A thermal dispersion switch/transmitter for determining flow rate and liquid level in a non-contacting apparatus. A special preparation of one or more small spots in the outside surface of the wall of the conduit, standpipe or container enables one or more thermally sensitive elements to reside very close to the fluid on the opposite side of the wall. A temperature sensor is formed of a raster pattern electrical conductor deposited on a thin, electrically insulative, thermally conductive flat chip. One temperature sensor is time-shared and is periodically self heated and functions as the reference as well as the active or heated sensor of the invention. One alternative is to employ two temperature sensors, one being a reference sensor and the other being the active sensor. An alternative embodiment employs the same construction of one or more small, very thin membrane surfaces to which multiple detectors are mounted inside a probe inserted into the conduit. A second alternative embodiment employs the same construction of a very thin, small area spot on the outside of a probe inserted into a conduit or vessel for flow rate, liquid level, or interface sensing.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to thermal dispersion sensors and more particularly to such sensors employing thermally sensitive detection elements mounted externally to the fluid container or conduit to sense liquid level therein or mass flow rate therethrough. Alternatively, an insertion device can also be employed wherein the detectors are inside the vessel but, because of various sealing mechanisms, are still topologically outside the container and isolated from the media.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In many industrial and commercial fields there is a requirement for compact and versatile flow rate detectors which positively determine that a particular mass of fluid is flowing, has stopped flowing, is flowing above or below a predetermined threshold mass velocity level or the actual mass flow rate at which it is flowing. Alternatively, such a device may be used to determine when the level of rising or falling liquid in a container has reached a predetermined height. The conduits and containers involved may be oriented vertically, horizontally, or they may be inclined, and can range in size from fractions of an inch to as much as several feet in diameter. Returning to the mass flow rate sensing application, this requirement is particularly strong in manufacturing situations where it is critical that the amount and velocity of flowing gas must be known. This is even more critical where those gases are toxic, which often occurs in the manufacture of electronic chips.
Fabrication methods incidental to the mechanical operating principles of current devices used in the electronic chip industry often result in dead-end cavities, labyrinthian passageways, irregular and rough surfaces from welding, close diametral clearances between moving parts. The impossibility of purging and other effects from the labyrinthian passages are also detrimental to delivering clean gas. In many instances, the absence of polished surfaces, the presence of close fitting parts and dead-end cavities can all but prevent the delivery of pure products or the purging of the system when gaseous products are changed. Moreover, current devices used in chip manufacturing typically employ moving parts. Inevitably, particle matter generated by the moving parts further contaminate the gaseous media being employed. Ultra cleanliness and purity are absolutely necessary if high quality electronic chips are to be manufactured. In many instances, smooth finishes and the ability to effectively clean the conduit can be all but impossible to achieve with some devices currently on the market. Failure to note that flow has ceased or has been reduced below or increased above certain predetermined flow velocity thresholds in a conduit may be very costly and in some instances could be catastrophic. The same can be true of liquid levels. As processes increase in speed and output, and precision becomes ever more of a requirement, often resulting from advances in technology, such failures tend to be ever more costly and dangerous.
Devices have long been available for detecting and, in some cases, measuring the rate of flow of fluids or liquid level. A common type of flow detector utilizes the force exerted by the moving fluid against a paddle or movable wall immersed in the fluid or the fluid flow to indicate or determine the rate of fluid motion. Regardless of the form chosen for the immersed object, for example, propeller, vane, piston, deflection arm, drogue or the like, all of these devices are subject to a number of potentially serious shortcomings for certain uses, especially for mass flow rate measurements as required in chip manufacturing and most other applications. All of the above require compensation for pressure and temperature and the effects these variables have on density of gaseous media. Moveable parts tend to deteriorate after continued immersion for extended periods of time and can become corroded or frozen in place after even brief contact with many fluids. This is especially true with gases or liquids which may be toxic, corrosive, or both. Seals and packing, always at least minor problems, become monumental tasks when moving parts are involved. Mechanical deformation and fatigue induced breakdowns also plague this class of indicators. When these mechanical devices are used, they are, by and large, wholly unsuitable for chip manufacturing purposes as well as many other exacting purposes. They are also generally unsuitable for the detection of flow stoppage, reduction in flow velocity below a predetermined level, or changes in fluid level in customary commercial and industrial applications. This subject will be further discussed below.
Because of the disadvantages of requiring the force exerted by the moving fluid against some object in order to provide detectable motion or level changes, thermal dispersion mass flow meters have become a common choice for flow metering devices in the commercial and industrial metering and level sensing markets. A typical flow sensor element for use in such meters is the resistance temperature detector (RTD), the resistance of which is related to the temperature of the element itself. Although RTDs are the preferred device, many other types of small heatable temperature detector/heaters could also be considered. Thermocouples, thermistors, temperature sensitive diodes and other transistors or solid state devices could be used. Also RTDs come in many forms such as chips, wire wound elements and grids. A typical flow rate or level sensor employs at least two RTD elements. One of them is referred to as a reference element and is normally unheated. The active RTD element is heated and the temperature reduction effect of mass flow or wetting on the heated element provides a measure of the mass flow velocity or a phase change from dry to wet of the substance in the conduit or vessel being monitored. The density of a gaseous fluid flowing across the active RTD is also a directly proportional factor in the amount of heat dissipated from the RTD. As discussed above, RTD sensors can also be employed for liquid level detection and interface detection of gas to liquid, and non-miscible liquids such as oil/water, clear water and sludge or slurries, to name a few.
There are many configurations of dispersion mass flow sensors, and more particularly, of heated RTD type sensors. An early such flow detector is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,366,942. This patent discloses a reference sensor, a heated or active sensor, and a separate heating element located closely adjacent the heated sensor element. The basic principle of operation of dispersion flow meters is well known and is discussed in this patent. A different configuration of a three-element thermal dispersion sensor is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,584. There any many other examples of detectors employing differential temperature sensors, some having three elements as described in the patents mentioned above, and some having two elements, where the active sensor has the heater integral therewith and is self heated. Even a single element differential temperature sensor may be employed. The single element sensor works on a time sharing basis where it acts as a reference sensor part of the time and is then heated to act as the active sensor, switching alternately in relatively rapid succession. Another example of a differential temperature sensor is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,780,737.
The devices shown in the patents mentioned above have no moving parts and have proven satisfactory, at least in many circumstances where it is desirable to determine that fluid flow has stopped. They are also very sensitive to low levels of mass flow of fluid. It is important to note that in the examples above and in many other related examples, the RTD type sensors are mounted in a thermal well and are immersed in the fluid flowing in a conduit, or are positioned to be wetted by liquid at predetermined levels.
For the manufacture of electronic chips, where toxic gases are employed, immersion sensors of any type are generally not appropriate because of the intrusion of the expensive thermal wells into the relatively small conduit containing the flowing stream. Such devices typically are too large for the conduits involved in electronic chip manufacture and likely cannot be properly purged of possible residual gases from previous uses.
For example, in electronic chip manufacturing, noxious and often toxic gasses are used in vapor deposition. In order to control the flow of those vapors and to ensure that excess vapors do not overload the system's capacity to properly contain them, an excess flow sensor and switch can be used. Examples of prior art devices which can be employed for such purposes are flow rate magnet/reed switches. Magnetic switches of this type are sold by Nupro Company under the designation "FV4 Series Vertical Flow Sensor," and the series "AP74 Vertical Flow Switch" is sold by Advanced Pressure Technology, specifically for use in the manufacture of electronic chips. An actual switch is required, which is external to the conduit through which the gases flow, and a moving magnet is positioned within the fluid conduit. Thus these devices are partially direct contact and partially remote sensor devices. These mechanical switches are not well suited for mass flow rate sensing because they are sensitive to volume flow rate and mass flow rate errors are introduced because of density variables. Principally, pressure is the primary cause of such density variables. For these types of switches, several different models would be required to satisfy the various trip points that might be specified by any user. The trip point of choice is fixed and set in the factory and is not accurate as explained in their specifications.
Temperature can also affect density and is a contributing error factor in some cases. Trade literature for such magnetic switch products show that the trip point flow rate is a function of pressure. One model will trip at 15 SLPM (standard liters per minute) when the system is pressurized to 100 psig. If this model were placed in a 20 psig system, it would trip at 7 SLPM. That is more than a 100% difference from a trip point of 15 SLPM. Thus the requirement of many different models for different flow rates and density uses. Ideally, the customer would prefer to have a single switch with a trip point of, for example, 10 SLPM, which would trip at that value over any pressure range between 0 and 100 psig. Also, these magnetic switches have a wide hysteresis where the trip point has a very different value than the reset point of a particular switch.
Not only is it all but impossible to achieve appropriate cleaning and smooth finishes, but welding, purging and other effects from the labyrinthian passages of the magnetic sensors discussed above can be detrimental to the delivery of clean gas. Additionally, the moving magnet and its enclosure in the flowing media may also generate foreign particles which could contaminate the electronic chips being manufactured.
There are some external or conduit surface mounted temperature detectors previously available. An example is the series AP7300 Flow Switch by Advanced Pressure Technology and the Rheotherm Flow Instruments of Intek, Inc. These are indeed external surface mounted devices but there is no indication of the existence of a local, small, specially prepared surface to increase the sensitivity of the sensing element, at low power levels, to the rate of flow of the fluid within the conduit to which they are attached. Additionally, a separate heater is employed and miniaturization by use of a chip type RTD is not shown. Another example is the use of wire RTDs wrapped around small and medium size tubes as the sensor element. Such a sensor would be relatively large in area and require high power for heating. If the conduit is thinned on its periphery to bring the wire wound RTD closer to the flowing medium, it would compromise the mechanical strength of the tube. Power requirements can be relatively high and sensitivity may be insufficient for detecting small flow rate changes, especially when the mass flow rate is low.
It is readily understood that whenever the substance being measured is in direct contact with the measuring instrument, the measuring instrument will have some effect upon the substance being measured. Thus, there is a need for a sensitive detector for liquid level or fluid flow to accurately and sensitively measure fluid flow or level without directly affecting or being in direct contact with the fluid being measured. A general purpose industrial thermal flow switch employing thermal wells, such as the Model FLT-93S manufactured and sold by Fluid Components Intl, is generally inappropriate for the particular application (electronic chip manufacturing) to which one example of the present invention is most specifically directed. Further, such devices are inappropriate for most other purposes of the invention described below because they have relatively large heaters and consequently require relatively high operating power. Additionally, those devices do not employ laminar boundary layer flow sensing.

Thermal dispersion mass flow rate and liquid level switch/transmitter


A portable package carrying arrangement adapted and configured to carry a plurality of containers which is particularly applicable for use with canned items and/or items packaged in a container. The portable package carrying arrangement includes a panel portion and a handle portion. The panel portion includes a plurality of container flanges configured to releasably secure a plurality of containers to the panel portion.

Cans and/or containers are commonly used to store food and drink items for a variety of reasons including convenient production, convenient storage, and long-term storage due to a generally airtight seal. Non-limiting examples of foods packed in a can include pet food, canned soup, canned meat, etc. Such cans are often generally cylindrical in shape and traditionally manufactured from a durable material such as aluminum, tin, plastic or steel. Oftentimes, the canned goods are placed in a cart and/or basket by a consumer along with other items. As such, during the checking out and bagging of many items, similar types of can goods are commonly placed in separate bags, thus requiring resorting when the consumer unpacks the purchased items. Additionally, selecting and carrying large quantities of canned goods (e.g., canned cat food, etc.) can be inconvenient to a consumer.
It would be desirable to provide a lightweight package carrying arrangement that is capable of releasably securing one or more canned goods, which can maintain the cans together, and which can include a handle portion for the purpose of easily and conveniently carrying or transporting the package carrying arrangement.


The separator comprises an elongated, cylindrical, horizontal pressure vessel. An involute feed inlet introduces the drilling fluid into the top of the vessel chamber at its first end. The feed inlet is designed to reduce the flow velocity of the incoming feed stream and introduce it horizontally toward the first end head of the vessel. A weir, slanted away from the first end head, extends upwardly from a point close to the head's base. The curved head, vessel side wall and slanted weir form an inlet compartment of hopper-like configuration designed to funnel settling cuttings to a bottom outlet for removal with an auger pump. This design enables the cuttings to be removed while drilling progresses, without the build up of cuttings piles. The vessel also has a second weir at about its midpoint, for trapping fine solids in a second compartment. Riser outlets are provided in the second compartment for water removal and in the third compartment for oil removal. Gas is removed through an overhead outlet.

Wells have long been drilled using drilling mud as the circulating medium. The mud performs two functions: it provides a column of heavy fluid that exerts hydrostatic pressure at the bottom of the wellbore, to prevent entry into the wellbore of pressurized hydrocarbons present in the formation being drilled; and it serves to carry solid cuttings up and out of the wellbore.
When drilling mud is used, there is a likelihood that it will penetrate out into a porous and permeable, hydrocarbon-containing reservoir when the reservoir is being opened up or drilled through. When this occurs, the productivity of the well can be adversely affected. The mud that has penetrated radially into the formation acts to impede the flow of hydrocarbons into the wellbore.
Under-balanced drilling was recently developed as a technique for opening up the pay zone of the reservoir. Typically, the well is completed with casing to the top of the pay zone. Then drilling is initiated into the pay zone using a relatively light circulating fluid, such as water or diesel fuel. The fluid is selected so that the hydrostatic head created by it is less than the expected reservoir pressure. Therefore, the drilling fluid will not invade the reservoir as the drilling string penetrates through it.
However, when this is done there is a likelihood that pressurized hydrocarbons (oil or natural gas) present in the reservoir will be produced into the wellbore. Thus the circulated fluid returning out of the wellbore will often comprise oil, water, gas and suspended solids. In addition, this stream will be under pressure and that are adapted to contain the components of the stream while they are separated and recovered as discrete and separate streams.
By way of contrast, a rig operating with drilling mud normally has an "open" tank system for treating a returning mud stream. More particularly, the mixture of mud containing suspended solid cuttings passes through a vibrating screen assembly (known as a "shale shaker") to separate out the bulk of the cuttings, which drop from the shaker onto the ground or into a pit. The mud then enters one or more rectangular, open-topped "mud tanks". The mud slowly moves through the mud tank and most of the fine solids which remain suspended after screening by the shale shaker settle out. Often the mud tank has one or more transverse weirs or baffles, which divide the tank chamber into compartments. The weir functions to trap settling fine solids and thick mud, allowing "cleaned" mud to advance. The cleaned mud then normally is recycled to the wellbore.
From time to time, the rig crew stop the mud flow, drain the tanks into a pit and flush out settled solids using high pressure water jets or hoses.
It is clear therefore that in conventional mud handling systems it is known:
to provide retention time in the tanks to enable the fine solids to settle out; and PA1 to use weirs in the path of the flow, to trap solids and heavily contaminated mud, while cleaner mud passes over the weir and moves toward the tank outlet. PA1 a bottom outlet for solids removal; PA1 an overhead outlet for gas removal; PA1 outlets at different elevations for separate water and oil removal; PA1 a sparger ring close to the bottom of the vessel chamber so that water could be injected to fluidize and help remove solids out the bottom outlet; and PA1 a feed inlet structure having a T configuration, with its outlet being downwardly directed. PA1 that the volume of the tank was relatively small and the volume of cuttings large. This resulted in having to interrupt drilling periodically to clean the solids from the tank by hooking up a vacuum truck to the bottom outlet to suction out the solids; PA1 that the downwardly directed feed inlet was causing the gassy incoming feed stream to jet down into the liquid and settling solids, thereby stirring them up; and PA1 that the retention time was inadequate, which resulted in the liquid product(s) being contaminated with solids. PA1 A horizontal, elongated, cylindrical pressure vessel having 550 barrels capacity; PA1 An inlet structure that was a tubular involute having its outlet directed horizontally, toward the curved head or end wall of the vessel. The inlet structure was located at about the longitudinal midpoint of the upper section of the vessel chamber. The inlet structure functioned to slow the flow velocity of the incoming feed stream and to introduce it horizontally into the chamber; PA1 A transverse weir extended across the chamber immediately downstream of the inlet structure, dividing the chamber into upstream and downstream compartments. The upstream compartment had sufficient volume to contain all of the coarse solids which the well was expected to produce; PA1 The length of the downstream compartment was sufficient to provide enough retention time to allow the fines (clay and the like) to settle out; PA1 The outlet of the involute inlet structure was spaced above the weir's rim, so that gas could break out and not be entrained in the accumulated liquid; PA1 Oil and water outlet risers were provided downstream of the weir, an overhead gas outlet was provided and solids outlets were provided in the base of the upstream and downstream compartments. PA1 Forming the upstream compartment with a first weir which had its base close to the vessel head (about 30 inches from it) and which slanted upwardly and away from the head, so that the weir, curved head and vessel curved side wall in effect formed a hopper for funnelling settling solids to a solids outlet formed in the vessel side wall at the foot of the compartment; PA1 Providing a solids auger pump connected with the solids outlet of the upstream compartment for removing solids while flow through the vessel continued; PA1 Positioning the involute feed inlet structure over the upstream compartment, to direct the feed stream generally horizontally and toward the adjacent head; PA1 Providing water sparger inlets in the compartment, to fiuidize the solids, if required; PA1 Providing a second weir at about the longitudinal midpoint of the vessel chamber, for trapping settling fines and defining intermediate and downstream compartments; PA1 Providing a solids outlet in the base of the intermediate compartment as well as a tubular riser having an elevated outlet for removing water; PA1 Providing an outlet from the downstream compartment, for removing oil; and PA1 Providing manways leading into each compartment.
These known concepts are incorporated as part of the present invention.

Horizontal separator for treating under-balance drilling fluid


A mixer water faucet for installation through a bore in a work surface in proximity to a water supply, includes a stationary housing extending transversely through the bore; a faucet body mounted onto the housing, rotatable relative thereto; a main spout and an auxiliary spout extending from the housing; a main water supply hose for conveying water to the main spout and an auxiliary water supply hose for conveying water to the auxiliary spout, the main water supply hose and the auxiliary water supply hose extending through the housing; and a diverter for selectably directing a supply of water to the main spout and the auxiliary spout.

A water faucet or water tap is a device able to control the flow of water. A water faucet may allow a user to commence and to stop the flow of water from a plumbing system or from a water-delivery system. A water faucet may further allow a user to modify the pressure of water flow, or the volume of water that flows per time unit.
Some water faucets may be implemented as a "mixer tap", for example, featuring a single handle enabling the user to mix hot water supply with cold water supply, to achieve a desired temperature.
Also known are mixer faucets having a nozzle incorporating a spray function in the spout are also known, the nozzle often being attached by a hose which is long enough to permit it to be pulled out.
The size of the hole or bore required to accommodate a mixer faucet is usually about 35 mm, while the outside dimensions of the faucet body are typically 35-50 mm. While the sizes of hose used depends on the desired water flow exiting the faucet, its external diameter will normally be no less than 8 mm.

Mixed water faucet with fixed main and detachable auxiliary spouts


Yeast raised bakery products, including bread, are made by combining glandless cotton-seed, including both its meal and oil factions, which has been cracked in a hammer-mill or the like. The cracked glandless cotton-seed is mixed with water, yeast, and flour and, optionally, salt, malt and other types of flour such as rye flour, whole-wheat flour, corn, flax-seed, oats, barley, soy-flour, triticale and rice and other coarse ingredients. If desired, a sour ingredient such as sour culture, lemon juice or other acids can be added. The combined ingredients are mixed, divided, and baked to produce a yeast raised bakery product of desired characteristics.

As reported in the Cotton Gin and Oil Mill Press, Aug. 19, 1972, "New Food for the Protein-Hungry World" by Carol Hoffpauir, cotton-seed is being considered for use in food products, including bakery products. At present, there are two types of cotton-seed of interest, the first being the usual for normal cotton-seed of commerce, and the second being the glandless varieties of cotton-seed. The normal cotton-seed contain glands and gossypol, which is toxic to single stomached animals. The normal cotton-seed, therefore, is not suitable for human consumption without special processing for removal of the toxic gossypol. The glandless cotton-seed, on the other hand, does not contain toxic gossypol, and, therefore, can be used in human food stuffs.
In the treatment of normal cotton-seed, a process widely known as the Liquid Cyclone Process (LCP) can be used. The LCP process separates the cotton-seed into two parts, one being a finely divided high protein flour essentially free of gossypol, and the other containing pigment glands, coarse meat particles imbedded in the glands and some hull particles. The cotton-seed produced by the LCP process has most of the naturally occurring cotton-seed oil removed from it, and acts as an excellent emulsifier in recipes.
Since the LCP cotton-seed flour is fairly low in oil content, its use in bakery products, particularly breads and other yeast raised bakery products, in normally large quantities results in an extremely heavy product because of the absorption of the water and oil added to the recipe. Therefore, to avoid this heaviness attempts have been made to derive yeast raised bakery product recipes using only small quantities of the LCP cotton-seed flour. One of the principal advantages, however, derived from the cotton-seed flour is that it is particularly high in protein, thus, the trade off in the recipe is the level of protein (measured, for example, in grams of protein per ounce of bread product) in comparison to the lightness of the final bread product.
Despite the fact that glandless cotton-seed have been developed, typically the processes which have been employed to produce cotton-seed flour from the glandless variety of cotton-seed result in a flour from which the oil is removed. Thus, even the glandless defatted cotton-seed flour, when used in yeast raised bakery products, results in rather heavy, unpalatable bakery products.
In my patent application, Ser. No. 749,308, filed Dec. 10, 1976, I discussed a method for making yeast raised bakery products utilizing glandless cotton-seed directly. In this process, the glandless cotton-seed was added to the recipe without first having been reduced to flour. However, in order that the cotton-seed, in the final product be soft and, for that matter, an integral part of the final bread products, I found that it was necessary to soak the cotton-seed prior to adding them to the recipe. I found that the soaking of the cotton-seed, especially in the presence of a sour culture, opened the seed sufficiently to enable them to absorb moisture during the baking process so as not to become hard and incongruous in the soft bread texture.

Preparing yeast raised bakery products with glandless cotton-seed


The welding frame (3) of a film-welding device (2) is at the start of its pivoting movement motor-driven in positive manner over a few radians and is then released from the drive, so that only on the basis of its flywheel energy and weight force is it moved on to the locked closed position. Thus, accident risks can be avoided without separate control means, because for stopping the welding frame (5) it is essentially only necessary to dissipate the relatively low flywheel energy.

The invention relates to a closing mechanism, such as is used on devices, equipment, machines, etc. for transferring a unit into one or more precisely predetermined positions, e.g. in order to bring together a tool or another apparatus part with a counterpart, a workpiece, etc.
The movement of the closing unit or the like can be linked with numerous problems, namely e.g. with injury risks through the closing unit, with control problems with respect to the closing force, or the precise disconnection of the closing drive, etc. For example, for accident or injury protection purposes, it is often necessary to provide a light barrier or a similar sensor, so as to immediately switch off the closing drive and/or reverse to return travel, if foreign bodies have entered the closing gap or the movement path of the closing unit. Control problems also occur if the delivery or closing unit is firstly delivered at a higher speed in a rapid motion and then over the final part of the movement path is slowed down and transferred roughly into the predetermined position, optionally with increasing closing force towards the end of the associated movement path.
In the case of film or sheet welding devices and similar joining or processing mechanisms frequently a very simple, weight-based, lightweight construction is desired, so that complicated controls and in particular mechanical controls are not suitable. In addition, the moving masses must be kept to a minimum.

Apparatus closing mechanism, particularly for film welding devices

Kallfass Verpackungsmaschinen GmbH & Co.


A sensing circuit capable of simplifying a configuration of a data driver by reducing a size of a sensing circuit provided at each data driver, and an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display device having the same are provided. The sensing circuit includes N sampling and holding circuits, a scaler and an analog-digital converter.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a sensing circuit, and more particularly, a sensing circuit, capable of simplifying a configuration of a data driver by reducing a size of a sensing circuit provided at each data driver, and to an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display device having the same.
Discussion of the Related Art
An organic light emitting diode (OLED) display device has advantages of fast response speed, high luminous efficiency, high brightness and a great viewing angle by virtue of using self-illuminating diodes which emit light by themselves. The OLED display device is configured in such a manner that pixels each including an OLED as such a self-illuminating diode are arranged on a display panel, and the brightness of a pixel selected by a gate signal is controlled according to a gray scale level of a data signal so as to display an image.
FIG. 1 is an equivalent circuit view of one pixel of an OLED display device according to the related art.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, each pixel P of an OLED display device includes an OLED, a gate line GL, a sensing line SL and a data line DL intersecting with one another, a first switching thin film transistor (TFT) ST1, a second switching TFT ST2, a driving TFT DT and a storage capacitor Cst.
The first switching TFT ST1 is turned on in response to a gate signal input from the gate line GL, and allows for a flow of an electric current (conducts a current) between a source electrode and a drain electrode. The first switching TFT ST1 applies a data signal input through the data line DL to the driving TFT DT and the storage capacitor Cst during its turn-on period. The second switching TFT ST2 is turned on in response to a sensing signal input from the sensing line SL, and applies a reference voltage Vref supplied through a reference line RL to an anode electrode of the OLED. The driving TFT DT controls a current which flows from a power source voltage EVDD to the OLED during its turn-on period. The storage capacitor Cst uniformly maintains a gate potential of the driving TFT DT for one frame. The OLED is connected between the driving TFT DT and a ground voltage EVSS.
The aforementioned pixel P of the OLED display device displays an image in a manner that the OLED continuously emits light for a frame section and thus the driving TFT DT is kept maintained in the turn-on state. This causes deterioration of the driving TFT DT. To solve this problem, in the related art OLED display device, a method of sensing a change of a threshold voltage Vth and a change of a characteristic of the OLED and compensating for the changes has been proposed.
FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a part of the related art OLED display device.
As illustrated in FIG. 2, the related art OLED display device includes a display panel 10 and a sensing unit.
On the display panel 10, the pixels P described in FIG. 1 are arranged in a matrix configuration.
The sensing unit includes a sampling and holding portion 20, a scaling portion 30, an amplifier 40, and an analog-digital converter 50.
The sampling and holding portion 20 is connected to a plurality of reference lines RL, namely, the second switching TFT ST2 of each pixel P. The sampling and holding portion 20 temporarily stores sensing voltages supplied through the plurality of reference lines RL, through which the reference voltage Vref is supplied, and senses a characteristic change, such as a change of a threshold voltage of the display panel 10. One sampling and holding portion 20 is connected to a preset number of reference lines RL to temporarily store the sensing voltages. A plurality of first switches SW1 are disposed between the sampling and holding portion 20 and the reference lines RL to control a supply of the sensing voltages applied from the reference lines RL to the sampling and holding portion 20. The sampling and holding portion 20 includes a second switch SW2, a third switch SW3 and a first capacitor C1, and stores a voltage in the first capacitor C1 according to switching operations of the second switch SW2 and the third switch SW3.
The scaling portion 30 is arranged to correspond to the sampling and holding portion 20 in an one-to-one manner. The scaling portion 30 adjusts the level of the sensing voltages supplied from the sampling and holding portion 20 in a manner of scaling the sensing voltages. The scaling portion 30 includes a fourth switch SW4, a fifth switch SW5 and a second capacitor C2.
The level-adjusted (or scaled) sensing voltages by the scaling portion 30 are applied to an ADC 50 via the amplifier 40. The ADC 50 outputs sensing data SD through an analog-digital conversion of the level-adjusted sensing voltages.
The sensing unit is provided at each of a plurality of data drivers each having a form of a driving integrated circuit (DIC) connected to the display panel 10.
Accordingly, one data driver of the related art OLED display device includes the sensing unit provided with the plurality of sampling and holding portions 20 and the plurality of scaling portions 30, which causes an increase in the size of the data driver.
In addition, in the related art OLED display device, a plurality of sixth switches SW6 are provided between the plurality of scaling portions 30 and the amplifier 40. The plurality of sixth switches SW6 sequentially perform a switching operation such that the scaled voltages are transferred to the ADC 50. In this instance, parasitic capacitance is generated, in response to the switching operation of the plurality of sixth switches SW6, and thereby causes errors in the scaling voltages. More errors are generated when the number of the scaling portion 30 increases, namely, the number of the sixth switch SW6 increases. This results in lowering operation reliability of the sensing unit.

Sensing circuit and organic light emitting diode display device having the same


An automatic strand winding unit having a plurality of stations each comprising a strand supply such as glass roving, guide/traverse means, a horizontally positioned spindle for taking up strand material and automation for servicing the winding unit is described. The winding unit, including the automation, is programmed whereby, inter alia, the automation moves into a station having a full spindle, cuts the strand between the strand supply and the horizontally positioned full spindle and, while retaining the strand end from the strand supply, doffs the full spindle by pivoting the spindle to a substantially vertical or down position, and thereafter engages the strand end with a horizontally positioned empty spindle and restarts the winding operation. In a preferred embodiment the automatic winding unit is for winding glass roving using an improved coreless, expandable spindle having an automatic strand engaging and releasing mechanism.

Conventional winding units for winding strand materials, such as glass roving and the like, have a plurality of stations comprising a roving supply, guide/traverse means, and a spindle for taking up the strand material. Normally such units are maintained by a skilled operator who watches for filled spindles. When a filled spindle occurs, the machine stops. The operator then removes the filled package and then restarts the winding of the supply on an empty spindle. The winding unit can be closed down for periodic removal of the filled packages from each of the stations of the unit, followed by restarting of the winding operation. As a result of the mode of operation, the winding is more labor intensive than desired, and/or the winding units are not efficiently employed.
Automatic winding units have been described in the prior art. One example of an automatic unit utilizes turret-type spindles where the continuous winding switches from one spindle to another while retaining the strand end. The turret-type units are not intended for a discontinuous winding operation. Other automated units have been described wherein during the time when a full package from a spindle is doffed and winding restarted, the strand material is wasted. Moreover, spinning units such as described in Bell and Niederer, U.S. Pat. No. 3,398,521 patented Aug. 27, 1968, which is assigned to the predecessor of the assignee of the present application, are known wherein a yarn end is severed and then a bobbin rethreaded with the retained yarn end. In the described units the donning, doffing, and rethreading operation is relatively complex and not suitable for use in a winding unit.
Accordingly, there is a need for automatic winding units capable of servicing a discontinuous winding operation suitable for, inter alia, taking up glass roving wherein the speed and tension on the strand material must be maintained substantially uniform throughout winding, including during the automatic doffing of roving packages from filled spindles, rethreading, and restarting which provides a uniform product and is relatively simple in operation.


A flush and tap toilet water saver system is provided for use in the modem 1.6 gallon toilets that can utilize a flapper valve, a water supply valve which is controlled by a float ball, and a conventional operating handle. A main flapper valve has a bleeder valve installed thereon. The operating handle is rotated normally to open the main flapper valve and simultaneously open the bleeder valve thereby venting air from the main flapper valve and causing it to lose buoyancy and close sooner thus allowing only an abbreviated flush cycle in the toilet tank. When the operating handle is first pushed and then quickly tapped, the tap doses the bleeder valve and cuts off the venting air which causes the flapper valve to maintain full buoyancy and only close when the valve pusher mechanism rotates a valve pusher to force the flapper valve closed just when 1.6 gallons of water is released.

There have been many inventions designed to save water in the toilet flush systems but Flush and Tap Toilet Water Saver System is designed specifically for the modem 1.6 gallon water saving toilets. Although the modem low flush toilets use less water to flush waste, they still do not recognize the fact that less water is needed to flush liquid waste than to flush solid waste. They use the same amount of water for all flushes. This invention addresses that problem by providing dual flush capability in those toilets. It is comprised of flapper valve with an air bleed valve installed thereon. Said bleeder valve releases air from the flapper valve to decrease its buoyancy and cause it to close prematurely when just enough water is flushed to dear liquid waste. The flapper valve operates in conjunction with a second mechanism which is designed to close the flapper valve just when 1.6 gallons of water is released. This system thus provides a dual flush capability in these modern toilets.
A primary object of this invention is to provide a flush and tap toilet water saver system that will allow the user certain options that were not available in modern 1.6 gallon water saver toilets.
An additional object is to provide a flush and tap toilet water saver system that utilizes a bleeder valve installed onto the flapper valve which responds to the manner in which the operating handle is actuated by opening when the handle is pressed normally and closing when the handle is tapped after having been ressed normally.
Another object is to provide a flush and tap flapper valve that allows the option to the user to select the amount of water that will be flushed into the toilet whereby pressing the flush handle once results in a lesser water flush but pressing the flush handle once and then quickly tapping it results in a full 1.6 gallon flush.
Another object is to provide a flush and tap toilet water saver system that includes a means of closing the flapper valve when 1.6 gallons of water is released. This is needed because after the operating handle is tapped, the flapper valve retains buoyancy and would otherwise only close when the more than 3 gallons of water evacuates the water closet.
Another object is to provide a flush and tap toilet water saver system with which existing modem 1.6 gallon water saving toilets can be retrofitted thereby saving even more water in those toilets.
Another object is to provide a flush and tap toilet water saver system that is easy to manufacture and install and with little cost.
Another object is to provide a flush and tap toilet water saving system that can be can be installed in newly manufactured water saver 1.6 gallon toilets to save an additional 3 gallons of water on every 5 flushes of those toilets.


A conformance gauge is used as an inspection tool to check that component features lie within tolerance limits. When the component has been designed using CAD tools the CAD data file defining external surfaces of the component is used as the basis to create a second CAD data file defining the surfaces of the inspection to conform to the corresponding surfaces of the component. Viewing apertures or slots are then defined in the data file to the tolerance limits of features to be checked. The second CAD data file is then provided to a rapid prototyping system, eg a stereolithography machine to produce the final inspection gauge.

The present invention relates to the design and manufacture of a gauge for checking conformance of surface features of a manufactured component.
A conformance gauge is used as an inspection tool to check that a manufactured component conforms to its nominal design within permitted limits. In particular the invention concerns the manner in which the gauge itself is manufactured in order to minimise manufacturing variations which could compromise the inspection procedure. In a particular embodiment described to illustrate the invention, a conformance gauge is used to check the positions of cooling holes formed in the leading edge of a cast nozzle guide vane for a gas turbine engine.
In a gas turbine engine, an annular array of nozzle guide vanes is located in the exit annulus of the combustion chamber to impart xe2x80x98swirlxe2x80x99 to the hot gas stream entering the first turbine stage. To protect these vanes from the hot gas each has a number of cooling holes formed along or close to its leading edge through which relatively cool air from the engine compressor is supplied to form a protective film over the exterior surfaces (gas-washed surfaces) of the vane. The cool air is fed through a passage in the interior of the vane and vented through holes formed through the walls of the vane. The cool air then forms a protective film of air across the gas-washed surfaces that prevent impingement of the hot gases and consequent damage to the vane.
It is important to minimise the amount of cooling air required as it has a direct impact on the efficiency of the gas turbine engine. To this end, cooling holes are positioned only in critical areas such as the leading edge of the vane. Furthermore, the cooling hole exit apertures may be shaped to maximise the efficiency of the protective film. As a result, the shape and position of each cooling hole, particularly the location and shape of the exit, is critical and it is essential therefore that the cooling hole exit apertures are within prescribed tolerance limits calculated at the design stage.
Determining that these cooling holes are positioned within the prescribed tolerance limits is difficult. At the design stage, each hole is dimensioned from a datum located at the centre of the vane. Once the vane has been manufactured however, this datum is inaccessible and so the holes must be checked relative to at least one other external feature. Typically the gas washed surfaces of the vane are used, because they share the same datum as the cooling holes and, being a high tolerance feature, minimise additional error. Nevertheless all surfaces and edges are toleranced and none, neither surface nor hole, can be relied upon to be exactly at its nominal design position, hence the need to check during inspection.
The current method for checking the hole locations relative to the gas washed surfaces is to use a xe2x80x9csighting gaugexe2x80x9d made of clear material, such as a polycarbonate sheet vacuum formed over a buck; which may be either an example of a cast vane or a purpose built die. Lines are drawn or scribed onto the vacuum formed sheet to indicate the tolerance limits of the cooling hole positions. During inspection, a manufactured vane is inserted into the gauge and the positions of the cooling hole exit apertures in the vane are checked against the scribed limit lines on the gauge. If the cooling holes do not lie within the scribed tolerance limits, the component is rejected.
A good fit between a gauge and manufactured component is important to successful inspection. While the vacuum forming process ensures that the internal contact surface of the gauge is the converse of the surface of the back on which the gauge was formed, manufacturing variations in the buck mean that the contact surface of the gauge almost certainly is not an accurate nominal surface and is inevitably biased toward one or the other of the tolerance limits. As a result, the surfaces of the gauge and vane do not interlock accurately in every pairing and the small variations in the gas-washed surface of the vane and the positions of the formed cooling holes can result in acceptable blades being rejected, or vice versa.
The current gauge is made in three steps, each of which inevitably introduces errors. When the buck is manufactured, errors are introduced, (particularly where the buck is an actual vane, subject to the manufacturing tolerances of a production component). Further errors are introduced when the polycarbonate is vacuum formed about the buck due to shrinkage and distortion. Still further errors are introduced when marking the polycarbonate due to the difficulty of assessing nominal positions of the holes from the design, represented by drawings which can show only a two-dimensional view of the vane.
While each error may be small in isolation, the effect is cumulative. Deviation in the form of the gauge serves to reduce the accuracy of interlock between vane and gauge reducing the accuracy of the gauge. This inaccuracy is compounded by the errors in marking. Further inaccuracies are then introduced when the features are inspected as a result of parallax error. In use, it is important that the inspector views a given feature at the correct angle through the gauge. This gives scope for error or misinterpretation, a problem compounded by optical distortion arising from viewing through the polycarbonate.
Also the use of a cast buck to manufacture the gauge, whether an actual vane or special blank, involves an inevitable time delay at a time when manufacturing processes are making increasing use of simultaneous engineering techniques. The time delay involved when design changes are introduced may be no longer acceptable.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide gauges with improved accuracy, reduced cost and lead times.
According to the present invention a method of design and manufacture of a conformance gauge for checking conformance of at least one selected feature of a manufactured component within tolerance limits of the nominal dimensions of the feature, the component having been designed using CAD tools, through use of which there has been created a first CAD data file containing the co-ordinates of the nominal dimensions of the component design and the said at least one selected feature, the method of designing the conformance gauge comprising creating a second CAD data file containing the co-ordinates of the nominal dimensions of the conformance gauge including an inspection feature corresponding to the at least one selected feature of the component design, wherein the co-ordinates of the inspection feature are derived from or are copied from the co-ordinates of the at least one selected feature contained in the first CAD data file.
The term xe2x80x9cconformal gaugexe2x80x9d is used in this specification to mean a gauge which relies at least in part upon one or more surfaces engaging with corresponding component surfaces to be inspected and upon this fitting of one with the other to ensure that the gauge is correctly aligned with the component to be inspected.
In a modem component design process using computer aided design equipment (CAD) a CAD file for the gauge is created directly from a CAD model of the manufactured component, preferably using the data contained in the original file. This allows the gauge to share the same three-dimensional geometry as the inspected component and ensure a conformal fit between gauge and inspected component. A rapid prototyping apparatus is then used to create a gauge directly from the CAD file.
In effect, the gauge is produced from a nominal example of the component to be inspected, thereby eliminating inaccuracies introduced by the additional step in which a manufactured component is used as a mould onto which the gauge is vacuum formed. As previously mentioned, these inaccuracies arise from both manufacturing tolerances and from the vacuum forming process itself. Another advantage is that the gauge design and manufacture process does not need to be delayed until an example of the inspected component is manufactured, thus facilitating simultaneous engineering of component and gauge. Where the construction of new gauges is necessary, such as damage or expiry of gauges in use, lead time is reduced to less than a day. This reduces considerably the requirement for spare gauges kept in stock. Cost is also substantially less than the original method.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a number of inspection apertures or slots are created in the CAD file of the gauge. Each such aperture or slot is shaped to bound a region in which a feature which conforms to the prescribed tolerance must lie. The gauge is then created using the rapid prototyping process and apparatus.
Because the inspection apertures so created are integral with the manufacture of the gauge, the need to mark the gauge after manufacture and the attendant inaccuracy is avoided. Also tougher materials (such as nylon or metal in the case of laser sintering) may be used as the gauge no longer needs to be transparent or vacuum formed.
As well as improvements in gauge quality, the ease of use is improved because the region within which a feature must lie is bound by gauge material flush with the surface of the component. This eliminates parallax error during inspection and, because the inspection means is now viewing via an aperture in the gauge, no optical distortion comes into play.


A method for selectively etching a silicon nitride layer on a substrate includes arranging a substrate on a substrate support of a substrate processing chamber. The substrate processing chamber includes an upper chamber region, an inductive coil arranged outside of the upper chamber region, a lower chamber region including the substrate support and a gas dispersion device. The gas dispersion device includes a plurality of holes in fluid communication with the upper chamber region and the lower chamber region. The method includes supplying an etch gas mixture to the upper chamber region and striking inductively coupled plasma in the upper chamber region by supplying power to the inductive coil. The etch gas mixture etches silicon nitride, promotes silicon dioxide passivation and promotes polysilicon passivation. The method includes selectively etching the silicon nitride layer on the substrate and extinguishing the inductively coupled plasma after a predetermined period.

The background description provided here is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Substrate processing systems may be used to etch film on a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer. The substrate processing systems typically include a processing chamber, a gas distribution device and a substrate support. During processing, the substrate is arranged on the substrate support. Different gas mixtures may be introduced into the processing chamber and radio frequency (RF) plasma may be used to activate chemical reactions.
Referring now to FIG. 1, when integrating some semiconductor substrates such as vertical NAND devices, silicon nitride needs to be etched with very high selectivity to other exposed materials. Hot phosphoric acid is the main chemistry that is used for etching silicon nitride film in these devices. This etch process has several limitations that need to be addressed including the ability to scale above 36 layers, reducing defects and pitting, and improving control of the etch rate. For example in FIG. 1, a single defect particle 10 may cause loss of a write line string in a memory device 14.

Systems and methods for ultrahigh selective nitride etch


The device (1) comprises a first means (3) for measuring the effective value of the velocity vector of the aircraft, a computing unit (4) which determines a display value automatically and repetitively and which comprises a filtering means (6) which filters the value measured by the first means (3) so as to form a first term, a display unit (7) for presenting on a screen (2) a characteristic sign illustrating the velocity vector whose position on the screen (2) is representative of the display value, and a second means (9) for determining the derivative of a velocity vector controlled by an aircraft pilot. The computing unit (4) further comprises a computing means (10) which determines a second term from the derivative of the controlled velocity vector and a summator (12) which sums the first and second terms so as to form the display value.

The present invention relates to a method and to a device for displaying a velocity vector of an aircraft.
It is known that the display of a velocity vector which is intended to indicate the point in space toward which the aircraft is oriented (without however being representative of the amplitude of the velocity) may, in particular, be produced on a display screen of the aircraft""s instrument panel or of a head-up display visor.
When an aircraft which is fit with such a device passes through a region of turbulence, the position of said velocity vector on the display screen is affected by the turbulence. Similarly, when the aircraft jettisons load, its flight path is temporarily disturbed, which leads to a variation in the position of the velocity vector displayed. However, in this case, at the end of a relatively short time, the aircraft returns to its initial flight path.
When the pilot notices a variation in the position of the velocity vector on the screen, he is tempted to act on a control column, in order to return the aircraft to its initial flight path. Since the disturbances in question (turbulence, jettisoning, etc.) have a limited effect over time on the flight path of the aircraft, the consequence of such a pilot action is a lasting modification of the flight path, that is to say an effect opposite to the desired effect. The pilot must, in this case, carry out a second action on the column, in a direction opposite to the direction of his first action, in order to return the aircraft to its initial flight path. In some situations, especially when passing through a region of turbulence, this second action may lead to too great a correction of the flight path. Other actions on the column are then necessary to succeed in stabilizing the aircraft on the desired flight path.
Of course, such a phenomenon, which can be likened to xe2x80x9cpilot induced oscillationsxe2x80x9d must be prevented, since it may especially lead to accelerated fatigue of the aircraft structure and it monopolizes the attention of the pilot in phases of flight where he may have to undertake other actions.
A known solution making it possible to overcome this problem consists in filtering the display of the velocity vector by means of a low-pass filter having a time constant of between a few tenths of a second and a few seconds. This makes it possible to prevent the aforementioned phenomenon, but the result of this is a new problem: when the pilot desires to modify the flight path by acting on the control column, this low-pass filter introduces a delay between the modification of the flight path resulting from the action on the control column and the variation in the display of the velocity vector on the screen. This lack of ability to react hampers the judgement by the pilot of the effect of his action on the control column, which makes mastering such an action very difficult. This is because, if the pilot acts, for example, for too long on the control column, there is a risk of overshooting the desired flight path, which may lead to xe2x80x9cpilot induced oscillationsxe2x80x9d, as described above.
Moreover, document EP-0 366 164 proposes another solution consisting in displaying either a velocity vector corresponding to the actions of the pilot (controlled velocity vector), or the measured velocity vector. A switching device makes it possible to display one or other of these velocity vectors. Under xe2x80x9cnormalxe2x80x9d flight conditions, corresponding to predefined velocity ranges, angle of incidence, load factor, etc., the controlled velocity vector is displayed. On the other and, when the aircraft operates outside these xe2x80x9cnormalxe2x80x9d flight conditions, the measured velocity vector is displayed. During the switching between these two velocity vectors, filtering is applied to avoid discontinuity of the display.
However, this known solution has drawbacks. In particular, two different information items are displayed with a single symbol, which requires logic for changing over between these two information items, which may lead to possible problems of transition, of choice which is not always optimum between one or other information item, etc.
The object of the present invention is to overcome these drawbacks. It relates to a method for displaying a velocity vector of an aircraft, which makes it possible to generate a display:
which remains stable, even in the case of temporary disturbances in the flight path of said aircraft, due for example to turbulence or to jettisoning of load; and
which is highly reactive, during consecutive variations of flight path, to at least one action of a pilot on a control member or column of the aircraft.
To this end, according to the invention, said method according to which:
a display value representing the value of said velocity vector to be displayed and dependent on a first term which comprises a measured and filtered value of the velocity vector is determined automatically and repetitively; and
a characteristic sign illustrating said velocity vector, the position of which on said display screen is representative of said display value, is presented on a display screen, is noteworthy in that, in order to determine said display value:
the value of the time derivative of a velocity vector which is controlled by the pilot of said aircraft is determined;
a second term is calculated from said value of the derivative of the controlled velocity vector; and
the sum of said first and second terms is calculated so as to form said display value.
Thus, by virtue of the invention, the aforementioned drawbacks can be overcome. This is because:
said first term which takes into account a filtered value of the (effective) measured velocity vector makes it possible to obtain a stable display of the velocity vector, even in the case of temporary disturbances of the flight path; and
said second term which takes into account the derivative of the controlled velocity vector guarantees a suitable and high reactivity of the velocity vector display during variations in the flight path due to pilot actions, especially on a control column.
Furthermore, by virtue of continuously taking account (via a summator) of these two terms, and therefore of the measured velocity vector and of the controlled velocity vector, no transition logic is needed, unlike the solution proposed by the aforementioned document EP-0 366 164.
Advantageously:
said first term xcex31 is calculated from the following expression:
xe2x80x83xcex31=[1/(1+xcfx841xc3x97s)]xc3x97xcex3mes
in which:
s is the Laplace transform;
xcfx841 is a predetermined time constant; and
xcex3mes represents the measured velocity factor; and
said second term xcex32 is calculated from the following expression:
xcex32=[xcfx842/(1 +xcfx843xc3x97s)]xc3x97xcex3der
in which:
s is the Laplace transform;
xcfx842 and xcfx843 are predetermined time constants; and
xcex3der represents the derivative of the velocity vector controlled by the pilot.
According to the invention, the time constants xcfx841, xcfx842 and xcfx843 may be determined as a function of various parameters, in particular as a function of the aircraft mass. These time constants may of course be different from each other. However, in a simplified embodiment, said time constants xcfx841, xcfx842 and xcfx843 are equal.
Moreover, advantageously, in order to determine the component of the display value in a (first) vertical direction, the derivative of the controlled velocity vector is determined by taking account of one of the following controls:
control of the load factor of the aircraft;
control of the inclination of the aircraft; and
control of the derivative of the inclination of the aircraft.
By taking account of the control of the aircraft load factor, preferably, the derivative xcex3der of the controlled velocity vector xcex3com is calculated from the controlled variation of the load factor xcex94Nzpil, by using the following expression:
xcex3der=(g/V)xc3x97xcex94Nzpil
in which:
g is the acceleration due to gravity; and
V is the velocity of the aircraft.
Moreover, advantageously, in order to determine the component of the display value in a second direction which is lateral to the aircraft and orthogonal to said vertical direction, the derivative of the controlled velocity vector is determined from the control of the roll rate (angular velocity over the roll axis) of the aircraft.
The present invention also relates to a device for displaying a velocity vector of an aircraft and implementing the aforementioned method.
According to the invention, said device of the type comprising:
a first means for measuring the effective value of the velocity vector of the aircraft;
a computing unit for determining, automatically and repetitively, a display value representing the value of the velocity vector to be displayed, said computing unit comprising a filtering means which filters the value measured by said first means so as to form a first term; and
a display unit for presenting on a display screen a characteristic sign illustrating said velocity vector whose position on said display screen is representative of said display value,
is remarkable in that it comprises, in addition, a second means for determining the time derivative of a velocity vector controlled by an aircraft pilot, and in that said computing unit further comprises:
a computing means which determines a second term from said derivative of the controlled velocity vector; and
a summator which sums said first and second terms so as to form said display value.
Moreover, the present invention relates to an aircraft, in particular a civil transport aircraft, which is fit with the aforementioned device.

Method and device for displaying a velocity vector of an aircraft


According to various embodiments, a filtering device may be provided. The filtering device may include: an ultraviolet light sensor configured to sense ultraviolet light; an infra-red light sensor configured to sense infra-red light; a visible light sensor configured to sense visible light; a filter selection circuit configured to select a filter based on at least two outputs selected from a list of outputs consisting of: an output of the ultraviolet light sensor; an output of the infra-red light sensor; and an output of the visible light sensor; and a filtering circuit configured to apply the selected filter.

For HMDs (head mounted displays), for example for those that are enabled with fully immersive Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) features, there may be a problem where by excessive/intense natural and artificial light sources from the surrounding environment may cause the content being shown on the screen to have undesired visual artifacts and high latency. For example, a person wearing an AR/VR enabled HMD may not be aware of the external light conditions as they change. When the HMD is exposed to excessive light, this may cause problems viewing the image on the HMD screen for those applications that require to blend the Virtual world with natural interaction e.g. of your own hands or other objects in the surroundings. As such, there may be a need for devices and methods to overcome these problems.


Using various embodiments, methods and systems for cooling a data center using recovered thermal energy are described. In one embodiment, a data center cooling system comprises a first channel conveying a cooling fluid received from an outlet of a ventilation system of the computer data center at a first temperature, a second channel conveying the cooling fluid provided into an inlet of the ventilation system to cool the data center at a second temperature, and a heat transfer subsystem (HTS) configured to operate in an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) or a gas compression cycle (GCC) to change the temperature of the cooling fluid from the first temperature to the second temperature. In another embodiment, the system includes a monitoring subsystem monitoring a temperature, pressure, or flow of a working-fluid of the HTS and a controller subsystem to determine whether to operate the HTS in the ORC or GCC modes.

Computer data centers (data centers), comprise computer servers in a high density setting that expend a significant amount of electricity, resulting in the generation of a significant amount of heat. Data centers, also referred to as server farms, can range in size from that of a small room to a facility with hundreds of thousands of square feet of space for the housing of tens of thousands of computer servers and related infrastructure. The computer servers in a data center run constantly and require certain redundancy of supporting power and cooling infrastructure. Computer servers, and other electronic equipment in a data center, consume a lot of electricity which results in generation of waste heat. Heat, if not removed, can result in overheating and equipment failure, and thus to maintain their operational requirements a ventilation system is employed in which cool air (or other data center cooling fluid) is circulated through the server's electronic equipment, removing the excess heat.
As data centers have become larger in the last few years, electrical efficiency of the data center has become increasingly important. Data centers that have been built with a power requirement of over 30 mega-watts. Computer servers typically consume the bulk of the power load with most of the remaining consumption being related to the cooling equipment needed to remove the waste heat from the data center.
As the need for computing power grows, super data centers have emerged spanning across multiple data centers to provide cloud based computing platforms by providing shared computer processing resources to computers and other devices on demand. Consequently, the need of data centers, for both private and public based cloud computing has continued to increase. However, the data center dissipated heat is generally released to the environment, thus wasting the thermal energy carried within. Therefore, what is needed are systems, devices, methods, and techniques that improve the efficiency of a data center by recovering and utilizing wasted thermal energy dissipated from a data center and/or other sources.

Computer data center cooling and electricity generation using recovered heat


The disclosure relates to methods for assessing the suitability of a tissue obtained from a vertebrate (e.g., human) donor for grafting to a recipient, such as another vertebrate of the same species. The method involves contacting leukocytes obtained from the donor with serum from the recipient. Binding between recipient antibodies and the leukocytes is assessed, specifically focusing on the subtype(s) of IgG antibodies which bind with donor leukocytes. Detected binding between recipient antibodies of subtypes IgG1 and IgG3 indicates that the donor tissue is not suitable for grafting to the recipient. Detected binding between recipient antibodies of subtypes IgG2 and/or IgG4 indicates that the donor tissue can suitably be grafted to the recipient.

The invention relates generally to the field of organ and tissue transplantation, and more specifically to procedures for matching donor tissues and recipients whose bodies will not reject the tissue if transplanted into the recipient.
Transplantation of organs and tissues from the body of a donor into the body of a recipient has become a relatively common procedure. Owing to fundamental functions of the immune system of vertebrates (i.e., to alert the body to "non-self" materials and to assist in elimination of such non-self materials), tissues cannot be simply transplanted from the body of one individual of a given species into the body of any other individual of the same species without the possibility of immune complications. If the transplanted tissue is not compatible with the immune system of the recipient, the recipient's immune system can mount a response against the transplanted tissue whereby the transplanted tissue is destroyed. In order to avoid such transplant rejection, two basic strategies can be employed. First, one or more immune functions of the recipient can be inhibited, so as to lessen or eliminate the immune response mounted against the transplant. Second, the transplant and recipient can be screened and matched, to lessen the likelihood and/or severity of a recipient immune response against the transplant. The subject matter described herein is directed primarily toward this second strategy, although the two strategies are not mutually exclusive—both can be employed in the same transplantation.
It has long been known that cells in vertebrate tissues express antigens on their surface, and that these antigens can vary significantly among individuals of the same species. For example, human cells display proteins designated human leukocyte antigens (HLAs) on their surfaces. For any individual human, the HLAs displayed by that individual's cells are recognized as "self" by the individual's immune system, and the individual's immune system does not (normally) mount an immune response against his or her own cells. However, the HLAs displayed by different individual humans can vary significantly enough that HLAs not normally expressed by an individual's cells, such as HLAs of transplanted tissue, can be recognized as "non-self" by an individual's immune system, leading to initiation of an immune response directed against the transplanted tissue. If the immune response initiated against a transplanted tissue is sufficiently severe to induce death of most or all transplanted cells or destruction of sufficient transplanted extracellular material, the transplanted tissue can fail to exhibit desirable functions or properties that were the reason for the transplant. That is, the goals which led to the transplantation can fail to be achieved if the recipient immune response mounted against the transplanted tissue is sufficiently severe.
One type of immune response that a recipient's body can mount against a transplanted tissue depends on binding of antibodies produced by the recipient's body to antigens (e.g., HLAs) that are displayed on surfaces of the transplanted tissue. Specific binding between antibodies and their corresponding antigens can catalyze a reaction ("complement fixation") that leads to induction of a potent cytotoxic immune response directed against the transplanted tissue. Analyzing the ability of recipient immune system components to detect donor tissue as "non-self" and mount a cytotoxic response and selecting donor-recipient pairs to avoid such reactions is referred to generally as "crossmatching" and is discussed extensively in the literature (see, e.g., Mulley et al., 2011, Nephrology 16:125-133).
One known crossmatching technique involves contacting lymphocytes obtained from the donor of a potential transplant tissue with blood serum obtained from a proposed recipient of the transplant tissue. Serum includes antibodies which circulate in the blood of the recipient. If the recipient's serum includes antibodies which bind specifically with antigens which appear on donor lymphocytes, such binding can be detected. In one common detection technique known as "flow crossmatching," donor lymphocytes are contacted with recipient serum for a period of time, after which non-bound antibodies are removed by separating the lymphocytes and serum and rinsing the lymphocytes with an excess reagent. The lymphoctyes are then contacted with a labeled reagent capable of detecting recipient antibodies (e.g., a fluoresceinated antibody which binds to human antibodies, optionally of a particular type, such as IgM or IgG, or subtype, such as IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, or IgG4) and thereafter rinsing non-bound labeled reagent from the lymphocytes. Binding of recipient antibodies with donor lymphocytes is detected by suspending the lymphocytes in a fluid and passing them through a flow cytometer capable of detecting the label of the labeled reagent. Detection of the label together with a lymphocyte by the flow cytometer (e.g., detection of fluorescence corresponding to fluorescein) indicates that one or more recipient antibodies recognized by the labeled reagent is bound to the lymphocyte. Such bound recipient antibodies are commonly designated "anti-donor antibodies" (ADAbs). If multiple flow crossmatching reactions are performed, each using a labeled reagent having specificity for a different recipient antibody type and/or subtype, a profile of the type(s) and subtypes(s) of ADAbs that are present in an potential recipient's serum can be developed.
It has been observed that ADAb types and subtypes can influence the likelihood that a transplanted tissue will be rejected by a recipient. Mulley et al., for example, recognized that IgG4 does not activate complement and that potential recipients whose ADAb detected using donor leukocytes are solely of the IgG4 subtype may be less likely to activate complement in vivo (i.e., indicating a potentially suitable donor-recipient match). Comparable observations were reported by Cicciarelli et al. (U.S. patent application publication no. 2010/0261203). Gao et al. (2014, Am. J. Transplant. 14(7):1581-1591) recognized that IgG antibodies of subtypes IgG1 and IgG3 which react with apoptotic cells are more likely to lead to late rejection of transplanted kidneys, presumed by those authors to be attributable to the complement-fixing ability of IgG1 and IgG3 subtypes. However, previous workers examined binding between antigen-coated beads and antibodies in recipient serum, which assays can be laborious and not necessarily indicative of interactions between recipient antibodies and donor cells.
Improved crossmatching assays capable of quickly and accurately determining the suitability of a potential tissue transplant for implantation in (or on) an individual recipient would be desirable. This disclosure describes such assays.

IgG subtyping assay for identifying transplantable tissue samples

New Jersey Organ and Tissue Sharing Network, Inc.


The present invention provides a method and an apparatus for establishing maximum transmission power. The present invention comprises: receiving an RRC message including a user equipment-specific maximum transmission power value established by a first base station or a second base station; reestablishing maximum output power based on the user equipment specific maximum transmission power value; and simultaneously transmitting an uplink to the first base station or the second base station within the reestablished maximum output power. The user equipment-specific maximum transmission power value is established for each of the first base station and the second base station, and the sum of the user equipment-specific maximum transmission power value for the first base station and the user equipment-specific maximum transmission power value for the second base station is less than or equal to a maximum output power value for the user equipment.

Field
The present invention relates to wireless communication, and more particularly, to a method and an apparatus for establishing maximum transmission power PEMAX and signaling the maximum transmission power to UE in a situation in which the UE is dually connected to a plurality of base stations.
Discussion of the Background
UE can perform wireless communication through one or more base stations among base stations constituting at least one serving cell. This is referred to as dual connectivity. In this case, one of a plurality of base stations which are physically or logically divided can be referred to as a central base station (alternatively, serving base station) and the other one can be referred to as a small base station (alternatively, non-serving base station).
The base station can use power headroom information of the UE in order to efficiently use resources of the UE. A power control technology is an essential core technology for minimizing interference elements and reducing consumption of a battery of the UE in order to efficiently distribute the resources in wireless communication.
When the UE provides the power headroom information to the base station, the base station can estimate maximum uplink transmission power which can be allocated to the UE. Accordingly, the base station can provide uplink scheduling such as transmission power control, modulation and coding levels, and a bandwidth to the UE within a range not to departing from a limit of the estimated maximum uplink transmission power.
When a scheduler is positioned in individual base stations while the UE simultaneously performs uplink transmission through two base stations, a scheduling situation between the base stations cannot be verified due to a difficulty in exchange of scheduling information between the base stations.
A base station in which the dual connectivity is configured configures the maximum transmission power PEMAX so as to prevent the maximum transmission power PEMAX from being over transmission power of a maximum capability of the UE at the time of configuring the maximum transmission power PEMAX and dedicated signaling is requested to the UE.

Method and apparatus for establishing and signaling maximum transmission power in wireless communication system


An improved radial flow parallel plate plasma etcher, whose more uniform etching rate of wafers is due to radially decreasing the spacing between the electrodes wherein the gap between the electrodes is greatest at the circumference and smallest at center of the electrodes.

Gas plasma vapor etching has been utilized in the past for performing etching operations on semiconductor wafers by exposing the wafers to an active plasma to remove portions of materials carried by the semiconductor structure. The extension of the active plasma etching beyond the patterning of silicon, silicon nitrite and silicon oxide has greatly expanded the horizons of plasma etchings to include, among other things, the etching of aluminum in the production of small geometry integrated circuits. Plasma as compared to chemical etching produces better edge definition, less undercutting, considerably less photoresist adhesion sensitivity, and the elimination of so-called "knee breakdown" due to thinning of the photoresist at sharp edges. This thinning where the aluminum goes over and down the side wall of a cut leads to premature resist failure during wet etching, thus permitting removal of the metal at the near edge.
One of the difficulties experienced in plasma etching has been the failure to achieve uniform etching of the wafer. This can be partially remedied by employing lower etching rates, which cause less effect on the resist, and by using greater spacing between wafers.
It has been further noted that beyond non-uniformity within each wafer, there remains a lack of etching uniformity from wafer to wafer wherein the etching rate decreases as the distance from the center of the circular electrode radially increases. This phenomenon was discussed in applicant's previous U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 928,594, filed July 27, 1978 which disclosed that uniform etching could be accomplished by radially decreasing the spacing between the electrodes wherein the gap between the electrodes is greatest at the center and smallest at the circumference of the electrode.

Plasma etching apparatus II-conical-shaped projection


A magnetron source for producing a magnetic field near a surface of a target in a deposition system include a first magnet, a second magnet separated by a gap from the first magnet along a first direction, and a target holder configured to hold the target in the gap between the first magnet and the second magnet. The target includes a sputtering surface from which target material can be sputtered and deposited on a substrate. The target holder is so configured that the sputtering surface is substantially parallel to the first direction and the first magnet and the second magnet can produce a magnetic field near a surface of the target.

Material deposition on large substrates or multiple substrates held by a large holder is widely used in window glass coating, flat panel display manufacturing, coating of flexible films, hard disk coating, industrial surface coating, semiconductor wafer processing, and other applications. In such a deposition system, the magnetron source, the target, and the substrate can be transported relative to each other. At least one dimension of a target needs to be larger than a dimension of the substrate such that the substrate can be fully covered by the material sputtered off the target.
Different designs exist in the conventional deposition systems for large substrates. But the designs all have different drawbacks. In the first example, as shown in FIGS. 1A-1D, a deposition system 100 includes a long narrow rectangular target 110 over a large substrate 115 in a vacuum chamber 120. A magnetron 130 is held behind the target 110. The substrate 115 can be transported in the direction 150 relative to the target 110 and the magnetron 130 to receive a uniform deposition across the top surface of the substrate 115. The magnetron 130 is stationary relative to the target 110. The deposition system 100 can also includes a power supply 140 that can produce an electric bias between the target and walls of the vacuum chamber 120.
The magnetron 130 includes a magnetic pole 132 of a first polarity and a magnetic pole 135 of an opposite polarity to the first. The magnetron 120 can produce magnetic flux outside of the sputtering surface 112 on the lower side of the target 110 as shown in FIG. 1B. A close loop magnetic field track can be formed outside of the sputtering surface 112 for trapping the electrons and thus enhancing the plasma near the sputtering surface 112. More electrons are trapped near the maximum magnetic field produced by the magnetron 130 parallel to the sputtering surface 112. The locations having the maximum magnetic field strength form a close loop that can guide the migration path for the free electrons. The closed-loop magnetic field enhances the ionization efficiency of the sputtering gas and lowers the operating pressure during sputter deposition. The enhanced sputtering due to magnetic field can produce an erosion pattern over the sputtering surface 112 after repeated sputtering operations, as shown in FIG. 1D.
The drawback of the deposition system 100 is that the magnetron 130 is stationary relative to the target 110 during the depositions, which produces non-uniform erosion on the sputtering surface 112 of the target 110. The non-uniform erosion can result in low target utilization and re-deposition of sputtered target materials on the areas of the sputtering surface 112 having low magnetic field strength. Some of the accumulated materials can fall off the target 110 and land undesirable particle deposition on the substrate 115.
Another conventional deposition system 200 is shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B. The deposition system 200 includes a large target 210, a vacuum chamber 220, and a magnetron 230 on the back side (opposite to the sputtering surface 212) of the large target 210. The magnetron 230 can scan across along the direction 250. The substrate 215 is held over a substrate holder 217. The substrate 215 remains stationary during the deposition for target with dimensions larger than the substrate, and can have a relative movement to the target 210 for smaller target.
Although the scanning of the magnetron 230 relative to target 210 can improve the target utilization and prevent target material re-deposition, the deposition system 200 has the disadvantages of using a large and thus expensive target. In addition, the areas of the target 210 at the ends of the scanning direction can only be reached by a single track of the magnetron 230, while the middle section of the target 210 is scanned by both tracks of the magnetron. This limitation lowers the sputter rate near the edges of the target 210 resulting in non-uniform deposition over the substrate 115.
Yet another conventional deposition system 300 is shown in FIG. 3. The deposition system 300 includes a circular target 310, a stationary magnetron 330, a substrate 315 that can be transported along one direction, and a vacuum chamber 320. The circular target 310 can rotate around the magnetron 330 by a rotational mechanism to expose different areas of the circular target 310 the magnetic fields of the magnetron 310 so that the target materials can be sputtered at the sputtering surface 312. The erosion pattern can be more uniform due the circular movement of the target 310. The high cost of the single-piece circular target 312 is a significant disadvantage in the deposition system 300. Moreover, target material is often is sprayed on the backing plate 313, which reduces the quality of the deposition material. The vacuum seal of the rotational transport mechanism is also an engineering challenge. System reliability can be reduced due to unreliable vacuum sealing at the rotational transport mechanism.
Another disadvantage of the conventional deposition systems is that they are not suitable for thick target, especially the ones comprising magnetic or ferromagnetic materials. The magnetic fields produced by the magnetrons cannot penetrate the thick target. The limitation in the target thickness reduces the amount of materials that can be deposited for each target change-over.
Yet another disadvantage of the conventional deposition systems is that the target width has to be large enough to accommodate at least one magnetic field loop. In practice, the target width is typically more than 3 inches wide. This will increase target cost and increase system size.
Yet another disadvantage of the conventional deposition systems is that the deposition is made only on one side of the substrate. A double-sided conventional deposition system 400 requires two opposing magnetrons 430a and 430b and two associated targets 410a and 410b in a vacuum chamber 420 as shown in FIG. 4. There can be two separate substrates 415a and 415b, or two deposition surfaces of a single substrate.

Magnetron source for deposition on large substrates


Tool rolls and methods of using the tool rolls to manufacture articles with one or more structured surfaces are disclosed. The tool rolls include an outer surface that, when used in connection with materials of the proper viscosity or formability, can form a structured surface on an article. Because the tools are manufactured in roll-form, they can be advantageously used in continuous manufacturing processes. Alternatively, discrete articles may be processed using the tool rolls. The tool rolls are constructed of a cylindrical base roll and are wrapped with one or more continuous wires in a modified undulating helical pattern. The modified helical pattern results in the distance between the first wire and a reference plane transverse to the longitudinal axis of the base roll sequentially increasing and decreasing at least once when moving in one direction about a circumference of the base roll. The wires are used, in essence, to form a structured surface on the tool roll that is the negative of the structured surface to be formed on the articles processed using the tool roll. One or more of the wires wound around the base roll may include a plurality of voids formed therein that, when wound about the base roll, form a plurality of mold cavities on the outer surface of the tool roll. Alternatively, the helical pattern of one or more wound wires may be used to form a continuous helical structured surface, e.g., a helical groove or grooves.

Articles with one or more structured surfaces find a variety of uses. The articles may be provided as films that exhibit, e.g., increased surface area, structures used to provide a mechanical fastener, optical properties, etc. When these films are manufactured for use as mechanical fasteners, the protrusions that are found on the structured surface are commonly referred to as hooks. The hooks may be formed in a curved shape or they may be substantially upright stems that are deformed in a subsequent operation to include, e.g., a head in the shape of mushroom.
Mechanical fasteners are sometimes designed so that two hook strips can be used to fasten two articles together by adhering each strip to one of the articles and then interengaging the two strips. Such a mechanical fastener is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,192,589 (Pearson) which calls the fastener "hermaphroditic" because its headed studs have both male and female characteristics when intermeshed. The Pearson fasteners can be made by molding a base from which integral headless studs project and then heat softening the tips of the studs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,870 (Melbye et al.) discloses one method of manufacturing the hook strip portion of a mechanical fastener by forcing molten material into cavities formed in a moving mold surface. The stems formed by the moving mold surface are then capped to form the desired fasteners. The cavities are formed in the mold surface by drilling. As a result, the cavities are cylindrical in shape and, although some precision can be obtained in depth, diameter and spacing between cavities, it is obtained with some difficulty and increased costs. Furthermore, damage to the mold surface typically requires that the entire mold be discarded.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,792,411 (Morris et al.) discloses a molding tool manufactured by laser machining a mold surface. Molten material is then forced into the cavities in the moving mold surface to form stems. The stems are then capped to form the desired fasteners. Because the cavities are formed by laser ablation, the cavity shape is based on the energy distribution within the laser beam used to form the cavities. Furthermore, precise control over the depth of the cavities is difficult to obtain due to variability in the material used to construct the mold, the power of the laser beam, the energy distribution within the beam, beam focus, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,310 (Fischer) and PCT Publication No. WO 97/46129 (Lacey et al.) disclose tooling used to manufacture hook strips for a hook-and-loop style mechanical fastener. The tools are formed by a hollow drum with a water cooling jacket. A series of mold disks or alternating mold disks and spacer plates are laminated together along the length of the drum to form the desired mold cavities on the face of the roll. Disadvantages of these designs include the cost of manufacturing the mold disks with adequate precision to ensure that the mold cavities are of the same depth, length, spacing, etc. Size limitations imposed on the disks by manufacturing difficulties can, in turn, limit line speed in processes using the tools. Other disadvantages of this design include non-uniform cooling of the mold cavities, non-uniformities in the products produced by the stacked plates, etc.

Tooling with helical coils for structured surface articles