An embodiment PFC control circuit includes a first terminal providing a drive signal to an electronic switch of a boost converter, a second terminal receiving a feedback signal indicative of an output voltage generated by the boost converter, and a third terminal connected to a compensation network. An error amplifier generates a current as a function of the voltage at the second terminal and a reference voltage, wherein an output of the error amplifier is coupled to the third terminal. A driver circuit generates the drive signal as a function of the voltage at the third terminal, and selectively activates or deactivates the generation of the drive signal as a function of a burst mode enable signal. A detection circuit generates the burst mode enable signal as a function of the voltage at the second terminal.

Switched-mode power supplies are well-known in the art. For example, FIG. 1 shows a known two-stage electronic power supply.
In the example, the electronic converter comprises two input terminals 200a and 200b configured to receive an AC input voltage Vin,AC, such as 230 VAC with 50 Hz or 110 VAC with 60 Hz, and two output terminals 202a and 202b configured to provide a regulated output voltage Vout or a regulated output current iout to a load 30.
Specifically, in the example considered, the AC input voltage Vin,AC is converted via a rectifier circuit 206, such as a bridge rectifier, into a DC voltage, i.e. the input terminals of the rectifier circuit are coupled to the input terminals 200a and 200b, and output terminals 208a and 208b of the rectifier circuit provide a DC voltage Vin,DC. Often a filter circuit is connected between the input terminals 200a and 200b and the input terminals of the rectifier circuit 206.
In the example considered, the electronic power supply comprises two stages:                a first stage 210 configured to receive via the terminals 208a and 208b the DC voltage Vin,DC and to generate at two terminals 212a and 212b a regulated DC voltage Vbus, and        a second stage 214 configured to receive via the terminals 212a and 212b the voltage Vbus and to generate at the output terminals 202a and 202b a regulated output voltage Vout or a regulated output current iout.
Specifically, as described e.g. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,222,746 B1 such a two-stage architecture has the advantage that the first stage 210 may be an electronic converter with Power Factor Correction (PFC), which thus generates a regulated voltage Vbus, while improving the power factor of the power supply. For example, often the first stage is implemented with a PFC boost converter. Conversely, based on the value of the voltage Vbus and the power supply requirements of the load 30, the second stage 214 may be implemented with various kinds of electronic converters, such as buck, buck-boost, flyback, forward, half-bridge or full-bridge converters.
For example, FIG. 2A shows an example of the PFC boost converter 210.
Specifically, in the example considered, the stage 210 comprises:                an inductance L1, such as an inductor, connected (e.g. directly) between the positive terminal 208a and a switching node SN;        an electronic switch SW1, such as a Field-Effect Transistor (FET), such as a Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors (MOSFET), e.g. a n-channel FET, e.g. a NMOS, having a current path connected (e.g. directly) between the switching node SN and the negative terminal 208b; and        a further electronic switch SW2, such as a diode or a further FET, such as a p-channel FET, e.g. a PMOS, having a current path connected (e.g. directly) between the switching node SN and the positive terminal 212a, wherein the negative terminal 212b is connected to the negative terminal 208b; and        a capacitor COUT connected (e.g. directly) between the terminals 212a and 212b.
Optionally, the stage 210 may also comprise a capacitor CIN connected (e.g. directly) between the terminals 208a and 208b. In general, the respective capacitance between the terminals 208a and 208b should be small in order to not influence significantly the power factor of the power supply. In fact, in PFC stage 210, the voltage Vin,DC at the terminals 208a and 208b corresponds essentially to positive sinusoidal half-waves.
In the example considered, the PFC stage 210 comprises also a PFC control circuit 2112 configured to generate a drive signal DRV1 for the electronic switch SW1 and optionally the electronic switch SW2 (if a controllable electronic switch is used).
As shown in FIG. 2B, the PFC control circuit 2112 is usually configured to drive the electronic switch SW1 with switching cycles TSW comprising:                a switch-on phase TON, where the switch SW1 is closed and the diode/switch SW2 is opened, whereby the current flowing through the inductance L1 increases; and        a switch-off phase TOFF, where the switch SW1 is opened and the diode/switch SW2 is closed, whereby the current of the inductance L1 passes through diode/switch SW2 towards output 212a/212b, thereby charging the capacitor COUT.
Therefore, the increase of the current flowing through inductance L1 during the on-state depends on the duration of the switch-on duration TON and on the input voltage Vin,DC. Specifically, assuming an ideal behavior of the boost converter, when the switch-on time TON remains constant, the peak value of the input current iin,DC received via the terminals 208a and 208b at the end of the switch-on time TON is substantially proportional to the value of the voltage Vin,DC. Therefore, the boost converter is particularly suitable to be used within a PFC converter.
The various modes of operation of a PFC boost converter are well known in the art. For example, in this context may be cited STMicroelectronics, Application note AN2761, "Solution for designing a transition mode PFC preregulator with the L6562A", November 2009, Doc ID 14690 Rev 2, or Sam Abdel-Rahman, Franz Stückler, Ken Siu, Application Note, "PFC boost converter design guide—1200 W design example", Revision 1.1, 2016-02-22.
Substantially, the PFC control circuit 2112 may be configured to operate the boost converter in three modes: continuous conduction mode (CCM), discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) or critical conduction mode (CrCM), often also identified as transition mode (TM).
As schematically shown in FIG. 2A, these control schemes have in common, that a voltage sensor 2110 is used to generate a feedback signal FB1 indicative of (and preferably proportional to) the voltage Vbus at the terminals 212a/212b. For example, in the example considered, the voltage sensor 2110 is implemented with a resistive voltage divider comprising two resistors R1 and R2 connected between the terminals 212a and 212b.
In the example considered, the feedback signal FB1 is provided to an error amplifier 2114 configured to generate an error signal VCOMP1 as a function of the feedback signal FB1 and a reference signal REF1 indicative of a requested value for the voltage Vbus. Typically, the error amplifier 2114, such as an operation amplifier, has associated a feedback/compensation network 2118, which permits to implement the error amplifier 2114 as a regulator having an Integral (I) and/or Proportional (P) component, and optionally a Derivative (D) component. More specifically, the error amplifier 2114 usually provides a current signal which is converted by the feedback/compensation network 2118 into a voltage error signal VCOMP1.
A driver circuit 2116 is then configured to generate the drive signal(s) DRV1 as a function of the error signal VCOMP1. For example, as mentioned before, the driver circuit 2116 may vary the switch-on time TON as a function of the signal VCOMP1.
Often the feedback via the error amplifier 2114 represents an outer (slow) control loop, while the driver circuit 2116 may also implement an inner (fast) control loop, e.g. in order to directly regulate the current flowing through the inductance L1. For example, as schematically shown in FIG. 2A, for this purpose, the boost converter may also comprise a current sensor 2111, such as a resistor RS, configured to generate a signal CS indicative of (and preferably proportional to) the current flowing through the inductance L1, at least during one of the switch-on or the switch-off period.
FIG. 3 shows a scheme of a generic regulated DC/DC converter 214.
Specifically, a generic switched-mode DC/DC converter comprises:                a switching stage 2140 comprising one or more electronic switches SW and one or more reactive components, such as inductances L and/or capacitances C;        a measurement circuit 2142 configured to generate a feedback signal FB2 indicative of (and preferably proportional to) the output current iout or the output voltage Vout (based on whether the converter has to provide a regulated current or a regulated voltage), such as a resistive voltage divider comprising two resistors R3 and R4 connected between the terminals 202a and 202b; and        a control circuit 2144 configured to generate one or more drive signals DRV2 for the one or more electronic switches SW.
For example, similar to what has been described with respect to FIG. 2A, also the control circuit 2144 may comprise:                an error amplifier 2146 having associated a feedback network 2150, wherein the error amplifier 2146 is configured to generate an error signal VCOMP2 as a function of the feedback signal FB2 and a reference signal REF2 indicative of a requested value for the output current iout or the output voltage Vout; and        a driver circuit 2148 configured to generate the one or more drive signals DRV2 as a function of the error signal VCOMP2.
Typically, the above described modes DCM, CCM and CrCM, are used, when a load 30 is connected to the terminals 202a and 202b. Conversely, when no load 30 is connected to the terminals 202a and 202b, or in general when the load between the terminals 202a and 202b is small, the regulation with the modes DCM, CCM and CrCM becomes usually inefficient, and the control circuit 2144 may switch to a Burst Mode (BM), wherein the control circuit 2144 activates the switching of the electronic switch(es) SW for one or more switching cycles and then deactivates the switching. Similarly, also the control circuit 2112 of the converter 210 may be configured to selectively switch to a burst mode at low load conditions.
For example, the control circuit 2112 (or similarly the control circuit 2144) may activate the burst mode directly as a function of the feedback signal FB1 (FB2) or as a function of the error signal VCOMP1 (VCOMP2).
For example, at low load conditions, the respective output voltage Vbus (Vout) may increase and the control circuit 2112 (2144) may be configured to activate the burst mode, e.g. by simply stopping the switching activity, when the voltage Vbus (Vout) exceeds an upper threshold and the normal operation mode (DCM, CCM or CrCM), e.g. by resuming the switching activity, when the voltage Vbus (Vout) falls below a lower threshold.
Instead, when using an error amplifier 2114 (2146) with an integral component in the feedback network 2118 (2150), such as a capacitor, the respective error signal VCOMP1 (VCOMP2) will decrease when the load decreases. Substantially, when using an output voltage regulation for the voltage Vbus (Vout) the error signal VCOMP1 (VCOMP2) is (approximately) proportional to the current supplied by the converter 210 (214). Thus, in this case, the control circuit 2112 (2144) may be configured to activate the burst mode, e.g. by simply stopping the switching activity, when the error signal VCOMP1 (VCOMP2) falls below a lower threshold and the normal operation mode (DCM, CCM or CrCM), e.g. by resuming the switching activity, when the error signal VCOMP1 (VCOMP2) exceeds an upper threshold. For example, if the error signal VCOMP1 (VCOMP2) is lower than the lower threshold, the control circuit 2112 (2144) inhibits the switching activity. In this way, the current supplied by the converter 210 (214) is stopped. In any case, e.g. due to power losses or because the load 30 still consumes energy, the voltage Vbus (Vout) and similarly the feedback signal FB1 (FB2) decreases. This causes an increase of the error signal VCOMP1 (VCOMP2). Accordingly, when the error signal VCOMP1 (VCOMP2) exceeds the upper threshold, the control circuit 2112/2144 may restart the switching that transfers energy to the load.
As shown in FIG. 4, recently control circuits 2112 and 2144 have been proposed, which support a communication via a signal EXT_BM of the burst mode from the control circuit 2144 of the converter 214 to the control circuit 2112 of the PFC converter 210. For example, in this context may be cited the Datasheet of the integrated circuit STNRG011, "Digital combo multi-mode PFC and time-shift LLC resonant controller", which is an integrated circuit comprises both a control circuit 2112 for a PFC converter 210 and a control circuit 2144 for an LLC electronic converter 214.
For example, the control circuit 2144 may be configured to set the signal EXT_BM to high, when the control circuit 2144 has activated the burst mode, e.g. because the signal FB2 exceeds an upper threshold or the error signal VCOMP2 falls below a lower threshold. This signal EXT_BM is thus provided to the PFC control circuit 2112. For example, the PFC control circuit 2112 may deactivate the switching activity of the boost converter (in particular the electronic switch SW1) in response to the signal EXT_BM. This mechanism allows to synchronize the BM state of the first stage 210 with that of the second stage 214 improving the efficiency of the whole system consisting of both conversion stages. In this way the BM state is imposed for both stages by the second stage.
In general, the PFC control circuit 2112 may comprise both the External Burst Mode (EBM) function as well as the (internal) BM function, i.e. the PFC control circuit 2112 may stop the switching activity when at least one of the following conditions is satisfied:                when the signal EXT_BM is set to a given logic level; or        when the signal FB2 exceeds an upper threshold or preferably the error signal VCOMP2 falls below a lower threshold.
As shown in FIG. 4, the PFC control circuit 2112 requires thus an additional terminal for receiving the signal EXT_BM from the control circuit 2144.
The inventors have observed that this may be a minor issue when both control circuits 2112 and 2144 are integrated in a common integrated circuit. Conversely, when the PFC control circuit 2112 is provided in a separate integrated circuit, an addition pad (or similarly an additional pin of a respective IC package) is required for connecting the pad/pin to the integrated circuit of the control circuit 2144.

PFC control circuit for a boost converter, related integrated circuit, boost converter, power supply and method


Embodiments of the invention appropriately control the flying height of a magnetic head slider as necessary without making the magnetic head slider touch the magnetic disk. In one embodiment, when a magnetic disk drive is started, the level of electric power predefined for the ordinary temperature (room temperature) is read in from the internal memory of an MPU. A temperature sensor measures the internal temperature of the magnetic disk drive and sends it to the MPU. According to the temperature sent from the temperature sensor, the MPU calculates the level of electric power which should be applied to a flying height adjustment structure. According to the calculated electric power, the MPU increases or decreases the electric power applied to the flying height adjustment structure. At a flying height controlled (corrected) by the flying height adjustment structure, a magnetic head slider performs read/write on a magnetic disk.

The present invention relates to magnetic disk drives and more particularly to a method for controlling the flying height of a magnetic head slider.
To raise recording densities in magnetic disk drives and consequently realize higher storage capacity and more compact drives, efforts have been made to reduce the flying height as a major means. The flying height is defined as the distance between the magnetic head slider and the magnetic disk. Reducing the distance between the read/write element and the magnetic disk's recording surface makes it possible to raise the linear recording density in the direction of rotation of the magnetic disk.
There have been prior techniques to reliably reduce the flying height of a magnetic head slider in order to raise the linear recording density in the magnetic disk's direction of rotation. One example is a system proposed in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-250570) where a flying height adjustment structure comprising piezoelectric blocks, etc., is built into a magnetic head slider. The distance between the read/write element and the disk is finely adjusted on an individual read/write element basis by moving the read/write element perpendicularly with respect to the magnetic disk surface. In the case of a magnetic head slider proposed in Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-20635), a heat source, instead of a piezoelectric block, is provided near the read/write element of each magnetic head slider. In this magnetic head slider, the flying height is adjusted through thermal expansion by applying heat to the vicinity of the read/write element.
In a magnetic disk drive employing a magnetic head provided with such a flying height adjustment structure as mentioned above, the flying height must be reduced without deteriorating the reliability of the magnetic disk drive. The magnetic head slider must be controlled to a desired height. A method for adjusting the flying height without deteriorating the magnetic disk drive is proposed in the aforementioned Patent Document 1. In this method, the output signal from a piezoelectric block of the flying height adjustment structure provided in the magnetic head slider is monitored in order to detect contact between the magnetic head slider and the magnetic disk.
In the case of a prior art technique disclosed in Patent Document 3 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-168274), heating means, provided on the opposite side of the magnetic head element when viewed from the air bearing surface, is energized to reduce the magnetic spacing only when the magnetic head element is operated.

Magnetic disk drive with flying height control system

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


A retaining ring in accordance with the present invention mainly includes an outer circumference and an inner circumference. The inner circumference has a slightly narrow diameter adapted to fittingly engage with an outer circumference of a shaft.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a retaining ring for a rotor and more particularly to the retaining ring having a slightly narrow inner circumference adapted to engage with an outer circumference of a shaft.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional motor includes a rotor 90, a shaft 91, a stator 92 and a bearing hole 93. The shaft 91 is extended beyond the bearing hole 93, so that an end of the shaft 91 is projected from the stator 92. The end of the shaft 91 is provided with an annular groove 94 adapted to engage with a C clip 95 so as to confine the shaft 91 within an axial space defined by the bearing hole 93. Consequently, the rotor 90 and the stator 92 cannot be disassembled.
However, a manufacturing process for cutting an annular groove 94 is complicated if a diameter of the shaft 91 is thin. Also an assembling process may be sophisticated if a diameter of the shaft 91 is ultimately thin.
The present invention intends to provide a retaining ring for a rotor simplifying both of a manufacturing process and an assembling process in such a way to mitigate and overcome the above problem.
The primary objective of this invention is to provide a retaining ring having a slightly narrow inner circumference adapted to simplify both of a manufacturing process and an assembling process.
The secondary objective of this invention is to provide the retaining ring having a slightly narrow inner circumference for attenuating the abrasion.
The retaining ring in accordance with the present invention mainly includes an outer circumference and an inner circumference. The inner circumference has a slightly narrow diameter adapted to fittingly engage with an outer circumference of a shaft.

Sunonwealth Electric Machine Industry Co., Ltd.


An improved dry ground calcium carbonate filler is provided which is less sensitive to variations in relative humidity and does not promote premature viscosity increase in polyester molding compound. This filler is dry ground from a Caribbean micritic limestone to produce Class I and Class II fillers which are acceptable for use in polyester molding compound applications. A polyester molding compound containing this dry ground filler produces a composite having superior izod impact resistance and surface quality. In some situations filler loading levels may be increased 10-15% in the SMC/BMC without detrimental effects on the final composite.

Polyester molding compound is used in the manufacture of light-weight, glass reinforcedpolyester resin automotive parts and other general hardware which is made in heated matched metal dies or molds. Polyester molding compound is conventionally produced in the form of sheet molding compound (SMC) or bulk molding compound (BMC).
Sheet molding compound is made by dropping glass fibers onto the surface of a polyethylene film which has first been coated with a non-polymerized polyester resin paste. A similarly coated polyethylene film is placed coating to coating over the first film to form a sandwich composite. This composite is then squeezed to remove excess air and taken up onto a spool. This spool is stored at 70.degree.-90.degree. F. for one to ten days.
During this curing period, thickeners in the resin paste increase the paste viscosity from that of a relatively low viscosity liquid until ultimately a dry leather-like molding compound containing long glass fibers randomly dispersed in two dimensions is produced. In this manner fiber integrity is largely maintained since no intensive mixing is involved in the process. Fiber integrity is important in as much as the strength of the fiber reinforced composite is a function of fiber length, its dispersion, and its loading in the resin.
In order to obtain consistent manufacturing conditions, the initial paste viscosity of the polyester resin paste must be held within certain defined limits The thickener in the resin is designed such that the viscosity of the paste increases slowly until after the glass fibers have had a chance to become coated or "wet out" in the resin. After a sufficient time has been allowed for thorough glass wet-out, the thickeners present in the paste affect a rapid increase in viscosity until approximately 20-60 million-centipoise (MMcps) is attained. Thereafter, the rate of increase in viscosity slows down Accordingly, the initial increase in viscosity must be slow and reproducible in order to facilitate the manufacture of sheet molding compound in a highly automated environment.
Bulk molding compounds are similar in chemical composition to SMC compounds. The manufacturing process differs in that low intensity mixers are used to gently wet-out the glass fibers into the resin paste. This process allows the use of higher viscosity pastes. Thickeners may be used to obtain a further viscosity increase in some situations. While mixing times are kept as short as possible to minimize fiber degradation, extensive degradation does occur with fibers longer than 1/4" in length. Thus, the BMC process typically employs fibers of this length or smaller.
Calcium carbonate fillers are used at high levels in polyester molding compounds to reduce costs, to improve surface finish by reducing resin shrinkage, and to modify the rheological behaviors of the paste to prevent segregation of the fiberglass during handling and storage. Although fillers are typically viewed as low cost bulking agents, they are critical to the processing of polyester molding compounds. The physical properties of the fillers must be maintained within certain tightly controlled limits to produce composites of consistent quality.
As the filler levels have increased through the years to provide improved surface finish, it has been a disadvantage that minor variations in the chemical and physical properties of the filler can cause significant variations in viscosity profile. This in turn results in manufacturing difficulties when using highly automated equipment. Further, variations in filler moisture levels are especially serious in their effect on the thickening rate of the polyester resin paste.
Because of its inherently low oil absorption, low moisture content and low cost, the most preferred filler used in polyester molding compound applications is calcium carbonate. The ores from which finely ground calcium carbonate fillers are produced for use in polyester molding compounds are found naturally in several forms. Broadly speaking, these forms are chalk, limestone, marble and dolomite. Precipitated calcium carbonate, which is a synthetically prepared product, is unacceptable for polyester molding compound applications due to its excessively high oil absorption.
Chalk is a soft, amorphous carbonate made up of the fossil shells of millions of tiny marine organisms. Accordingly, while the individual particles are rounded and quite strong in themselves, the bonding between particles is weak and easily broken. Hence, the comminution of chalk is essentially a process of gently breaking down the mineral into its fundamental particles. This may be accomplished either by dry grinding the chalk or wet grinding the chalk in a water slurry and segregating the desired fraction using water flotation techniques. Historically, the term "whiting" was used to describe finely pulverized chalk. This term is now inconsistently used to describe any finely ground calcium carbonate from any source, and therefore, for clarity this term is best avoided.
Limestone, marble, and dolomite are generally crystalline rocks whose particles and grinding display the characteristic rhombohedral structure of compact but pointed particles. Marble, limestone and dolomite are conventionally processed by one of two methods. The first and most energy efficient is dry grinding Dry-ground limestone has been found unacceptable for use in polyester molding compounds because of excessive resin demand and excessive variation in the rate of viscosity increase in the manufacturing process.
The second method for processing limestone or marble is wet grinding wherein the limestone is crushed, made into a slurry with water and ground to the desired particle size. Thereafter, the limestone is filtered from the slurry and dried to produce a calcium carbonate filler. Wet ground calcium carbonates are the preferred filler in polyester molding compounds.
The wet grinding process requires the removal of substantial quantities of water from the processed slurry and, consequently, this process requires substantially more energy than the dry grinding method. It is generally accepted that wet grinding calcium carbonate is between 15% to 25% more expensive than the dry grinding technique. Accordingly, it has long been desired to develop a dry-ground calcium carbonate which has the thickening consistency and loading capability of wet ground products. Although attempts have been made to surface treat many of the above calcium carbonate fillers with silanes or fatty acids, such as stearic acid, these treatments have not been entirely successful although dispersion and oil absorption have been improved.
In the manufacture of polyester molding compound, two grades or types of calcium carbonate filler are used. The first is termed a Class I filler. Class I calcium carbonate fillers are a finely ground material having a median particle size between 2.0 to 4.0 microns and with at least 90% by weight less than 10 microns. This fine particle size filler is used in applications where surface finish is the most critical. However, because of the fine particle size, filler loadings must necessarily be restricted to lower levels. This is because of the higher oil absorption and resin demand of smaller particle size fillers. Class I fillers are known to produce composites having higher strength and superior surface finish.
The second type of filler is termed a Class II product. A Class II filler has a median particle size between approximately 5 to 10 microns with at least 98% by weight finer than 44 microns. A Class II filler has a lower surface area than the Class I filler and hence has a lower oil absorption and resin demand. Accordingly, Class II fillers may be placed in polyester molding compounds at much higher loading levels. The fraction greater than 44 microns must be kept below two percent to minimize imperfections in the composite surface. Therefore, samples made according to the present invention were formed into fillers of both the Class I and Class II variety for comparison with other fillers of the same class.
While calcium carbonate deposits are widely dispersed throughout the world, only a very few meet the exacting requirements necessary for a polyester molding compound filler. In the United States only high purity marble fillers have gained any significant usage. In Europe the high purity limestone from the Orgon deposit in France is preferred. Chalks, despite their wide spread availability, their ease of processing, and their high calcium carbonate content have not found extensive application as polyester molding compound fillers at the more preferred high loadings because of their extremely high oil absorption and moisture pickup values. Both of these factors follow from their extreme fineness and porosity.
The polyester molding compound maturation process is extremely moisture sensitive, and accordingly, the moisture content of the filler must be kept below 0.1%. This extreme moisture sensitivity leads to process stability problems. These process stability problems are especially severe during seasonal variations in temperature and relative humidity. Because the filler moisture content is a function of the relative humidity of the filler storage area which is substantially uncontrollable, compounders have attempted to overcome these process consistency problems by numerous methods.
Compounders tried developing special seasonal recipes, purchasing resins to which free water has been added to a constant level or limiting the filler loading such that they obtain satisfactory glass wet-out and thickening even under the most adverse relative humidities encountered. These are less than optimum solutions since relative humidities only roughly follow seasonal patterns and limiting filler levels to cover worst case conditions unnecessarily increase the cost of the final resin-aglass composite.
These and other disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by the product and process of the present invention which is set forth in the following detailed description.

Filler for polyester molding compound and method


A computer implemented method comprises storing a transaction variable-set corresponding to a fuel transaction for a vehicle, wherein the transaction variable-set includes a fuel consumption history for the vehicle, a net sale, a number of purchased fuel units, and a diff value. The method further comprises deriving, by a machine learning module and based on the transaction variable-set, a plurality of characteristics of the purchased fuel, wherein the plurality of characteristics includes a fuel type of the purchased fuel and a fuel grade of the purchased fuel.

Many companies use a fleet of vehicles for their operations. The vehicles may be driven by employees or contractors to transfer people or goods. Each driver may purchase fuel for the driver's vehicle using a fuel credit card, or a fleet card, assigned to the vehicle or to the driver. In some cases, a driver presents a fleet card at a vendor's fuel terminal, e.g., a card reader at a fuel pump, and selects a fuel type or grade. The fuel terminal may transfer to the company or to an intermediary the information about the selection or the fuel credit card. The intermediary may be, for example, a transaction processing center. The transaction processing center may approve the transaction to proceed by, for example, verifying the validity of the fleet card. Also, after a fuel purchase completes, the fuel terminal may transfer to the intermediary the information about the transaction. The information may include purchased fuel's type, grade, or amount, net sale amount, etc. The transaction processing center may use this information to analyze a group of transactions for the company's fleet and, for example, identify cost savings opportunities.
A significant portion of the company's operational cost may include the cost of the fleet's fuel. To reduce the fuel cost, the company may need the transaction processing center to analyze the fuel purchases of one or more drivers. The analysis may include identifying drivers that regularly purchase fuel of a higher grade than required, and thus more expensive than needed.
Such an analysis requires accurate data about the transactions. The transaction data, however, may include errors that prevent accurate analyses. In some cases, different fuel types or grades may be identified by different numerical codes. A fuel vendor's fuel terminals may regularly transfer a wrong code for a fuel type or grade. Such a miscoding may introduce errors in the analysis. What are needed are systems and methods to identify such miscodings and correct them.

Methods and systems for fuel transaction product detection


The invention relates to a method for examining a measurement object (2, 12), in which the measurement object (2, 12) is examined by means of scanning probe microscopy using a measurement probe (10) of a scanning probe measurement device, and in which at least one subsection (1) of the measurement object (2, 12) is optically examined by an optical measurement system in an observation region associated with the optical measurement system, wherein a displacement of the at least one subsection (1) of the measurement object (2, 12) out of the observation region which is brought about by the examination by means of scanning probe microscopy is corrected in such a way that the at least one displaced subsection (1) of the measurement object (2, 12) is arranged back in the observation region by means of a readjustment device which processes data signals that characterize the displacement.

Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) is a technique in which a measurement probe is scanned over a sample, which can also be referred to as the measurement object or as the measurement object to be examined, and the topography is determined via a distance-dependent interaction between the measurement probe and the sample. Material contrasts or other sample information can also be obtained. The most prominent examples of this measurement technique are the atomic force microscope (AFM) and the scanning tunneling microscope (STM). Further examples are the scanning near-field microscope (SNOM) and the scanning photon force microscope (SPhM).
In addition to imaging the measurement object, distance spectroscopy is another important examination method in all these techniques. Here, the measurement probe is displaced relative to the sample, in particular in the vertical direction or in any direction in space or in one plane, and the interaction is measured. In the case of atomic force microscopy, this method is used, for example, to measure the forces between molecules, one molecule being bound to the measurement probe and another molecule being bound to the sample. It is also possible to measure intramolecular forces, for example by lowering the measurement probe onto the sample and waiting on bonding. Thereafter, the measurement probe can be removed from the base on which the sample is arranged, and the force can be recorded. Further measurements may also be provided for, and such measurements are in part also carried out by measuring an interaction which is correlated with the distance between two or several points.
Optical methods such as fluorescence microscopy, for example, are able to supply information about the composition of the sample examined, for example by labeling particles with specific fluorescence markers. Furthermore, FRET (fluorescence resonance energy transfer), for example, allows the localization of two labeled molecules with respect to one another.
If SPM is used as the examination method, for example in the distance spectroscopy mode described above, often a displacement of the measurement object is produced which then also has effects on the fluorescence or other optical properties of the sample. In order to be able to optically observe these properties, an observation region of an optical measurement system which is used for the optical examination of the sample, preferably the focus, must spatially overlap with the optically examined section of the measurement object. The measurement object must also be close enough to the optical axis that it can be detected by the optical measurement system, for example by means of a measurement objective. Various scenarios for the displacement of the measurement object brought about by the examination by means of scanning probe microscopy are possible, in which the distance between the measurement object and the measurement objective is changed, as a result of which the measurement object is possibly displaced out of the observation region of the optical measurement system, for example the focusing plane of a measurement objective:                The support for the sample is moved, for example by means of a piezo arrangement, in order to vary the distance between the sample and the measurement probe. If the object to be optically examined, in particular a subsection of the sample, is fixedly connected to the sample, this leads to defocusing.        The measurement probe is moved by means of a piezo arrangement in order to vary the distance between the sample and the measurement probe. If the object to be optically examined is fixedly connected to the measurement probe, this leads to defocusing.        If the measurement object is a part of the sample which is varied or displaced by the acting forces, defocusing will take place regardless of the moving part.
Since the stretching widths in distance spectroscopy may often be 100 μm or more, defocusing is not acceptable for the further optical examination.

Method for examining a measurement object, and apparatus


A voltage regulator circuit for use with an integrated circuit with a charge pump circuit having a voltage output terminal and a voltage input terminal in which a plurality of voltage regulating P-channel MOS transistors, each of which has its source and substrate connected together and its gate and drain connected together, are connected in series between the voltage output and input terminals of the charge pump circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a voltage regulator circuit for holding an output voltage of a charge pump circuit in a semiconductor integrated circuit substantially constant.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typical examples of voltage regulators adapted to hold output voltages of charge pump circuits in semiconductor integrated circuits substantially constant are described in the following articles (1)-(3).
(1) In the article entitled "High-Voltage Regulation and Process Considerations for High-Density 5 V-only E.sup.2 PROM,s" by DUANE H. OTO et al., IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. SC-18, No. 5, Oct. 1983, pp 532-538, the output voltage of the charge pump circuit is compared with a reference voltage to control a clock signal for the charge pump circuit.
(2) In the article entitled "Techniques for a 5-V-Only 64K EPROM Based Upon Substrate Hot-Electron Injection" by JAMES L. McCGREARY et al., IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. SC-19, No. 1, Feb. 1984, pp 135-143, the output voltage of the charge pump circuit is applied to a plurality of MOS transistors to produce a control voltage which, in turn, is applied to the gate of a MOS transistor connected between the output node of the charge pump circuit and the supply voltage node so as to cause it to conduct. The output voltage is clamped by the MOS transistor.
(3) In the article entitled "A 19-ns 250-mW CMOS Erasable Programmable Logic Device" by JAGDISH PATHAK, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. SC-21, No. 5, Oct. 1986, pp 775-784, two N-channel MOS transistors, each of which has its gate and drain connected together, are connected in series between the output node and input node of the charge pump circuit to produce an output voltage of Vpp+2 Vtn (Vpp stands for a input voltage and Vtn stands for the threshold voltage of an N-channel MOS transistor).
However, the voltage-regulating N-channel MOS transistors used in the third article have a wide variability of threshold voltage because of the effect of back-gate bias. Thus, for a desired voltage regulating property it is difficult to determine the number of N-channel transistors to be connected in series. In addition, in case where a high voltage is abruptly output from the charge pump circuit and applied across the drain-source path of the N-channel MOS transistor, the transistor may be short-circuited. In such case, the voltage-regulating property of the voltage regulator circuit would be deteriorated because of the N-channel MOS transistor. In the worst case, the voltage regulation would become impossible. An integrated circuit incorporating the voltage-regulating N-channel MOS transistors is thus low in reliability.


A shirred fibrous food casing defines a shirred stick formed from a tubular fibrous casing. The shirred stick includes an average outside diameter at least 120% of the average inflated diameter of the deshirred casing. Additionally, the shirred stick includes an average inside diameter of at least 70% of the casing inflated diameter and a pleat pitch defined as the distance between adjacent apexes of major pleats measured on the casing after the shirred stick is deshirred.

Artificial food casings, including plastic casings and cellulose casings, have been used for many years as containers in which food products are manufactured and stored. In commercial applications, the food casings are generally loaded either by hand or automatically into a food stuffing machine in order to stuff food products, such as sausage, meats, vegetables, or other food products, into the casings. In order to increase the length of casing that can be utilized at one time, casings have for years been compressed through ruffling or other compression techniques, into short, compact lengths, called shirred sticks or shirred strands.
Casings can be natural or artificially manufactured. Artificial casings generally fall within one of four categories: skinless cellulose casings (small calibers, pure regenerated cellulose), collagen casings (edible, non-edible, animal derivative), plastic casings (typically Nylon and PE), and fibrous casings (viscose coating on hemp paper). These casings can be used in reels, in cut pieces, or shirred (compacted) form.
Current technology for shirring skinless cellulose casings is generally disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 3,454,982 issued to Arnold. Arnold discloses a shirring method and system that includes a plurality of shirring rolls (also called wheels or gears) that engage a casing that is inflated about a mandrel and fed through the shirring rolls. The shirring rolls have angled teeth so that as the rolls rotate, the teeth of successive wheels engage the casing to form a helical pleat, applying a vector force at a direction not parallel to the shirring mandrel. Typical skinless casings are shirred with 18%-23% moisture by weight, and do not require additional soaking prior to stuffing with food products.
Collagen casings, which are often edible and therefore are more delicate than skinless cellulose casings, are less adaptable to automatic stuffing processes. Accordingly, fewer innovations in shirring and compaction of the casings have been pursued. Typical methods for shirring collagen casings are disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,209,398 and 4,550,472.
Polymeric plastic casings, which are gaining popularity, may be used without any soaking prior to stuffing, or may require soaking after shirring but prior to stuffing. Several shirring techniques exist for shirring plastic casings, the most notable disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,988,804, 3,454,982, and 4,377,885.
Fibrous casings are generally manufactured by coating a hemp paper with viscose, which is then further regenerated into cellulose, and are sold as one of two types of casings. A large percentage of fibrous casing is typically pre-moisturized to 16%-18% before shirring. After shirring, the casing must be soaked to a moisture content of about 35% to 45% by weight to allow full wetting of the cellulose fibers prior to stuffing, especially important to provide elasticity to the hemp. Although both skinless and fibrous casings are cellulosic, fibrous casings are very thick, typically around 100 microns, which is about four times the thickness of skinless casings. This high thickness and stiffness of fibrous casing require adequate moisturizing to provide elasticity for functioning. Shirring techniques have generally been limited for fibrous casings of this type due to the effects of excessive compaction of casing within the shirred stick, which impedes soakability. Excessive compaction decreases the space within the pleats, thus preventing water in the soak tank from moving into the volume of the shirred stick in sufficient amounts in order to be absorbed by the cellulose. Typical shirring techniques for fibrous casings that require additional soaking after shirring are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,377,885.
The second type of fibrous casings are premoisturized prior to shirring and require no additional soaking before stuffing. Due to the fact that no additional soaking is required prior to stuffing, higher compression of the shirred stick prior to doffing from the shirring machine is a typical method of increasing the length of casing that can be loaded into a stuffing machine, because there is no further requirement for soakability, and thus no requirement for spacing between the pleats after shirring. Still, U.S. Pat. No. 4,377,885 is the most typical casing used for shirring pre-soaked fibrous casings although U.S. Pat. No. 3,988,804 is also used in selected applications.
A variety of shirring technologies therefore exist. Generally, a flattened casing is inflated with compressed air, allowing it to be fed into a shirring machine from a reel through feedrolls. As the casing moves through the feedrolls, the casing is inflated around the mandrel and engaged by mechanisms including screws, belts or teeth which are part of the shirring rolls, these shirring rolls being mounted inside a fixture called a shirring head, that pull the casing into pleats. A variety of shirring heads exist. Newer versions of the shirring heads include a plurality of shirring rolls, with each shirring roll having a plurality of teeth. Shirring heads typically attempt to achieve a continuous helical pleat implanted onto the casing by the rotation of the shirring teeth on the shirring rolls. Certain shirring heads also simultaneously rotate the shirring head around the mandrel, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,377,885 to assist in forming this helix.
Various improvements have been made over the years with respect to shirring techniques. Though effective in increasing the compaction of casing within a shirred stick, the resultant diameter of a shirred fibrous stick is typically between 95% to 112% of the inflated diameter of the casing. The volume within the shirred stick available for packing casing depends upon shirred stick outer diameter, shirred stick inner diameter and shirred stick length, as shown in, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,590,749 and 5,358,765. These references illustrate that for a given casing, a calculation can be made using shirred stick dimensions to estimate the density of casing compacted into the shirred stick.
In the case of fibrous casing requiring soaking prior to stuffing with meat, different types of casings require different densities (pack efficiency) within the shirred stick, to allow water to penetrate into the stick permitting full soaking. The shirred stick length and inner diameter are generally set in value according to the type of stuffing equipment used, therefore leaving the shirred stick outer diameter as the only free variable around which to increase the available volume into which casing can be packed. Various shirring techniques are able to pull the casing in a manner to form various shirred stick outside diameters. For a given type of casing shirred into a stick with a given shirred stick length and a given shirred stick inner diameter, a greater outer diameter of a shirred stick allows more available volume into which casing can be compacted, allowing either more free air volume for a given casing length (easier soakability), or conversely allowing more casing to be compacted into the stick (with equal soakability or for improved length on non-soak articles).
A significant limitation of the current technology is that casings shirred today using conventional methods do not permit long lengths of casing to be compacted within the shirred stick and still achieve adequate soaking with a desired shirred stick length and a desired shirred stick inner diameter. The excessive density of casing packed into the stick often prevents sufficient wetting of the casing during soaking.
As shirring mandrels increase in size relative to the casing diameter, to provide larger shirred stick inner diameters allowing stuffing machines to increase throughout by using larger diameter stuffing tubes, the pleats within the shirred stick geometrically become shorter and harder to pull, with less surface area available within the pleat for teeth on shirring rolls to grab the casing. With current techniques that use larger mandrel diameters relative to the casing inflated diameter, the shirring rolls are required to rotate with extremely high tooth velocities relative to the velocity of the casing in the shirring machine feedrolls in order to grab and pull the shorter pleat. Force applied is proportional to velocity squared, so high differential velocity between the shirring teeth and the feedrolls greatly improve forces to adequately grab the casing. The difference in velocity of the shirring tooth verses the velocity of the casing at the feedrolls is generally referred to as "overshirr."
The result of the high overshirr of the shirring rolls required to pull the casing is that a high number of relatively short pleats are formed, including forming a large number of non-uniform or "nuisance" pleats that create stress on the casing due to irregular folding, impeding water absorption by blocking passageways for water penetration into the stick by capillary action, and retarding efficiently compacting long lengths of casing into the shirred stick without damage, since each pleat or fold adds corresponding nuisance pleats. This is further impeded because as the casing absorbs water, the cellulose structure swells up, and the fibrous casing thickness often increases by 50% to 100% of its original thickness, further restricting passage of water into the interior of the shirred stick. Once the passageways close due to casing swelling, absorption of water stops, limiting the casing at some final moisture level below desired full wet-out which is required to achieve sufficient wettability. With fibrous casings shirred by prior art, the length of casing that could be shirred into the stick was limited below some desired value, to reduce compaction to allow improved soakability, allowing more free air space around the pleats for water penetration into the shirred stick.
When the shirred stick is deshirred (i.e. unpleated by extending the shirred stick to its full length without stretching the casing material), the helical pattern of the pleat ridge can be seen. The distance between major pleats along the longitudinal axis may be called the pleat pitch. Additionally, the existing technology, as described above, typically produces a pleat length or "pleat pitch" in fibrous casing that is only 50% to 80% of the dry flat width of the casing, using conventional shirring mandrels with ratio of shirring mandrel diameter to inflated casing diameter of 60% to 85%. As the shirring mandrel increases in diameter, the pleat pitch generally shortens due to geometry of the stick. Commercial shirring mandrel diameters range from 60% to 85% of the deshirred casing's diameter, that diameter being measured with low pressure inflation or determined mathematically from the lay-flat condition.
In addition to the problems noted above with respect to compaction, excessive abrasion and damage resulting in pinholing occurs when the shirring rolls and teeth have a much higher velocity than the velocity of the casing fed from the feedroll (i.e.: high overshirr). In the case of high overshirrs, abrasions on the surface of the casing are a significant problem aggravated by the excessive differential velocity of shirring tooth verses incoming casing. Using current technology, if overshirr is excessive with a given number of teeth, creating excessively high shirring tooth velocities relative to the feedroll velocity, the only method of operating with reduced overshirrs and still obtain a desired pleat pitch is to add more shirring teeth to the shirring roll, which will help to shorten the pleat length for a given velocity to conform to the ideal geometric requirement, but has limited pulling power since shorter pleats which are harder to pull typically require higher overshirrs just to grab the casing. Thus, although adding teeth results in reducing overshirr requirements, serving to shorten the pleat pitch as geometrically required when shirring mandrel diameter increases relative to the casing inflated diameter, this action also greatly reduces the pulling power of the shirring head.
An alternate to conventional technology disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/398,244 to Kollross uses a vacuum assist to create a pleat pitch and stick outer diameter greater than conventional art, but has only demonstrated this technology with very small ratios of shirring mandrel diameters to inflated casing diameter, such as 50% to 60%. With respect to Kollross's vacuum assist shirring, the very slow speeds at which the shirring machine overall operates, creating a very low productivity coupled with the enormous power requirements for vacuum shirring result in a shirring method that is not commercially viable. Accordingly, conventional technology remains the most secure method to shirr casing for all varieties of casings and mandrel combinations.


In a substrate processing apparatus configured to perform a predetermined process on a target substrate accommodated in a process chamber, the process chamber is cleaned by alternately performing an operation of generating plasma of a gas containing oxygen within the process chamber, and an operation of generating plasma of a gas containing nitrogen within the process chamber.

For example, with an increase in miniaturization of the circuit structures of semiconductor devices, substrate processing apparatuses used for manufacturing processes of semiconductor devices have been required even more to set their process chambers for accommodating semiconductor substrates to have very high cleanliness.
Under the circumstances, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which a silicon crystal body is placed inside a process chamber at a region to face plasma. Contaminants are deposited on the surface of the silicon crystal body and can be easily removed by acid solution cleaning, thereby increasing the cleanliness of an area to be exposed to plasma within the process chamber.
Further, Patent Document 2 discloses a technique in which a cleaning gas comprising a nitrogen-containing compound and a fluorine-containing compound is supplied into the process chamber of a deposition apparatus and plasma is generated. Consequently, residual substances present within the process chamber are changed into volatile products and thereby removed.
Furthermore, Patent Document 3 discloses a technique in which a gas is supplied into a process chamber and turned into plasma. This plasma is used for performing sputter etching to remove contaminants from a ceramic member disposed inside the process chamber.
However, according to the conventional techniques described above, it has become difficult to meet cleanliness required in recent years, because of the following reasons. Specifically, the interior of a process chamber suffers corrosion of metal members due to corrosive gas, such as a fluorine-containing compound. Alternatively, the interior of a process chamber suffers damage of members disposed therein due to sputtering or re-deposition of sputtered contaminants.
For example, a step of forming gate oxide films in semiconductor devices is important, because this step has a decisive influence on the characteristic of transistors. Since metal contaminants, such as iron (Fe) and copper (Cu), greatly and adversely affect the characteristic of transistors, it is required to provide a decontamination technique that can attain higher cleanliness than the conventional technique.
On the other hand, as another process chamber cleaning method, the process chamber may be opened to the atmosphere and subjected to a wiping treatment with purified water or solvent. However, where a high level of cleanliness is required, as described above, the cleanliness may rather be lowered and unsatisfactory due to contaminants carried into the process chamber opened to the atmosphere. Further, in order to set the process chamber opened to the atmosphere, it is necessary to perform operations of disassembling and reassembling the process chamber, which are troublesome and take a long time. This brings about a technical problem such that the operation ratio of the substrate processing apparatus is significantly decreased.    [Patent Document 1] Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2002-353206    [Patent Document 2] Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 9-232299    [Patent Document 3] Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 11-3878

Process chamber cleaning method in substrate processing apparatus, substrate processing apparatus, and substrate processing method


An integrated semiconductor memory device includes a temperature sensor circuit to generate a temperature-dependent control signal, a reference circuit to generate a temperature-independent reference signal, a comparator circuit and a voltage generator circuit. The comparator circuit generates a first level or second level of an activation signal in a manner dependent on the comparison of the control signal and the reference signal which are both fed to it on an input side. The voltage generator circuit generates a first control signal or a second control signal in a manner dependent on the level of the activation signal. The integrated semiconductor memory enables the generation of two control signals for a selection transistor of a memory cell in a manner dependent on whether the temperature sensor circuit detects a temperature in a first temperature range or in a second temperature range.

The current trend in the development of integrated semiconductor memories is aimed at increasingly miniaturizing the memory products and thus reducing internal and external voltages. At the same time, memory products are intended to be designed for an ever larger temperature range, such as use in mobile systems. This leads to ever more stringent requirements in ensuring the functionality of memory products in the specified temperature range. Attempts are currently being made to cover a wide temperature range through optimized design techniques and improved technological methods. In terms of design, voltage regulators are provided, for example, which generate voltages in temperature-independent fashion, in part derived from so-called bandgap circuits. In the case of the methods for fabricating integrated semiconductor memories, use is made of implantation techniques that are intended to ensure the functionality of memory products in an extended temperature range. Optimization of fabrication and design techniques is made more difficult by the fact that different and in part opposing requirements are made of the integrated semiconductor memory in order to ensure the functionality at high and low temperatures.
To illustrate the physical effects that occur at high and low temperatures, a DRAM memory cell is represented in FIG. 1. The memory cell SZ comprises a selection transistor AT and a storage capacitor SC. The first electrode of the storage capacitor SC is connected to a terminal M for applying a reference potential Vplate. The second electrode of the storage capacitor SC is connected to a bit line BL via a controllable path of the selection transistor. A control terminal ST of the selection transistor is connected to a word line WL. A substrate terminal of the selection transistor is connected to a potential Vbb.
If the memory cell is intended to be accessed, then a potential VPP that switches the selection transistor AT into the on state is generated on the word line. In this case, the storage capacitor is connected to the bit line via the turned-on path of the selection transistor. During a read access, the storage capacitor SC is discharged and alters the potential of the bit line. If a charge corresponding to the logic state 0 (low state) is present on the storage capacitor, then the bit line assumes the potential Vbll. If a charge corresponding to the logic state 1 (high state) is present on the storage capacitor, then the bit line assumes the potential Vblh. If an information item corresponding to the low state is intended to be stored in the memory cell during a write access, then the potential Vbll is generated on the bit line. If an information item corresponding to the high state is intended to be stored in the memory cell, then the potential Vblh is generated on the bit line and correspondingly charges the storage capacitor SC. When the memory cell is not active, the selection transistor is operated in the off-state mode, so that the storage capacitor is not conductively connected to the bit line. The potential VNWLL is generated on the word line WL in this case.
If the integrated semiconductor memory is operated at low temperatures, then the threshold voltage of the selection transistor increases. At the same time, the resistance also increases and thus so does the RC constant for writing an information item to the memory cell. In this case, the increase in the threshold voltage results from the increase in the Fermi voltage and the decrease in the intrinsic charge carrier density at low temperatures. Both effects ensure that, for example, when writing a 1 information item, a lower charge is stored in the storage capacitor SC than is the case at high temperatures.
If the integrated semiconductor memory is operated at higher temperatures, then the threshold voltage decreases. At the same time, the so-called subthreshold swing also increases. The subthreshold swing is a characteristic figure that describes the subthreshold behavior and thus the closing behavior of the selection transistor AT. At high temperatures, increased leakage currents occur when the selection transistor is operated in the off-state region. The consequence is that the charge stored in the storage capacitor SC flows away, which may lead to an information loss of the information stored in the memory cell SZ.
The requirements made of the magnitude of a suitable control voltage of the selection transistor during operation of the memory cell SZ in different temperature ranges are thus opposing. In the low-temperature range, an increase in the control voltage is desirable since the threshold voltage of the selection transistor also increases. In the high-temperature range, by contrast, an increase in the control voltage leads to an increase in the leakage currents, so that the use of a lower control voltage is recommendable in this case. The use of a single control voltage for the operation of the integrated semiconductor memory in the high- and low-temperature ranges therefore requires a compromise in the choice of the control voltages of the selection transistors. As a consequence there are power and quality losses during operation in high- and low-temperature ranges.

Integrated semiconductor memory with temperature-dependent voltage generation


This invention provides an electrode for an electrochemical cell in which an active material in an electrode material is a proton-conducting compound, wherein the electrode material comprises a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound or a polymer having a unit containing a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic moiety.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electrode used in an electrochemical cell such as a secondary battery and an electric double-layer capacitor and an electrochemical cell using the electrode. In particular, it relates to an electrode having improved cycle properties without reduction in an appearance capacity, and an electrochemical cell using the electrode.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have been suggested and practically used electrochemical cells (hereinafter, referred to as "cell") such as secondary batteries and electric double-layer capacitors in which a proton-conducting compound is used as an electrode active material. Such a cell is illustrated in a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1.
Specifically, FIG. 1 shows a cell where a positive electrode 2 containing a proton-conducting compound as an active material is formed on a positive current collector 1 while a negative electrode 3 is formed on a negative current collector 4, and these electrodes are combined via a separator 5 and where only protons are involved in an electrode reaction as a charge carrier. Also, the cell is filled with an aqueous or non-aqueous solution containing a proton source as an electrolytic solution, and is sealed by a gasket 6.
The electrodes 2, 3 are formed as follows. A powdery doped or undoped proton-conducting compound is blended with a conductive auxiliary and a binder to prepare a slurry, which is then placed in a mold and molded by a hot press to form an electrode having a desired electrode density and a desired film thickness. Alternatively, the slurry is screen-printed on a conductive base-material and dried to form an electrode. Then, a positive electrode and a negative electrode thus formed are mutually faced via a separator to give a cell.
Examples of a proton-conducting compound used as an electrode active material include π-conjugated polymers such as polyaniline, polythiophene, polypyrrole, polyacetylene, poly-p-phenylene, polyphenylene-vinylene, polyperinaphthalene, polyfuran, polyflurane, polythienylene, polypyridinediyl, polyisothianaphthene, polyquinoxaline, polypyridine, polypyrimidine, polyindole, polyaminoanthraquinone and their derivatives; indole-based compounds such as indole trimer; and hydroxyl-containing polymers such as polyanthraquinone and polybenzoquinone where a quinone oxygen is converted into a hydroxyl group by conjugation). These compounds may be doped to form a redox pair exhibiting conductivity. These compounds are appropriately selected as a positive active material and a negative active material, taking a redox potential difference into account.
Known electrolytic solutions include an aqueous electrolytic solution consisting of an aqueous acid solution and a non-aqueous electrolytic solution based on an organic solvent. When using a proton-conducting compound, the former aqueous electrolytic solution is preferentially used because it can give a high-capacity cell. The acid used may be an organic or inorganic acid; for example, inorganic acids such as sulfuric acid, nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, phosphoric acid, tetrafluoroboric acid, hexafluorophosphoric acid and hexafluorosilicic acid and organic acids such as saturated monocarboxylic acids, aliphatic carboxylic acids, oxycarboxylic acids, p-toluenesulfonic acid, polyvinylsulfonic acid and lauric acid.
A cell using such a proton-conducting compound as an electrode active material has a short cycle life due to increase in an internal resistance, and the tendency becomes more prominent as a temperature is elevated. Furthermore, it has a drawback of insufficient long term stability under a high temperature atmosphere.
These problems are caused by aggravated deterioration atmosphere due to deceleration of proton adsorption-desorption reaction as a charge/discharge mechanism of an electrode active material. In particular, at an elevated temperature, peroxidation of a material is much more accelerated, resulting in accelerated deterioration.
An electrode active material is susceptible to deterioration in an oxidized state. It is probably because a proton (H+) adsorption-desorption reaction for the active material is deteriorated over time in the charge/discharge mechanism as described below. Such deterioration proceeds because doping/dedoping activity of the active material is reduced under an excess proton atmosphere rather than an optimal proton atmosphere which depends on the identity of the active material and the number of reaction electrons, in a proton adsorption-desorption reaction between the active material and an electrolyte. Thus, charge/discharge power of the cell is deteriorated. It is called "peroxidation-perreduction deterioration"; specifically, peroxidation deterioration for an active material of positive electrode and perreduction deterioration for an active material of negative electrode.
This phenomenon will be described for a case where an active material of positive electrode is an indole derivative (indole trimer) while an active material of negative electrode is a quinoxaline polymer. Herein, charge/discharge mechanisms for a positive and a negative electrode materials are as indicated in chemical formulas (8) and (9), respectively, wherein R represent appropriate substituents and X− represents an anion.

Under a high-level acid atmosphere (low pH), the phenomenon particularly tends to occur so that deterioration in cycle properties is accelerated. For polyphenylquinoxaline which can be used as a material of negative electrode, tetraprotonation may be caused whereas a normal doped state is represented by a diprotonated derivative in a charge/discharge mechanism. Thus, the active material is dissolved, leading to reduction in a charge/discharge power. An excessively higher electrolyte concentration (proton concentration) may further accelerate oxidation deterioration.
FIG. 6 is a graph showing variation in cycle properties to an electrolyte concentration (sulfuric acid concentration). As seen in this graph, as an electrolytic solution concentration increases, a capacity decreases according to the cycle number so that cycle properties are deteriorated. In addition, under a low concentration atmosphere, cycle properties are improved while an appearance capacity tends to be reduced. FIG. 7 is a graph illustrating variation in an appearance capacity to an electrolyte concentration (sulfuric acid concentration). As seen in this graph, as an electrolyte concentration is reduced, an appearance capacity is reduced.
Electrolytic solutions comprising a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound as a non-aqueous electrolytic solution in the prior art have been described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication Nos. 2000-156329 (Prior art 1) and 2001-143748 (Prior art 2). Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 7-320780 (Prior art 3) has described a solid-electrolyte secondary battery comprising a polymer gel electrolyte consisting of, for example, an aprotic solvent and polyimidazole. Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 10-321232 (Prior art 4) has described an electrode comprising a benzimidazole derivative although an electrolytic solution used therein is different from that in this invention.
In Prior art 1, there has been disclosed an electrolytic solution for an aluminum electrolysis capacitor comprising a quaternary salt having of a quaternary cation from a compound containing N,N,N′-substituted amidine group and an organic acid anion, and an organic solvent. There has been described that although a conventional electrolytic solution comprising a quaternary ammonium carboxylate has a drawback that degradation of a rubber packing is accelerated so that sealing performance is significantly deteriorated, an additive having a cationic, quaternary amidine group may improve thermal stability of the electrolytic solution and a specific conductivity, and that in particular, a compound in which electrons in the amidine group are delocalized and a cation is stabilized by resonance gives an improved specific conductivity because of accelerated ion dissociation. There has been further described that when excess hydroxide ions are generated after electrolysis in the electrolytic solution, the hydroxide ions may rapidly disappear by reaction of the hydroxide ions and the amidine group so that unlike a conventional quaternary ammonium salt, effects of the electrolysis can be reduced and thus degradation of a packing in a capacitor can be minimized, resulting in improved sealing performance.
Prior art 2 has disclosed an electrolytic solution for a non-aqueous electrolyte lithium secondary battery, comprising a lithium salt of a perfluoroalkylsulfonic acid dissolved in an organic solvent and at least one selected from heterocyclic compounds containing at least one fluorine atom and a nitrogen or oxygen atom. According to Prior art 2, the heterocyclic compound added to the electrolytic solution can form a strongly adsorptive and antioxidative film on a positive current collector, resulting in preventing oxidation deterioration of the positive current collector and thus improvement in cycle properties.
Prior art 3 has disclosed a solid electrolyte secondary battery comprising a positive electrode, a negative electrode containing lithium as an active material, and a polymer solid electrolyte consisting of a complex of an electrolyte salt with a polymer or a polymer gel electrolyte prepared by impregnating an electrolytic solution of an electrolyte salt dissolved in an aprotic solvent into a polymer, wherein the polymer is selected from the group consisting of a polyamide, polyimidazole, a polyimide, polyoxazole, polytetrafluoroethylene, polymelamineformamide, a polycarbonate and polypropylene. There is described that cycle properties are improved because the electrolyte is unreactive to the negative electrode and thus an internal resistance is unlikely to be increased even after repeating charge/discharge cycles.
For solving the problems of a reduced appearance capacity and deteriorated cycle properties seen in FIGS. 6 and 7, it is necessary to provide an optimal electrolyte composition (H+, X−), or to improve an electrode for preventing peroxidation-perreduction deterioration of an electrode active material in the reaction between an electrolyte and the active material.
In both Prior arts 1 and 2, a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound is added to a non-aqueous electrolytic solution. In Prior art 3, a polymer gel electrolyte consisting of, for example, an aprotic solvent and a polyimidazole is used to make the electrolyte unreactive to lithium in the negative electrode so that increase of an internal resistance can be minimized and thus cycle properties can be improved. In any of Prior arts 1, 2 and 3, a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound or its polymer is added to an electrolyte, which is different from this invention where a particular substance is added and blended in an electrode.
Since Prior art 4 relates to a lithium battery in which an electrolytic solution contains an organic solvent, a proton concentration is not taken into consideration. Thus, a mechanism of proton conductivity or deterioration as characteristics of an active material is considerably different. Prior art 4 is different from this invention in which an electrolytic solution contains a proton source and a proton-conducting compound is used as an active material.

Cell electrode and electrochemical cell therewith


An instrument cluster assembly mounts within a vehicle dashboard. An opening is defined within the dashboard provides for mounting of an instrument cluster assembly. The example instrument cluster assembly includes a top surface that corresponds with the top surface of the dashboard to provide a completed top visible surface when in a completed assembled condition. The instrument cluster assembly includes a first gauge and a second gauge separated by an open space therebetween. A bi-vision display is mounted in the open space between the first and second gauges. The bi-vision display generates a virtual image that is viewed by the operator between the first and second gauges.

This disclosure generally relates to an instrument cluster for a motor vehicle. More particularly, this disclosure relates to an instrument cluster for a motor vehicle that includes portions of a vehicle dashboard and alternate displays improving readability of the instruments and gauges.
A vehicle instrument cluster is typically installed within a cavity provided within a vehicle dashboard. The dashboard provides the visible upper surfaces and defines the space into which the instrument cluster is mounted. Assembly and manufacturing tolerances add to the size of the opening and thereby reduce the amount of space available for both the instrument cluster and the dashboard. Moreover, assembly of the instrument cluster into the opening is essentially blind as access to the back of the instrument cluster is restricted.
Additionally, it is desirable to reduce focal distance changes that must be performed by the driver during operation. A driver must refocus from the road to the instrument cluster periodically to obtain information regarding vehicle operation. The time taken for refocusing from the road to the instrument cluster and back to the road can be reduced by devices such as heads up displays and other similar devices. However, such devices require additional hardware and physical structures that are installed separate from the instrument cluster, further complicating manufacture and assembly.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an instrument cluster than can simplify assembly, reduce costs and improve communication of vehicle operating information to a vehicle operator.


The present invention relates to a medicinal fluid flow rate control apparatus and a medicinal fluid injector including the medicinal fluid flow control apparatus. The medicinal fluid flow rate control apparatus includes: an operation knob being able to be turned; a plurality of medicinal fluid delivery lines each having an elastically deformable tube and arranged such that the tubes are arranged at different heights at a side from the operation knob; a tube support member supporting the tubes; a medicinal fluid converger converging medicinal fluids from the medicinal fluid delivery lines into one stream; and a pipe switch selectively pressing or releasing the tubes to open or block all of the medicinal fluid delivery lines or block some of the medicinal fluid delivery lines, depending on a rotational angle of the operation knob.

In general, cancer patients are treated by injection of special antibiotics, and patients who need pain management are treated by injection of anodynes for reducing pain. When medicinal fluids such as special antibiotics or anodynes are excessively provided, unlike other general medicinal fluids, they may cause patients to lapse into a comatose state or suffer death from shock. However, when such fluids are not sufficiently provided, the purposes of the medicinal fluids cannot be obtained. Accordingly, it is very important to inject an accurate amount within an allowable range.
Syringes have been used to inject medicinal fluids in most cases of the related art. However, when syringes were used, the dosage of medicinal fluids depended on the skill level of people who handle the syringes, etc. and they were necessarily involved every time the patient required an injection of medicinal fluids, so it was very difficult to maintain dosage per hour at an appropriate level. That is, it is difficult to manage and maintain the dosage of medicinal fluids.
Further, dosage adjusters that are installed on hoses for injecting medicinal fluid have been used to adjust the dosage of the medicinal fluids. However, the dosage was adjusted by the degree of pressing the hoses by the dosage adjusters, so it was difficult to accurately inject a desired amount of medicinal fluids in accordance with the momentarily changing states of patients.

Multi-type medicinal fluid flow rate control apparatus and medicinal fluid injector comprising same


An omnidirectional ultra-wideband monopole antenna, with the characteristics of simple structure, easy fabrication and low cost, mainly comprises a ground plane, a U-shaped radiating member above the ground plane and a feeding member for feeding signals to the radiating member. The radiating member further comprises a first sub-radiating member parallel to the ground plane, with a first side edge and a corresponding second side edge, a second sub-radiating member connected to the first side edge and perpendicular to the first sub-radiating member, forming a first angle therebetween, and a third sub-radiating member connected to the second side edge to form a second angle. The second sub-radiating member and the third sub-radiating member are extended in the same upright direction above the ground plane. The antenna can provide good omnidirectional radiation patterns for frequencies across a very wide operating bandwidth.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to an ultra-wideband monopole antenna structure and, in particular, to an omnidirectional ultra-wideband monopole antenna that provides good omnidirectional radiation patterns for frequencies across a very wide operating bandwidth.
2. Related Art
With the continuous development and advance of digital audio/video (AV) and mobile communications in wireless local area network (WLAN), there have been demands for higher data transmission rate.
The IEEE 802.15 WPAN (Wireless Personal Area Network) put forward by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is a standard for ultra-wideband operation with a high data transmission rate. For practical design considerations of the antennas for such an ultra-wideband operation, in addition to providing a wide operating bandwidth with a frequency ratio over 1:3, the antenna has to maintain stable omnidirectional radiation patterns over its operating bandwidth to achieve wide coverage and good communication performances. Thus, whether the ultra-wideband antenna can provide the required stable and omnidirectional patterns over the operating bandwidth is the main factor that determines whether the antenna structure is suitable for practical applications.
Among the currently known ultra-wideband antenna structures, the planar metal-plate monopole antenna has the highest application values. Although this type of antennas can provide an ultra-wide operating bandwidth, their radiation stability and omnidirectional property become worse as the operating frequency increases. Therefore, they cannot satisfy practical needs.
To improve the omnidirectional radiation patterns, the U.S. Pat. No. 6,339,409 discloses a thin, long cylinder structure for the antenna. A rectangular metal plate is coiled into a spiral shape to control the radiation patterns produced by the antenna, thereby satisfying the omnidirectional requirement. However, the drawback of this structure is its complicated structure, which makes good yield difficult to obtain.
Another known wideband antenna structure, such as the one disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,003, makes use of a combination of metal rod with different lengths. Although such a structure can generate many different resonant frequencies, its drawback is also its complicated structure and high production cost. The whole antenna is too large in size. The antenna structure disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,828,340 cannot satisfy the requirement of omnidirectional radiation patterns and provide a sufficiently wide operating bandwidth.
Therefore, how to design an antenna structure with an ultra-wide operating bandwidth, omnidirectional radiation patterns, and with the characteristics of simple structure, easy fabrication, and low cost is the most important research direction in the field of ultra-wideband monopole antennas.

Omnidirectional ultra-wideband monopole antenna

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A new approach is proposed that contemplates systems and methods to support scanning through a file of large size without having to load the entire file into memory of single file parser or scanner. The proposed approach is configured to divide a ginormous file to be parsed and scanned into a plurality of sections following a divide and conquer scheme. The plurality sections of the file are then parsed and loaded to a plurality of file scanners each configured to scan its allocated file section of a certain file type. Each of the plurality of file scanners is then configured to extract and evaluate from its allocated section file parts that can be harmful to a user of the file and/or expose sensitive/protected information of the user. The scan results are then collected, analyzed, and report to a user with a final determination on the malicious content and sensitive data.

As computer file storage, such as cloud-based file storage, gets larger in capacity, the files stored on the computer file storage are also getting larger and becoming ginormous. These ginormous files may include, e.g., comma-separated values (CSV) file content, which stores tabular data (numbers and text) in plain text and uses a comma to separate values, and/or tab-separated values (TSV) file content, which uses simple text format for storing data in a tabular structure, e.g., database table or spreadsheet data, for exchanging information between databases. The ginormous files having CSV and/or TSV content may pose a major problem in cloud-based file storage platforms today as a lot of such ginormous files are database dumps and other logs, which could contain active malicious content and/or sensitive data of a user. Here, the malicious content may include but is not limited to one or more web URLs to one or more unsafe fake websites and/or attachments such as MS Office documents, PDF documents, binary files, scripts, and other artifacts that may contain active malicious content. The sensitive data of the user may include but is not limited to personal, financial, or confidential information of the user and/or entities the user is associated with. In order to protect sensitive data of the user and to protect him/her from being attacked by the malicious content, these files need to be scanned for the malicious content and/or sensitive data in a timely manner. Many of today's file scanning mechanisms, however, are unable to scan files beyond certain size, e.g., larger than hundreds of megabytes, efficiently and timely, making these scanning mechanisms unsuitable for scanning of ginormous files. It is thus desirable to be able to scan these ginormous files with flexibility and scalability.
The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.

Method and apparatus for scanning ginormous files


A method of making nano/sub-micron sized grains in a work piece material having a lateral side has the steps of providing a die. The die has an entrance channel with a longitudinal axis and an exit channel. The entrance channel and the exit channel are connected to one another to form an angle. The method has the step of providing a first sacrificial material with a complementary size to the work piece and placing the sacrificial first material and the work piece in an entrance channel. The first sacrificial material and the work piece are aligned with the longitudinal axis. The method has the step of extruding the combination of the first sacrificial material, and the work piece through the intersection of the entrance and the exit channels. The resulting shear deformation forms the nano/sub-micron sized grains in the work piece. This configuration reduces frictional effects thereby producing homogenous nano grain structure. This configuration reduces applied load and enables equal channel angular extrusion of thin sheets.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure is directed to a fabrication process of a structural component. More particularly, the present disclosure is related to a fabrication process for a structural component to be used with high strength structural applications. Even more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a fabrication process for a structural component that results in a component having a homogeneous nano/sub-micron grain structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
High strength engineering components are known in the art. Plastic deformation has been used in the art to structurally alter and to enhance one or more physical properties of a work piece component for different metallic materials. One such known method entails using a die having a movable surface in a deformation channel of the die. The movable surface moves with a work piece material during a deformation process in the deformation channel. The billets have selected desired characteristics resulting from the deformation processing such as an improved strength and ductility. However, construction using such billets is expensive, due in part, because the billets or desired structural components can be formed only by using a very complex and cumbersome die structure. The complex die structure and components are expensive to use and make. They require additional expenses not only to form the die, but also to operate, and service the die for manufacturing a number of structural components or billets.
Moreover, such known dies have a detrimental operation and have die components that only minimize friction in one general direction or on the face of the work piece material. Such dies minimize friction in only a complementary location where a sliding die component moves. Such a reduction in friction may only provide a limited structural enhancement depending on the application. The friction on another side of the work piece material is relatively greater between the die component and the structural work piece component. This results in non-homogenous sized grains in the resulting structural component. This non-homogenous condition due to the increased friction on the one side relates to poor mechanical properties. This may lead to one or more unintended detriments depending on the structural application.
Thus, a need exists to develop a fabrication method which includes improved process steps that do not require an expensive die or die components to conduct the plastic deformation process. In addition, a need exists to develop a fabrication process that provides a homogenous sub-micron grain size across the cross section of the work piece component.

Method of forming a structural component having a nano sized/sub-micron homogeneous grain structure


A method for implementing a Live Dealer game is disclosed. A live feed of game-play at a gaming table is sent to a remote player. During play, a server receives an indication of a rank and suit of a dealt card. If the card has not yet been revealed at the gaming table, the server will delay transmitting to the remote player data indicating the rank and suit of the dealt card. Upon receipt of a status signal indicating that the card has been revealed at the gaming table, the server will transmit the data indicating the rank and suit of the dealt card to the remote player, thereby substantially synchronizing transmitting the data indicating the rank and suit of the dealt card to the remote player with revealing the card at the gaming table.

In the gaming art, the term "Live Dealer" refers to games in which a player participates in a live game from a location remote from the area of live play, such as a casino. The present disclosure relates to a method of implementing a Live Dealer game, and more particularly, to methods of synchronizing a Live Dealer game between a dealer or local player at a live play area and one or more remotely-participating players.
A Live Dealer game may be available for a variety of live casino games, such as, for example, roulette, baccarat, and blackjack. During a Live Dealer game, a remote player participates in the same game that a local player does. The remote player may receive information from the casino, such as what cards have been dealt by a live dealer or played by a local player, and also transmits information to the casino, such as what wagers have been made or cards played by the remote player. Additionally, the information communicated to the remote player from the casino may include a live video feed of game-play at the gaming table, and also an indication of a rank and suit of each dealt card as the card is scanned or otherwise sensed by a detector, such as a card reader.
However, information sent to the remote player may not always be synchronized with information revealed at the gaming table. For example, the indication of the rank and suit of the dealt card may be sent to the remote player as the card is scanned, but this indication may be sent before the card is actually turned face-up to become visible. In such a scenario, the remote player may receive an indication of the rank and suit of the card before the card is actually revealed to the local player.
A lack of synchronization between the live action and the communication to the remote player may lead to a situation where the participating players perceive that they are at a disadvantage relative to each other. As a consequence, the players may lose confidence in the Live Dealer game, and play less, resulting in less revenue for the game proprietor.

Method for implementing a live dealer game


The invention comprises a process for treating contaminated earth with different organic and inorganic substances, such as for example benzene, toluene, naphthalene, phenols and other mono- and polycyclic or aliphatic oxygen-, nitrogen- and sulphur-containing hydrocarbon compounds as well as simple and complex inorganic or organic salts. The invention concerns a combination of the following processing stages: (a) homogenization and comminution of the contaminated earth with an addition of treated recycled water to obtain a pumpable suspension; (b) treatment of the suspension in a single- or multi-stage extraction process in counter-current with warm or hot recycled water according to the principle of increased dissolving power at high temperatures (over 100.degree. C.) and at the corresponding pressure above the vaporization point; (c) drying of the suspension taken from the extraction systems until a residual humidity of less than 30% by weight approximately is obtained; and separating the dissolved substances contained in the recycled water (extraction agent) by cooling according to the principle of reduced dissolving power.

The invention relates in general to contaminated earth treatment and in particular to a new and useful process for the treating of contaminated earth by homogenizing and comminuting the material and adding water and thereafter treating the water suspension by drying it and separating dissolved substances.
According to the invention contaminated earth, in particular earth from coking plants or plants with similar products is treated. This earth is usually contaminated with various anorganic and organic substances, such as benzene, toluene, naphthalene, phenols and other mon- and polycyclic or aliphatic oxygen-, nitrogen- and sulphur-containing hydrocarbon compounds as well as simple and complex inorganic or organic salts.
From German OS No. 32 16 771 a process for the cleaning of earth contaminated with toxic material is known, wherein the earth is e.g. heated in a rotating drum and the resulting gas products are burnt.
German patent application No. P34 47 079 also refers to a process for the thermal treatment of contaminated earth. Herein the earth is treated at a temperature cf at least 600.degree. C. and the resulting gas is also burnt. In the two cited processes, the gas contaminants are removed from the earth by means of thermal treatment at relatively high temperatures. For this purpose a relatively large amount of energy is required.
German Os No. 25 31 732 describes a process for the removal, treatment and regeneration of oil-polluted earth. Herein the oil and the water-soluble noxious components are washed out in low surface tension water preferably at temperatures between 60.degree. and 90.degree. C. Herein the comminuted material to be treated is intensively mixed with the cleaning medium in a spiral drum and then separated from the pollutant-binding cleaning medium by sedimentation in a clearing sump.
A similar process for the regeneration of earth, contaminated in particular by oil is known from German OS No. 27 24 271. Herein the contaminated earth is suspended [slurry] possibly after comminution, in a liquid, e.g. water and then heated to vaporizing temperature in a continuous flow chamber. The upper layer of the suspension is stripped off and separated in the continuous flow chamber. It has been proven that the substances dissolved are not washed out from the contaminated earth in such a process at the vaporization temperature of water.