERSOLL-RAND KVR and KVT series of engines.

The present invention is related to shafts for connecting separate camshaft sections or units into a single camshaft, and methods of their use in connecting camshaft sections or units together for use in an engine.
INGERSOLL-RAND engines of the KVR and KVT series currently use a camshaft which is constructed from separate cam sections which are connected together in a series by splined cam connecting shafts as shown and as designated herein as "prior art." Each cam connecting shaft has splined ends upon each of which is matingly fitted a specific splined coupler.
The splined coupler is attached to the splined cam connecting shaft by a pair of retaining plates which seat into a groove behind the splines of the splined shaft. The splined coupler is then connected to the coupler end on the of the cam section via a plurality of bolts thereby connecting the cam section to the cam connecting shaft. The splines of the splined coupler fit into the gaps between the splines of the splined cam connecting shaft with sufficient clearance such that there is "play" (movement) between the splined coupler and the splines of the splined cam connecting shaft. The splined coupler is therefore not absolutely rigidly connected to or integral to the splined end of the splined cam connecting shaft.
Due to the "play" present in the coupling between the cam sections, wear of the splines of the splined coupler and the splines of the cam connecting shaft occurs during long term operation of the engine. Eventually, the "play" within the camshaft can increase to a magnitude which decreases the efficiency of the engine and decreases the stability and strength of the camshaft as a whole. This wear often necessitates replacement of the splined cam connecting shafts, and/or the replacement of the splined couplers which are mounted upon and which mate with the splines of the splined cam connecting shaft. Additionally, the grooves for the two retaining plates near the ends of the cam connecting shaft may introduce weakness in the shaft.
While the splined coupler has certain disadvantages as noted above, it advantageously enables the splined cam connecting shaft to be engineered in a more or less single standard configuration. Splined couplers designed to fit to cam sections having different coupling configurations can be fitted to the one type of splined connecting shaft. For example, the INGERSOLL-RAND KVR and KVT series has cam sections having couplers designated as "A," "B," "C," and "D." Each designation represents a different angle between the splines and the alignment pin. The alignment of the cam section is matched with the alignment of the splined coupler by an alignment pin which fits into an alignment hole on the cam section. Thus, splined couplings having different alignment pin positions can be attached to the same standard splined cam connecting shaft. Using various combinations of these four different couplers any of the at least ten different angles necessary can be created.


An apparatus and method for breaking up a mixture of gas and liquid forming a foam returning from an oil and/or gas well. The foam breaker includes a housing having a bore for receiving the foam and a restriction in the bore for compressing the foam. A plurality of jets in the restriction are directed into the bore for saturating the foam for breaking up the mixture. The recovered liquid may be filtered and reused.

It is well known to use foam, a mixture of gas and liquid, in oil and/or gas wells for performing various procedures such as foam fracturing, foam acidizing and foam washing for removing solids, such as sand, scale, etc., from wells.
While performing a procedure that requires a stable foam to be circulated into and out of an oil and/or gas well bore over a long period of time, containing the foam returns at the well surface becomes a problem in the limited tank space that it usually available. The returning foam will occupy about five times as much space as the fluid that is being removed from the tank to produce the foam. However, the foam remains stable with a gas content up to 90 percent and requires a long period of time to dissipate back to the volume of the original liquid. In many locations, such as in offshore rigs, there is not sufficient tank capacity to accommodate the increased volume of foam. This can cause tank overflow and result in pollution.
The present invention is directed to an improved apparatus and method of breaking up or causing disintegration of the cells that form the foam body.


An electric axle drive for a motor vehicle includes at least one electric motor, a differential transmission drivable by the electric motor, a first housing part that at least partially surrounds the differential transmission, a second housing part formed separately from the first housing part and at least partially surrounding the electric motor, and a third housing part formed separately from the first and second housing parts. The first and second housing parts are directly connected to each other by a first flange connection. The second and third housing parts are directly connected to each other by a third flange connection. The third housing part is designed to at least partially support a sub-transmission for connecting the differential transmission to the electric motor. The first and third housing parts are directly connected to each other by a second flange connection.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention relate to an electric axle drive for a motor vehicle.
Such electric axle drives for motor vehicles are already known from WO 2017/114423 A1, DE 11 2014 005 133 T5 and US 2012/0153718 A1. The electric axle drive of US 2012/0153718 A1 has at least one electric motor and a differential transmission, which can be driven by the electric motor. The electric axle drive further comprises a first housing part, which at least partially surrounds the differential transmission. In addition, the electric axle drive comprises a second housing part, which is formed separately from the first housing part and at least partially surrounds the electric motor. Furthermore, the electric axle drive comprises a third housing part formed separately from the first housing part and separately from the second housing part. The first housing part and the second housing part are thus directly connected to each other by means of a first flange connection. Furthermore, the second housing part and the third housing part are directly connected to each other by means of a third flange connection.
Furthermore, the generic CN 103 496 320 A shows an electric axle drive with the third housing part designed to at least partially support a sub-transmission for connecting the differential transmission to the electric motor, wherein the first housing part and the third housing part are directly connected to each other by means of a second flange connection.
Furthermore, EP 0 982 155 B1 discloses a device for an axle housing, wherein the device comprises the axle housing having a differential housing as a component thereof.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are directed to an electric axle drive and a motor vehicle of the aforementioned type that a particularly compact design of the electric axle drive can be implemented.
In order to further develop an electric axle drive in such a way that a particularly compact design of the electric axle drive can be implemented, it is first assumed in a known manner that the third housing part is designed to at least partially support a sub-transmission for connecting the differential transmission to the electric motor. For this purpose, the third housing part has, for example, at least one bearing device on which the sub-transmission is to be or is at least partially mounted. By way of example, the sub-transmission can be a component of the electric axle drive, such that the electric axle drive has the sub-transmission. Thus, for example, at least part of the sub-transmission is mounted on the third housing part, in particular via the bearing device.
According to the invention, the electric axle drive has a bearing bracket for mounting the differential transmission, wherein the bearing bracket is arranged at least predominantly in the first housing part and is held by means of a first holding device on the second housing part and by means of a second holding device on the third housing part.
The feature that the sub-transmission is designed to connect the differential transmission to the electric motor is understood, in particular, to mean that the differential transmission can be or is coupled to the electric motor via the sub-transmission. The sub-transmission preferably has a transmission that differs from 1 and is also referred to as a transmission ratio, such that, for example, the sub-transmission speeds up or slows down the electric motor, in particular its rotor.
Furthermore, in accordance with the invention the first housing part and the third housing part are directly connected to each other by means of a second flange connection. In this way, it is possible to keep the installation space requirement and thus, in particular, outer dimensions of the electric axle drive particularly low, such that, for example, existing installation space can be utilized particularly well. The feature that the first housing part and the second housing part are directly connected to each other by means of the first flange connection is to be understood to mean that the first housing part and the second housing part are not connected to each other with the interposition of a further housing part, but rather the first housing part and the second housing part are directly connected to each other by means of the first flange connection. In particular, it can be provided that the first housing part is directly supported on the second housing part and thus touches the second housing part. It is conceivable that at least one first sealing element is arranged between the first housing part and the second housing part, by means of which the first housing part is sealed against the second housing part and vice versa. In particular, the first flange connection can comprise a first flange of the first housing part and a second flange of the second housing part, wherein the first housing part and the second housing part are directly connected to each other via the first flange and the second flange. By way of example, the first flange and the second flange are directly supported against each other and thereby are in direct mutual contact with each other. The first sealing element can be arranged between the first flange and the second flange in order to seal the first flange from the second flange, and thus to seal the first housing part against the second housing part.
The feature that the second housing part and the third housing part are directly connected to each other by means of the third flange connection is to be understood to mean that the second housing part and the third housing part are not connected to each other via a further housing part, but rather the second housing part and the third housing part are directly connected to each other. In particular, it can be provided that the second housing part is in direct contact with the third housing part or that the second housing part is directly supported on the third housing part. In this way, the third flange connection can comprise a third flange of the second housing part and a fourth flange of the third housing part, wherein the second housing part and the third housing part are directly connected to each other via the third flange and the fourth flange. Furthermore, it is conceivable that at least one second sealing element is arranged between the second housing part and the third housing part, in particular between the third flange and the fourth flange, by means of which the second housing part is sealed against the third housing part or vice versa.
The feature that the first housing part and the third housing part are directly connected to each other by means of the second flange connection is to be understood to mean that the first housing part is not connected to the third housing part via a further housing part, but rather the first housing part and the third housing part are directly connected to each other by means of the second flange connection. In particular, it can be provided that the first housing part is directly supported on the third housing part and is thus in direct contact with the third housing part. The second flange connection can comprise a fifth flange of the first housing part and a sixth flange of the third housing part, wherein the first housing part and the third housing part are directly connected to each other via the fifth flange and the sixth flange. It is thus conceivable that at least a third sealing element is arranged between the first housing part and the third housing part, in particular between the fifth flange and the sixth flange, by means of which the first housing part is sealed off from the third housing part or vice versa.
The feature that the first housing part at least partially surrounds the differential transmission is to be understood to mean that the differential transmission is arranged at least partially, in particular predominantly or completely, in the first housing part. The feature that the second housing part partially surrounds the electric motor is to be understood in particular to mean that the electric motor is arranged at least partially, in particular at least predominantly or completely, in the second housing part. As a result of the fact that the housing parts are formed separately from one another and are connected to one another and are thus held to one another, the electric axle drive can be manufactured or assembled in a particularly simple manner and thus in a time-saving and cost-effective manner. In particular, complexity of the individual housing parts can be kept low, with increased functional integration compared to conventional solutions.
The first housing part is, for example, an axle bridge. Due to the design of the housing parts, a conventional axle bridge can be used as the first housing part, such that the electric axle drive according to the invention can be implemented simply and inexpensively. Furthermore, it is possible to easily integrate the electric axle drive according to the invention into already existing axle bridges and thus into already existing production processes.
In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the third housing part has at least one first bearing point for supporting a first shaft of the sub-transmission. In other words, the sub-transmission comprises the first shaft, which is mounted, in particular rotatably, on the first bearing point and thus on the third housing part. This makes it possible to create a particularly high level of functional integration, such that the installation space requirement and the number of parts can be kept within a low range.
In a further embodiment the third housing part has at least one third bearing point for mounting the sub-transmission. This means that the sub-transmission is mounted on the third bearing point and thus on the third housing part, whereby the installation space requirement of the electric axle drive can be kept within a particularly low range.
In a further particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, the first flange connection has a first flange plane. In the first flange plane, the first flange and the second flange are supported at least indirectly and thus via the first sealing element and/or directly against each other. It is provided that the first flange plane, in particular in the installation position of the electric axle drive, extends in a plane spanned by the vehicle transverse direction and the vehicle transverse direction. Thus, for example, the first flange plane runs at least substantially perpendicularly to the vehicle longitudinal direction. The electric axle drive assumes its installation position in the fully manufactured state of the motor vehicle, which is designed, for example, as a commercial vehicle, such that the vehicle comprises the electric axle drive according to the invention in its fully manufactured state. This orientation of the first flange plane can ensure a particularly simple assembly and a particularly small installation space requirement of the electric axle drive.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the second flange connection has a second flange plane. In the second flange plane, for example, the fifth flange and the sixth flange are supported at least indirectly and thus, for example, via the third sealing element and/or directly against one another. In order to be able to keep the installation space requirement and the complexity of the electric axle drive particularly low, it is provided in accordance with the invention that the second flange plane is congruent with the first flange plane. This means that the first flange plane coincides with the second flange plane, or vice versa.
In order to be able to keep the complexity and the installation space requirement of the electric axle drive particularly low, it is provided in a further embodiment of the invention that the third flange connection has a third flange plane running in a plane spanned by the vehicle longitudinal direction and the vehicle vertical direction, in particular with respect to the installation position of the electric axle drive. By way of example, the third flange and the fourth flange are supported in the third flange plane at least indirectly and thereby, for example, via the second sealing element and/or directly against one another. Thus, for example, the third flange plane runs at least substantially perpendicularly to the vehicle longitudinal direction. Alternatively, or additionally, the second flange plane preferably runs at least substantially perpendicularly to the vehicle longitudinal direction.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the electric axle drive comprises a fourth housing part formed separately from the first housing part, separately from the second housing part and separately from the third housing part. The fourth housing part is connected to the second housing part, in particular directly, by means of a fourth flange connection. The fourth flange connection comprises, for example, a seventh flange of the fourth flange housing part and an eighth flange of the second housing part, wherein the fourth housing part is directly connected to the second housing part via the seventh flange and the eighth flange. It is thus conceivable that the second housing part is in direct contact with the fourth housing part or that the second housing part is directly supported on the fourth housing part, such that, for example, the seventh flange and the eighth flange are in immediate or direct contact with each other. In other words, the seventh flange can be directly supported on the eighth flange. Furthermore, it is conceivable that at least one fourth sealing element is arranged between the second housing part and the fourth housing part, in particular between the seventh flange and the eighth flange, by means of which the second housing part is sealed against the fourth housing part or vice versa.
In order to keep the installation space requirement within a particularly small framework, the fourth housing part and thus the fourth flange connection are arranged on a side of the second housing part facing away from the third housing part. The fourth housing part is designed to cover an access opening for the electric motor formed in the second housing part. In other words, for example, the second housing part has the access opening, in particular formed as a through opening, via which the electric motor is accessible. By way of example, the electric motor can be arranged and/or maintained or repaired via the access opening in the second housing part, in particular while the electric motor is located in the second housing part. In this case, the access opening is preferably covered, in particular closed, by means of the fourth housing part.
It has been shown to be particularly advantageous if the electric axle drive has a fifth housing part formed separately from the first housing part, separately from the second housing part and separately from the third housing part and preferably separately from the fourth housing part, which is connected by means of a fifth flange connection to the second housing part and by means of a sixth flange connection to the fourth housing part, in particular directly in each case.
By way of example, as previously stated with respect to the first housing part, the second housing part, and the third housing part, the feature that the second housing part is directly connected to the fourth housing part is to be understood to mean that the second housing part is not connected to the fourth housing part via a further housing part, for example, but rather that the second housing part and the fourth housing part are directly connected to each other. Accordingly, the feature that the fifth housing part is directly connected to the second housing part can be understood to mean that the fifth housing part is not approximately connected to the second housing part via another housing part, but rather the fifth housing part is directly connected to the second housing part. Furthermore, the feature that the fifth housing part is directly connected to the fourth housing part can be understood to mean that the fifth housing part is not connected to the fourth housing part via another housing part, for example, but the fifth housing part is directly connected to fourth housing part. By way of example, the fifth housing part is in direct contact with the second housing part and/or the fourth housing part, or the fifth housing part is directly supported on the second housing part and/or the fourth housing part, for example.
The fifth flange connection comprises, for example, a ninth flange of the fifth housing member and a tenth flange of the second housing member, wherein the ninth flange and the tenth flange can be directly supported against each other. The fifth housing part is connected to the second housing part via the ninth flange and the tenth flange. In particular, at least one fifth sealing element can be arranged between the fifth housing part and the second housing part, in particular between the ninth flange and the tenth flange, such that by means of the fifth sealing element, the fifth housing part is sealed against the second housing part or vice versa.
Furthermore, the sixth flange connection can have an eleventh flange of the fifth housing part and a twelfth flange of the fourth housing part, wherein the fifth housing part is connected to the fourth housing part via the eleventh flange and the twelfth flange. In this regard, the eleventh flange can be directly supported against the twelfth flange, wherein the eleventh flange can be in direct contact with the twelfth flange. Furthermore, it is conceivable that a sixth sealing element is arranged between the fifth housing part and the fourth housing part, in particular between the eleventh flange and the twelfth flange, such that by means of the sixth sealing element, the fifth housing part is sealed against the fourth housing part or vice versa.
Furthermore, it is provided that the fifth housing part has a holder for at least one high-voltage connection. The holder is also referred to as a high-voltage connection holder. In particular, it is conceivable that the high-voltage connection is a component of the electric axle drive, wherein the high-voltage connection, which is formed separately from the housing parts, for example, is held on the fifth housing part by means of the holder. Via the high-voltage connection, for example, the electric motor can be or is electrically connected to an energy storage device designed to store electrical energy or electrical current. The electric motor is thereby preferably a first high-voltage component, which has an electrical voltage, in particular an electrical operating voltage, which is preferably greater than 50 volts, in particular greater than 60 volts, and is particularly preferably several hundred volts. As a result, particularly large electrical powers for electrically driving the motor vehicle can be implemented. The aforementioned energy storage device is preferably a second high-voltage component, wherein the energy storage device can be a component of the electric axle drive. Since the energy storage device is a high-voltage component, the energy storage device has an electrical voltage, in particular an electrical operating voltage, which is preferably greater than 50 volts, in particular greater than 60 volts, and is particularly preferably several hundred volts. In this way, the electric motor can be supplied with electrical energy via the high-voltage connection, which is stored in the energy storage device and can be or is provided by the energy storage device. The fact that the fifth housing part has the holder for the high-voltage connection means that a particularly high level of functional integration can be implemented, such that the number of parts, the weight, the costs, and the installation space requirements can be kept particularly low.
In order to be able to keep the complexity and the installation space requirements of the electric axle drive particularly low, it is provided in a further embodiment of the invention that the fifth flange connection and the sixth flange connection have a fourth flange plane common to the fifth flange connection and the sixth flange connection. By way of example, the ninth flange and the tenth flange are supported against each other in the fourth flange plane, and the eleventh flange and the twelfth flange are supported against each other in the fourth flange plane. The ninth flange and the tenth flange or the eleventh flange and the twelfth flange can be supported on each other in the fourth flange plane directly and/or at least indirectly, for example via the fifth or sixth sealing element.
In a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, the electric axle drive comprises an oil distribution device by means of which, for example, a lubricant, in particular in the form of oil, can be distributed for lubricating the electric axle drive. The oil distribution device comprises at least one first oil connection, at least one second oil connection, at least one first oil line and at least one second oil line. This allows the lubricant to be distributed as required in a way that is favorable in terms of installation space.
It has proved particularly advantageous if the first oil connection is connected to the second housing part by means of the first oil line, as a result of which the second housing part can be supplied with lubricant via the first oil line and the first oil connection in a manner favorable to the installation space. Furthermore, it is preferably provided that the second oil connection is connected to the fourth housing part by means of the second oil line, such that the fourth housing part can be supplied with lubricant via the second oil line and the second oil connection in a manner favorable to the installation space.
In another embodiment the fact that the first oil connection is connected to the first housing part by means of the first oil line, such that the first housing part can be supplied with lubricant via the first oil line and the first oil connection as required and, in a manner, favorable to the installation space. Furthermore, it is thereby preferably provided that first the second oil connection is connected to the third housing part by means of the second oil line, whereby the third housing part can be supplied with lubricant via the second oil line and the second oil connection as required and, in a manner, favorable to installation space.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the second housing part has a second bearing point for supporting a spur gear stage. Preferably, the spur gear stage is a component of the electric axle drive. In particular, the spur gear stage is a component of the partial transmission, wherein the spur gear stage can be mounted, in particular rotatably, on the second bearing point and thus on the second housing part via the second bearing point. This allows a mounting of the spur gear stage and thus of the sub-transmission in a manner that is particularly favorable to installation space. The spur gear stage comprises, for example, at least or exactly two gear wheels designed as spur gears, which mesh with one another via their respective toothings.
In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the first flange connection forms a first ring section and the second flange connection forms a second ring section, wherein the ring sections forms a closed flange ring. In this way, a particularly high degree of rigidity can be implemented in a space-saving manner.
It has proved particularly advantageous if the third flange connection forms a third ring section, which has a first section end and a second section end, wherein both the first section end and the second section end are connected to the closed flange ring. Again, this can ensure high rigidity and low installation space requirements for the electric axle drive.
As previously indicated, the electric motor has the rotor and a stator, wherein the rotor can be driven by the stator and thereby around a motor axis of rotation relative to the stator. The differential transmission has output wheels, which are rotatable around a differential transmission axis of rotation relative to the first housing part. Via the output wheels, which are preferably formed as gear wheels, so-called output shafts or side shafts can be driven, for example, wherein respective wheels can be driven by the respective output shafts or side shafts, for example. Thus, the wheels can be driven by the output wheels via the side or output shafts.
The differential transmission can have differential gears, which are further gear wheels. The differential gears mesh with the output gears, for example. The differential gears are rotatably mounted, for example, on a differential cage or differential housing of the differential transmission, wherein the differential housing or the differential cage, for example, is rotatable together with the differential gears around the differential transmission axis of rotation relative to the first housing part. For this purpose, the differential cage or differential housing is non-rotatably connected, for example, to a drive wheel designed, for example, as a crown wheel, wherein the drive wheel is rotatable around the differential transmission rotation axis relative to the first housing part. In order to keep the installation space requirement particularly low, the motor axis of rotation runs in parallel to the differential transmission axis of rotation or vice versa.
Furthermore, it has proved to be particularly advantageous if the second housing part has at least one first receptacle for the electric motor. Thus, for example, the electric motor is held or mounted on the second housing part via the first receptacle, wherein it is possible for the electric motor to be accommodated in the first receptacle at least partially, in particular at least predominantly or completely. It is preferably provided that the second housing part has at least one second receptacle for a second electric motor. The electric axle drive can thus have, for example, a second electric motor that is held or mounted on the second housing part via the second receptacle. Thus, the second electric motor can be accommodated at least partially, in particular at least predominantly or completely, in the second receptacle. By means of the second electric motor, for example, the differential transmission can be driven, in particular via the sub-transmission. Thus, for example, the aforementioned output shaft and thus the wheels of the motor vehicle can be driven by the electric motor or motors, in particular electrically, via the differential transmission and via the sub-transmission.
The electric axle drive advantageously has two oil chambers, namely a first oil chamber, which is arranged predominantly in the first housing part, and a second oil chamber, which is sealed with respect to the first oil chamber, wherein the second oil chamber is arranged at least partially in each of the second housing part, the third housing part and the fourth housing part, and wherein a first gear wheel, a second gear wheel and the first shaft are supplied with oil in the second oil chamber.
The differential transmission, which is designed, for example, as a ball differential, bevel gear differential, or a spur gear differential, has a function that is already sufficiently known from the general prior art, according to which torques provided by the respective electric motor for driving the wheels are transmitted or distributed to the wheels or to the side shafts via the differential transmission. The differential transmission allows different speeds of the side shafts or wheels, such that, for example, when the vehicle is cornering, the outer wheel can rotate at a higher speed than the inner wheel, in particular while the wheels are being driven by the respective electric motor.
In the context of the invention, the ordinal number words used in the present description and also referred to as ordinals, such as "first", "second", "third", "fourth", "fifth", "sixth" et cetera—unless otherwise indicated—are not to be understood as ordinal number words per se indicating an order or a number, but the ordinal number words used in the description are—unless otherwise indicated—rather to be regarded as adjectives, in order to be able to unambiguously distinguish the terms assigned to the respective ordinal words, such as "housing part", "flange connection", "flange plane" et cetera from each other, and thus to be able to refer unambiguously to these terms assigned to the ordinal number words. This means that, for example, if the features of a dependent claim, such as the third bearing position, are included in an independent claim 1, such that the combination of claim features then only speaks of the third bearing position, but not also of the first bearing position and of the second bearing position, the first bearing position and the second bearing position do not necessarily also have to be provided. Then, for example, the first bearing position and the second bearing position could remain in their respective claims, wherein the third bearing position then contained in the combined claim, for example, becoming the first bearing position, the first bearing position becoming the second bearing position, and the second bearing position becoming the third bearing position. The ordinal number words used in the description are, for example, irrelevant for the respective technical function of the respective assigned terms and for the number thereof in principle and if nothing else is indicated, wherein the respective terms assigned to the respective ordinal number words are defined with respect to their respective technical functions not by the respective assigned ordinal number words, but rather by formulations following the terms and/or by the terms themselves.
The invention also includes a motor vehicle, which is preferably designed as an automobile and preferably as a commercial vehicle. The motor vehicle according to the invention has an electric axle drive according to the invention. Thus, the motor vehicle can be driven electrically by means of the electric axle drive. Advantages and advantageous embodiments of the electric axle drive according to the invention are to be regarded as advantages and advantageous embodiments of the motor vehicle according to the invention, and vice versa.
Further advantages, features and details of the invention arise from the following description of a preferred exemplary embodiment and from the drawing. The features and combinations of features mentioned above in the description, as well as the features and combinations of features mentioned below in the description of figures and/or shown alone in the figures, can be used not only in the combination indicated in each case, but also in other combinations or on their own, without departing from the scope of the invention.
In the figures, identical or functionally identical elements are provided with the same reference numerals.

Electric axle drive for a commercial vehicle


This invention discloses a hybrid photonic analog-to-digital converter using superconducting electronics to achieve a high-speeds. This scheme differs from most current designs by combining two systems, photonic and superconducting, to utilize each system for optimal performance. The photonic system performs the optical sampling of the signal with very low aperture and jitter errors. This optically sampled data is then converted to an electronic signal via an optoelectronic switch and quantized in the superconducting system. The high-speed ( greater than 100 GHz) superconducting electronic system transforms the quantized signal into a binary output. This invention allows for analog-to-digital conversion at much higher speeds than available with current electronic analog-to-digital converters.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is concerned with the use of superconducting electronics with a hybrid photonic analog to digital converter to achieve high conversion speeds. The invention differs from most current designs by combining two systems, photonic and superconducting, to utilize each system for optimal performance.
2. Description of the Related Prior Art
Electronic analog-to-digital converter (ADC) has evolved into several different architectures. Today""s popular high-speed flash ADCs interleave parallel channels of sampling and comparing circuits to increase their effective speed by the number of parallel channels (See M. J. Demler, High Speed analog to digital conversion. San Diego: Academic Press, 1991.) The pursuit of even higher speeds along with the limitations of traditional electronic techniques has drawn the superconducting electronics and the photonic communities into this arena. Superconducting electronics combine two important properties for analog-to-digital conversion: quantization and high-speed Josephson digital electronics. Photonic systems lend themselves to ADCs with their large bandwidths and low-noise operation, and can be directly substituted for their electronic counterparts, improving the integrated system and extending the overall performance.
The concept of a photonic ADC spans more than two decades (See H. F. Taylor, xe2x80x9cAn optical analog-to-digital converter-design and analysis,xe2x80x9d IEEE J Quantum Electron., vol. QE-15, pp. 210-16, 1979; see also :R. A. Becker, C. E. Woodward, F. J. Leonberger, and R. C. Williamson, xe2x80x9cWide-band electrooptic guided-wave analog-to-digital converters,xe2x80x9d Proc. IEEE, vol. 72, pp. 802-19, 1984; see also S. Bhushan, F. Coppinger, and B. Jalali, xe2x80x9cTime-stretched analogue-to-digital conversion,xe2x80x9d Electron. Lett., vol. 34, pp. 1081-3, 1998; see also T. R. Clark, J. U. Kang, and R. D. Esman, xe2x80x9cPerformance of a time-and wavelength-interleaved photonic sampler for analog-digital conversion,xe2x80x9d IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett., vol. 11, pp. 1168-70, 1999; and also by this inventor, M. Currie, T. R. Clark, and P. J. Matthews, xe2x80x9cPhotonic analog-to-digital conversion by distributed phase modulation,xe2x80x9d IEEE Photon. Technol Lett., vol. 12, pp. 1689-91, 2000.
Mode-locked lasers employed in photonic ADCs enhance the system by providing picosecond and sub-picosecond sampling of the electronic waveform in an electro-optic device. Photonic sampling functions either as a high-speed, photonic sample-and-hold circuit or as a pre-sampler for an electronic sample-and-hold circuit. A second major attribute of photonic systems also arises from the mode-locked laser source in which the extremely precise timing characteristics of mode-locked lasers serve as an optical clock. Phase noise measurements of such laser systems have exhibited a timing jitter of less than 10 fs for a 10-GHz clock (See T. R. Clark, T. F. Carruthers, P. J. Matthews, and I. N. Duling, III, xe2x80x9cPhase noise measurements of ultrastable 10 GHz harmonically modelocked fibre laser,xe2x80x9d Electron. Lett., vol. 35, pp. 720-1, 1999).
Superconducting ADCs also enjoy a long history with designs for parallel (flash) and serial (sigma-delta, counting, etc.) ADCs. (See C. A. Hamilton, F. L. Lloyd, and R. L. Kautz, xe2x80x9cSuperconducting A/D converter using latching comparators,xe2x80x9d IEEE Trans. Mag., vol. MAG-21, pp. 197-9, 1985; G. S. Lee and D. A. Peterson, xe2x80x9cSuperconductive A/D converters,xe2x80x9d Proc. IEEE, vol.77, pp.1264-73, 1989; S. V. Rylov, L. A. Bunz, D. V. Gaidarenko, M. A. Fisher, R. P. Robertazzi, and O. A. Mukhanov, xe2x80x9cHigh resolution ADC system,xe2x80x9d IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., vol. 7, pp. 2649-52, 1997; S. B. Kaplan, P. D. Bradley, D. K. Brock, D. Gaidarenko, D. Gupta, W. Q. Li, and S. V. Rylov, xe2x80x9cA superconductive flash digitizer with on-chip memory,xe2x80x9d IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., vol. 9, pp. 3020-3025, 1999.)
These converters run the gamut from high-resolution to high-speed. Superconducting ADCs are particularly attractive due to their low power requirements and high-speed operation. Optical coupling to superconducting electronics allows good thermal isolation while also enabling a high-speed interface.
An object of this invention is to provide a hybrid analog to digital converter that uses superconducting electronics with a photonic system to achieve high conversion speeds.
Another object of this invention is for the photonic system to provide optical sampling of the signal with very low aperture and jitter errors.
Another object of this invention is for the optically sampled data to be converted into an electronic signal via an optoelectronic switch.
Another object of the invention is for the converted electronic signal to be quantized by a superconducting system.
Another object of the invention is that the high resolution sampling is provided in the photonic system and not in the superconducting electronics.
Another object of the invention is to provide superconducting quantization of modulated optical pulse trains.
Another object of the invention is to provide an analog to digital converter with a low optical power level of 2 mW at 100 GHz operating speed.
Another object of the invention is that any pulsed laser system can be used and any type of superconducting logic can be used, and any optoelectronic switch can be used to convert the optical pulse train into an electrical pulse train.

Hybrid photonic analog to digital converter using superconducting electronics

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A thin film array panel is provided, which includes: a gate line formed on a substrate; a first insulating layer formed on the gate line; a semiconductor layer formed on the gate insulating layer; a data line formed on the gate insulating layer and intersecting the gate line; a drain electrode formed at least on the semiconductor layer; a conductor arranged in parallel to the data line; a second insulating layer formed on the data line, the drain electrode, and the conductor and having a first contact hole exposing a portion of the drain electrode; and a pixel electrode formed on the second insulating layer, connected to the drain electrode through the first contact hole, fully covering the data line.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin film array panel, and in particular, to a thin film transistor array panel for a display device.
(b) Description of the Related Art
A display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) and an organic light emitting display (OLED) includes a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix, and each pixel includes a pixel electrode for displaying images. The pixel electrodes are driven by signals from signal lines including gate lines and data lines that intersect each other to define pixel areas and are connected to the pixel electrodes through switching elements such as thin film transistors (TFTs). The switching elements controls data signals from the data lines in response to scanning signals from the gate lines.
The LCD includes a TFT array panel including the signal lines, the pixel electrodes, and the TFTs and a common electrode panel including a common electrode facing the pixel electrodes and a black matrix having openings facing the pixel areas.
When an active area on a backplane for LCDs is too large to use an exposure mask, the entire exposure is accomplished by repeating a divisional exposure called step-and-repeat process. One divisional exposure unit or area is called a shot. Since transition, rotation, distortion, and etc. are generated during light exposure, the shots are not aligned accurately. Accordingly, parasitic capacitances generated between signal lines and pixel electrodes differ depending on the shots, and this causes the bright difference between the shots, which is recognized at the pixels located at a boundary between the shots. Therefore, the stitch defect is generated on the screen of the LCD due to brightness discontinuity between the shots.


A safety disposable infusion set includes: an infusion needle having a wing portion adhered onto a patient's skin such as by an adhesive tape and having a plurality of longitudinal extensions juxtapositionally formed on a bottom portion of the wing portion, and a disposal carrier having a closed sleeve for inserting a used infusion needle into the sleeve and formed on a front portion of a carrying base plate which includes a plurality of longitudinal grooves juxtapositionally recessed in the base plate for engaging the plurality of longitudinal extensions of the infusion needle, whereby upon insertion of the used infusion needle into the sleeve and upon engagement of the extensions on the needle with the grooves in the base plate, the needle will be shielded in the sleeve and also be fixedly secured on the base plate for a safety disposal.

A conventional infusion set as shown in FIG. 5 includes a needle N mounted on a holding tube T, a delivery tube D connected between the holding tube T and an infusion bottle or bag (not shown ) such as filled with medical liquid or blood for intravenous injection or blood transfusion, a wing portion W disposed on two opposite side portions of the holding tube T for adhering the infusion set on a patient's skin, and a sleeve S for inserting a used needle N into the sleeve S for its safety disposal.
However, the sleeve S has a very small diameter for inserting the needle N therein and the used needle N may still stick or prick someone's hand H such as of a nurse, a doctor or a hospital housekeeper of waste disposal when inserting the needle N into the very small sleeve S as illustrated in FIG. 5.