A self-upholding, free-standing adjustable monitor support structure that is adopted for association with, and for support of, a top platform member that includes a transparent portion. The monitor support structure includes a shelf member, a pair of side supports which are each equipped with a pair of legs and a plurality of transversely extending, vertically spaced load bearing members, and adjustable connector means for connecting the shelf member with each side support. Optionally but preferably, the side supports also each include a transverse bar which is configured to support a drawer slide in combination with an associated leg member; thus, the monitor support structure can also support a horizontally slidable keyboard tray. The combination of the monitor support structure and the top platform member provides a useful work station.

A new and very useful type of adjustable underdesk monitor support assembly for a desk structure, computer work station structure or the like is provided in Lechman et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,727 which permits a monitor so supported to be viewable through a transparent portion in the structure working platform. This type of monitor support assembly is well suited not only for use in free standing desks, computer work stations, and the like, but also for use in work stations that are incorporated into a modular environment (see, for example, Lechman et al. U.S. Ser. No. 778,333 filed Oct. 17, 1991).
In a modular environment, wall and even floor surfaces of cubicle defining members are associatable where practical with functional furniture components. A common objective in a modular structure is to provide a maximized usable working area (volumetrically and also surface-area wise).
The modular desk structure provided in the aforementioned U.S. Ser. No. 778,333 requires that the associated monitor support structure by cooperatively engaged with side, back and bottom members that are a part of a desk structure. For reasons of cost efficiency and improved space utilization, it has been found that an improved adjustable monitor support structure is needed which avoids the need for associated desk members along side, back and bottom portions. The present invention provides such a monitor support structure.


A sample rate converter for converting a digital signal having a particular sample rate frequency into a signal having a different, specified sample rate frequency. The converter includes an interpolation function for increasing the sample rate frequency of the input signal by an interpolation factor (L), so as to produce an intermediate signal having an intermediate sample rate frequency. The intermediate signal is then filtered with a predefined single-stage, low-pass filter to eliminate high frequency noise introduced as a result of the interpolation. The filtered intermediate signal is then supplied to a decimation function, which extracts samples from the intermediate signal in accordance with a decimation factor (M), thereby producing an output signal having the desired sample rate frequency. The filter is configured so as to be optimized to provide the best conversion results for a plurality of critical input/output sample rate conversion pairs, which are used to define the filter cutoff frequency. The converter can be equipped with a single predefined filter, which is then used for all conversions, or the converter can be equipped with a plurality of predefined filters, and the most appropriate filter selected based on the desired level of quality for the conversion. Since the filter is predefined and fixed, there is no need to recalculate the filter every time the converter is executed or when a different input/output rate is specified.. In operation, the input signal is interpolated to an intermediate sample rate by inserting L-1 zero value data points between the existing data points. This intermediate signal is then low pass filtered, but the filter skips all of the intervening zero value data points, thereby greatly enhancing the efficiency of the converter. The filtered signal is then decimated, by removing every M-1 out of every M data samples.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the conversion of sample rate frequencies of digital signals. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for converting a digital signal having a particular sample rate frequency into a signal having a different, specified sample rate frequency.
2. The Prior State of the Art
As the proliferation of computers and computer technologies continues to expand, the use of computers in traditionally non-computer applications grows. This growth is fueled by the increased power and sophistication of computers, computer applications, and computer peripheral devices. One example of an application area in which computer use is increasingly prevalent are applications that involve the storage and manipulation of analog data signals--such as voice, video, handwriting, etc. For instance, with the introduction of sophisticated digital storage media (such as CD-ROM and DAT) and computer players, digital cameras and multimedia capable microprocessor technologies (such as Intel's .RTM. MMX Pentium.RTM. processors), the use of computers in digital audio and video creation, reproduction and manipulation is becoming increasingly common.
Before a digital computer can store, manipulate or otherwise operate on an analog waveform derived, for instance, from an audio or video signal, the signal must first be transformed into a representative digital form. This transformation is typically referred to as a analog-to-digital conversion, where an analog waveform signal, such as would be present for example with an audio stream, is continuously "sampled" at points along the waveform at predetermined time intervals. Each of these sample points has a corresponding digital data value that corresponds to the magnitude of the analog waveform at that particular point in time. Once in a digital form, the signal can then be manipulated digitally in either computer hardware or software. For instance, the digital signal can be stored on various digital storage media, and then played back or mixed/combined with other digital signals.
The interval at which digital samples are taken when performing the analog-to-digital conversion is typically referred to as the sample rate or the sample frequency. Depending on the particular application, analog signals will be sampled using different sampling rates. Generally, a higher sampling rate corresponds to a higher quality analog to digital conversion. For instance, the sampling frequency used to store high quality digital audio on a standard compact disk (CD-ROM) is 44.1 kHz, whereas the frequency used for storage on a digital audio tape (DAT) is 48.0 kHz.
Often, there is a need to convert a signal sampled at a particular sample frequency into a new signal having the same content, but that has a different sample frequency. For instance, before an audio signal stored on a compact disk (44.1 kHz sampling frequency) can be digitally mixed with an audio signal stored on DAT (48.0 kHz sampling frequency), one of the two signals must first be converted so as to have the same sampling rate as the other, i.e., the sampling rate of one must be increased/decreased to match the rate of the other. Moreover, the conversion must be accomplished so that the quality of the underlying audio signal is preserved, which is difficult because whenever an audio signal's sampling rate is changed, high-frequency noise is introduced. This conversion process is accomplished with what is commonly referred to as a sample rate converter.
Typically, a sample rate converter is presented with an input digital signal having a particular sample rate frequency that needs to be converted to a second sample rate frequency. The input signal is then oversampled (interpolated) by a predetermined interpolation factor so that it has a higher, intermediate sample rate. Since the oversampling/interpolation process typically introduces high frequency noise into the signal, the oversampled signal is then filtered with a low pass filter. The filtered signal is then supplied to a decimator, which removes a number of digital data point samples from the signal based upon a predetermined decimation factor (i.e., the sample rate frequency is decreased). The resulting output signal has the desired sample rate frequency.
Sample rate converters of this sort have been implemented in both hardware and software. However, past approaches typically suffer from a variety of drawbacks--especially when dealing with high quality digital audio or video signals. For instance, if implemented solely with analog electronics, undesirable artifacts are often added into the audio stream, resulting in decreased signal-to-noise ratio. Further, to maintain a high quality output signal, either a very large filter is required, which is difficult to implement in hardware due to memory and/or processing power constraints, or a staged filter approach is used, where a number of filters are combined in multiple interpolation/decimation stages. This approach is also computationally inefficient and expensive, and does not allow a continuous range of input rates to be converted. This is because each different rate conversion requires a filter having a different cutoff frequency. Thus, there must be a different filter for each different conversion ratio that is to be performed, limiting the usefulness and versatility of the converter, especially where different conversions are needed.
Converters implemented in software have also not been entirely satisfactory. Again, the inability of software converters to provide high quality conversions in a digital audio environment often is due to the tradeoffs that must be made to implement a suitable low pass filter. For instance, some existing software sample rate converters either do not suppress the high-frequency noise introduced as a result of the change to the sampling rate, or they inadvertently filter high frequency components of the signal along with the undesirable high frequency noise components. Either type results in an output signal having a degraded quality. Software approaches that attempt to provide a suitable signal quality are computationally inefficient and expensive, and typically cannot handle a continuous range of input rates. Their computational efficiency is so poor that software based converters typically cannot convert signals in real time, and do not support dynamic sample rates on the inputs and outputs.
Given the drawbacks with currently available converters, what is needed is a converter that is capable of producing high quality conversions for digital audio, video or similar signal streams. Moreover, the converter should be capable of being implemented in software, and should be computationally efficient so as to be capable of being used in connection with currently available desktop, general purpose computer systems, without requiring specialized and/or dedicated signal processing hardware. Also, the converter should be capable of handling a continuous range of input and output sample rates.


A connector module and an electronic device using the same are provided. The connector module is disposed on a main body of an electronic device, and comprises a connector and a door structure. The connector has a slot used for accommodating the electronic card. The door structure comprises a door, a push rod and a connection rod. The door is used for covering the slot. The push rod is connected to the door and used for pressing the electronic card. The connection rod is disposed on the door and movably connected to the connector. When the door structure covers the slot, the push rod enters the slot and staggers with the electronic card.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a connector module and an electronic device using the same, and more particularly to a connector module used for pressing an electronic card and an electronic device using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
To augment the function, portable electronic devices are normally equipped with a connector for accommodating an electronic card, such as a memory card. However, along with the development of portable electronic devices, the casing of portable electronic devices is getting thinner and thinner, and the overall thickness of most portable electronic products is smaller than the width of a finger, making the loading and unloading of electronic card become more difficult.

Connector module and electronic device using the same


The quality of an image is improved even if the duration of data voltage is short for application. A gate line driver 34 sequentially applies the gate voltage to a number of gate lines G1-Gm by predetermined duration. Data lines are grouped into four groups each consisting of n lines (d1A-dnA: group A, d1B-dnB: group B, d1C-dnC: group C, and d1D-dnD: group D). A data line driver 40 and a multiplexer 38 sequentially perform for the data line groups A-D in the above predetermined duration application of data voltage to each data line in a predetermined data line group. A precharge controller 44 and a voltage switching circuit 46 apply to each of the data line groups A-D, through a transistor 42, a precharge voltage (+V.sub.1 or -V.sub.1) with the same polarity with that of data voltage being applied next time during the time from previous application of the data voltage to next application of it.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device and method for driving a liquid crystal display, and, more particularly, to a method for driving a liquid crystal display having display cells each of which consists of a switching element connected to a data line and a gate line, a pair of electrodes oppositely disposed with a predetermined spacing, and a liquid crystal disposed between the pair of electrodes, and a driver for a liquid crystal display to which the driving method can be applied.
2. Related Art
A liquid crystal display (LCD) is conventionally known as a display for displaying characters or images such as graphics on an information processing device such as a personal computer. An active matrix driven LCD which is composed by arranging switching elements such as thin film transistors (TFT) in a matrix is particularly promising as a display replacing a CRT because it can surely control intensity of pixels and is also suitable for display of dynamic images with fast movement and color images. In a TFT LCD, a number of display cells are arranged in a matrix. Each display cell comprises a pair of TFT and an electrode provided on one of a pair of opposed substrates, a transparent common electrode formed over the entire surface of another substrate (transparent substrate), and liquid crystal sealed between the pair of substrates. The former substrate is provided with a number of gate lines for turning on the TFTs by row, and a number of data lines for applying voltage on the liquid crystal through the TFTs turned on.
A driving device for TFT LCD applies a voltage to the gate lines for a predetermined duration as shown in FIG. 10(A) to sequentially turn on the TFT of each display cell, and applies on each data line a voltage with intensity corresponding to a gradation value to be displayed on a display cell for which the TFT is turned on (data voltage) (see FIG. 10(B)). When the TFT is turned on and a data voltage is applied to the data line, the liquid crystal of each display cell varies its light transmittance according to the intensity of the voltage, and accumulates charges between the pair of electrodes. After the TFT is turned off, the accumulated charges maintain the state where the light transmittance is varied (see FIG. 10(C)). This causes an image to be displayed on the LCD. In addition, the life of liquid crystal is shortened if voltage with the same polarity continues to be applied. The life of liquid crystal is extended by driving the liquid crystal in a manner so as to periodically reverse the polarity of data voltage. For example, every one line or one frame the data voltage applied to each display cell is reversed utilizing the fact that the light is transmittance of liquid crystals becomes equal even if the polarity differs as long as the absolute value of the applied voltage is the same.
As a driver (a part of the driving device) for driving the data line of LCD, it is common to use a driver which has driving circuits for applying data voltage to the data lines in the same number as the data lines. However, when a very large number of data lines (for example, 1,000 lines) are provided to attain an LCD with a large surface area and high definition, which is an important challenge in the development of LCD, there arises a problem that the driver becomes very expensive because a very large number of driving circuits are necessary (for example, four driver ICs having 250 output terminals (250 driving circuits) are necessary to be provided to drive 1,000 data lines). In addition, when the pitch of LCD display cells is reduced to attain high definition of the LCD, the pitch of data lines is reduced as well. For example, if it is reduced to about 15 microns, it physically becomes very difficult to mount the driver ICs.
As a technique to overcome the above problems, it has been proposed to perform so-called multiplex driving wherein a driver having driving circuits of 1/n (n being an integer) in the number of data lines is provided, and a multiplexer is provided for selectively connecting the driver to any one of n sets of data line groups so that the driver and multiplexer sequentially drives n sets of data line groups. In such multiplex driving, because the number of driving circuits can be less than that of data lines, it is possible to keep the cost of the driver low, and mounting of the driver ICs can be relatively easy even if the pitch of data lines is small. However, in such multiplex driving, if the display cycle for an image (cycles of vertical and horizontal synchronizing signals) is constant, the time interval when the data voltage is applied to each of data line group is shortened as the ratio n of the number of data lines to the number of driving circuits (called the "multiplex ratio n") becomes larger. For example, as shown in FIG. 10(D), when the data lines are divided into four data line groups of A-D, and the data voltage is sequentially applied to display cells connected to each data line group, the duration to apply the data voltage to each display cell becomes 1/4 of the case where multiplex driving is not performed. This makes, as shown in FIG. 10(E), insufficient the duration to apply the data voltage (insufficient duration of application being represented by t.sub.1), and the voltage between the electrodes fails to reach the predetermined value corresponding to the applied data voltage (insufficient voltage between the electrodes being represented by V.sub.1) so that gradation provided by the light transmittance of liquid crystal of each display cell does not match the gradation to be displayed on each display cell, and thus the quality of the displayed image is deteriorated.
Therefore, in the conventional multiplex driving, it is common to provide a multiplex ratio of about 2 (the number of driving circuits being 1/2 of the number of data lines). This is because it is difficult to increase the multiplex ratio n in view of the reason described above.
The present invention is made in view of the above facts, and is intended to obtain a device and method for driving a liquid crystal display which can display an image at high quality even if the time to apply the data voltage is short.

Data line precharging apparatus and method for a liquid crystal display

International Business Machines Corporation


A transistor with uniform density of poly silicon includes a gate terminal, a drain terminal, and a source terminal. The gate terminal is constructed by a plurality of separated poly silicon, such that the density of the poly silicon is uniform.

Field of the Invention
The disclosure relates generally to transistors, and more particularly it relates to layout methods of the transistors.
Description of the Related Art
In designing integrated circuits, the functions of the transistors are extremely important. If it is possible to improve the performance of the transistors, the overall performance of the integrated circuits could be significantly improved.

Transistors with uniform density of poly silicon


A process of preparing a microbe digested liquid plant nutrient containing metabolites, amino acids and polypeptides, comprising the steps of partial composting of animal effluent solids; adding the partially composted animal effluent to a vessel containing water and held in suspension; the aqueous dispersion is thoroughly aerated for up to 4 days. Solids and liquids are subsequently removed from the metabolic reactor, separated and used as plant nutrients.

Manure effluent from farm animals and humans is a significant cause of environmental pollution in regard to the leaching of nutrients into water ways and ground water. Particularly hazardous to the environment are nitrates and phosphates which kill fish and cause algal blooms as well as rendering the water too toxic for human and animal consumption. Disposal of these manures also causes release of offensive odours, promotes fly breeding, and releases toxic levels of pathogenic bacteria into soil and water.
A major health concern for animals and humans is the release of viable antibiotics into soils and waterways by the disposal of effluent from humans and animals which have ingested antibiotics. The use of antibiotics is widespread and common in intensive livestock operations. The resident bacteria (including micro-organisms) diverse populations in the soil and water that are exposed to antibiotics rapidly develop antibiotic resistant strains. These resident naturally occurring bacteria can also harvest Deoxyribonucleic acids (DNA) from dead bacteria which have been exposed to antibiotics and construct antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria. These antibiotic resistant bacteria then extend throughout the environment and food chain, replicating and increasing in population density and displacing the less harmful antibiotic sensitive species. If there is continued exposure of soil and water borne bacteria and micro-organisms to antibiotics or the DNA of dead bacteria or dead micro-organisms, the percentage of bacteria or micro-organisms with antibiotic resistant characteristics will reach a threshold where there is a population explosion. If this happens then antibiotics will be useless as a tool to prevent disease and infections in humans and animals which could lead to a world wide pandemic. There is already strains of antibiotic resistant staphylococci bacteria (commonly known as Golden Staph) resident in hospitals where it is proving difficult to remove.
The present invention seeks to overcome at least some of the above mentioned disadvantages.

Process, apparatus and system for treatment of animal effluent


A step bead comprising: A) an elongated base having opposed front and back top and bottom longitudinal edges; B) a first rear vertical flange extending upwardly from the top rear longitudinal edge; C) a second rear vertical flange extending downwardly from the bottom rear longitudinal edge; D) a first front vertical flange extending upward from the top front longitudinal edge, generally parallel to the first rear vertical flange and having a first end proximate the top front longitudinal edge and a distal end; E) a longitudinal horizontal flange having a first end proximate the distal end and a second end remote from the distal end and extending from the distal end generally parallel to the base and away from the first rear vertical flange; F) a second vertical flange extending upwardly and downwardly from the second end and having a first top vertical flange end; and G) a third horizontal flange extending inwardly from the top vertical flange end toward the first vertical rear flange but not to the distal end.

In the installation of stucco finishes and the like to the exterior walls of structures some mechanism is required to support the applied stucco and retain in upon the wall to which it is applied. The devices intended for this purpose are referred to in the art as banding beads.
In recent years, the desire to have "stuccoed" exteriors that more closely resemble siding or clapboard building exterior finishes has led to the development of stucco treatments that do in fact resemble such structural finishes. This development has, in turn, led to the need for banding bead of a somewhat different design to achieve the "layered" look of such exterior finishes. Such modified banding beads are referred to in the art as step bead and a cross-section of one such device is depicted in attached FIG. 1 which is described below. Step bead allows for the application of stucco in a manner that the thickness of the stucco at the top of any single horizontal tier of applied stucco is thinner than that at the bottom or base of such tier thus providing the siding or clapboard look that is common in structures having wood or similar materials applied thereto in a clapboard or horizontal siding arrangement. While step bead of the type shown in FIG. 1 and described in greater detail below has proven satisfactory in the previously described stucco installations, it has also demonstrated a number of shortcomings. Among these are: 1) a lack of secure attachment points for attaching the step bead to the exterior of a structure covered with, for example, plywood or other sheathing; and 2) the presence of a mechanism that inhibits the infiltration of water/moisture between descending layers of step bead having over-applied layers of stucco adhered thereto.
Thus, there remains a need for an enhanced step bead that overcomes these shortcomings of currently commercially available step bead products.


TTCM (Turbo Trellis Coded Modulation) decoder design. The design also adapts to any number of devices that perform decoding of Trellis Code Modulation (TCM) signals. After performing initial symbol processing within a data block to generate a number of check point values, the design selectively re-calculates some forward metrics (alphas) and backward metrics (betas), and the design is able to calculate extrinsic (ext) information for each symbol within the data block successively. The data block is subdivided into a number of sub-blocks that are intelligently processed to enable extremely fast processing. Generally speaking, the design performs initial processing starting from both block ends, and upon approaching the block middle, the design begins to process the block using skip backs to previous sub-blocks. The design employs a great deal of parallel and simultaneously processing to provide for very fast computation of the various values required to decode the block.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to communication systems; and, more particularly, it relates to decoding of encoded signals within such communication systems.
2. Description of Related Art
Data communication systems have been under continual development for many years. One such type of communication system that has been of significant interest lately is a communication system that employs turbo codes. Another type of communication system that has also received interest is a communication system that employs Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) code. A primary directive in these areas of development has been to try continually to lower the error floor within a communication system. The ideal goal has been to try to reach Shannon's limit in a communication channel. Shannon's limit may be viewed as being the data rate to be used in a communication channel, having a particular Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), that achieves error free transmission through the communication channel. In other words, the Shannon limit is the theoretical bound for channel capacity for a given modulation and code rate.
LDPC code has been shown to provide for excellent decoding performance that can approach the Shannon limit in some cases. For example, some LDPC decoders have been shown to come within 0.3 dB from the theoretical Shannon limit. While this example was achieved using an irregular LDPC code of a length of one million, it nevertheless demonstrates the very promising application of LDPC codes within communication systems.
In performing calculations when decoding a received signal, it is common for decoders to perform determination of a largest (using a max calculation or a max operation) and/or a smallest (using a min calculation or a min operation) to determine a largest or smallest value from among a number of values. This processing is oftentimes common in performing calculations of state metrics within soft-in soft-out functional block (SISO) decoders. For example, several state metrics are calculated, and the smallest and/or largest state metric is determined to be the proper state metric. Depending upon the decision criteria, the largest and/or smallest state metric may be determined to be the "proper" state metric.
In performing calculations when decoding a received signal, it is also common for decoders to operate in the natural log (ln) domain when performing various calculations. Many turbo code decoders fall into this category, and many LDPC decoders also fall in to this category as well. By operating within the natural log (ln) domain, this converts all multiplications to additions, divisions to subtractions, and eliminates exponentials entirely, without affecting Bit Error Rate (BER) performance. While this approach represents one such way in which some of the difficult processing steps required to decode signals received within such communication systems, they are focused on addressing just one aspect of the decoding difficulties.
Another processing challenge in the decoding of such signals received within communication systems is the management of the very data itself. The memory management required to perform proper decoding of such signals can also be very burdensome. Oftentimes, in prior art systems, it is the management of the data within the decoding of received data that presents one of the largest bottlenecks in the system.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating one prior art approach to received block processing. Initially, forward metrics (alphas) are sequentially calculated for each symbol within the received block in one direction. Then, backward metrics (alphas) are sequentially calculated for each symbol within the received block in the opposite direction. After the alphas and betas have been determined for each symbol within the block, then extrinsic (ext) information may be calculated there from to proceed in the final decoding of the received symbols within the block. There are a number of apparent disadvantages to this prior art approach to received block processing. Some of the disadvantages include that it requires a lot of real estate to support the extensive memory that must be provisioned to enable such an approach. Within many communication systems, including those employing TCM, there are a number of intermediate calculations that must be performed (e.g., the alpha and beta calculations that precede the ext calculations) and these intermediate values must be stored for subsequent use in the prior art approach.
Another disadvantage, inherently coupled to the disadvantage of requiring a large amount of memory, is that there is a large amount of read/write (r/w) operations that must be performed to support this processing. The memory management performed herein is typically quite overburdened. In addition, the computation can be very slow, in that, a large number of intermediate calculations must be performed to support the decoding of data within this prior art approach. It is also noted that as the block size continues to increase, this prior art simply becomes more and more difficult to implement. It is clear that as the block size increases, the memory required, the r/with operations, and the memory required will be scaled accordingly.
There exists a need in the art to provide for a much more efficient approach to processing a received block of data that would address any of the deficiencies described above within the prior art approach of sequential processing to generate the necessary intermediate and final calculations required to decoded the received block. In addition, it would be desirable that such a design be scalable and able to accommodate larger and/or smaller blocks as implemented within various types of corn systems.


A novel positive traction permeate tube and fittings therefor are described for use in spirally wound membrane filtration elements for filtration and separation applications. Membrane filtration elements incorporate the novel permeate tube. Methods of making the novel positive traction permeate tube are also disclosed, as are the preferred sanitary stainless steel materials used for the sanitary tube and fittings. The novel permeate tube involves a sanitary tubing having two open ends, each with an end fitting. The end fittings engage a positive traction drive for high tension spiral winding of a membrane element spirally around the novel permeate tube. Membrane filtration elements made with the novel permeate tube are less subject to slippage and breakage during manufacture and can withstand higher pressure drops and flow rates during use without failure of the spirally wound membrane element. The positive traction permeate tube facilitates membrane replacements.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to a novel positive traction permeate tube and a method of making the novel positive traction permeate tube for utilization with spiral wound membrane elements used in pressurized membrane filtration, including microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis. The invention pertains especially to novel compositions, structures and configurations for the positive traction permeate tube in a membrane filtration element and to devices and procedures for spirally winding a membrane element about a substrate permeate tube of stainless steel, or other suitable materials, cut to precise final length prior to winding and using positive traction during winding thus providing enhanced reliability of the finished spiral-wound membrane element. The novel positive traction permeate tube prevents system failure and destruction of the spiral wound membrane filtration element through breakage, channeling and unwinding thereof at higher fluid pressure drops and higher liquid feed flow rates associated with high viscosity retentates in membrane filtration processes.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
In a spiral wound membrane filtration element, a permeate tube is arranged at the center of the spirally wound membrane element. The permeate passes through the membrane on each side of the wound membrane leaves, then along the permeate carrier inside the membrane leaves and then through perforations in the permeate tube into the interior of the center of the permeate tube. It is through the center of this permeate tube that the permeate fraction can leave the membrane element. Thus the central tube in a spirally wound membrane filtration element is called a "permeate tube." The permeate leaves the element via the permeate tube and the retentate can be passed on to another membrane filtration element to increase further the concentration of high molecular weight compounds in the retentate by extracting more permeate from the feed stream through a subsequent membrane element.
Further, for critical applications such as pharmaceutical and dairy operations, the permeate tube must be free from bacteria traps. Spiral wound membrane elements, such as those used in the dairy field for the separation of whey, are subject to a cleaning operation after periods of use, generally by the use of chemical cleaning solutions, such as caustics, detergents, chlorine, or combinations thereof, and are thereafter rinsed with clean water.
There are many different configurations for membrane filtration elements but the vast majority of membrane filtration systems have spirally wound membrane elements. Other configurations of membrane elements are tubular membranes, hollow fiber membranes and flat sheet membranes. Membrane filtration elements comprising spiral wound membranes and their construction are well known and are illustrated, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,367,505, 4,033,878, and 4,792,401. A spiral wound membrane element generally comprises one or more laminate leaf assemblies of semipermeable membrane sheet and optionally other materials. These leaf assemblies are each arranged so that the feed liquid is carried over the membrane surface while permeate is carried through to a central permeate collection tube. The step of spirally winding the membrane onto a central tube is well known and demonstrated, for example, by Bray, U.S. Pat. No. 4,021,351.
Spiral wound membrane elements are a widely used membrane configuration in present day sanitary membrane filtration applications. Such membrane elements are installed inside elongated pressure vessels which may contain one or a series of up to six membrane elements or more. A high pressure feed stream enters the vessel through its inlet port at one end of the vessel and exits through its outlet port at the opposite end. The linear speed and high pressure drop is substantial, thereby posing a threat to the integrity of the membranes.
In the pharmaceutical, food & beverage, and biotech industries, contamination-free processing is critical. The integrity of the sanitary manufacturing equipment is essential for full compliance with the validation process. The potential for contamination increases with the introduction of peripheral components, such as filtration and temperature and pressure measuring instrumentation required to ensure process parameters remain within acceptable limits. As a result, these inline devices must themselves meet standards set by governing agencies to ensure there are no weak links in the sanitary chain.
The two most common of these standards include: (1) the "3A" standard promulgated by 3A Sanitary Standards, Inc. (3A SSI), a non-profit association representing equipment manufacturers, processors, regulatory sanitarians and other public health professionals. 3A Sanitary Standards and 3A Accepted Practices pertain to dairy and food processing equipment, and focus on sanitary design, materials, and surface finish; and (2) the "FDA-Approved" standard promulgated by the United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA), a federal agency that regulates all food processing and drug manufacturing in the U.S. It sets and enforces standards and government codes.
Most spiral-wound membrane elements now manufactured are rolled over a permeate tube made of plastic material, commonly polysulfone. In the prior art, a conventional torque force is applied in winding a spiral wound membrane element around a polysulfone tube. Plastic permeate tubes used in conventional manufacturing processes are longer than the tubes found in finished membrane elements as the original length of tube is cut to size after applying the spiral wound membrane to the substrate tube. A conventional spiral wound tube membrane filtration element is shown in FIG. 1. The wound element10involves a plastic permeate tube 11 having at least one notch 15 on one end for engaging a drive system, not shown, to wind the permeate tube 11 around which a membrane element 12 is wound under a conventional tension. The prior art permeate tubes are subject to mechanical slippage and breakage while winding the membrane element. Unlike the prior art, the permeate tubes of the present invention do not slip or break because they provide positive traction through an interlocking means, as will be discussed in greater detail in the Summary of the Invention.
The driving force required to roll the elements in a prior art permeate tube is applied to the ends of the permeate tube 11 by inserting a rolling machine chuck into the notch 15 cut at the end of the tube 11 as shown in FIG. 1. The notches 15 are eliminated with the excess length of the membrane element 12 and the plastic permeate tube 11 when the assembly is cut to its final length as shown in FIG. 2.
The entire assembly is cut at the ends, typically using a saw or other cutting means, to allow for placement in a membrane filtration vessel and so that the ends of the cut plastic permeate tube 11 may engage other elements in a filtration vessel, by means of interconnectors or ATDs (Anti Telescoping Devices). Unlike the prior art, the invention does not cut the tube to length after wrapping but instead utilizes a tube of the desired precise length and positively wraps the membrane leaves to the final tube as will be discussed in greater detail in the Summary of the Invention.
For example, Bray, U.S. Pat. No. 4,021,351, teaches a membrane cartridge that is spirally wound around an injection-molded plastic permeate collection tube having transverse slits or tongue extensions at the end. The permeate tube can be made up of a plurality of interlocking plastic pieces mated with each other through the transverse slits or tongue extensions at the end of each tube segment. The membrane materials are then spirally wound upon the interlocking pieces of plastic permeate tube to form a membrane element.
In membrane filtration processes involving high viscosity retentate, the required higher fluid pressure drop and higher flow rates involved can cause channels to form between membrane layers while a filtration element is in use. This can occur at any time, and sometimes after only a few seconds of use under high pressure drop and high flow rate. "Channeling" is especially prevalent in spiral wound membrane elements for ultrafiltration of high viscosity retentate in partially filtered dairy liquids when the membrane element is wound about the permeate tube under conventional winding tensions, thus causing failure in the spirally wound membrane element while in use.
To avoid this failure, higher winding tensions are required in winding the membrane element to the permeate tube. However, when a membrane filtration application requires that the membrane element be rolled under higher than conventional winding tension, the prior art plastic permeate tubes tend to break, especially at the notches, thus causing unacceptable waste in the manufacturing process.
Changing only the composition of the permeate tube to stainless steel, instead of polysulfone, avoids the problem of breaking the tubes but introduces a new problem: cutting off the ends of the membrane element, including the stainless steel permeate tube, produces elements with too big variation of finished length as well as irregular end-faces of the tube. Cutting the stainless steel permeate tubes, of prior art design, before winding the elements leaves the tube without the slots at its ends and without positive traction. The driving force required for winding is reduced to whatever friction is available between the interior of the prior art stainless steel permeate tube and expanding chucks inserted at the ends of the tube and attached to the drive system of the rolling machine. This configuration results in slippage when the element is rolled under higher than conventional winding tension.
In conventional prior art tubes, failure due to slippage or breakage occurs at greater frequency as the winding tension is increased. Further, in the prior art little or no attention has been given to measuring torque or slippage in wrapping the membrane element and nothing known has been done to provide an accurate means of controlling and measuring torque or the tightness of the spiral wrap.
A positive traction substrate permeate tube of precise length and end-faces is needed that can withstand high torque and function under precise mechanical control that permits high tension winding in the production of a spiral wound membrane element without the substrate permeate tube slipping or breaking, and can withstand the pressure forces exerted on the tube while winding the membrane element and the high pressure drop and endure the high fluid flow conditions while in use in a filtration element.


A shaft coupling includes plates fitted on ends of input and output shafts, respectively. A plurality of guide grooves are formed in the opposed surfaces of the plates, respectively, so that each of the grooves extends perpendicular to the corresponding groove formed in the other plate. A steel ball is disposed between each pair of guide grooves of the plates at a portion where the pair of grooves cross each other. When the steel balls are pushed by the driving plate, they push the driven plate while rolling in the guide grooves, with their movements restricted by a retainer in the radial direction of the plates. Thus, large power can be smoothly transmitted between the rotary members with less frictional resistance. The offset amount can be changed easily. Between the plates, there are only the steel balls and the retainer.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a shaft coupling through which two shafts are coupled together so that power is transmitted therebetween.
2. Background Art
Shaft couplings are widely different in structure from each other depending on the positional relationship between driving and driven shafts which are coupled together through each shaft coupling so that power is transmitted from the driving shaft to the driven shaft. Typically, such two shafts are positioned so as to be aligned with each other, cross each other, or be parallel to (and not aligned with) each other.
Among shaft couplings through which two parallel shafts are coupled together, Oldham couplings are well-known. Oldham couplings have, however, a problem in that if large power is transmitted between the two shafts, friction surfaces of sliders disposed between the two shafts cannot always be lubricated sufficiently, thus impairing smooth transmission of power. Also, this arrangement does not permit a large offset (diametrical distance between the axes) of the two shafts.
It is also known to couple two parallel shafts together through two constant-velocity joint instead of an Oldham coupling. But in this arrangement, since the working angles of the constant-velocity joints are restricted, in order to increase the offset of the shafts, the axial lengths of the joints have to be increased. This increases the size of the entire apparatus.
JP Patent Publication 2003-260902A discloses a mechanism through which power can be transmitted between two shafts. This mechanism comprises two axially opposed rotary members (disks) and a plate disposed between the rotary members. A plurality of direct-acting guides are provided on each of the front and back sides of the plate so as to extend perpendicular to the corresponding direct-acting guides on the other of the front and back sides of the plate so that power can be transmitted between the rotary members through the plate and the direct-acting guides. This mechanism is short in axial length and thus the entire apparatus is small in size. By arranging steel balls between opposed surfaces in the direct-acting guides that move relative to each other, large power can be smoothly transmitted.
But in this type of shaft coupling, a large number of direct-acting guides are necessary, so that the manufacturing cost of the entire coupling tends to be high. Each direct-acting guide comprises a guide member and a rail member that are movable relative to each other. It is necessary to couple one of the guide member and the rail member to the corresponding rotary member and the other to the plate with high positional accuracy. It is therefore troublesome and time-consuming to mount the direct-acting guides with high accuracy such that their guide member and rail member are smoothly movable relative to each other.


A method comprising the following steps: providing a support substrate and a donor substrate, forming an embrittlement region in the donor substrate so as to delimit a first portion and a second portion on either side of the embrittlement region, assembling the donor substrate on the support substrate, fracturing the donor substrate along the embrittlement region. In addition, the method comprises a step consisting of forming a compressive stress layer in the donor substrate so as to delimit a so-called confinement region interposed between the compressive stress layer and the embrittlement region.

A method for transferring a layer known from the prior art, called SMART CUT®, comprises the following steps:                a) providing a support substrate,        b) providing a donor substrate,        c) forming an embrittlement region in the donor substrate so as to delimit a first portion and a second portion of the donor substrate on either side of the embrittlement region, the first portion of the donor substrate being intended to be added onto the support substrate, the second portion of the donor substrate being able to be recycled,        d) assembling the donor substrate on the support substrate,        e) fracturing the donor substrate along the embrittlement region, preferably by a heat treatment.
After step e), the first portion of the donor substrate forms the layer transferred onto the support substrate, and is commonly called an "active layer."
It is found from trial and error that the free surface of the active layer exhibits a high roughness, typically between 50 and 70 Å RMS, typically 60 Å RMS, which is mainly due to the propagation of the fracture front along the embrittlement region.
This surface roughness may require a significant number of steps for treating the free surface of the active layer in order to reduce its roughness so as to obtain a value of typically between a few Å RMS and 30 Å RMS. These treatment steps may, in particular, comprise anneal, oxidation and polishing steps. These treatment steps are notably detailed in the documents EP 0 986 826, EP 1 208 589 and EP 1 208 593.
A method known from the prior art, notably from U.S. Pat. No. 6,284,631, proposes forming a stress layer in the donor substrate, and forming the embrittlement region inside the stress layer so as to facilitate the fracture along the embrittlement region. According to this document, this prior art method would facilitate the propagation of the fracture front by reducing the energy level required for the fracture in the stress layer, by compression or by tension.
Even though such a prior art method would make it possible to reduce the fracture energy level and control the initiation of the propagation of the fracture front, this method does not make it possible to control the spatial dispersion of the propagation of the fracture front and, therefore, to significantly reduce the surface roughness of the active layer. To this end, U.S. Pat. No. 6,284,631 proposes limiting the energy or the stresses in the donor substrate in order to reduce the possibility of uncontrolled initiations of fracture fronts and reduce the surface roughness.
Consequently, such a prior art method is complex to implement since it is necessary to determine an energy for the stress layer that is sufficiently high to reduce the energy of the fracture and sufficiently low to reduce the possibility of uncontrolled initiations of fracture fronts and reduce the surface roughness.
Moreover, such a prior art method requires excellent control of the depth and of the thicknesses of the stress layer and of the embrittlement region in as much as the embrittlement region must, without fail, be formed inside the stress layer.

Method for transferring a layer comprising a compressive stress layer and related structures


A non-aqueous electrolyte battery which exhibits satisfactory reliability because reduction in the discharge capacity can be significantly prevented even after use with rapid temperature change and which enables excellent productivity to be realized. The non-aqueous electrolyte battery includes a cathode and an anode in which an active material for the cathode and/or an active material for the anode is integrated by a binder, wherein the binder for the cathode and/or the binder for the anode is a mixture of polyimide, which is soluble in an organic solvent, and a fluorine polymer. The polyimide is expressed by the following formula: ##STR1##

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a non-aqueous electrolyte battery having electrodes formed by integrating active materials by using a binder, and more particularly to an improvement in a binder.
2. Description of Prior Art
In recent years, the performance of electronic equipment has been improved and size reduction and portable structure have been realized as the electronic technology progresses. The explosion in the use of notebook type personal computers and portable telephones raises a demand for a non-aqueous electrolyte battery capable of reducing the size and the weight, enlarging the capacity and realizing a high energy density and satisfactory reliability.
In particular, a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery for use in a portable telephone is used both outdoors and indoors. Therefore, the non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery is used in a very wide temperature range and a rapid change in the temperature of the non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery takes place. Thus, excellent reliability has been required for the non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery against temperatures and thermal shock.
In addition to the reliability against temperatures, the non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery must have significantly satisfactory reliability without deterioration in the charge and discharge cycles performed for a long time.
At present, non-aqueous electrolyte batteries include non-aqueous electrolyte secondary batteries having a cathode made of a composite oxide containing lithium and an anode made of a material which is capable of occluding and discharging lithium ions, and non-aqueous electrolyte primary batteries having a cathode made of a chalcogen compound, from which lithium can be desorbed and into which the same can be inserted, and an anode made of lithium metal.
The electrode of the non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery is manufactured in such a manner that an active material, that is, a monolithic carbon material, such as graphite or carbon black, is employed as a conductive material and a binder is used to integrate the conductive material. The binder is made of fluororesin, such as polyvinylidene fluoride (hereinafter called "PVdF") or polytetrafluoroethylene (hereinafter called "PTFE"), or an organic polymer, such as fluorine rubber, carboxylmethylcellulose (CMC), methylcellulose (MC) or polyimide.
Among the above-mentioned materials, PVdF and PTFE are employed as the binder for use in the electrodes of the non-aqueous electrolyte battery because of excellent oxidation resistance.
When a fluorine polymer, such as PVdF or PTFE, is employed as the binder, the binding force between the depolarizing mix for a cell and the collector however is too weak. In this case, use of the non-aqueous electrolyte battery in a state where rapid change in the temperature is repeated results in the depolarizing mix being desorbed from the collector. As a result, the capacity of the non-aqueous electrolyte battery is reduced undesirably.
On the other hand, polyimide is a binder exhibiting excellent binding properties. When polyimide is employed as the binder, the force for binding the depolarizing mix and the collector with each other can be enlarged. Thus, even if the non-aqueous electrolyte battery is used in a state where the rapid change in the temperature is repeated, the depolarizing mix is not desorbed from the collector. Therefore, there is a possibility that a non-aqueous electrolyte battery free from reduction in the capacity thereof and thus having excellent reliability can be realized.
Although polyimide exhibits excellent binding properties between the depolarizing mix and the collector, rigid molecular chains of the polymer cause the manufactured electrode to have a rigid characteristic. Therefore, when the foregoing polyimide is used as the binder, the manufactured electrode has a low tolerance to bending. Thus, cracks or the like of the electrode cannot be prevented and therefore the characteristics of the non-aqueous electrolyte battery deteriorate excessively.
In general, polyimide is not dissolved in any organic solvent. Therefore, the polyimide must be made to be soluble in an organic solvent when the polyimide is employed as the binder. Thus, the depolarizing mix is prepared by using thermoplastic polyamic acid or the like soluble in an organic solvent, and then applied to the collector and heated in a drying process so that polyamic acid is converted into imide. Since the polyamic acid is soluble in an organic solvent, excellent productivity can be realized when electrodes of the non-aqueous electrolyte batteries are manufactured.
When polyamic acid is heated so as to be formed into imide, water however is generated. Thus-generated water adversely affects the active material, as a result of which the discharge capacity of the non-aqueous electrolyte battery and the cycling characteristic of the non-aqueous electrolyte deteriorate excessively.

Non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery


A lead acid electric storage battery uses conventional lead-acid secondary battery chemistry. The battery may be a sealed battery, an unsealed battery or a conventional multi-cell battery. The battery has a set of positive battery grids (plates) which are constructed with a body portion of thin titanium expanded metal having a thickness preferably in the range 0.1 mm to 0.9 mm and most preferably 0.2 mm to 0.4 mm. Typically the battery would have over 250 grids in a 12 inch long battery case.

The need for improvements in lead-acid storage batteries is widely recognized. Hundreds of articles, patents and research projects have been directed toward improving such batteries. Some of the important characteristics that still need improvement are the cost of the grids (plates), pollution problems associated with the use of lead grids, battery power compared to size and weight, cold starting, mechanical ruggedness, quick charging, long life and multiple cycles (charge-discharge).
One example of a use in which a better battery may be important is in "plug-in hybrid" vehicles. A hybrid car such as a Prius (Toyota) may obtain up to 50 miles per gallon using the combination of a gas and electric motors. In a plug-in hybrid (PHEV—plug hybrid electric vehicles), a large battery is added to a hybrid car so that for the first 20 to 60 miles of driving each day the car becomes, in effect, a purely electric car. However, to be widely accepted, the battery pack for the PHEV should cost less than $3000, about one third the cost of a Li-Ion battery pack.
If a plug-in hybrid, using the batteries of the present invention, could drive 40 miles daily only on its battery, on average, its gas engine would not be used in daily driving. Such a typical car would not use any gasoline.
The plug-in hybrid may be recharged at low cost which may be reflected in electric billing. There is a great interest in such plug-in hybrid cars as they reduce air pollution, especially carbon dioxide, and reduce the need for petroleum imports, see Cal Cars.org and hybrid cars.com.
Professor Andrew Frank of the University of California Davis and his hybrid center have built about 16 plug-in hybrid cars and studied about 40 battery types in a Prius and hybrid SUV. The best batteries were lithium ion types which by themselves could propel the Prius about 60 miles. However a pack of the best batteries for each car would cost over $10,000. In contrast, the conventional lead acid batteries for the same car would cost under $1000. That price is much less than the lithium ion type of batteries. However conventional lead acid batteries propelled the Prius only 20 miles.
It has been suggested that the power of lead acid batteries may be increased by substituting lead plates with other materials. However, it is believed that almost all commercially available lead acid batteries use solid lead plates. There are now a number of projects that have been reported to use non-metal battery plates. Firefly Energy has announced it is developing carbon foam plates, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 979,513 and 7,033,703. Also, Jung et al have filed patent applications on carbon battery plates, see U.S. application Ser. Nos. 11/048,104 and 11/279,103.
One suggestion is to use lead plating on a core of another metal, such as aluminum, copper, steel or titanium. Some of the prior patents and articles about lead-plated cores, or otherwise relevant, are set forth below. All of these patents and articles, and others cited in this patent application, are included herein by reference. Lead is plated on copper in Senoo U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,354; Senoo U.S. Pat. No. 5,093,970; Nann U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,001 and Kiessling U.S. Pat. No. 4,554,228.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,683,648 to Yeh shows a titanium plate covered with lead. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,379,502, 5,339,873, 5,544,681, and 5,411,821 disclose copper or steel or other materials as cores with titanium and lead layers. U.S. Pat. No. 6,316,148 to Bhardwaj discloses a battery using aluminum foil which is coated with lead. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,739,997 and 2,713,079 to Carrick disclose aluminum plates electroplated with lead in an aqueous plating bath. U.S. Pat. No. Re: 33133 to Kiessling discloses a copper plate covered with lead.
The following articles may be considered relevant: Dai et al. "Lead-plated titanium grids etc." 41 Power Sources Conference, Jun. 14-17, 2004; Dai et al. "Corrosion of Lead Plate Titanium etc" (ref. on Google); Kurisawa "Development of Positive Electrodes with Tin Oxide Coating by Applying a Sputtering Technique for Lead Acid Batteries." Journal Power Sources 1995 (2001) 1-5, 1-9.; Roos et al "Corrosion protection of aluminum surfaces using pyrolytic tin oxide" Appl. Phys. Lett 59(1) July 1991; and Yolshina et al. "A lead-film electrode on an aluminum substrate etc." Jour. of Power Sources 78, issues 1-2, March 1999, 84-87.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Lead acid battery having ultra-thin titanium grids


A multi-functional travel charger and a control system thereof are disclosed. The charger includes a charger body and a main control module communicated with wireless charging transmitting modules, a top shell and a bottom shell of the charger body are connected in a magnetic attraction/snap-fit manner, and the wireless charging transmitting modules include a mobile phone wireless charging transmitting module and an accessory wireless charging transmitting module. The control system includes a circuit control and charge/discharge management system and wireless charging transmitting modules; the accessory wireless charging transmitting module includes one or more of an earbud wireless charging transmitting module, a watch wireless charging transmitting module, and a stylus wireless charging transmitting module. The present disclosure meets user's requirements for wireless charging and simultaneous charging of multiple electronic devices, and the user does not need to carry multiple charging cables/chargers when going out, increasing convenience when the user goes out.

With the development of science and technology, there are various types of chargers on the market. Most existing chargers implement charging and discharging in a wired manner, which is inconvenient for use. In addition, with the popularization of Apple products, many people are equipped with almost the whole series of Apple products, including iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and AirPods, as well as mobile phones, watches, computers, wireless earbuds and the like of other brands. These devices are equipped with different charging cables, and a user needs to carry different charging cables when going out, which causes extreme inconvenience. Besides, a single charger can serve one product at a time, and cannot charge another product until charging of the previous product being finished. This fails to meet people's requirement of charging multiple products at the same time.
It is urgent to develop an improved charger that can at least partly solve the foregoing defect.

Multi-functional travel charger and control system thereof


A heat transfer apparatus for transferring heat between an object and a flowing fluid, comprising a plurality of fluid transmissive heat transfer units arranged in a splayed array for transferring heat between an object in contact with the splayed array and a fluid flowing from and to a plurality of interdigitated counterpropagating streams.

Applications of convective heat transfer devices range from chemical refineries to air conditioning to locomotion to computing to machining. In this disclosure we look to minimize the power required for forced fluid convection heat transfer devices to operate. This improvement is important for portable devices, for applications attempting to minimize power consumption, for minimizing noise generation, and for minimizing wear.
In particular we look to reduce the thermal resistance for heat sinks applied to electronic devices such as insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), silicon controlled rectifiers, microprocessors, injection laser diodes, and thermoelectric modules.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,092 Akachi describes a spiral of flat fins stamped from a sheet and attached to a rigid base. Each fin is attached at one end only. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,358,032 Arai describes a folded wire mesh brazed to a rigid base. Wires in the mesh parallel to the base block fluid flow without significant contribution to heat transfer. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,416,218 Armenoff describes making an expanded metal cellular core. The bonding techniques are applicable to a fin array heat sink. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,158,136 Azar a pin field heat sink that generates recirculating flow. The pins are attached at one end, and air is sheared many times as it passes through the pin field. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,846 Azar describes heat sinks composed of dense fin arrays. The fins are formed as slots in a solid plate. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,150,748 Blackmon describes a heat radiator composed of a shag rug of conductive fibers. The spacings between the fibers are not uniform. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,080 Brady describes a heat sink pin array in the form of a shaving cream brush. The air flow across each pin is greatest at the greatest distance from the heated surface. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,449,164 Carlson describes a plenum that ducts air over a radial fin array. The flows in adjacent channels are parallel. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,693 Chisholm describes a folded wire mesh brazed to a rigid base. Wires in the mesh parallel to the base block fluid flow without significant contribution to heat transfer. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,613 Cox describes an A-frame Freon cooler. Heat is supplied to the fin arrays from embedded pipes. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,482 Dolbear uses wire coils compressed between parallel plates as compliant thermal shunt between the two plates. Heat is not being transferred to a fluid. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,712 Fisher describes a method of manufacturing a pin fin array. Each fin is attached at one end only. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,290 Gabuzda describes a radial fin array attached to a rigid base. The spacing between the fins is not uniform, and the fins are attached at one end only. In U.S. Pat. No. 231,485 Gold described wire coils trapped between radiator plates for heating air. Individual loops of the coils are circular, and they are not attached to their neighboring loops. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,581 Gotwald describes multiple dense fin arrays fed by multiple ducts. The fins are laminated together at one end only. In U.S. Pat. 5,388,635 Gruber describes fin arrays formed in a metal cooling sheet fed by multiple ducts. The fins are formed as slots partially through the metal sheet. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,665 Harada describes a stacked plate heat exchanger in which each plate has an array of circular holes. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,576 Hatada describes a heat sink composed of corrugated fine wires individually attached to a heated plate. The wires are attached only at the heated plate. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,777,560 Herrell stacks right and left handed stamped elements to make a fin array. The air flow across the fins is the greatest at the greatest distance from the heated surface. In U.S. Pat. No. 1,516,430 Hess attaches continuous wire loops to a pipe in a heat exchanger. Each loop is attached only at one point. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,879,891 Hinshaw describes a method of forming a dense fin array out of a solid. The fins are attached at their bases only. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,331 Hinshaw describes a method of forming a pin fin array out of a solid. The pin fins are attached at their bases only. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,327,779 Jacoby describes a pin grid heat sink formed by pressing staples through a flexible sheet. The resulting pins are attached at their bases only. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,867 Jaspers describes a pin fin array formed from stacked sheets in which the pattern of holes in the sheets forms the pins and the parallel supply and exhaust channels. The design is constrained to have substantially less than 50% of the heated surface area spanned by the combined pin cross sectional area. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,980 Jordan describes a pin fin array cooled by air initially impinging along the axis of each pin. The pins are attached at their bases only. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,372,741 Kaiser uses elongated wire loops to make a pin array that bridges radially between two concentric pipes. The gaps between the loops are not uniform. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,241,452 Kitajo describes a fin array in which the ends of the fins are tapered to enhance air flow near the heated surface. The fins are attached at their bases only. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,640 Lapinski describes a heat transfer manifold containing many parallel flow channels. The flow in adjacent channels is parallel. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,928 Marton describes louvered fin arrays formed from stamped metal. The design is constrained to have substantially less than 50% of the heated surface area spanned by the combined fin cross sectional area. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,898,234 McGovern describes a porous block heat exchanger with an interdigitated manifold. The flows in adjacent channels in the manifold are parallel. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,859 Minakami describes a pin fin heat sink assembled as a transformer core with spacers between slotted plates. The minimum number of slotted plates in a stack is three. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,389 Nelson teaches a method to make a pin fin array by radially slicing a spool of wire with a soluble coating. The resulting arrays of parallel wires are end bonded to two support plates. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,630 Nelson describes a liquid manifold for a heat sink containing multiple parallel channels. The flows in adjacent channels are parallel. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,001 Okada describes layering metal mesh to form a heat sink. The fluid flow passage cross sections are non-uniform. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,706,127 Oktay describes a pin fin array in the shape of a shaving cream brush formed by electroless plated iron filings. The air flow across each pin is greatest at the greatest distance from the heated surface. In U.S. Pat. No. 1,559,180 Prat described wire coils trapped between radiator plates for heating air. Individual loops of the coils are circular, and they are not attached to their neighboring loops. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,544,183 Rogers describes a heat exchanger utilizing wire coils of elongated loops in a circumferential arrangement between two plates. The spacing between the loops is not constant. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,561,338 Roberts describes an arc lamp heat sink in which a copper strip is corrugated to form radial fins between concentric cylinders. The spacing between the fins is not uniform. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,161 Romania describes a wire helix formed to transfer heat from an electronic package to air. The resulting wire loops are elongated parallel to the surface of the package, and the loops are not attached at their ends distant from the package. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,631 Rippel describes a fin array composed of bonded and expanded sheet metal. Metal sheets nearly parallel to the base block fluid flow without significant contribution to heat transfer. In U.S. Pat. No. 1,716,743 Still describes elongated wire coil fins arranged in a spiral about a hot pipe. The gaps between the wires are non-uniform. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,093,256 Still describes a heat exchanger in which flattened wire helixes are wound in elongated loops around support wires or tubes. The loops are specified as having an open pitch. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,472 Tuckerman describes a heat transfer technique in which slots cut in the back of a semiconductor chip to form fins. The fins are attached at their bases only. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,212,625 van Andel describes a pin fin field in which each pin is bent to collectively form interdigitated flow channels. The flow resistance through the pins is non-uniform, and the flows in adjacent channels are parallel. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,353 Willemsen describes a heat exchanger utilizing porous metal and interdigitated flow channels. The flows in adjacent channels are parallel. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,009,752 Wilson described a fin array formed by clamping individual fins in upper and lower capture plates. The resulting soldered assembly is rigid and non-compliant. The above identified U.S. patents are hereby incorporated by reference.

Fluid transmissive apparatus for heat transfer


The present invention provides an exposure apparatus that can prevent the degradation of exposure and measurement accuracies. An exposure apparatus (EX) exposes a substrate (P) by irradiating the substrate (P) with exposure light (EL) through a projection optical system (PL) and a liquid (LQ), and comprises: a liquid supply mechanism (10) that supplies the liquid (LQ) between an optical element (2) at the image plane side tip part of the projection optical system (PL) and a substrate (P) that opposes the optical element (2); a timer (60) that measures the time that has elapsed since the supply of the liquid by the liquid supply mechanism (10) was started; and a control apparatus (CONT) that determines, based on a measurement result of the timer (60), whether a space(SP), which is between the optical element (2) and the substrate (P) and includes at least an optical path of the exposure light (EL), is filled with the liquid (LQ).

Semiconductor devices and liquid crystal display devices are fabricated by a so-called photolithography technique, wherein a pattern formed on a mask is transferred onto a photosensitive substrate. An exposure apparatus used in this photolithographic process comprises a mask stage that supports a mask as well as a substrate stage that supports a substrate, and transfers the pattern of the mask onto the substrate through a projection optical system while successively moving the mask stage and the substrate stage. In recent years, there has been demand for higher resolution projection optical systems in order to handle the much higher levels of integration of device patterns. The shorter the exposure wavelength used and the larger the numerical aperture of the projection optical system, the higher the resolution of the projection optical system. Consequently, the exposure wavelength used in exposure apparatuses has shortened year by year, and the numerical aperture of projection optical systems has increased. Furthermore, the current mainstream exposure wavelength is 248 nm, which is the wavelength of light produced by a KrF excimer laser, but an even shorter 193 nm wavelength ArF excimer laser is also being commercialized.
In addition, as with resolution, the depth of focus (DOF) is important when performing an exposure. The following equations express the resolution R and the depth of focus δ, respectively.R=k1·λ/NA  (1)δ=±k2·λ/NA2  (2)
Therein, λ is the exposure wavelength, NA is the numerical aperture of the projection optical system, and k1 and k2 are the process coefficients. Equations (1) and (2) teach that if the exposure wavelength λ is shortened and the numerical aperture NA is increased in order to enhance the resolution R, then the depth of focus δ decreases.
If the depth of focus δ becomes excessively small, then it will become difficult to align the front surface of the substrate with the image plane of the projection optical system, which creates a risk that the margin of focus will be insufficient during the exposure operation. Accordingly, a liquid immersion method has been proposed, as disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1 below, as a method to substantially shorten the exposure wavelength and increase the depth of focus. This liquid immersion method forms an immersion area by filling a liquid, such as water or an organic solvent, between the lower surface of the projection optical system and the front surface of the substrate, thus taking advantage of the fact that the wavelength of the exposure light in a liquid is 1/n that of in air (where n is the refractive index of the liquid, normally about 1.2-1.6), thereby improving the resolution as well as increasing the depth of focus by approximately n times.
PATENT DOCUMENT 1: PCT International Publication WO99/49504

Exposure apparatus, supply method and recovery method, exposure method, and device producing method


A system for causing a device such as a printer to receive data from an external device such as a host computer, the system allowing the printer to automatically set not only a pattern for outputting an acknowledge signal (ACK) and a busy signal (BUSY) but also the capacity of a receiving buffer so as to match the external device, so that efficient data reception can be made, thereby freeing the external device at an early stage of the data reception.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an improved data receiving system applied to the case where a device receives data from an external device, as, for example, a terminal printer which receives data from a host computer.
2. Description of Related Art
In the case where a terminal printer or the like receives data from a host computer, a handshake procedure such as shown in FIG. 1 is generally performed between both devices.
In FIG. 1, the host computer (hereinafter referred to as the "host") transmits data (hereinafter referred to as "DATA") to the printer, e.g., by the byte. In addition, during the transmission of each DATA, the printer is informed that effective data transmission is taking place by a data strobe signal (hereinafter referred to as "DSTB") which is caused to go low for a predetermined period of time.
The printer receives DATA in response to the fall of DSTB. After the reception of DATA, the printer causes a busy signal (hereinafter referred to as "BUSY") to go high to give the host an indication that the printer is not yet ready to receive next DATA. The host stands by instead of transmitting the next DATA while BUSY is high.
When ready to receive the next DATA, the printer not only gives the host an indication that the printer acknowledges reception of DATA by causing an acknowledge signal (hereinafter referred to as "ACK") to go low for a predetermined period of time, but also informs the host that the printer is now ready to receive DATA by causing BUSY to go low. In response thereto, the host begins transmitting the next DATA, and causes DSTB to go low for a predetermined period of time. The aforementioned operations are repeated until the last DATA is transmitted.
In the aforementioned handshake procedure, there are two systems for causing the host to recognize that the printer is ready to receive DATA. One system is, as described above, that in which the host refers to both ACK and BUSY sent from the printer. The other system is that in which the host refers only to BUSY. No matter which system the host opts, normal handshaking is established as long as the printer outputs both ACK and BUSY.
However, if the host refers only to BUSY, it is better to cause the printer to match the system opted by the host. That is, it is better to design the system so that the printer can receive DATA from the host as soon as possible by immediately causing BUSY to go low without outputting ACK as long as the printer is ready to receive DATA. This system eliminates waste of time, thereby contributing to freeing the host at an early stage of processing.
Thus, the system that has heretofore been used is that ACK or BUSY can be manually selected on the printer side so as to match the system of the host. However, such selection is not only cumbersome but also so highly technical for the user, that many users, in reality, operate the printer based on the system of outputting both ACK and BUSY which are defaults. As a result, with respect to the host that refers only to BUSY, the printer occupies the host for a longer time than necessary.
Further, the printer, while executing the aforementioned handshake procedure with respect to the host, stores received DATA in a receiving buffer contained therein and sequentially takes out DATA within the receiving buffer concurrently therewith. If the receiving buffer is kept full with the processing of DATA within the printer being behind the transmission of DATA from the host during this process, the printer maintains BUSY high until an empty space is available in the receiving buffer, which in turn keeps the host waiting until subsequent DATA can be transmitted.
To avoid this inconvenience, it is desired that the printer has a receiving buffer whose capacity is suited for printer speed, transmission speed by the host, and the total volume of DATA. To meet this requirement, conventional printers are designed to manually set the capacity of the receiving buffer.
However, the aforementioned problem is encountered if the capacity of the receiving buffer is too small, and memory areas within the printer for other processing become eroded if the capacity of the receiving buffer is too large. Therefore, to determine an appropriate capacity is too difficult a task for the user. Thus, many users accept the default capacity of the receiving buffer, which in turn keeps the host waiting for a longer time than necessary.


A method and apparatus for improved defocus detection on wafers. The use of hyperspectral imaging provides increased sensitivity for local defocus defects, and the use of Fourier Space analysis provides increased sensitivity for extended defocus defects. A combination of the two provides improved overall sensitivity to local and extended defocus defects.

As integrated circuits become smaller and faster, Critical Dimensions (CD's) of devices must decrease. Current state-of-the-art requires critical dimensions of approximately 0.1 micron, and manufacturers are striving to move to lateral dimensions of 65 nm. Consequently, better lithographic resolution is required in order to print smaller features. As per the Rayleigh limit, resolution r is inversely proportional to Numerical Aperture (NA) according to the equation
      r    ∝          λ      NA        ,where λ is the wavelength of the radiation, for a diffraction-limited system. Therefore, to decrease (i.e., improve) resolution for a given wavelength of light, NA must be increased. Larger NA implies a larger collection angle of the lens, i.e., a collection angle of 180 degrees yields the maximum NA of 1. Present steppers have NA close to 1 to provide resolution of minimum size features.
A consequence of increased NA is a decrease in Depth of Focus (DOF), according to the equation
  DOF            ∝            λ                        (          NA          )                2              .  Current steppers therefore have decreased DOF due to improved resolution. This presents challenges in lithography, since out-of-focus exposure of features in photoresist smears the resist edges, as illustrated in FIG. 1. Incorrect lateral feature dimensions can result. If defocus is not detected, the microcircuit yields will suffer and the problem may not be detected until many steps later in the manufacturing process.
Steppers are generally equipped with autofocus, which tries to find the best focus for each field of the stepper (usually one die or several dies). However, several factors can cause local or global focus problems:                1) The mounting of the reticle, i.e., the master pattern, may have a tilt. This causes full-field focus problems.        2) The autofocus on the stepper may have a problem, which could cause a full-field defocus. Either of these problems would result in a defocus region of about one inch dimension.        3) Local deformation of the wafer, e.g., caused by contamination on the wafer backside or to structures on the frontside, can cause localized defocus, known as "hot spots". These may be 50-100 micron diameter.
One priority for Lithographic After-Development Inspection (ADI) is detection of focus errors in the stepper/scanner, so that corrective action can be taken immediately. Both localized and full-field defocus detection is needed. Traditionally, scanner/stepper defocus has been detected using manual inspection. One often-used detection method used in manual inspection of a wafer which has been patterned and has had the resist developed is to look for color changes across the wafer when observing the wafer under narrow-band diffuse illumination. Color changes result from out-of-focus regions, due to the fact that changing the profile of diffraction grating edges can drastically change its scattering profile and therefore can cause an apparent color change. This is seen from the grating equation:sin(θ)−sin(θ1)=nλ/D  (1), where
θ=angle of observation with respect to normal
θ1=angle of illumination with respect to normal
n=integer order
λ=wavelength
D=grating pitch
Since the repetitive structures on integrated circuits act as diffraction gratings, and since defocused regions have smeared edges as described above, defocused regions are evidenced by color changes. The operator cannot resolve the details of the patterning; he is merely detecting the collective diffractive effects of an area of patterned resist, i.e., "macro-inspection". From equation (1), it can be seen that variation of either angle or wavelength can affect the appearance of the grating.
The manual observation of color changes to detect defocused regions has severe limitations, due to the tri-stimulus color response of the eye, and its limited gray-scale depth at any wavelength. This is typically compensated for by mounting the wafer on a wobbler, and presenting it to the operator at a variety of angles. The human eye can thereby detect not only a slight color change, but also some "flashing" of the color change as the wafer rotates and wobbles. This method is the most effective for observing localized defocused regions.
Automated macro-inspection systems have also been used to detect defocus, along with other defects, using machine vision, i.e., imaging techniques. Such systems as the Nikon macro-inspection system uses a spin-wobble mount similar to that used in manual inspection, whereby the wafers are tilted and rotated around the azimuth. A high-resolution CCD camera images them through telecentric optics, and image processing is used to detect intensity variations in the observed image. The 2401 and 2430 inspection systems made by KLA-Tencor use narrow-spectral-band and broad-spectral band illumination, use monochrome sensors and detect defocus as an intensity change, and use a line-scan mechanism for imaging.
It is expected that existing automated macro-inspection systems will find it progressively more and more difficult to detect defocus as the CD's shrink, because visible wavelengths are being used, and the diffraction gratings created by the photoresist will have a pitch much smaller than the wavelength of the light used. Shorter wavelength light may damage the photoresist. The development of new methods with increased sensitivity for defocus detection, both for localized and extended defocus defects, will be important as critical dimensions continue to decrease.

Multi-spectral techniques for defocus detection