A method and system for generating workflow messages based on adding annotations to a file repository or database independent of an original document that they annotate. By separately storing the annotations in a searchable annotation repository, original documents can be preserved unchanged while still providing the ability to comment on the original document. By generating workflow messages, a system can track who has reviewed a document, whose proposed changes and/or comments require action by another person, and if everyone has reviewed the documents within the time constraints established.

The present invention relates to a document annotation system and more particularly to a document management system that enables (1) documents (containing one or a combination of images and text) to be annotated with searchable text that is stored independently from the underlying scanned documents and (2) the annotation of those documents to cause workflow rules to be triggered.
Various software packages have been built to manage computer generated and/or scanned documents. One such software package is ADOBE ACROBAT by Abode Systems that enables Portable Document Format (PDF) files to be written. (A more limited functionality PDF reader is also available under the tradename Abode Acrobat Reader.) In addition to the xe2x80x9cnativexe2x80x9d features that are available, ADOBE ACROBAT can be augmented with additional functionality using xe2x80x9cplug-insxe2x80x9d that conform to an Application Programming Interface (API).
Various texts have been written describing some of the features of ADOBE ACROBAT. Examples of such texts include: xe2x80x9cPDF Printing and Workflow,xe2x80x9d by Frank J. Romano, published by Prentice Hall (Oct. 20, 1998), ISBN: 013020837X; Adobe Acrobat Forms Set, By Adobe Developer Technologies, Published by Adobe Systems Inc., Published: January 2000, ISBN: DM10003157; Adobe Acrobat Interapplication Communication Documentation Set, By Adobe Developer Technologies, Published by Adobe Systems Inc., Date Published: February 2000, ISBN: DM10002537; Portable Document Format Reference Manual, Version 1.3, by Adobe Systems; Acrobat Software Development Kit (SDK), Version 4.05; Adobe Acrobat Forms Data Format (FDF) Toolkit SDK; and Abode Technical Notes 5167, 5182, 5190, 5191, 5164, 5165, 5183, 5157, 5158, 5151, 5181, 5193, 5194, 5162, 5160, 5192, 5400, 5172, 5150, and 5159, each revised November, 2000. Each of those references is incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. As shown in FIG. 6.1 of Portable Document Format Reference Manual, Version 1.3, ADOBE ACROBAT enables annotations to be stored within a PDF file such that they may be retrieved and/or searched later. An exemplary annotation is shown in FIG. 1. However, the embedding of those annotations within the file also prevents them from being easily searched by non-ADOBE ACROBAT applications. Software Development Kit (SDK), Version 4.05; Adobe Acrobat Forms Data Format (FDF) Toolkit SDK; and Abode Technical Notes 5167, 5182, 5190, 5191, 5164, 5165, 5183, 5157, 5158, 5151, 5181, 5193, 5194, 5162, 5160, 5192, 5400, 5172, 5150, and 5159, each revised November, 2000. Each of those references is incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. As shown in FIG. 6.1 of Portable Document Format Reference Manual, Version 1.3, Adobe Acrobat enables annotations to be stored within a PDF file such that they may be retrieved and/or searched later. An exemplary annotation is shown in FIG. 1. However, the embedding of those annotations within the file also prevents them from being easily searched by non-Adobe Acrobat applications.
In addition, database software packages are also available from various manufacturers. Such software includes, but is not limited to, Lotus Notes, SQL Server from Microsoft Corporation, and Oracle8i from Oracle Corporation. Such software enables data to be stored in and retrieved from the corresponding databases.
It is an object of the present invention to provide at least one of a text overlay and a graphic overlay for a displayable computer document (e.g., a PDF file) where the overlay and the image are stored separately and the addition, modification or deletion of parts of the overlay cause workflow rules to be triggered.
This object and other advantages of the present invention are addressed by at least one computer system in which information of a first type (e.g., a textual or graphic annotation) is stored in a first location and a document of a second type (e.g., a scanned image or a computer generated file) is stored in a second location. In one embodiment, the first and second locations are different files and/or databases of a single computer. Alternately, in another embodiment, the first and second locations are file systems of two different computers connected via a network.

Method and system for annotating documents using an independent annotation repository


An electrostatic image developing toner comprising at least a binder resin and a releasant, wherein the binder resin comprises a petroleum resin and a styrene-based copolymer or styrene-based homopolymer in an amount of 5:5 to 7:3 by weight in terms of the ratio of the petroleum resin:styrene-based copolymer or styrene-based homopolymer and has the maximum molecular weight value (PL) based on the petroleum resin in a range of from 5xc3x97102 to 2xc3x97103 and the maximum molecular weight value (PH) based on the styrene-based copolymer or styrene-based homopolymer in a range of from 1xc3x97105 to 4.5xc3x97105 in the chromatogram obtained by measuring the binder resin through gel permeation chromatography and the releasant is a wax having a melt viscosity at 140xc2x0 C. of 102 mPa/s (cp) or less and is added in an amount of 1 to 7 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of the toner.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrostatic image developing toner to be used for developing electrostatic images in an electrophotographic copying machines, laser beam printers and electrostatic recording apparatuses wherein an image is formed utilizing an electrophotographic method or an electrostatic recording method, and a method for forming an image using the electrostatic image developing toner.
2. Description of the Related Art
In copying machines for copying an original, printers for recording output of a computer including a personal computer, or printers for facsimile receiving apparatuses, an electrophotographic method or an electrostatic recording method has long been popularly employed for obtaining a copied or recorded image. Typical examples of the copying machine or printer employing this electrophotographic method or the electrostatic recording method include an electrophotographic copying machine, a laser beam printer, a printer using a liquid crystal array and an electrostatic printer. In the electrophotographic method or the electrostatic recording method, an electrostatic latent image (electrostatic charge image) is formed on an electrostatic image carrier such as an electrophotographic photoreceptor or an electrostatic recording medium through various means, and is developed with a developer. The resultant toner image is transferred, if necessary, to a transfer medium such as paper, then fixed by heating, applying pressure, applying heat and pressure or with a solvent vapor to thereby obtain a final toner image. On the other hand, toner particles not transferred and remaining on the electrostatic image carrier are removed by a cleaning means. By repeating the above-described steps, copied products or recorded products can be obtained in sequence.
As a method for developing the electrostatic image, there have been known a method of using a liquid developer comprising a fine toner dispersed in an electrically insulating liquid; a method of using a powdery toner comprising a colorant and, if necessary, a magnetic substance dispersed in a binder resin together with a particulate carrier; and a method of conducting development using a magnetic toner comprising a magnetic substance dispersed in a binder resin and not using a particulate carrier. Of these methods, dry developing methods using a powdery toner or a magnetic toner have been mainly employed in recent years.
Incidentally, speeding up of electrophotographic copying machines and laser beam printers have recently been required with the progress of reduction in size and personalization and, in addition, it has also been required to reduce necessary energy. Therefore, with these apparatus, various improvements have been attempted to obtain a highly reliable and high-quality image at a high speed with a low energy for a long period of time through a mechanism as simple as possible. Also, in company with such improvements of the apparatus, various improvements have been attempted with respect to toners to be used for development.
For example, as an apparatus for fixing a toner image, there have been widely employed a hot-pressing fixing apparatus using a heating roller and a hot-pressing fixing apparatus wherein a roll-like or continuous heat-resistant film, so-called fixing belt, through which a heating member and the developing surface of a transfer member such as paper is faced each other, and heating is conducted by the heating member, the fixing belt and the transfer member are conveyed in this integrated state while pressing the transfer member from back side thereof using a press roller to thereby conduct hot-pressing fixation. In these methods, the heating roller or the fixing belt directly contacts with a toner image upon fixing of the toner image, and hence conduction of heat to the toner can be realized with such a good efficiency that the toner can be smoothly molten with a low energy at a high speed. In these methods, however, the molten toner comes into direct contact with the heating roller or the fixing belt. Therefore there is involved a problem of staining a transfer member such as paper due to so-called offset phenomenon. That is, a part of the molten toner on a transfer member transfers to and deposits on the surface of the heating roller or the fixing belt, and when the heating roller or the fixing belt again contacts with the transfer member, the toner having transferred and deposited on the heating roller or the like transfers again to the transfer member or, in the case where there exists no transfer member, the toner having transferred to and deposited on the heating roller or the like transfers to a pressing roll and, when a next transfer member passes through the fixing apparatus, it deposits on the back side of the transfer member.
On the other hand, in view of fixing the toner at a low temperature, it is effective to reduce a softening temperature (Tm) of a toner binder resin. However, reduction of Tm generally causes reduction of the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the toner, thus it is known that so-called toner blocking of forming a block of toner during storage or the offset phenomenon of toner upon fixing is liable to take place. This is one of the causes that inhibit to reduce the fixing temperature as one desires. As a technique for simultaneously obtaining the low-temperature fixability and blocking resistance or offset resistance, there has been proposed a technique of using a polyester-based resin which shows a comparatively low fixing temperature even when Tm or Tg is high (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1952/1981). However, this technique fails to satisfy simultaneously and sufficiently requirements for low-temperature fixability, blocking resistance and offset resistance.
As another technique, there has been proposed to use a resin composed of a lower molecular component and a higher molecular component. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 16144/1981 describes to use a styrene-based copolymer mixture showing a chromatogram obtained by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) wherein at least one maximum value of the molecular weight exist in each of a molecular weight region of from 103 to 8xc3x97104 and a molecular weight region of from 105 to 2xc3x97106; Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 229158/1987 describes to use a polyester having 5 to 25% by weight of chloroform-insoluble component; Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 168264/1990 describes to use a carboxylic acid group-containing vinyl polymer having a weight-average molecular weight of 1xc3x97103 to 2xc3x97104 and a ratio of weight-average molecular weight/number-average molecular weight of 3 or less and a carboxylic acid group-containing vinyl polymer having a weight-average molecular weight of 1.5xc3x97105 to 8xc3x97105 and a ratio of weight-average molecular weight/number-average molecular weight of 1.5 or more; Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 294867/1991 describes to use a styrene-acrylic-based copolymer having a molecular weight distribution showing a gel permeation chromatogram wherein a maximum value of the molecular weight exists in each of a molecular weight region of 1xc3x97105 or more and a molecular weight region of from 500 to 2xc3x97104, and wherein a minimum value of the molecular weight exists between the two maximum values, and a ratio of the sum of the areas of two peaks respectively containing the two maximum values to the area of the valley under a tangential line common to the two peaks and containing the minimum value is 0.30 or less; and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 297629/1993 describes to use a binder resin which has a molecular weight distribution measured by GPC wherein at least one peak exists in a molecular weight region of from 3xc3x97103 to 5xc3x97104 and at least one peak in a molecular weight region of 105 or more, which contains 50% or more components of 105 or less in molecular weight, and which shows specific properties in a DSC curve obtained by measuring with a differential scanning calorimeter. With these binder resins, the low-molecular components are considered to contribute to the low temperature fixability, whereas the high-molecular components are considered to contribute to the blocking resistance or the offset resistance. With these known binder resins, however, there is involved a problem that, as the average molecular weight of the low-molecular component is decreased in order to obtain fixability at a lower temperature, the styrene-based resin having conventionally been widely used as binder resin becomes liquid or undergoes such a decrease in the glass transition point (Tg) that there results a poor storage stability. Thus, in actual fact, when the maximum molecular weight value of the low-molecular component becomes about 2,500 or less, such resin cannot be used as a binder resin for a toner, and hence there have been no binder resins for a toner which show a sufficient fixability at a lower temperature.
Further, in order to prevent the offset phenomenon of a toner, it has been proposed to incorporate in the toner itself a releasant that will be molten by heating upon fixation and come out of the toner to prevent the offset phenomenon. As such releasant, there have been proposed a number of waxes such as low molecular weight polyethylene, low molecular weight polypropylene, hydrocarbon-based waxes, natural waxes, and modified waxes thereof.
As to the techniques for preventing the offset phenomenon of a toner by incorporating the waxes or modified waxes in the toner and as to the waxes or modified waxes to be incorporated in the toner, various descriptions are given in, for example, Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 3304/1977, Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 3305/1977, Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 52574/1982, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 217366/1985, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 252360/1985, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 252361/1985, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 138259/1986, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 94062/1986, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 14166/1987, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 195683/1987, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 109359/1989, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 79860/1990, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 50559/1991, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 204185/1993, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 75422/1994. However, these waxes to be added to a toner for imparting releasing properties are essentially poor in compatibility with the binder resins and are difficult to uniformly disperse in a toner. In addition, in case where a large amount of the wax is added to the toner in order to prevent the offset phenomenon, the wax is unevenly distributed and, upon pulverizing the toner, the wax is liberated, and the thus liberated wax in turn causes filming on the photoreceptor, developing sleeve, carrier particles, etc., thus causing deterioration of a developed image, and problems such as reduction of fluidity of the toner and blocking of the toner.
On the other hand, an attempt has long been made to use a petroleum resin as a binder resin component of a toner for electrophotography. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 121049/1981 proposes a pressure-fixable toner containing a C5 to C6 aliphatic petroleum resin; Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 26950/1985 proposes a pressure-fixable toner containing a petroleum resin composed of C5 aliphatic hydrocarbons; and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 263951/1985 and 2161/19861 propose a pressure-fixable toner containing a petroleum resin having a softening point of 160xc2x0 C. or lower than that. These toners are proposed noting the generally soft properties of the petroleum resins. It is further known to use the petroleum resin as a part of a binder resin for a toner to be fixed according to the heat-fixing method. Examples thereof are described in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 99740/1975, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 99741/1975, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 99742/1975, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 257868/1992, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 278658/1996, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 52611/1999, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 52612/1999, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 52614/1999, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 52615/1999, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 52616/1999, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5214/2001. Many of the binder resins described in these publications use the petroleum resin as an auxiliary component of the toner binder resin, and there are no binder resins which sufficiently satisfy the requirements for low-temperature fixability, blocking resistance, offset resistance, and pulverizability upon production of a toner.
Thus, there have been desired an electrostatic image developing toner that permits good fixation at a lower temperature than with conventional toners, shows an excellent blocking resistance and offset resistance, and does not involve the problem with respect to pulverizability upon production of a toner. In addition, in order to save sources and reduce copying cost, there have also been demanded a toner that can provide a toner image with a sufficient density even when used in a small amount, and an image-forming method using such toner.
An object of the invention is to provide an electrostatic image developing toner capable of solving the above-described problems.
That is, an object of the invention is to provide an electrostatic image developing toner, which has an excellent low-temperature fixability and an excellent offset resistance.
Another object of the invention is to provide an electrostatic image developing toner, which has an excellent low-temperature fixability and an excellent offset resistance and which, when stored or left for a long period of time, does not suffer deterioration.
A further object of the invention is to provide an electrostatic image developing toner which has the above described various properties at the same time and has an excellent pulverizability.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a method for conducting fixation at a low temperature using an electrostatic image developing toner having the above-described properties and forming a copied or recorded image without causing offset phenomenon.
A yet further object of the invention is to provide an electrostatic image developing toner that can provide a copied or recorded product having an enough density even when it is used only in a small amount.
As a result of intensive investigations to solve the above described problems with the conventional toners, the inventors have found that a copied or recorded product with a desired density can be obtained even when a toner is used only in a small amount with an excellent low temperature fixability without causing blocking or offset phenomenon of the toner, as has conventionally been desired, by using a petroleum resin as a low molecular component of a toner binder resin and, as a high molecular component of the toner binder resin, a styrene-based copolymer or a styrene-based homopolymer, with adjusting the ranges of molecular weight where the maximum values of the molecular weight of the petroleum resin and that of the styrene-based copolymer or the styrene-based homopolymer in a chromatogram of the toner binder resin measured according to gel permeation chromatography (GPC) exist in a specific range and adjusting the ratio of the amounts thereof to specific ranges, and, further using a wax having a low melt viscosity at 140xc2x0 C. as a releasant, and that such toner has an excellent pulverizability upon production of the toner, thus having achieved the present invention based on the findings.
That is, the present invention provides an electrostatic image developing toner containing at least a binder resin and a releasant, wherein the binder resin comprises a petroleum resin and a styrene-based copolymer or styrene-based homopolymer in an amount of 5:5 to 7:3 by weight in terms of the ratio of the petroleum resin:styrene-based copolymer or styrene-based homopolymer and has the maximum molecular weight value (PL) based on the petroleum resin in a range of from 5xc3x97102 to 2xc3x97103 and the maximum molecular weight value (PH) based on the styrene-based copolymer or styrene-based homopolymer in a range of from 1xc3x97105 to 4.5xc3x97105 in the chromatogram obtained by measuring the binder resin through gel permeation chromatography and, in addition, the releasant is a wax having a melt viscosity at 140xc2x0 C. of 102 mPa/s (cp) or less and is added in an amount of 1 to 7 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of the toner.
The invention also provides an image-forming method, which involves a step of forming an electrostatic image by forming an electrostatic latent image on an electrostatic latent image carrier; an image-forming step of developing the electrostatic latent image using the above-described electrostatic image developing toner; a transferring step of transferring the toner image on a transfer member; and a step of heat-fixing by heating the toner image transferred onto the transfer member.
In the invention, it is preferred that the petroleum resin has a glass transition point Tg of 35 to 55xc2x0 C., and the styrene-based copolymer has a glass transition point Tg of 50 to 75xc2x0 C.
In addition, it is preferred in the invention that HPL:HM:HPH=25 to 65:1:20 to 40, wherein HPL represents the height of the maximum molecular weight value PL based on the petroleum resin in the chromatogram obtained by measuring through gel permeation chromatography, HPH represents the height of the maximum molecular weight value PH based on the styrene-based copolymer or the styrene-based homopolymer in the chromatogram obtained by measuring through gel permeation chromatography, and HM represents the minimum height between the two maximum values.
In the invention, the wax preferably shows a weight loss of less than 1.5% when subjected to measurement in a thermal analysis apparatus TGA at 200xc2x0 C.
In the invention, the low molecular component of petroleum resin mainly governs the fixability, whereas the high molecular component of styrene-based copolymer or styrene-based homopolymer mainly governs the offset-resistant properties and the anti-block properties. The fixability, offset-resistant properties and anti-block properties can be well balanced by properly mixing these components. Also, releasing properties of the toner are more improved by the releasant to obtain a fixed image without offset phenomenon.

Electrostatic image developing toner and image-forming method using the same


A discharge level monitor for a battery. The current flowing from the monred battery is passed through a sensing resistor. The voltage across the resistor is amplified and integrated over time and the result of the integration is stored in a capacitor. The capacitor is discharged by a switch controlled by a logic circuit, whenever a threshold voltage is achieved. The cycle is repeated each time one coulomb capacity is removed from the battery. A counting circuit counts the number of charge/discharge cycles of the capacitor to produce a count which is representative of the amount of energy dissipated and therefore indirectly of the amount of energy remaining in the battery system.

Each year millions of dollars are spent on lithium batteries for use in portable electronics equipment. Because of their superior rate capability and service life over a wide variety of conditions, lithium batteries are the power source of choice for many equipment applications. There is no convenient method of determining the available capacity remaining in partially used lithium batteries. Hence, users do not take full advantage of all the available battery energy. In order to maintain readiness, users currently replace batteries on a conservative schedule. This practice results in the waste of millions of dollars in battery life or energy every year.
It is well documented and accepted that the available energy in a lithium battery is a function of the conditions to which the battery has been subjected. Capacity remaining is a complex function of current drain, temperature and time. Therefore, a reliable method of predicting remaining capacity has been actively sought. External monitoring/testing devices are available for most battery systems. However these devices are, in many cases, not portable and imprecise. Therefore a continuous internal means of determining capacity is desirable. Lithium/sulphur dioxide cell behavior at different temperatures and current drains have been examined. This examination has resulted in the establishment of discharge efficiency formulas. Utilization of these formulas has given rise to a capacity prediction algorithm.
The ability to monitor a battery's state of charge and display this to the user in real time allows for efficient utilization of battery energy. A simple technique for determining the state of charge of a battery is performed by measuring the voltage across the battery and relating this to the battery's state of charge. This method of determining the battery state of charge does not apply for many battery systems, particularly high power/high energy systems where knowledge of the state of charge is most important.
Another technique for determining the state of charge is performed by monitoring the energy removed, then by subtracting this value from the total capacity, the state of charge can be determined. This method is valid for all battery systems. However, large errors can occur whenever the battery is discharged at conditions different from the calibration standard.
Inexpensive accurate state of charge indicators for high power high energy batteries are not available to date. Accurate state of charge indication can only be achieved by taking the discharge rate and temperature into account.

Universal inexpensive battery state-of-charge indicator

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


Embodiments of systems and methods for flexible Channel State Information (CSI) feedback in a cellular communications network are disclosed. In some embodiments, a base station configures a wireless device with a set of CSI-RS resources, dynamically configures a CSI-RS resource from the set of CSI-RS resources for measurement, and receives a CSI report from the wireless device determined from the CSI-RS resource dynamically configured for measurement. In this manner, the base station is enabled to dynamically configure and re-configure the CSI-RS resource(s) for measurement by the wireless device, which in turn provides flexible CSI feedback that is particularly well-suited for embodiments in which the base station transmits beamformed CSI-RS.

Long-Term Evolution (LTE) uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) in the downlink and Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT)—spread OFDM in the uplink. The basic LTE downlink physical resource can thus be seen as a time-frequency grid as illustrated in FIG. 1, where each resource element corresponds to one OFDM subcarrier during one OFDM symbol interval.
As illustrated in FIG. 2, in the time domain, LTE downlink transmissions are organized into radio frames of 10 milliseconds (ms), each radio frame consisting of ten equally-sized subframes of length TSUBFRAME=1 ms. For normal cyclic prefix, one subframe consists of 14 OFDM symbols. The duration of each OFDM symbol is approximately 71.4 microseconds (μs).
Furthermore, the resource allocation in LTE is typically described in terms of Resource Blocks (RBs), where a RB corresponds to one slot (0.5 ms) in the time domain and 12 contiguous subcarriers in the frequency domain. A pair of two adjacent RBs in the time direction (1.0 ms) is known as a RB pair. RBs are numbered in the frequency domain starting with 0 from one end of the system bandwidth.
Downlink transmissions are dynamically scheduled. In particular, in each subframe, the base station transmits control information about the terminals (i.e., User Equipment devices (UEs)) to which data is transmitted in the current downlink subframe. This control signaling, which is carried over the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), is typically transmitted in the first 1, 2, 3, or 4 OFDM symbols in each subframe, where the number n=1, 2, 3, or 4 is known as the Control Format Indicator (CFI). The downlink subframe also contains common reference symbols, which are known to the receiver and used for coherent demodulation of, e.g., the control information. A downlink system with CFI=3 OFDM symbols as control is illustrated in FIG. 3.
From LTE Release 11 onwards, the above-described resource assignments can also be scheduled on the Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel (EPDCCH). For Release 8 to Release 10 only the PDCCH is available.
The reference symbols shown in FIG. 3 are the Cell-Specific Reference Symbols (CRSs). The CRSs are used to support multiple functions including fine time- and frequency-synchronization and channel estimation for certain transmission modes.
In a cellular communications system, there is a need to measure the channel conditions in order to know what transmission parameters to use. These parameters include, e.g., modulation type, coding rate, transmission rank, and frequency allocation. This applies to Uplink (UL) as well as Downlink (DL) transmissions.
The scheduler that makes the decisions on the transmission parameters is typically located in the base station (i.e., the enhanced or evolved Node B (eNB)). Hence, the scheduler can measure channel properties of the UL directly using known reference signals that the terminals (i.e., UEs) transmit. These measurements then form a basis for the UL scheduling decisions that the eNB makes, which are then sent to the UEs via a DL control channel. Conversely, for the DL, the scheduler receives Channel State Information (CSI) feedback from the terminals, which is taken into consideration by the scheduler when selecting the transmission parameters for the DL transmissions to those terminals.
In LTE Release 8, CRSs are used in the DL for CSI estimation and feedback, and for channel estimation for demodulation. CRSs are transmitted in every subframe and are defined to support up to four Antenna Ports (APs). In LTE Release 10, to support up to eight APs, CSI Reference Signals (CSI-RSs) are defined for the UE to measure and feed back CSI relating to the multiple APs. Each CSI-RS resource consists of two Resource Elements (REs) over two consecutive OFDM symbols, and two different CSI-RSs (for two different APs) can share the same CSI-RS resource (two REs) by Code-Division Multiplexing (CDM). Also, a CSI-RS can be transmitted once per 5, 10, 20, 40, or 80 ms, where this timing is referred to as the CSI-RS periodicity. Therefore, CSI-RS has lower overhead and lower duty-cycle as compared to CRS. On the other hand, unlike CRS, CSI-RS is not used as a demodulation reference. Different CSI-RSs can also be transmitted with different offsets in the subframe, where the offset of the CSI-RS within the subframe is referred to as the CSI-RS subframe offset. When a CSI-RS is configured, the UE measures the channel for a given AP at each time instant and may interpolate the channel in between CSI-RS occasions to estimate the dynamically varying channel, e.g., by one interpolated sample per 1 ms instead of, e.g., one measured sample each 5 ms.
FIGS. 4A and 4B show examples of mappings from different CSI-RS configurations to REs in a RB pair. FIG. 4A illustrates the mapping for one or two APs, where 20 configurations are possible. The two CSI-RSs of the two APs of a particular cell can be transmitted by, for instance, configuration 0 by CDM, while CSI-RSs of APs of other neighboring cells can be transmitted by configuration j, with 1<=j<=19, to avoid reference signal collisions with the CSI-RS in the cell. FIG. 4B shows the mapping for four APs, where 10 configurations are possible. The four CSI-RSs of the four APs of a particular cell can be transmitted by, for instance, configuration 0 by CDM, while CSI-RSs of APs of other neighboring cells can be transmitted by configuration j, with 1<=j<=9.
The OFDM symbols used by the two consecutive REs for one CSI-RS are Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbols, which are derived from a specified pseudo-random sequence. To randomize the interference, the initial state of the pseudo-random sequence generator is determined by the detected cell Identifier (ID) or a virtual cell ID configured to the UE by Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. CSI-RS with such non-zero-power OFDM symbols are called Non-Zero-Power (NZP) CSI-RS.
On the other hand, Zero-Power (ZP) CSI-RS can also be RRC-configured to the UE for the purpose of Interference Measurement (IM) (in Transmission Mode 10 (TM10) only), or for the purpose of improving the CSI estimation in other cells (in Transmission Mode 9 (TM9) or TM10). However, the CSI-RS mapping with four APs will always be used by the ZP CSI-RS. For example, in FIG. 4B, if configuration 0 with NZP CSI-RS is used by cell A to estimate the CSI of the two APs in cell A, configuration 0 with ZP CSI-RS (a total of four REs per RB pair) can be used by the neighboring cell B to minimize the DL interference to cell A over the four REs in configuration 0, such that the CSI estimation of the two APs in cell A can be improved.
In LTE TM10, up to four CSI processes and three NZP CSI-RS can be configured for a UE by RRC signaling. These four CSI processes can, for instance, be used to acquire CSI for APs in up to three different cells (or Transmission Points (TPs) within the same cell) in a Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP) framework. The four CSI processes can also be assigned to multiple different beams transmitted from the same eNB using an array antenna that is capable of beamforming in azimuth, elevation, or both (i.e., Two-Dimensional (2D) beamforming). See 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Technical Specification (TS) 36.213 V12.3.0, 3GPP TS 36.331 V12.3.0, and 3GPP TS 36.211 V12.3.0 for complete LTE specifications on how CSI processes and CSI-RS configurations are set up. A beam of a transmitted signal, such as a CSI-RS, is obtained by transmitting the same signal from multiple antenna elements in an array, but with individually controlled phase shifts (and potentially amplitude tapering) for each antenna element. The resulting radiation pattern of the transmitted signal thus has a different beam width and main pointing direction compared to the antenna element radiation pattern. Hence, a beamformed signal, such as beamformed CSI-RS, is obtained. Typically, the antenna elements at the transmitter are closely spaced, as to achieve correlated channels, which makes the beamforming more effective. The benefits of beamforming is reduced interference (due to the typically narrow beam width of the transmitted signal) and increased effective channel gain (due to the applied beamforming phase shifts at the transmitter which ensure a coherent addition of the signals from each transmit antenna at the receiver).
In order for the UE to derive the correct CSI, each CSI process in TM10 is associated (and configured by RRC signaling) with a signal hypothesis and an interference hypothesis. The signal hypothesis describes which NZP CSI-RS reflects the desired signal. The interference is measured in a configured CSI-IM resource, which is similar to a CSI-RS with four REs per Physical Resource Block (PRB) pair, which the UE uses for interference measurements. To better support the IM in CoMP, CSI-IM is standardized and is based on the ZP CSI-RS. Therefore, each of the up to four CSI processes consists of one NZP CSI-RS and one CSI-IM.
For a TM9 UE, only a single CSI process can be configured, and no CSI-IM is defined. The IM is thus unspecified in TM9. There is however still a possibility to get CSI feedback from two different Subframe (SF) sets: SF set 1 and SF set 2. For instance, based on, e.g., the Almost Blank Subframe (ABS) information signaled over X2, a pico eNB can configure a UE to feed back CSI for both protected (i.e., Reduced Power Subframes (RPSF)) subframes (where a corresponding macro eNB has reduced activity) and CSI for unprotected subframes in two different CSI reports. This gives the pico eNB information to perform link adaptation in the two types of subframes differently, depending on whether it is a protected subframe or not. It is also possible for a UE configured in TM10 to use both subframe sets and multiple CSI processes.
In LTE, the format of the CSI reports are specified in detail and may contain Channel Quality Information (CQI), Rank Indicator (RI), and Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI). See 3GPP TS 36.213 V12.3.0. The reports can be wideband or applicable to subbands. They can be configured by a RRC message to be sent periodically or in an aperiodic manner or triggered by a control message from the eNB to a UE. The quality and reliability of the CSI are crucial for the eNB in order to make the best possible scheduling decisions for the upcoming DL transmissions.
The LTE standard does not specify how the UE should obtain and average the CSI-RS and CSI-IM measurements from multiple time instants, i.e., subframes. For example, the UE may measure over a time frame of multiple subframes, unknown to the eNB and combine several measurements in a UE-proprietary way to create the CSI values that are reported, either periodically or triggered.
In the context of LTE, the resources (i.e., the REs) available for transmission of CSI-RS are referred to as "CSI-RS resources." In addition, there are also "CSI-IM resources." The latter are defined from the same set of possible physical locations in the time/frequency grid as the CSI-RS, but with zero power, hence ZP CSI-RS. In other words, they are "silent" CSI-RSs and when the eNB is transmitting the shared data channel, it avoids mapping data to those REs used for CSI-IM. These are intended to give a UE the possibility to measure the power of any interference from another transmitter other than the serving node of the UE.
Each UE can be configured with one, three, or four different CSI processes. Each CSI process is associated with one CSI-RS and one CSI-IM resource where these CSI-RS resources have been configured to the UE by RRC signaling and are thus periodically transmitted/occurring with a periodicity of T and with a given subframe offset relative to the frame start.
If only one CSI process is used, then it is common to let the CSI-IM reflect the interference from all other eNBs, i.e., the serving cell uses a ZP CSI-RS that overlaps with the CSI-IM, but in other adjacent eNBs there is no ZP CSI-RS on these resources. In this way the UE will measure the interference from adjacent cells using the CSI-IM.
If additional CSI processes are configured to the UE, then there is possibility for the network to also configure a ZP CSI-RS resource in the adjacent eNB that overlaps with a CSI-IM resource for this CSI process for the UE in the serving eNB. In this way the UE will feed back accurate CSI also for the case when this adjacent cell is not transmitting. Hence, coordinated scheduling between eNBs is enabled with the use of multiple CSI processes and one CSI process feeds back CSI for the full interference case and the other CSI process feeds back CSI for the case when a (strongly interfering) adjacent cell is muted. As mentioned above, up to four CSI processes can be configured to the UE, thereby enabling feedback of four different transmission hypotheses.
The PDCCH/EPDCCH is used to carry Downlink Control Information (DCI) such as scheduling decisions and power control commands. More specifically, the DCI includes:                DL scheduling assignments, including Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) resource indication, transport format, hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ) information, and control information related to spatial multiplexing (if applicable). A DL scheduling assignment also includes a command for power control of the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) used for transmission of hybrid ARQ acknowledgements in response to DL scheduling assignments.        UL scheduling grants, including Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) resource indication, transport format, and hybrid ARQ related information. A UL scheduling grant also includes a command for power control of the PUSCH.        Power control commands for a set of terminals as a complement to the commands included in the scheduling assignments/grants.
The PDCCH/EPDCCH region carries one or more DCI messages, each with one of the formats above. As multiple terminals can be scheduled simultaneously, on both DL and UL, there must be a possibility to transmit multiple scheduling messages within each subframe. Each scheduling message is transmitted on separate PDCCH/EPDCCH physical resources. Furthermore, to support different radio channel conditions, link adaptation can be used, where the code rate of the PDCCH/EPDCCH is selected by adapting the resource usage for the PDCCH/EPDCCH, to match the radio channel conditions.
Against this backdrop, future cellular communications networks are expected to utilize beamforming where the number of beams may exceed the number of CSI-RS resources. In addition, existing and future cellular communications networks sometimes use a multi-layer radio access network including a number of coverage cells (e.g., macro cells controlled by eNBs) and a number of capacity cells (e.g., pico cells controlled by pico eNBs). As such, there is a need for systems and methods that enable improved CSI-RS configuration, particularly for cellular communications networks that utilize beamforming and/or multi-layer radio access networks.


The shift control of a transmission is performed on different bases depending on whether an engine is connected so as to be passively turned, or is disconnected. During the disengaged state, the shift control is performed so that the power generation efficiency of a motor-generator becomes maximized under a predetermined condition. During the engaged state, the shift control is performed so that the turning resistance of the engine becomes minimized under a predetermined condition. Therefore, during running of the vehicle, a battery can be charged through the regeneration control of the motor-generator. Even when the regeneration control is performed while the passive turning of the engine is allowed, good electric power generation efficiency can be achieved.

The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-364299 filed on Nov. 30, 2000, including the specification, drawings and abstract, is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a regeneration control apparatus and method for a vehicle, and more particularly to a shift control of a transmission performed at the time of power generation through regeneration control of a rotation device.
2. Description of Related Art
A known vehicle has: (a) an internal combustion engine connected to a drive wheel of the vehicle via a transmission capable of changing the speed ratio; (b) a connection-disconnection device that is engaged to allow and is disengaged to prohibit power transfer between the internal combustion engine and the transmission; (c) a rotation device that is connected to the drive wheel via the transmission and that functions at least as an electric power generator; and (d) a regeneration controller that, during the running of the vehicle, causes the rotation device to generate electric power through regeneration control of the rotation device and applies a braking force to the vehicle.
An example of such vehicles is a hybrid vehicle described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-251708, in which the rotation device is a motor-generator that selectively functions as both a power generator and an electric motor, and the transmission is a belt-type continuously variable transmission. During the regeneration control by the regeneration controller, the speed shift of the transmission is controlled so that the motor-generator rotates at a rotation speed that provides the highest power generating efficiency.
However, if the speed shift control is performed based only on the electric power generating efficiency of the motor-generator, a problem in energy efficiency occurs as follows. That is, if the connection device is engaged and therefore the internal combustion engine is passively turned by the rotation of the motor-generator, braking force is generated by the turning resistance of the engine due to the pump effect, friction loss, etc., so that the amount of electric power generated by the motor-generator (regenerative braking torque) decreases. Thus, energy efficiency deteriorates. During the regeneration control, it is appropriate to disengage the connection-disconnection device and thereby disconnect the engine. However, there are cases where the regeneration control must be performed while the connection-disconnection device is engaged so that the engine is passively turned, including a case where quick supply of drive power from the internal combustion engine is needed, for example, during a re-acceleration in a high-speed vehicle run during which a sufficient drive power cannot be produced by the electric motor alone.
Accordingly, it is one object of the invention to make it possible to achieve excellent power generating efficiency even when regeneration control is performed while the passive turning of the engine is allowed.
In order to achieve the aforementioned and/or other objects, one aspect of the invention provides a regeneration control apparatus for a vehicle that includes (a) an internal combustion engine connected to a drive wheel of the vehicle via a transmission capable of shifting a speed ratio, (b) a connection-disconnection device that is selectively engaged to allow and disengaged to prohibit a power transfer between the internal combustion engine and the transmission, and (c) a rotation device that is connected to the drive wheel via the transmission and that functions at least as an electric power generator. The regeneration control apparatus further has a controller that (d) performs a regeneration control of the rotation device so that the rotation device generates electricity and applies a braking force to the vehicle during running of the vehicle, and that (e) during the regeneration control, selectively controls the speed ratio of the transmission on different bases depending on whether the connection-disconnection device is in a connected state or a disconnected state.
The invention also provides a method of controlling regeneration of electric power in a vehicle that includes (a) an internal combustion engine connected to a drive wheel of the vehicle via a transmission capable of shifting a speed ratio, (b) a connection-disconnection device that is selectively engaged to allow and disengaged to prohibit a power transfer between the internal combustion engine and the transmission, and (c) a rotation device that is connected to the drive wheel via the transmission and that functions at least as an electric power generator. In the control method, the speed ratio of the transmission is controlled on different bases depending on whether the connection-disconnection device is determined to be in a connected state or a disconnected state, when a request for deceleration of the vehicle is made. The regeneration control of the rotation device is performed so as to generate electricity and apply a braking force to the vehicle.
In the regeneration control apparatus and method for a vehicle according to this aspect of the invention, the shift control of the transmission is performed on different bases depending on whether the connection-disconnection device is in the engaged state, such that the engine is passively turned, or the disengaged state, such that the engine is disconnected. Therefore, during each of the states, the regeneration control of the rotation device can be performed at excellent energy efficiency.

Regeneration control apparatus and method for vehicle


In a patterning method according to the present embodiment, a guide pattern is formed on a processing target film. The guide pattern is configured by concave portions and convex portions extending in a predetermined direction. A block copolymer layer is formed on the guide pattern. The block copolymer layer contains at least two block chains. A layer of microphase-separated structures is formed on the concave portions and the convex portions, respectively, by microphase-separating the block copolymer layer. The processing target film is formed into predetermined patterns by selectively removing the processing target film. At least a part of the block copolymer layer is used as a mask.

Conventionally, as a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device, a patterning method for forming a resist pattern using a photolithography technique, etching a processing target film using the resist pattern as a mask, and thereby forming desired patterns on the processing target film is used. In recent years, there is proposed DSA (Directed Self Assembly) Lithography technology for forming fine patterns in a self-aligned manner using a block copolymer so as to form finer patterns.
According to the DSA, the patterns are formed using microphase-separated structures formed in the block copolymer coated onto a processing target film as masks. At this time, a physical guide pattern (a line and space pattern) referred to as "Grapho-epitaxy" is often formed on the processing target film. When the guide pattern is formed, then the microphase-separated structures in the block copolymer coated onto concave portions of the guide pattern are formed along the guide pattern, and the microphase-separated structures regularly arrayed along the guide pattern can be formed on the processing target film.
However, with this patterning method, it is disadvantageously difficult to form patterns on the entire surface of the processing target film because it is impossible to form the regularly arrayed microphase-separated structures on convex portions of the guide pattern.


A ring binder mechanism has an elongate housing, a pair of locking elements, a translation bar, a pair of elongate hinge plates having mating ring halves extending there-from, a plurality of mating ring halves, and an actuator. Movement of the actuator moves the hinge plates, translation bar, and locking elements to cause the ring halves to disengage so a user can place holed paper over the open ring halves, or closes the ring halves together to secure the paper with the closed-loop rings thus form while simultaneously locking the rings in the closed-loop configuration to prevent inadvertent opening.

Ring binders capture and retain hole-punched sheets such as loose-leaf paper, printed pages and advertisements, and photo sleeves. Such binders organize the sheets to form notebooks, pamphlets, reports, or files. Such binders typically include clips or rings for engaging the sheets via their punched holes. The most popular of such binders is generically referred to as a "ring binder" and is most commonly embodied with two rings ("two-ring binder") or three rings ("three-ring binder") which capture each sheet through holes punched adjacent its left side edge. The rings are typically made of two substantially semi-circular half rings that are engageable to form a continuous loop and are disengageable to form an open discontinuous loop. The ring halves are capable of being opened in clamshell fashion to receive or dispense sheets, or closed to retain the sheets in book-like format.
A problem common to prior art ring binder mechanisms lies in the often sharp tips of the ring halves and the quick and forceful snapping action as these tips move between their opened and closed positions. To address this safety problem, most recent ring binder mechanisms include an activator for forcing the rings opened or closed without the user having to touch the ring halves. However, even with this safety advantage available most prior art ring binder mechanisms still allowed the user to choose between either opening and closing the rings with the activator or opening the rings by grasping and pulling the ring halves apart and closing the rings by pushing the ring halves together. Many users, accustomed to the older mechanism or attracted by the prominence of the rings for grasping, continued to use the older and more dangerous opening and closing method. To address this, some recent ring binder mechanisms included a locking mechanism for preventing opening of the rings by grasping and pulling the ring halves, and incorporated this locking mechanism into the actuator. This ensured that that closing the rings simultaneously and automatically locks the ring halves together to prevent one form pulling the ring halves apart, but allows the rings to be automatically unlocked for opening during activation of the actuator. In order to open such mechanisms, the user must push the actuator from its closed to its opened position. Such mechanism will be generically referred to herein as "auto-locking" or "self-locking" ring binder mechanisms, but while they have improved over previous mechanisms, they continue to suffer from disadvantages and flaws.
An auto-locking ring binder mechanism is taught in US Publication 2007/0286670, which exemplifies some of the disadvantages and failings of such prior art auto-locking mechanisms. A pair of movable locking elements is swung between an open state and a closed state by movement of two wire links connected to the actuator to enable or block motion of a pair of hinge plates from the closed to the open position. The locking elements are then swung back as the actuator is moved to the open position so that they align with slots in the hinge plates and thereby allow the hinge plates to open only by actuation of the actuator.
Although hypothetically functional as depicted, in practical manufacture and use this mechanism is found difficult to produce and unreliable. The distance between the points of attachment of the wire links to the locking elements and actuator is very difficult to accurately control through the assembly of so many loose-fitting components. Yet movement of the locking elements by the actuator and wire links must be very precise to ensure that the locking elements take exact locking and unlocking positions in relation to the slots in the hinge plates. In practice, this often requires a slight manual bending of the wire links at assembly to ensure that the wires precisely mate with the remainder of the assembled components and accurately control the locking elements. Such bend-ability requires that the links be made of the thin and flexible wire as shown. During real-world use, these wire links are found incapable of withstanding the common and reasonably anticipated misuses that such binders should be able to withstand.
The wires must be attached to the locking elements at an off-center position as depicted in order to cause the swinging of the elements, requiring the wire links to follow an arcuate path during their translation and create a non-straight line of force between the actuator, link, and element. It is common for occasional excessive forces to be inadvertently applied to the actuator or rings during unintentional misuse, such as to try to force the mechanism closed against an obstruction, and such forces are transmitted along the bendable wire links. With the non-straight arrangement required in this design, the wire links are easily bent by these forces and the distance between the points of attachment that was so carefully set during production is instantly changed. So the mechanism that was may have been functional at the time of manufacture is rendered nonfunctional by such common and reasonably anticipated misuse.
Additionally, the swinging motion of the locking elements in the above-described mechanism causes them to scrape against the hinge plates. Since the edges of the locking elements are naturally sharp and the swinging motion is arcuate, this causes wear and binding as the locking element rubs against the hinge plates, creates objectionable noise, obstructs the movement, and ultimately renders the mechanism unreliable and short-lived.
Numerous other prior art ring binder mechanisms employ linear translating locking elements, which share the disadvantage stated above because the sharp locking elements scrape against the hinge plates in a linear motion that causes similar wear and binding, noise, obstruction, and ultimate unreliability and short-life as well.
Additionally, because the binders in which such mechanisms are sold tend to be low-cost commodities, the mechanisms must be very inexpensive to manufacture. As a result, the mechanisms of the prior art must generally be constructed of thin gauge metal stampings and wires. The dimensions and shapes of such components are inherently difficult to control. This has resulted in an inability to manufacture many prior art mechanisms in a real-world application, even though such mechanisms promise to work perfectly as drawn.
Accordingly, disadvantages and flaws common to prior art ring binder mechanisms lie in the lack of reliability inherent in their designs. Disadvantages and flaws lie in the lack of structural rigidity dictated by their various constructions. Disadvantages and flaws lie in the manufacturing difficulties dictated by their complexity. Disadvantages and flaws lie in the high cost of manufacturing dictated by their numbers and types or components. And disadvantages and flaws lie in the lack of dimensional control of the components dictated by their required manufacturing methods. Further disadvantages and flaws will be readily appreciated by those familiar with the art.
There exists a need to overcome the lack of reliability inherent in the designs of prior art ring binders and ring binder mechanisms, and such is an object of the present invention. There exists a need to overcome the lack of structural rigidity dictated by the various constructions of prior art ring binders and ring binder mechanisms, and such is another object of the present invention. There exists a need to overcome the manufacturing difficulties dictated by the complexities of prior art ring binders and ring binder mechanisms, and such is another object of the present invention. There exists a need to overcome the high cost of manufacturing dictated by the numbers and types or components of prior art ring binders and ring binder mechanisms, and such is another object of the present invention. There exists the need for an arrangement and construction for a ring binder mechanism that is immune from the lack of dimensional control dictated by prior at arrangements and constructions, and such is another object of the present invention. Further needs and objects exist which are addressed by the present invention, as may become apparent by the included disclosure of an exemplary embodiment thereof.


A semiconductor apparatus and method for making the semiconductor apparatus are provided. The semiconductor memory device can include functional circuit blocks (100) having a multi-layer wiring structure for providing electrical connections between device elements within functional circuit blocks (100). Multi-layer wiring structure can include a wiring layer (M2) disposed in a M2 wiring layer horizontal track (120) and a M2 wiring layer vertical track (122). M2 wiring layer horizontal track (120) provides electrical connections by using wiring layer (M2) disposed in a horizontal direction and M2 wiring layer vertical track (122) provides electrical connections by using wiring layer (M2) disposed in a vertical direction. A wiring layer (M1) can form electrodes having electrical connections to diffusion regions of the device elements in functional circuit blocks (100). Wiring layer (M1) can have a higher sheet resistance and higher melting point than wiring layer (M2).

The present invention relates generally to internal wiring of a semiconductor apparatus and more particularly to a semiconductor apparatus fabricated using a multilayer wiring configuration.
Recent efforts have been made in the semiconductor industry to develop improved micro-circuitry in order to enhance capabilities of semiconductor apparatuses. In highly integrated semiconductor apparatuses, the percentage of chip area used for wiring circuitry or interconnect has been increasing. Such wiring trends have been noticeable in various types of devices such as semiconductor memory devices and gate arrays.
As the technology for fabricating micro-circuit device elements in a semiconductor apparatus advances, the operating speed of the gating circuitry increases due to the decreased on-resistance of transistors such as metal-oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs). However, the width of the wiring lines used as an interconnect for the switching circuitry also becomes finer. The finer wiring requires smaller minimum dimensions such as width and/or thickness in the wiring layer. Due to the finer wiring, the resistance per unit length of the wiring circuit can increase. Also, due to the finer micro-circuit device elements, there can be an increased number of gating circuits on a chip and thus, it can be difficult to shorten the lengths of wiring circuitry due to the complexity of the layout. These factors can cause an increase in the RC (resistance-capacitance) time constant and adversely affect the overall operating speeds of the semiconductor apparatus.
In such densely integrated semiconductor apparatuses, decreasing the chip area by reducing wiring spacing is limited. Therefore, multi-layer wiring schemes have been used in which wiring layers are vertically separated by intervening insulation layers. The effectiveness of micro-fabrication of device elements can be improved by incorporating a multi-layer wiring process to provide multiple wiring layers.
In the process of manufacturing a semiconductor apparatus incorporating a multi-layer wiring scheme, a wiring layer having a high sheet resistance (xcexa9/xe2x96xa1) may sometimes be used. For example, a first wiring layer can be a wiring layer that makes contact to and provides wiring for device diffusion layers. A high melting point metal (TiN/Ti, TiN, TiW, W, or the like) that has a high sheet resistance can be used as a material for the first wiring layer. In this example, Ti represents titanium, TiN represents titanium nitride, TiW represents titanium tungsten, and W represents tungsten.
One of the reasons for using a high melting point metal in the first wiring layer is related to the process of making memory cells, as just one example. In the case of a semiconductor memory such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) incorporating a capacitor over bit line (COB) memory cell, after fabricating the first wiring layer (which can be used for the bit lines), a high temperature treatment can be carried out to form a capacitor for storing charge in each memory cell. Thus, a high melting point metal is used as a material for the first wiring layer, due to its ability to withstand such a heat history. There are methods for forming the first wiring layer after making the capacitor of the memory cells, however, these methods can present a problem by increasing the capacitance of bit lines and/or reducing cell capacitance. Thus, the aforementioned method is used more frequently.
Referring now to FIG. 7, a conventional memory array is set forth in a block schematic diagram and given the general reference character 700. Conventional memory array includes capacitor over bit line (COB) memory cells MC connected by a bit line BL.
For example, if the first wiring layer of a three wiring layer configuration is used as an interconnect for a peripheral circuit of a semiconductor apparatus whose memory cell array has been fabricated by the above process, the resulting device can suffer from inferior properties including a slower operational speed due to the high resistance of the interconnect wiring.
For the reasons stated above, multi-layered wiring structures have been implemented in which, within functional blocks having device elements, a second wiring layer is used for an interconnect in a vertical direction and a third wiring layer is used for an interconnect in a horizontal direction. Such a configuration will now be discussed with reference to FIG. 5.
Referring now to FIG. 5, a top view of a schematic diagram of a conventional functional circuit block in a conventional semiconductor apparatus is set forth and given the general reference character 500. The conventional functional circuit 500 includes a plurality of MOSFETs having gate electrodes 501 and diffusion layers 502 for forming source and drain regions. Conventional functional circuit block 500 also includes, first wiring layer M1 (not shown), second wiring layer M2 and third wiring layer M3.
The material for the first wiring layer M1 is a high melting point metal and the material for the second and third layers is aluminum. Aluminum exhibits approximately a difference of two orders of magnitude lower sheet resistance than the high melting point metal.
However, in a semiconductor apparatus having conventional functional circuit blocks 500 arranged in a lattice or matrix configuration, it is not possible to use the second wiring layer M2 in the horizontal direction. Therefore, it is necessary to use the third wiring layer M3 for connecting to other function circuit blocks in the horizontal direction. In this case, the third wiring layer M3 is also used for internal wiring in a central region 510, and therefore, it is not possible to form wiring for mutual connections of blocks in the central region 510. For these reasons, a wiring region or wire routing channel disposed in the vertical direction between rows of blocks and having intra-block signal wiring running horizontally must be created to allow connections between functional circuit blocks using the third wiring layer M3.
Thus, an extra wiring region is required for the conventional semiconductor apparatus according to FIG. 5. This extra wiring region can increase the chip size by requiring routing regions over areas in which no device elements such as MOSFETs exist. This increase in chip size reduces the number of chips manufactured per wafer, thus increases production costs.
To prevent an increase in chip size, the first wiring layer M1 can be used for wiring in the vertical direction for short distances and the second wiring layer M2 can be used for connecting elements when longer wiring lengths are needed. Such a configuration will now be discussed with reference to FIG. 6.
Referring now to FIG. 6, a top view of a schematic diagram of a conventional functional circuit block in a conventional semiconductor apparatus is set forth and given the general reference character 600. The conventional semiconductor apparatus includes a plurality of MOSFETs having gate electrodes 601 and diffusion layers 602 for forming source and drain regions. Conventional functional circuit block 600 also includes, first wiring layer M1, second wiring layer M2 and third wiring layer M3.
It is noted that in FIG. 6, first wiring layer M1 is used for interconnect in the vertical direction within a conventional functional circuit block 600. The second wiring layer M2 is used for interconnect within the horizontal direction within the conventional function circuit block 600. This allows a central region 610 to be used for block to block interconnections without the addition of a separate routing channel outside the parameters of the conventional function circuit block 600.
However, when high resistive wiring, such as first wiring layer M1, is used for interconnections between device elements even for a short wiring distance can adversely affect the performance (operating speed and other parameters) of the functional block. This is particularly true as device element geometries are reduced allowing circuitry to operate at higher frequencies.
In view of the above discussion, it would be desirable to provide a semiconductor apparatus and a manufacturing method for the semiconductor apparatus to form wiring within each functional circuit block without affecting the performance of the apparatus.
According to the present embodiments, a semiconductor apparatus incorporating a multi-layer wiring structure can include a functional circuit block having device elements that can be electrically connected with a wiring layer formed within a wiring region for wirings disposed in a first direction and a wiring region for wirings disposed in a second direction.
According to one aspect of the embodiments, the first direction can be orthogonal to the second direction.
According to another aspect of the embodiments, each device element can include a diffusion region. A wiring layer can produce electrodes electrically connected to diffusion regions of device elements.
According to another aspect of the embodiments, a first wiring layer providing electrodes to diffusion regions can be disposed in a first direction in parallel with and electrically connected to a second wiring layer disposed in a first direction in a wiring region.
According to another aspect of the embodiments, the wiring layer providing electrodes to diffusion regions can have a higher resistance than the wiring layer disposed in a first direction in a wiring region and in a second direction in another wiring region.
According to another aspect of the embodiments, the wiring layer providing electrodes to diffusion regions can have a higher melting point than the wiring layer disposed in a first direction in a wiring region and in a second direction in another wiring region.
According to another aspect of the embodiments, the circuit blocks can be arranged in a first direction and/or a second direction on the surface of a semiconductor substrate.
According to another aspect of the embodiments, the wiring layer providing electrodes to diffusion regions can be used to provide bit lines in a memory array.
According to another aspect of the embodiments, the memory array can include DRAM cells having a capacitor over bit line structure.
According to another aspect of the embodiments a method may include forming a semiconductor apparatus by electrically connecting functional blocks with a multi-layer wiring configuration in which each functional block includes a first wiring region having a wiring layer disposed in a first direction and a second wiring region having the wiring layer disposed in a second direction.
According to another aspect of the embodiments, the method for forming a semiconductor apparatus includes forming a diffusion layer associated with device elements on the surface of a substrate.
According to another aspect of the embodiments, the method for forming a semiconductor apparatus includes forming a first interlayer film providing an insulator between a first wiring layer and the substrate.
According to another aspect of the embodiments, the method for forming a semiconductor apparatus includes forming a first wiring layer to produce electrodes electrically connected to diffusion layers of device elements.
According to another aspect of the embodiments, the method for forming a semiconductor apparatus includes forming a second insulation film providing an insulator between the first wiring layer and a second wiring layer.
According to another aspect of the embodiments, the method for forming a semiconductor apparatus includes forming a second wiring layer wherein for each functional block a first wiring region provides electrical connections using the second wiring layer in a first direction only and a second wiring region provides electrical connections using the second wiring layer in a second direction only.
According to another aspect of the embodiments, the method for forming a semiconductor apparatus includes the first wiring layer having a higher sheet resistance and melting point than the second wiring layer.
According to another aspect of the embodiments, the method for forming a semiconductor apparatus includes forming bit lines for a memory array when forming the first wiring layer.

Semiconductor apparatus including a multi-layer wiring configuration and manufacturing method therefor


A transmission comprising a motor, a torque converter cover including an outside surface and an inside surface, a clutch configured to contact a portion of the inside surface of the torque converter cover, and a sprayer including a first end and a second end and configured to emit fluid on an outside surface of the torque converter is disclosed.

Torque converter clutch cooling may be provided through a flow across clutch paper and conduction through metal turbine and impeller materials due to the torque converter being required to be in a dry environment. This may be a limiting factor for heat extraction from a clutch under high energy conditions or higher slip conditions.

External cooling of a torque converter cover


A split structure design for an internet of things (IoT) device including a control IoT device (CID) and a sensor IoT device (SID). An example of an apparatus provides a CID including a power transmitter to power a SID through a barrier and a control data transceiver to communicate with the SID through the barrier. The CID includes a power adjustor to increase a power transmission to the SID in steps, and an intermodule communicator to determine if communications have been established with the sensor IoT, and, if not, instruct the power adjustor to increase the power transmission to the SID by a step.

It has been estimated that the Internet of Things (IoT) may bring Internet connectivity to 50 billion devices by 2020. Internet of Things (IoT) devices are often deployed in harsh environments that have difficulty with access for cables and electrical connections. This may complicate deployment for applications such as motion sensors, weather sensors, and the like.
The same numbers are used throughout the disclosure and the figures to reference like components and features. Numbers in the 100 series refer to features originally found in FIG. 1; numbers in the 200 series refer to features originally found in FIG. 2; and so on.

Split structure design for an internet of things device


An adhesive composition for roofing such as shingles is disclosed which is composed of a hard asphaltic bitumen fraction having a penetration number at 77.degree. F. of from 0 to 30 dmm and a softening point of from about 150.degree. to 220.degree. F. and an elastomeric composition composed of a thermoplastic elastomer and a plasticizer wherein the overall adhesive composition has a penetration number of from 30 to 100 dmm at 130.degree. F. and a softening point of 140.degree. to 230.degree. F. The inventive composition is self-sealing and exhibits excellent squash resistance, low temperature properties and resistance to blowoff. The composition can be used with shingles as well as other types of roofing coverings.

I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a novel blend of bituminous and synthetic rubber components which provides a superior low temperature sealing adhesive. More particularly, the invention relates to a self-sealing composition for roofing shingles and shingles having the composition thereon.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Many blends of bituminous material have been proposed which meet certain specifications but which are lacking in others, particularly specifications for roofing adhesives. Among the requirements for a self-sealing adhesive are resistance to crush when the shingles are packed in stacks for shipment, a relatively low melting temperature to permit self-sealing without the application of heating equipment and a strong bond between the joined surfaces which has high wind resistance and good low temperature stability. Other important considerations include good resistance to photo-oxidation; in particular, the ability to retain adhesive properties after exposure of the adhesive to sunlight for more than two hours. While certain of these characteristics are found in conventional blends, a combination of all of the above-mentioned properties has not been attained.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,978,014 describes blends having high aromaticity and at least 8% rubber content. While these blends exhibit good thermal stability, their self-sealing properties are relatively poor. Also, because of their high aromaticity, these blends are readily degraded by exposure to UV light during roof installation. U.S. Pat. No. 4,559,267 also discloses roofing adhesive blends. However, these include substantial amounts of bitumen roofers flux in their composition which produces a tacky sealant leading to rider granule problems and packaging difficulties as exemplified by low squash resistance and premature adhesion of shingles when shipped in bundles and during installation.
Another problem with the prior art adhesive compositions is that they are essentially "contact adhesives". In other words, the primary strength of the bond formed by the adhesive composition is at the surface of the shingle. Thus, while the adhesives are relatively soft, they exhibit extremely slow flow properties at temperatures of 90.degree. to 100.degree. F. This means that the adhesive does not flow into the shingle and the bond remains essentially at the surface thereof. A stronger bond is formed between shingle layers when the adhesive composition flows partially into the contacting face of the shingle. Such an adhesive might be referred to as a "migrating" adhesive. Consequently, it is desired to have such a "migrating" property at low temperatures of 90.degree. to 100.degree. F. in order to provide stronger bonds and better wind resistance.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,755,545 describes a self-sealing adhesive blend composed of a bituminous component of 100 percent of a road paving grade asphalt or a blend of such a road paving asphalt with a hard resin asphalt, 1 to 6% by weight of a thermoplastic styrene/butadiene block copolymer and 4 to 40% by weight of an inert filler. This composition does provide some improvement with respect to squash resistance, reduced tackiness and improved low temperature stability. It is pointed out that the bituminous component must have an ACI of less than 0.26 and it is essential that the asphaltene content be less than 20%. The road paving asphalt is a material having a penetration at 77.degree. F. of between 40-80 dmm and a softening point of between 110.degree. F. and 130.degree. F.
The composition of U.S. Pat. No. 4,755,545 presents additional problems with respect to processing such as, mixing difficulty in the dissolution of the elastomer thus requiring more elaborate equipment, e.g., homogenizers, high shear mixers, and the like.

Low temperature sealing adhesive composition


A glove, such as a glove used for washing dishes or for cleaning has a sleeve with a cuff thereon. The cuff has an first portion which is adhered or bonded to the inside surface of the sleeve and a second portion which initially extends from the cuff. The first portion of the cuff seals with the wearer's arm, while the second portion of the cuff is pulled over the outside surface of the glove to absorb moisture running down the glove. The cuff is at least in part made of a moisture absorbing material and preferably contains an anti-bacterial agent.

Moisture proof gloves are used for many purposes, one of which is to protect the hands of the person immersing their hands in a liquid. An example of such gloves are waterproof dishwashing gloves or gloves used for other purposes, such as but not limited to cleaning, painting, or to gloves utilized for industrial purposes.
One drawback to such gloves is that moisture may enter the open end of the glove through which a person's hand is inserted, exposing the person's skin to the moisture. When washing dishes, the liquid is frequently soapy water which contains detergents and other components which can be irritable. Waterproof gloves are also used while cleaning or sanitizing household areas, such as bathrooms or utility areas which may contain bacteria that may in some instances prove harmful to the person doing the cleaning. This is especially the case in facilities such as hospitals or public restrooms.
In view of the aforementioned considerations, there is a need for moisture resistant or waterproof gloves which have cuffs effective to prevent liquid from entering into the gloves through the open end of a glove's sleeve.

Moisture proof glove with a protective cuff


A liquid container comprises: a cap; a container body having an opening, an inner bottom, a first sealing means sealing a cross section of the container body, the opening being enclosed by the cap so as to form a chamber between the cap and the first sealing means; a straw having a circumferential wall, an open end and a closed end, the open end contacting with the first sealing means, the closed end being attached to the inner bottom of the container body, a first bore further formed on the circumferential wall of the straw above the closed end; and a hollow adapter disposed within the chamber, the adapter having an end for piercing the first sealing means to engage and connect the open end of the straw, whereby liquid within the container body can flow from the first bore, through the straw, and out of the adapter.

Conventionally, water and soft drinks, such as juice and milk, are stored in a plastic container which has a container body with an opening, and a cap for enclosing the opening. In some cases, the opening of the container is further sealed by a layer of paperboard, plastics and aluminum, or other metallic foil. The above container has several disadvantages. First, if the container is to be suitable for personal use, an external straw will be needed to be inserted into the container body, in order to suck the liquid from the container. It is not easy for a user to get a straw outdoors. Second, if there is no straw, a user has to directly drink the liquid by putting his/her mouth against the edge of the opening, which is inconvenient, particularly if the user is driving. Third, for a larger container, the opening of the container body will be large. Sudden pouring of the liquid into a glass cup makes the liquid splash out of the glass cup easily and may even turn the glass cup over. Fourth, since the layer of paperboard, plastics and aluminum or other metallic foil has to be torn off before drinking, the liquid therein is easily contaminated. If the container is accidentally turned over, the liquid therein will be spilled.
Further, as shown in FIG. 1, in using a container which stores medicament preparation, such as a hemodialysis concentrate, a user has to tear off a layer of foil covering on the opening of the container and insert a tube therein which has an end further connecting to an adapter of a hemodialysis machine. In this way, the hemodialysis concentrate is easily contaminated by particulates or bacteria in the air. Further, while withdrawing the tube out of the container, some concentrate may drop on the user's skin or clothes, which may cause damages thereto.
Therefore, it is necessary to have a liquid container which is convenient for a user to suck the liquid therefrom without the requirement of an external straw or to smoothly pour the liquid into a glass cup. It is also necessary to provide with a liquid container, wherein the liquid will not be contaminated or accidentally contact with a user's skin or clothes.


Dental X-ray apparatus for panoramic tomography in which an X-ray source and X-ray detection means are carried by a moving mechanism for panoramic imaging movements including translation and rotation of the X-ray source and of the detection means with respect to an object to be examined. The panoramic movements are controlled by data momentally supplied from a microcomputer for two individual translation movements in a plane and for rotation movement about an axis perpendicular to that plane.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an X-ray apparatus for panoramic tomography comprising an X-ray source and X-ray detection means and provided with a moving mechanism for controlling movements for panoramic imaging, including translation and rotation of the X-ray source and of the detection means with respect to an object to be examined.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In known panoramic X-ray apparatus for dental photography the X-ray beam is turned around the patient's head in such a way that the dental arch becomes photographed as a flat picture on a moving film.
In order to get a sharp picture of the object and to make structures in front of the object and behind it invisible by "fogging" out of focus, the transverse velocity of the film with respect to the ray beam is kept equal to the sweep velocity of the ray beam in the object taking in consideration the magnification ratio. The magnification is determined by the ratio of the distance between the focus and the film to the distance between the focus and the object.
The thickness of the layer being photographed sharply is directly proportional to the distance of the the instantaneous center of rotation from the object plane, and inversely proportional to the magnification and to the width of the ray beam. From a point of view of how the object will be represented it is important only how the X-ray, focuses and how the object and the film plane are mutually registered.
In order to realise an orthogonal radiogram of the teeth and the jaw, typical to panoramic tomography X-ray equipment, a thin X-ray beam is generated by penetrating the relevant parts of a patient. The anode current and the anode voltage of an X-ray source are controlled according to the properties of the patient while the X-ray beam is rotated around the patient along a path such that the X-ray beam meets the jaw and the teeth as perpendicularly as possible. To this end, the centre of rotation of the X-ray beam is usually translated during X-ray emission, either into a limited number of of fixed positions or continuously along an adapted path. This translation is usually achieved by means of a cam or equivalent mechanism. This implies that three different kinematic axes are involved in the movement of the X-ray beam to wit: the angle of rotation and the two cartesians X and Y of the centre of rotation. A film and a film cartridge, located on the opposite side of the patient with respect to an X-ray tube, are moved with such a speed that a desired layer of the patient's chinbone and dental system are represented on the film sharply.
It is also known to use a separate motor for the film cartridge motion; usually this motor is of constant-speed type, and the gear ratio of the film cartridge is mechanically changed by means of forced control provided by the rotary movement.
A drawback of known control systems based on mechanically interconnected motion speeds is that the ratio of the motion speeds is mechanically fixed and cannot be changed in the different stages of the exposure; therefore only one type of jaw profile can be photographed sharply with these devices. As known, human jaws vary, and therefore it has been necessary to make compromises in the known devices, for example such that a so called average jaw profile in the photographed sharp layer in order to have different jaws be photographed at least satisfactorily.
For eliminating these drawbacks a separate film cartridge transport motor is provided in a further known embodiment, the speed of which can varied as before with control provided by the rotary motion but also separately so that the layer being photographed sharply can when desired be changed within certain limits thus aiming at getting as good panoramic photograph as possible of each jaw shape.
In the last-mentioned known equipment, in which the rotary motion and the film cartridge movement have their own motors, the rotary motion motor is a constant-speed motor; in consequence it has been possible to change the layer being photographed sharply only by changing the speed of the film cartridge. This procedure has the inevitable consequence that the exposing time will change directly proportionally to the film cartridge transport speed, and the picture will not be evenly exposed; instead, it will have lighter and darker stripes depending on to what direction the sharply-represented layer has been corrected with respect to the basic shape determined by the mechanical system. Similarly, in these known systems with two separate motors it has not been possible to make the necessary correction in order to compensate the absorption of radiation caused by the cervical spine, because always at least one of the motors is of the constant-speed type. Therefore a compensation is introduced by changing the intensity of the X-ray beam, but as a milli-ampere-regulation with which the intensity is controlled is too slow due to properties of the glow filament of the X-ray tube, one must change the intensity by changing the anode voltage of the X-ray tube. Depending on the properties of the patient and intensifying screens used, the maximum appropriate contrast is achieved with a certain anode voltage; deviating from this voltage results in worse contrast. Therefore in an apparatus as disclosed in EP No. 215757 a control system is introduced on the basis of control data and program stored into it, arranged to control both the speed of a rotary motion motor of an arm and the speed of a film transport motor and the distribution of these speeds during an exposure sequence independently of each other in order to obtain sharp images with suitable exposing time photograph dental systems of varying sizes and shapes with a panoramic device. The use of a mechanically fixed movement by the motor drive of the arm still restricts an exact panoramic imaging.


A positioning cartridge is disclosed for use during manufacture of an electrode. The positioning cartridge may have a plurality of positioning inserts, each with proximal and distal ends, and a scaffold secured to the proximal ends of each positioning insert. The scaffold may be configured to place the positioning inserts in a defined orientation with respect to each other that corresponds to a plurality of longitudinal bores of the electrode. An electrode may be manufactured using the positioning cartridge. The positioning cartridge may have a plurality of components, such that at least one component is associated with each positioning insert. The plurality of components may be temperature sensors. The positioning cartridge may be configured to position each temperature sensor at a location adjacent an outer surface of the electrode.

Radiofrequency (RF) electrode catheters have been in common use in medical practice for many years. They are used to stimulate and map electrical activity in the heart and to ablate sites of aberrant electrical activity. Specifically, targeted ablation may be performed for a number of indications. For example, ablation of myocardial tissue is well known as a treatment for cardiac arrhythmias by using a catheter to apply RF energy and create a lesion to break arrhythmogenic current paths in the cardiac tissue. As another example, a renal ablation procedure may involve the insertion of a catheter having an electrode at its distal end into a renal artery in order to complete a circumferential lesion in the artery in order to denervate the artery for the treatment of hypertension.
In such procedures, a reference electrode is typically provided and may be attached to the skin of the patient or by means of a second catheter. RF current is applied to the tip electrode of the ablating catheter, and current flows through the media that surrounds it, i.e., blood and tissue, toward the reference electrode. The distribution of current depends on the amount of electrode surface in contact with the tissue as compared to blood, which has a higher conductivity than the tissue. Heating of the tissue occurs due to its electrical resistance. The tissue is heated sufficiently to cause cellular destruction in the target tissue resulting in formation of a lesion which is electrically non-conductive. The lesion may be formed in tissue contacting the electrode or in adjacent tissue. During this process, heating of the electrode also occurs as a result of conduction from the heated tissue to the electrode itself. As will be appreciated, it is desirable to employ catheters that can sense temperature to help guide the procedure, such as by offering an indication when an efficient ablation temperature has been reached or by reducing conditions under which tissue may be overheated. It is further desirable to provide such electrodes with the ability to sense temperature at multiple locations to more accurately monitor and control the procedure. Accordingly, the temperature sensing elements should be placed accurately and reproducibly within the electrode to maintain consistency among each manufactured electrode.
When the electrode reaches critical temperatures, denaturation of blood proteins causes coagulum formation. Impedance can then rise and limit current delivery. Within tissue, overheating can cause steam bubble formation (steam "pops") with risk of uncontrolled tissue destruction or undesirable perforation of bodily structures. To help mitigate overheating, ablation catheters may be irrigated. For example, Biosense Webster Inc. (Diamond Bar, Calif.) offers the ThermoCool® irrigated-tip catheter for use with its CARTO® integrated mapping and ablation system. The metal catheter tip, which is energized with radio-frequency (RF) electrical current to ablate the tissue, has a number of peripheral holes, distributed circumferentially around the tip, for irrigation of the treatment site. A pump coupled to the catheter delivers saline solution to the catheter tip, and the solution flows out through the holes during the procedure in order to cool the catheter tip and the tissue. Representative details concerning irrigated ablation catheters may be found in commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 9,675,411, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Although ablation catheters may be irrigated to provide greater control over the temperature of catheter components and the surrounding tissue, it is still important to accurately monitor temperature at multiple locations. Indeed, the flow of irrigation fluid may be tailored in part based on feedback from the temperature sensors.
While ablation catheters have been discussed as being a representative example, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that many types of intravascular devices may benefit from improved temperature sensing capabilities, particularly with regard to techniques help ensure consistent and reproducible placement during manufacture. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a cartridge to position multiple temperature sensing elements within an electrode accurately and reliably. As will be described in the following materials, this disclosure satisfies these and other needs.