A method for customizing a print device to a specific user including prompting a user of the device to indicate whether the device is intended for a first type of use or a second, different type of use, receiving an indication of intended use and, in response to the indication, automatically establishing at least one device default setting.

1. Field of the Invention
The present application relates to a system and method for customizing a print device and, more particularly, a system and method for customizing the default settings of a print device for either home or office use.
2. Description of the Related Art
All-in-one printing devices (AIOs) have become commonplace in the world of computer-related hardware. AIOs typically provide printing, copying, scanning and/or fax capabilities in a single device. A typical AIO may integrate two basic components: a document scanner and a print engine. Printing and scanning may each be carried out utilizing just one component of the device, while copying may be performed utilizing both components.
AIOs have been modified and expanded to include additional subsystems and components such as complex photo printing features, various card readers, USB keys and the like. Although such improved subsystems and components offer a wide range of capabilities to the end user, such improved features have complicated the programming and configuration of AIOs.
Historically, AIOs have been marketed to and purchased by individuals solely for home use. However, as the productivity and capability of AIOs continues to increase (e.g., higher printing speeds and improved printing quality), AIOs are also being purchased for use by small-sized and medium-sized businesses.
AIO manufacturers have recognized that business users utilize AIOs in a different way than home users. For example, home users may prefer to forego printing speed for improved print quality. In contrast, business users may be willing to accept reduced print quality for increased printing speed due to the higher volume of printing taking place in the business or office environment.
Thus, AIO manufacturers have provided AIOs with various options. For example, an AIO may have a print quality option that enables a user to indicate a priority for higher printing speed (i.e., "draft mode") or improved print quality (i.e., "quality mode"). A business user may select the draft mode, while the home user may select the quality mode.
Prior art AIOs typically defaulted such options to typical home user preferences. For example, prior art AIOs were packaged with the print quality option defaulted to quality mode.
However, as AIO manufacturers target business users, AIO manufacturers must choose between establishing default settings for the home user and establishing default settings for the business user. The option of selling two different models of the same AIO device (i.e., one with business user default settings and one with home user default settings) is impractical.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for customizing the default settings of a print device for either home or office use.


A method of manufacturing a sleeve mechanism without the use of machines by using a hydroforming process. The method includes the steps of providing an inner sleeve, an intermediate sleeve, and an outer sleeve concentrically within one another. The concentric sleeves are then expanded by using a hydroforming process such that an external thread is formed on the inner sleeve and an internal thread is formed on the outer sleeve. After the hydroforming process, the intermediate sleeve is removed by using any desired manner, such as melting or chemical dissolution. The relatively small space remaining between the inner and outer sleeves allow them to freely rotate about each other to ensure smooth operation of the screw and sleeve mechanism. Alternatively, the inner and outer sleeves may be hydroformed in separate operations.

This invention relates to a method of manufacturing a cooperating threaded lead screw and sleeve mechanism, such as for use in a linear actuator, using a hydroforming process.
A linear actuator is a well known device that is adapted to effect linear movement, typically reciprocating linear movement, of a workpiece along a desired path of movement. A typical linear actuator includes an electric motor having a rotatable output shaft that is connected through a gear train to a lead screw and nut mechanism. When the electric motor is actuated, rotation of the output shaft causes corresponding rotation of the lead screw. The lead screw is typically formed from an elongated shaft having an external helical thread provided on the outer surface thereof. The nut is typically formed from a block of material having an opening formed therethrough, with an internal helical thread formed on the inner surface thereof. The nut is mounted on the lead screw in such a manner as to be restrained from rotating with the lead screw when the electric motor is actuated. The helical threads of the lead screw and the nut cooperate with one another such that rotation of the lead screw causes linear movement of the nut axially along the lead screw. The direction of such axial movement of the nut (and of the workpiece connected thereto) is dependent upon the direction of rotation of the lead screw.
A variety of methods are known for forming lead screw and nut mechanisms of the general type described above. Typically, the lead screw and the nut are each formed from solid pieces of material to desired rough shapes, then machined to precise final desired shapes. Although known methods have been effective, it would be desirable to provide an improved method for manufacturing same.
This invention relates to a method of manufacturing a externally threaded screw and internally threaded sleeve mechanism without the use of machines by using a hydroforming process. Initially, an inner sleeve, an intermediate sleeve, and an outer sleeve are disposed concentrically within one another. The inner and outer sleeves are preferably formed from a rigid metallic material, while the intermediate sleeve may be formed from any desirable spacer material. The concentric sleeve assembly is then disposed within die halves of a hydroforming apparatus and hydraulically expanded such that an external thread is formed on the inner sleeve and an internal thread is formed on the outer sleeve. The intermediate sleeve is then removed in any desired manner, such as by melting or chemical dissolution. The relatively small space remaining between the inner and outer sleeves allow for relative rotation therebetween. Alternatively, the inner and outer sleeves can be hydroformed in separate operations for subsequent use.
Various objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, when read in light of the accompanying drawings.

Method of manufacturing a lead screw and sleeve mechanism using a hydroforming process


A data collection terminal is provided with an audible feedback system that self-compensates for changes in ambient noise levels. The data collection terminal comprises a central processor adapted to execute stored instructions and having at least a display, a keyboard and a communications interface operatively coupled thereto. An audio driver is operatively coupled to the processor. The audio driver includes a speaker for producing sounds responsive to functions performed by the central processor and a microphone for receiving audio input signals. The audio driver adjusts the output volume of the speaker responsive to variations in ambient noise detected by the microphone so that the speaker produces a substantially consistent volume level in relation to the variations of ambient noise.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to data collection and processing systems, and more particularly, to portable data terminals having a system for controlling speaker volume to compensate for varying ambient noise environments.
2. Description of Related Art
Portable data collection terminals are well known in the art for remote data collection applications such as inventory control, manufacturing and production flow management, and asset tracking. A mobile worker may use such a data collection terminal to collect, send and receive information while moving throughout a work area. The data collection terminal may either comprise a specialized device or a general purpose laptop computer or personal digital assistant (PDA) adapted for use in the particular application. Portable data collection terminals are also commonly used by sales persons, distributors, delivery persons, auditors, and the like, where it is advantageous to employ a portable data terminal in a route or otherwise mobile setting. Such applications include sales, distribution, control and inventory of products delivered, and delivery or tracking of products, packages, etc.
Portable data collection terminals typically include apparatus to facilitate efficient input and manipulation of data by a user. For example, a data collection terminal may include such apparatus as keypads, touch screens, laser scanners, optical indicia readers, and the like. Preferably, such apparatus allow the data collection terminal to read and manipulate data recorded in a variety of mediums and in many different formats. The data collection terminals often also include an audio output device, such as a speaker, to emit sounds in response to certain actions taken or functions performed. For example, it is known for a data collection terminal to emit a certain tones or beeps signifying that data (e.g., a bar code symbol) was faithfully collected by the terminal. Other sounds may be emitted for other purposes, such as to reflect failure to read the bar code symbol, entry of an improper key, receipt of an email message, rebooting of the terminal, and the like. The operator of the collection terminal may come to rely upon the audible feedback to ensure that data has been properly entered.
A drawback of these known audible feedback systems is that the data collection terminal is often used in work environments having varying levels of ambient noise. In a particularly loud work environment, such as on a factory floor, it may be difficult for the operator to hear the audible feedback over the ambient noise. To compensate, the operator may turn up the volume of the audible feedback, such as by adjusting a knob or manipulating a screen icon using a pointing device. When the operator exits the noisy environment and enters a quieter environment, such as a storage area or office floor, the operator must remember to turn back down the volume to prevent the amplified audible feedback from disturbing workers in that environment. As a result, the operator often finds that the volume must be continuously adjusted in correspondence with changes from one work environment to another.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a data collection terminal in which the audible feedback volume does not need to be changed as the operator moves between different ambient noise environments.

Self-compensating speaker volume control system for data collection terminal


A sub-VT FPGA uses a low swing, dual-VDD interconnect scheme to reduce FPGA area per LUT, delay at a constant energy, and energy at a constant delay relative to a conventional design at low voltage. These improvements are made possible by a custom asynchronous sense amp, a separated voltage for memory cells, and an improved passgate interconnect to optimize routing delay with low energy overhead. This sub-threshold FPGA design enables energy efficient and cost effective configurable logic for a wide variety of ULP applications.

Ultra low power (ULP) miniature devices are enabling a new generation of applications for areas such as healthcare and wireless environmental control. Development of these applications is costly, however, as managing strict resource constraints can lead to high design complexity. For example, many require a significant amount of on-chip processing to extract information locally and thereby reduce the use of power hungry components like radios See S. Jocke, J. Bolus, S. N. Wooters, A. D. Jurik, A. C. Weaver, T. N. Blalock, and B. H. Calhoun, "A 2.6-μW Sub-threshold Mixedsignal ECG SoC," Symposium on VLSI Circuits, 2009, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. The large variety of ULP projects and frequent changes to their requirements make flexibility a desirable attribute in this design space.
Existing approaches fail to provide both flexibility and the desired energy efficiency. Commercial processors and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are far too inefficient for the ULP space, but alternatives using sub-threshold (sub-VT) operation have emerged as an energy efficient alternative. Circuits operating in sub-VT have VDD levels that are less than the threshold voltage of the transistors in the circuits, VT. Sub-VT microprocessors have shown very low energy per instruction (See S. Jocke, J. Bolus, S. N. Wooters, A. D. Junk A. C. Weaver, T. N. Blalock, and B. H. Calhoun, "A 2.6-μW Sub-threshold Mixedsignal ECG SoC," Symposium on VLSI Circuits, 2009 and B. Zhai, L. Nazhandali, J. Olson, A. Reeves, M. Minuth, R. Helfand, S. Pant, D. Blaauw, and T. Austin, "A 2.60 pJ/Inst Subthreshold Sensor Processor for Optimal Energy Efficiency," Symposium on VLSI Circuits, 2006, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety), but their simple instruction set architecture (ISAs) require many 1000s of instructions to perform significant computing. Sub-VT ASICs give high efficiency (for example, see Y. Pu, J. P. de Gyvez, H. Corporaal, and Y. Ha, "An Ultra-Low-Energy/Frame Multi-Standard JPEG Co-Processor in 65 nm CMOS with Sub/Near-Threshold Power Supply," ISSCC, 2009, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety), but are inflexible and thus expensive to produce for low-volume projects. Today, FPGAs commercially compete mostly in the high performance space. ULP FPGAs could take advantage of a balanced tradeoff between hardware efficiency and flexibility.

Sub-threshold FPGA and related circuits and methods thereof

University of Virginia Patent Foundation


A route processing method, a device, and a system, where the method includes: a network virtualization edge (NVE) device set including at least two NVE devices includes a common Virtual Etensible Local Area Network (VXLAN) Tunnel Endpoint (VTEP) address. The common VTEP address is used to identify a common VTEP, and the common VTEP is deployed on each NVE device in the NVE device set. In addition, each NVE device in the NVE device set includes a VTEP address, and the VTEP address is used to identify a VTEP included in a corresponding NVE device. An NVE device in the NVE device set establishes a VXLAN tunnel between the NVE devices in the NVE device set based on a VTEP address and the common VTEP address using an IMET route.

A VXLAN is a technology in which a layer 2 packet is encapsulated using a layer 3 protocol. The VXLAN technology relates to a packet in a MAC-in-UDP format. Specifically, an Ethernet frame based on a Media Access Control (MAC) protocol is encapsulated in a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packet. Further, the UDP packet is encapsulated in an Internet Protocol (IP) packet, and the IP packet may be transmitted in a layer 3 network. Therefore, the Ethernet frame is transmitted in the layer 3 network. In the VXLAN technology, a VXLAN network identifier (VNI) is used to identify a VXLAN segment. Different VXLAN segments are corresponding to different VNIs. Different VXLAN segments are isolated from each other. Two virtual machines (VMs) in a same VNI do not need to use a VXLAN layer 3 (L3) gateway during communication with each other. Two VMs separately in different VNIs need to communicate with each other using the VXLAN layer 3 gateway. A VNI field includes 24 bits. One management domain may include a maximum of 216 VXLAN segments. A virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN) tunnel endpoint (VTEP) may be integrated into a Network Virtualization Edge (NVE) device, and used as an edge device in a VXLAN. The NVE device transmits traffic of the VXLAN through a VXLAN tunnel. The VXLAN tunnel is a logical point-to-point tunnel between two NVE devices.
An EVPN is a layer 2 Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology. The EVPN connects customer sites in different regions using an IP/Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) bearer network. This is, these customer sites are in a same local area network (LAN).
In an application scenario, the VXLAN does not have a control plane. The VXLAN performs VTEP discovery and remote host-address learning using a data plane through multicast-based flooding. As a result, a larger amount of flooding traffic exists in a data center network. The EVPN based on the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) and MPLS may be used to implement the control plane of the VXLAN. In this specification, the VXLAN scenario with an EVPN control plane is named as an EVPN VXLAN.
In an EVPN VXLAN application scenario, two NVE devices are directly connected to each other using a physical link. For example, two NVE devices are connected to each other using a peer link. However, an EVPN application scenario is limited by the manner in which two NVE devices are directly connected to each other using a physical link, and there is a problem of low reliability and complex deployment.

Route processing method, device, and system


An optical coherence tomography device comprises a light generator, a dispersive medium, an optical coupler and a detector. The light generator is adapted to generate a series of input pulses of coherent light, each input pulse having an input pulse width. The dispersive medium has an input that is optically coupled to the light generator and an output for output pulses. The dispersive medium is adapted to stretch the input pulse width to an output pulse width of each of the output pulses by chromatic dispersion. The optical coupler is adapted to couple the output pulses into a reference arm and a sample arm. The optical coupler is further adapted to superimpose light returning from the reference arm and the sample arm. The detector is adapted to detect an intensity of interference of the superimposed light with a temporal resolution of a fraction of the output pulse width.

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive, and often non-contact, imaging technique. Light with a defined coherence length is radiated on a sample that reflects or re-emits light at different depths of penetration, which encodes information in the phase of the light. The light from the sample is superimposed with coherent light of a reference branch.
Classical OCT systems used a movable mirror in a mechanical reference branch for a variable optical length of the reference branch. Modern OCT systems use Fourier Domain OCT (FD-OCT). The performance of an OCT system may be characterized by its axial resolution and/or its axial scanning depth.
In some of the existing OCT systems, the axial resolution or the axial scanning depth may be limited by features of the OCT system. By way of example, an OCT system using Spectral Domain OCT (SD-OCT, which is one case of FD-OCT) may have an axial scanning depth limited by the spectral resolution of a spectrometer. As another example, an OCT system using Swept Source OCT (SS-OCT, which is another case of FD-OCT) may have an axial scanning depth limited mainly by the instantaneous linewidth δλ of the swept source. Further, an OCT system using FD-OCT may have an axial resolution that cannot be adjusted independently of its axial scanning depth. For example, the scanning depth Δzmax may be proportional to the axial resolution δzmin for a given spectral or temporal resolution of the detector. Moreover, an SS-OCT system may have a lower axial resolution, because its swept source of light is tunable over an overall spectral bandwidth Δλ (also referred to as tuning range) that is narrower than a complete bandwidth Δλ of a light source usable for SD-OCT without tuning of the light source.


A silicon carbide semiconductor device of the present invention comprises a silicon carbide drift layer formed on a silicon carbide substrate, a P-type region formed in a surface layer of the silicon carbide drift layer, and a Schottky electrode formed above the silicon carbide drift layer correspondingly to a forming portion of the P-type region. The P-type region is formed of a plurality of unit cells arranged therein. Each of the unit cells has at least a first distribution region in which the P-type impurity is distributed at first concentration and a second distribution region in which the P-type impurity is distributed at second concentration higher than the first concentration. With this structure, it is possible to provide a silicon carbide semiconductor device in which a sufficient breakdown voltage can be achieved with less number of ion implantations.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a silicon carbide semiconductor device, and more particularly to a JBS (Junction Barrier controlled Schottky diode) or an MPS (Merged P-i-N/Schottky diode) which uses silicon carbide.
2. Description of the Background Art
The dielectric breakdown electric field of silicon carbide is about ten times as large as that of silicon and the band gap of silicon carbide is about three times as wide as that of silicon. Therefore, a power device using silicon carbide has a characteristic feature that allows a high temperature operation with low resistance as compared with a currently-used power device using silicon.
Particularly, an SBD (Schottky Barrier Diode) and a MOSFET (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor) which use silicon carbide can reduce a loss in an operation as compared at the same breakdown voltage with a pn diode and an IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) which use silicon. The Schottky barrier diode (SBD), especially, has a simple device structure, and development thereof for practical use has been actively made.
The Schottky barrier diode (SBD) has problems of an increase in the leak current in application of reverse bias and an increase in a loss in energization in a case where it is intended to achieve high breakdown voltage. As a countermeasure against these problems, proposed are a JBS, an MPS, and the like structures. The JBS is a structure in which an N-type epitaxial layer is formed on an N+, -type silicon carbide substrate and a Schottky electrode is formed in a front surface of the N−, -type epitaxial layer and an ohmic electrode is formed on a back surface of the N+, -type silicon carbide substrate. A P-type end region for relieving an electric field is provided at an end portion of the Schottky electrode and a P-type region is provided below the Schottky electrode.
In any structure, a P-type region is formed below the Schottky electrode, at the end portion of the Schottky electrode, and at a peripheral portion thereof.
In techniques disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Gazette Nos. 2008-282973, and 2008-300506,, P-type regions of different depths and P-type regions of different sizes are formed below the Schottky electrode.
Further, in techniques disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Gazette Nos. 2008-270413, and 2011-521471,, P-i-N regions are arranged in a unit of chip. In a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Gazette No. 2008-042198,, P-type regions of two kinds of concentrations are arranged in a unit of chip.
For achieving the above structures, however, in order to form the P-type regions of different conditions, ion implantation has to be performed the number of times that satisfies the different conditions. Therefore, there arises a problem of an increase in the number of ion implantation processes.
Further, since the P-type regions are locally formed, surge current is concentrated and this arises a problem that high breakdown voltage cannot be achieved.


A lead frame has slots therein for bayonet type connection to electrical terminals provided on a solenoid valve or group of valves. Projections on the lead frame are disposed between the slots and upon bayonet connection to the terminals closely interfit a web disposed between the terminals on the solenoid. Preferably, support stanchions are provided for the terminals and may be integrally molded with the web.

The present invention relates to making an electrical connection to a solenoid and particularly a solenoid operated valve where it is desired to provide for direct plug in or bayonet-type connection. This technique is preferred for making electrical connection to a solenoid where a plurality of solenoid operated valves are disposed on a manifold and arranged for individually controlling an outlet pressure signal to a plurality of outlets on the manifold for control purposes. Such an arrangement of plural valves on a manifold is found in control modules for automatic speed change power transmissions as, for example, automatic transmissions employed in motor vehicles and particularly passenger cars and light trucks.
Heretofore, automatic transmission control modules having plural valves mounted on a manifold for controlling individual pressure signals to a plurality of control signal outlets have employed an electrical lead frame which was commonly assembled over bayonet-type terminals provided on each valve solenoid to facilitate rapid assembly of the module in high volume production as required for automotive applications. However, problems have been encountered in vehicle service with failure of the terminal connection encountered when the module with the valves thereon is attached to the vehicle transmission and is subjected to vibrations from the engine and inertial loads imposed during vehicle operation. Thus, it has long been desired to provide a way or means of simultaneously connecting a plurality of solenoid operated valves to an electrical lead frame in a manner which was sufficiently robust to withstand the vibration encountered in automotive automatic transmission applications on motor vehicles.


A memory apparatus and method of operation is provided. The apparatus includes memory cells connected to word lines and bit lines and arranged in strings and configured to retain a threshold voltage. Each of the memory cells is configured to be erased in an erase operation occurring during an erase time period. A control circuit is configured to adjust at least a portion of the erase time period in response to determining the erase operation is a segmented erase operation and is resumed after being suspended. The control circuit applies an erase signal having a plurality of voltage segments temporally separated from one another during the erase time period to each of the strings while simultaneously applying a word line erase voltage to selected ones of the word lines to encourage erasing of the memory cells coupled to the selected ones of the word lines in the segmented erase operation.

This section provides background information related to the technology associated with the present disclosure and, as such, is not necessarily prior art.
Semiconductor memory has become increasingly popular for use in various electronic devices. For example, non-volatile semiconductor memory is used in cellular telephones, digital cameras, personal digital assistants, mobile computing devices, non-mobile computing devices and other devices. Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) and flash memory are among the most popular non-volatile semiconductor memories. With flash memory, also a type of EEPROM, the contents of the whole memory array, or of a portion of the memory, can be erased in one step, in contrast to the traditional, full-featured EEPROM.
Both the traditional EEPROM and the flash memory utilize a floating gate or charge trapping layer that is positioned above and insulated from a channel region in a semiconductor substrate. The floating gate or charge trapping layer is positioned between the source and drain regions. A control gate is provided over and insulated from the floating gate or charge trapping layer. The threshold voltage (VTH) of the transistor thus formed is controlled by the amount of charge that is retained on the floating gate or charge trapping layer. That is, the minimum amount of voltage that must be applied to the control gate before the transistor is turned on to permit conduction between its source and drain is controlled by the level of charge on the floating gate or charge trapping layer.
Some EEPROM and flash memory devices have a floating gate or charge trapping layer that is used to store two ranges of charges and, therefore, the memory element can be programmed/erased between two states, e.g., an erased state and a programmed state. Such a flash memory device is sometimes referred to as a binary flash memory device because each memory element can store one bit of data.
A multi-state (also called multi-level) flash memory device is implemented by identifying multiple distinct allowed/valid programmed threshold voltage ranges. Each distinct threshold voltage range corresponds to a predetermined value for the set of data bits encoded in the memory device. For example, each memory element can store two bits of data when the element can be placed in one of four discrete charge bands corresponding to four distinct threshold voltage ranges.
Typically, a program voltage VPGM applied to the control gate during a program operation is applied as a series of pulses that increase in magnitude over time. In one possible approach, the magnitude of the pulses is increased with each successive pulse by a predetermined step size can be applied to the control gates of flash memory elements. In the periods between the program pulses, verify operations are carried out. That is, the programming level of each element of a group of elements being programmed in parallel is read between successive programming pulses to determine whether it is equal to or greater than a verify level to which the element is being programmed. For arrays of multi-state flash memory elements, a verification step may be performed for each state of an element to determine whether the element has reached its data-associated verify level. For example, a multi-state memory element capable of storing data in four states may need to perform verify operations for three compare points.
Moreover, when programming an EEPROM or flash memory device, such as a NAND flash memory device in a NAND string, typically VPGM is applied to the control gate and the bit line is grounded, causing electrons from the channel of a cell or memory element, e.g., storage element, to be injected into the floating gate or charge trapping layer. When electrons accumulate in the floating gate or charge trapping layer, the floating gate or charge trapping layer becomes negatively charged and the threshold voltage of the memory element is raised so that the memory element is considered to be in a programmed state.
Erasing the memory cells can be achieved by removing the electrons from the floating gate or charge trapping layer, thereby lowering the threshold voltage. Memory operations of memory devices, such as erasing, with a lower relative priority may also be suspended and later resumed while higher priority operations are completed. However, various challenges arise depending on how the operations are carried out, suspended, and resumed.

Memory apparatus and method of operation using adaptive erase time compensation for segmented erase


A chaff discharger with at least one radial fan wheel, rotatably mounted in a fan housing. The housing includes an end wall turned away from a sieving unit and a peripheral wall formed with at least one chaff discharge opening. A direction of rotation of the radial fan wheel is reversible so as to permit discharge of the chaff in different directions via the associated chaff discharge opening, depending on the fan wheel direction of rotation.

In threshing operations carried out in combine harvesters, harvest residues are produced, normally consisting of chaff and straw from such crops as wheat, barley, oats and rye but also originating from different kinds of oil-producing plants and maize, sunflower and so on having comparatively large and stiff plant parts. For the sake of simplicity and clarity, the terms chaff and straw will, however, be used throughout.
Modern combine harvesters are becoming increasingly larger with increasingly wider cutting tables that are in themselves substantially wider than the combine itself. During the threshing operation considerable amounts of smoke and dust are generated around the combine, which is a serious problem as regards the combine drive motor and above all considering the substantial fire hazard involved. In order to minimise this hazard it important that the largest possible amounts of the harvest residues consisting of straw and chaff are spread as far as possible laterally and rearwards of the combine.
The chaff discharger connected to the combine sieving unit on the whole has the same width as the combine itself and conventionally it is designed to spread, following the threshing operation, the chaff laterally and rearwards across an area that essentially corresponds to the width of the cutting table. A straw chopper, usually a rotary cutter, which is connected to a straw shaker or threshing cylinder incorporated in the combine and which is located downstream of said drum, likewise has a width approximately equalling that of the combine itself, and conventionally it is designed to chop up the straw into smaller pieces after the threshing operation, and to spread the chopped straw across an area behind the combine that essentially equals the chaff spreading width. Following the spreading of the chaff and the chopped straw as indicated above, the chaff and the straw are as a rule ploughed down together into the ground.
If for various reasons it is not desired to chop the straw in the straw chopper but instead to deposit it in windrows on the ground behind the combine to be later collected, and preferably baled, for use for example as fodder, bedding material and the like, this could be effected with the aid of for example a deflector plate. In this case the deflector plate may be pivotal between a first position, wherein it closes an inlet to the straw-cutter housing to shunt the straw chopper and allow the unchopped straw to be windrowed, and a second position, wherein it exposes the inlet to allow chopping of the straw in the straw chopper and spreading of the chopped straw.
From SE-C2-512 815 is previously known a combine harvester of the type described above in general terms, the straw chopper of which is positioned downstream not only of the straw shaker unit or the threshing cylinder but also of the chaff discharger. In this case the deflector plate is disposed between the chaff spreader and the straw chopper and it is movable between the above two positions for windrowing and for chopping of the straw. Irrespective of the deflector plate position, the chaff discharge opening formed in the fan housing of the chaff discharger is arranged, by rotation of the fan housing, to be set in a first position, wherein the chaff is sspread across the ground, and a second position, wherein the chaff is mixed in with the unchopped straw.
When the chaff is to be mixed with the straw that is intended for windrowing, this operation is carried out with the deflector plate assuming its first position and the chaff discharge opening its second position, whereas on the other hand, when the chaff is to be mixed with the straw to be choppe, i.e. upstream of the straw chopper, this operation is carried out with the deflector plate and the chaff discharge opening assuming their respective second positions. To allow admixture of chaff into the straw in the latter situation, the deflector plate is formed with a chaff through-passage that may be opened and closed. The through-passage is open, when the deflector plate assumes its second position for chopping the straw, and is closed, when it assumes its first position for windrowing of the straw.
In some types of combine harvesters, various circumstances, such as lack of space or different structural or functional/technical solutions, make it very difficult or even impossible to so locate the chaff discharger that without problems the chaff may be mixed with or blown into the straw, to be chopped in the straw chopper, upstream of the latter.
Furthermore, in some cases, particularly when large volumes of chaff (and husks) are to be handled, it may be difficult satisfactorily and without unnecessary waste to blow the chaff through the open through-passage in the deflector plate to the straw chopper.
In addition, because the chaff is mixed into the straw to be chopped upstream of the straw chopper it may in some cases happen, for example when the volumes of straw and chaff are large or when the moisture contents of that material are high, that the straw chopper becomes overloaded or clogged. In turn, this may lead to impaired spreading of the chopped straw jointly with the at least partly chopped chaff and, if the worst comes to the worst, even to breakdown.
SE-A1-000382-2 disclosed a combine harvester, wherein a spreader formed with spreader wings for spreading the chopped straw across the ground is connected to the outlet of the straw chopper. In order to solve the problem outlined above, the chaff discharge opening in the fan housing of the chaff discharger is then arranged to be directed towards a first position, wherein the chaff may be blown into the spreader to be spread by the latter, and a second position for spreading the chaff laterally upstream of the spreader. Normally, setting the chaff discharge opening such that it is directed to either the first or the second position is effected by rotation of the fan housing, but alternatively it could be effected by forming the chaff discharger with a first outlet in the first position and a second outlet in the second position, both outlets-being openable and closable as desired for example with the aid of e.g. shutters or dampers.
Irrespective of the design of the combine harvester as discussed above or also corresponding combine types, setting or directing the chaff discharge opening between the first and second positions, respectively, by means of rotation of the chaff discharger fan housing require that the fan housing be controlled. If the housing is controlled manually, then the operator needs to leave the driver's cabin each time the fan housing is to be rotated, and walk to the chaff discharger at the rear end of the combine harvester and to return the cabin to continue the threshing operation. On the other hand, when the control is effected by electrical or hydraulic means or in some other way by means of controls installed in the driver's cabin, the operator need not leave the driver's cabin but on the other hand, rather expensive and complex installation of the controls in the cabin is required as also mounting of the drive means in the form of motors, valves and so on on the chaff discharger in order to rotate the associated fan housing, as well as operational lines/hoses/tubes extending between the driver's cabin and the chaff discharger.


Embodiments of the present invention provide a semiconductor structure and method to reduce thermal energy transfer during chip-join processing. In certain embodiments, the semiconductor structure comprises a thermal insulating element formed under a first conductor. The semiconductor structure also comprises a solder bump formed over the first conductor. The semiconductor structure further comprises a second conductor formed on a side of the thermal insulating element and in electrical communication with the first conductor and a third conductor. The third conductor is formed to be in thermal or electrical communication with the thermal insulating element. The thermal insulating element includes thermal insulating material and the thermal insulating element is structured to reduce thermal energy transfer during a chip-join process from the solder bump to a metal level included in the semiconductor structure.

Semiconductor manufacturing process is typically separated into two major stages: a front-end process stage and a back-end-of-line (hereinafter "BEOL") process stage. The front-end process refers to the formation of electric devices, such as transistors, and/or electric components, such as resistors and capacitors, on a semiconductor substrate. On the other hand, the BEOL process refers to the formation of metal interconnections between various electric devices and electric components in order to implement a circuitry as designed. Usually, layers of the metal interconnections are insulated by insulating dielectric materials, such as silicon oxide or silicate glass.
Flip chip packaging, also known as controlled collapse chip connection (hereinafter "C4"), is a method for interconnecting semiconductor devices, such as integrated circuit chips and micro-electromechanical systems, to external circuitry with solder bumps that have been deposited onto the chip pads. The solder bumps are deposited on the chip pads on the top side of the wafer/substrate during the final BEOL wafer/substrate processing step. To mount the chip to external circuitry (e.g., a circuit board or another chip or wafer), it is flipped over so that its top side faces down, and aligned so that its pads align with matching pads on the external circuit, and then the solder is flowed to complete the interconnect. Note, that this is in contrast to wire bonding, in which the chip is mounted upright and the wires are used to interconnect the chip pads to external circuitry.
Conventional reflow ovens are utilized for chip joining, wherein components of the chip assembly, such as the chip, solder bumps, and laminate substrate, are simultaneously subjected to a temperature in excess of 240° C. for several minutes. Silicon and composite materials included in the laminate substrate have very different coefficients of thermal expansion (hereinafter "CTE"). Thermal expansion refers to the tendency of matter to change in volume in response to a change in temperature. The CTE of a material is the fractional increase in the length per unit rise in temperature. After solder bumps have melted and joined the chip to the substrate they are allowed to cool to room temperature.
However, in doing so, the substrate shrinks more than the chip, which causes the assembly's outermost solder joints to experience shear stress proportional to the difference in the displacements of the silicon and the substrate. When the chips are large enough, the shear stress can deform solder bumps as well as cause the solder to tear from the chip. In the same vein, shear stress can cause the solder joints to crack the chip near its top, which can result in the breaking of wiring layers and/or chip failure. A solution is to use induction heating conducted at an appropriate frequency and time to melt the solder bump while not directly heating either the silicon or the substrate.
Short induction durations are preferable, since some heat will escape from the heated solder bump into both the chip and the substrate by thermal conduction. As the induction duration increases, the amount of heat absorbed by the chip and the substrate increases, which can result in undesirable thermal expansion therein. To address undesirable thermal expansion, shorter induction durations may be performed to create adiabatic conditions, wherein a reduced amount of heat is absorbed by either the chip and/or the substrate. However, as the induction duration decreases, the amount of power required increases, which may increase manufacturing costs.

Reducing thermal energy transfer during chip-join processing


A sensing circuit for multi-level flash memory is disclosed. The advantages of the sensing circuit are reducing the circuit size, reducing the testing time for tuning reference voltage and maintaining a constant difference between two approximate reference voltages. The sensing circuit comprises a reference voltage generator which includes a number of serial connected resistive devices and provides several reference voltages by voltage division; a data saving circuit outputs a data voltage; a comparing circuit compares the data voltage with the several reference voltages to output a comparing signal; a decoder receives and then decodes the comparing signal to output the data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a sensing circuit for multi-level flash memory, and more particularly to a sensing circuit for multi-level flash memory by using voltage division to provide reference voltages.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In conventional memory devices, data is stored in a flash memory cell in the form of electrical charge accumulated inside an inner gate, which is known as a floating gate. The amount of charge stored in the floating gate depends on the voltage applied to the external gate of the memory cell that controls the magnitude of electrical current flowing through it. The data state "0", or "1"represented by the memory cell depends on whether threshold voltage generated by the stored charge exceeds a specified threshold voltage or not. However, such conventional memory has the limitation that one memory cell can distinguish only two different states, i.e., one memory cell can store only one-bit of data. As a result, limited storage capacity becomes a disadvantage of conventional memory device.
FIG. 1 illustrates an improved multi-level flash memory sensing circuit according to known arts. In the circuit, a flash memory cell capable of storing two bits of data was shown. A flash memory constructed from such kind of cells can thus provide double storage capacity within the same dimension. FIG. 1 contains a reference voltage generator, a data saving circuit, a comparing circuit and a decoder 145. The reference voltage generator, which includes resistive devices 100, 103, 106, bit line clamp circuits 112, 115, 118, and the reference memory cells 124, 127, 130, is to provide different reference voltage levels REF1, REF2, and REF3.
The data saving circuit, which includes a resistive device 109, a bit line clamp circuit 121, and a flash memory cell 133, is for storing digital information. The comparing circuit, which includes comparators 136, 139, and 142, is intended to compare the voltage level stored in the data saving circuit with the voltage level generated by the reference voltage generator. The comparing circuit sends digital signals representing the comparing result to the decoder 145, and the decoder 145 decodes information stored in the flash memory cell 133 according to the permutation of the digital signals.
A key factor that the circuit shown in FIG. 1 can store two bits of digital data is that it contains a reference voltage generator which is designed to output several different reference voltage levels. In the example of FIG. 1, three different reference voltage levels will be generated to distinguish four distinct voltage ranges. By the comparing circuit, it can determine to which range the voltage level is stored in the data saving circuit, then it is able to decode the information stored in the data saving circuit.
FIG. 2 shows aforementioned three reference voltage levels REF1, REF2, REF3 as well as four voltage ranges defined thereby. Specifically, we have a first range with a voltage level less than REF1, a second range with a voltage level between REF1 and REF2, a third range with a voltage level between REF2 and REF3, and a fourth range with a voltage level greater than REF3. Vh1 represents the voltage level kept in the data saving circuit. The flash memory cell is said to keep information "A" when Vh1 is in the first range. Likewise, the flash memory cell is said to respectively keep information "B", "C", or "D" when Vh1 is in the second, third, or fourth range. States "A" through "D" can be represented by two bits of digital code in this case. "00", for example, can be assigned to state "A", "01" can be assigned to "B", "10" can be assigned to "C", and "11" can be assigned to "D". Alternatively, "11,10,01,00" or any other different permutation can be assigned to states "A,B,C,D" respectively.
As the reference voltage generator provides more different voltage levels, and thus more voltage ranges, more information represented by the flash memory cell of the data saving circuit, will be able to be discriminated. A disadvantage of the circuit shown in FIG. 1 is, however, that the same number of reference voltage generating units must be provided to generate the required number of reference voltage levels. Each reference voltage generating unit includes one resistive device, one bit line clamp circuit, and one reference memory cell. On the other hand, before each reference voltage generating unit is qualified to work, they must be calibrated for the correct voltage level output, and the calibration process needs some duration of testing time. Moreover, except the range under the smallest reference voltage level and the range above the largest reference voltage level (such as the first and the fourth ranges in FIG. 2), all the other ranges (such as the second and the third ranges in FIG. 2) must meet a requirement that their extent should be constant, i.e., the difference between any two adjacent reference voltage levels has to be fixed.
In view of the impact of the number of reference voltages on both the data storage capacity and the testing duration for reference voltage calibration process, and the requirement of constant reference voltage ranges, there is a need to provide an improved reference voltage generator for the sensing circuit for multi-level flash memory to resolve above problems.

Sensing circuit for multi-level flash memory


An oximeter sensor adapter which allows a sensor without a resistor in parallel with its LEDs to operate with an oximeter expecting such a resistor in parallel. The adapter has a switching circuit which has inputs connected to the LED drive outputs of the oximeter. The switching circuit has two pairs of outputs, one connected to the LED drive lines of the sensor, and the other connected to a resistor in the adapter itself. The switching circuit is controlled by a sensing circuit which senses when a signal on the input lines drops below a predetermined level, such as 0.5 volts. The sensing circuit, in response to a low voltage (corresponding to an attempt to read a resistor in parallel with the LEDs), will provide a signal to a switching circuit. The switching circuit will switch the resistor onto the input lines so that it can be read. When a higher voltage returns to the input lines, the switching circuit switches back to the LEDs themselves.

This invention relates in general to optical oximeters and relates more particularly to an adapter that enables an optical oximeter probe, that is designed/configured to be utilized on an associated oximeter/monitor, to be used on a different oximeter/monitor that utilizes a different probe configuration.
Because of the importance of oxygen for healthy human metabolism, it is important to be able to measure the oxygen content of a patient""s blood. The monitoring of a patient""s arterial hemoglobin oxygen saturation during and after surgery is particularly critical.
Noninvasive oximeters have been developed that direct light through a patient""s skin into a region, such as a finger, containing arterial blood. This light typically contains two or more primary wavelengths of light. Examples of such oximeters are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,230 entitled xe2x80x9cAdhesive Pulse Oximeter Sensor With Reusable Portionxe2x80x9d issued to Swedlow, et al. and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,708 entitled xe2x80x9cCalibrated Optical Oximeter Probexe2x80x9d issued to New, Jr. et al., both assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. The oximeter in the patent by New, Jr. et al. includes a probe that contains a resistor having a resistance that can be measured by a monitor to which the probe is attached. The measured value of this resistance is indicative of the wavelengths of the light directed from the light emitting diodes (LEDs) through the patient""s epidermis. The monitor uses this information and the measured intensities of light detected at those wavelengths to calculate the blood arterial oxygen content of the patient. The LEDs are typically activated in non-overlapping temporal intervals, so that the amount of absorption of light at each of these two wavelengths is usually measured separately.
Oftentimes, an oximeter sensor may be made by one manufacturer, and a monitor by another manufacturer. Accordingly, adapters may be necessary if the sensor and the oximeter/monitor are not compatible. Alternately, the sensor itself can be configured so that it can be used with different oximeters. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,576, entitled xe2x80x9cUniversal Pulse Oximeter Probexe2x80x9d issued to Goldberger et al., allows the leads of the sensor to be connected in alternate configurations. Examples of adapters are set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,807,247, assignee Nellcor Puritan Bennett, Inc., and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,818,985, also assigned to Nellcor Puritan Bennett, Inc. Yet another adapter is set forth in copending application No. 09/040,218, filed Mar. 17, 1998, entitled xe2x80x9cActive Optical Oximeter Probe Adapterxe2x80x9d, Adnan Merchant et al., also assigned to Nellcor Puritan Bennett, Inc. The disclosures of all three of the above Nellcor Puritan Bennett applications are incorporated herein by reference.
In one type of oximeter sensor, set forth in Masimo Corporation U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,644, separate leads on the sensor for connecting to a coding resistor are eliminated. Instead, the coding resistor is connected in parallel with the light-emitting diodes (LEDs) of the sensor. The coding resistor can be read by providing a low voltage at which the LEDs will not conduct substantial current. For example, a voltage of 0.5 volts will accomplish this. Thus, in a configuration mode, a low voltage can be driven to the LED leads, and the resistance can be read. Subsequently, higher voltages can be used for driving the LEDs in an operational mode. Clearly, oximeter sensors without such a resistance across the LED leads will not be compatible with such an arrangement. In one embodiment of the Masimo sensor, the resistor does not provide a coding function at all, but rather modifies the characteristics of the LEDs.
The present invention provides an oximeter sensor adapter which allows a sensor without a resistor in parallel with its LEDs to operate with an oximeter expecting such a resistor in parallel. The adapter has a switching circuit which has inputs connected to the LED drive outputs of the oximeter. The switching circuit has two pairs of outputs, one connected to the LED drive lines of the sensor, and the other connected to a resistor in the adapter itself. The switching circuit is controlled by a sensing circuit which senses when a signal on the input lines drops below a predetermined level, such as 0.5 volts. The sensing circuit, in response to a low voltage (corresponding to an attempt to read a resistor in parallel with the LEDs), will provide a signal to a switching circuit. The switching circuit will switch the resistor onto the input lines so that it can be read. When a higher voltage returns to the input lines, the switching circuit switches back to the LEDs themselves.
Thus, the present invention in essence fools the oximeter into thinking that there is a resistor connected in parallel with the LEDs, when in fact there is not. It allows a sensor without a resistor across its LED leads to work with an oximeter expecting such a resistor.
For a further understanding of the nature and advantages of the invention, reference should be made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Interconnect circuit between non-compatible oximeter and sensor


A method of providing a corrosion-resistant coating on a surface of an aluminum component comprises anodizing the surface of the aluminum component to form an anodized aluminum oxide layer and sputter coating a sputtered layer on the anodized aluminum oxide layer. A coated aluminum component can be used in a substrate processing chamber and comprises an aluminum body, an anodized aluminum oxide layer formed on the aluminum body, and a sputtered layer comprising aluminum oxide on the anodized aluminum oxide layer.

The present invention relates to aluminum components for a substrate processing chamber and their methods of manufacture.
In the processing of a substrate in a substrate processing chamber, as in the manufacture of integrated circuits and displays, the substrate is typically exposed to energized gases that are capable of, for example, etching or depositing material on the substrate. The energized gases can also be provided to clean surfaces of the chamber. However, the energized gases can often comprise corrosive halogen-containing gases and other energized species that can corrode components of the chamber, such as enclosure walls of the chamber. For example, chamber components made of aluminum can chemically react with energized halogen-containing gases to form AlCl3 or AlF3, thereby corroding the components. The corroded portions of the components can flake off and contaminate the substrate, which reduces the substrate yield. Thus, the corroded components must often be replaced or removed from the chamber and cleaned, resulting in undesirable chamber downtime.
The corrosion resistance of a chamber component can be improved by forming a coating of a corrosion resistant material over surfaces of the component that are susceptible to corrosion, such as surfaces that would otherwise be exposed to the energized gas. For example, a coating of aluminum oxide can be formed on surfaces of an aluminum component by anodizing the aluminum component in an electrolytic cell. However, anodized aluminum oxide coatings often contain surface features such as pores, cracks, indentures, and other penetrating features that limit the ability of the anodized aluminum coating to protect the underlying aluminum component. For example, surface features that extend through the protective coating can allow corrosive gases to penetrate the coating and erode the underlying component material thereby causing the coating to flake off of the component. This can cause the coating itself to contaminate the chamber and the substrate being processed therein.
The performance of the anodized aluminum oxide layer can be improved by coating the anodized layer with a protective material, such as a fusible polymer or an organic fluid, to protect the aluminum article from surface scars and dents. This process, however, requires additional process steps to cure, dry or seal the protective layer. Such additional steps also augment the cost and time to manufacture the article.
It is also desirable to reduce or prevent the diffusion of impurities that are present in the underlying aluminum structure to the exposed surface of the component. Aluminum alloys, for example, 6061 aluminum alloy often contains trace elements of impurities such as chromium, iron, or manganese; and sometimes even calcium, potassium or magnesium. When the raw surface of the aluminum component is exposed to the plasma environment in the process chamber, the low vacuum pressure in the chamber as well as the elevated temperatures of the plasma can cause migration of the impurities to the exposed surface of the aluminum component. The resultant higher surface concentration of impurity is undesirable and can result in contamination of the substrate.
Another way to protect a chamber component is to utilize a high purity aluminum-magnesium alloy to form the chamber component itself. The surface of the component is anodized and then exposed to a halogen-containing species. The halogens diffuse through the aluminum oxide layer to form a protective magnesium halide layer immediately beneath the aluminum oxide layer. The magnesium halide layer renders the article's surface corrosion-resistant and the aluminum oxide layer protects the underlying magnesium halide layer. While this approach provides good corrosion resistance, it can also be costly because the aluminum-magnesium alloy is difficult to fabricate.
Thus, there is a need for aluminum components that exhibit improved corrosion resistance to energized gases. There is also a need for aluminum components having an aluminum oxide coating that exhibits improved corrosion resistance and is less susceptible to the erosion and flaking off of aluminum particles. There is a further need for an aluminum component that has a low level of surface impurity concentration.

Corrosion-resistant aluminum component having multi-layer coating


A method for solving routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) problems for all-optical networks involves formulating a joint optimization problem in which the routing of lightpaths and assignment of wavelengths on links of those routes to the lightpaths is expressed jointly in terms of a single optimization criterion. The method features formulation of the joint optimization problem as a continuous variable optimization problem with a convex constraint set. Integer constraints, for example, related to the fact that any particular lightpath is not permitted to split over multiple routes or over separate wavelengths on a link of its route, are not necessarily represented explicitly by the constraint set. However, the formulation of the objective function is such that although the problem is formulated in terms of continuous optimization variables, optimal solutions to the problem are integer or equivalent to an integer solution, thereby satisfying the integer constraints.

This invention relates to routing, wavelength assignment, network design, and reconfiguration for optical wavelength-division-multiplexed (WDM) networks.
Communication networks can make use of optical communication links between nodes of a network in order to provide a higher communication capacity between nodes than may be available using electrical communication links. For example, a data stream may be used to modulate an optical signal for transmission over a link. At the receiving node the data stream is demodulated to form an electrical signal. The data stream that is encoded in the demodulated electrical signal is then routed to an outgoing optical link where it is used to modulate an outbound optical signal. The maximum data rate of a signal that is routed in such a manner is typically in the order of 10 Gb/s.
More recently, optical links have been used to carry a number of data streams in a frequency multiplexing approach in which each of a number of optical signals at different wavelengths are modulated by different data streams. This approach is known as "wavelength division multiplexing (WDM)." For example, this approach provides an aggregate capacity on each optical fiber that can be in the order of 2 Tb/s using 1000 different wavelengths each carrying a 2 Gb/s data stream. At nodes in the network, one approach to routing data is to optically demultiplex the separate optical signals that arrive at an input port and demodulate each data stream to form an electrical signal. The electrical signals carrying the data streams are then electrically routed to appropriate output ports, where the outbound data streams modulate different wavelength optical signals and the modulated optical signals are multiplexed for transmission over the outbound optical fibers. Certain nodes, called access nodes or access stations, provide interfaces for data signals passing to or from the network, while intermediate routing nodes pass the optical signals between links within the network.
Rather than routing optical signals at intermediate nodes by converting the data streams to electrical signals, all-optical networks have been developed in which optical signals are passed between ports of intermediate nodes without electrical conversion. In such a network, a node can perform wavelength routing in which the node is configured such that optical signals are routed between particular ports of the node according to their wavelengths without conversion to electrical signals. For instance, the node can be configured such that optical signals arriving at a port at different wavelengths are routed to other ports according to their wavelengths. The configuration of such a wavelength routing node can be static, or can be reconfigurable. Furthermore, a reconfigurable wavelength routing node may allow any combination of routing patterns, or may be constrained, for example by the physical design of the wavelength router, to only allow a subset of routing patterns.
In addition to routing optical signals according to their wavelengths, wavelength conversion devices are available that can change the frequency of an optical signal as it passes through a node. A node that includes both wavelength conversion and wavelength routing capabilities can route optical signals arriving at one wavelength at one port to a different wavelength on another port. As with wavelength routers, wavelength conversion can be static or reconfigurable, and if reconfigurable, may be limited to only a subset of all combinations of wavelength conversion.
In general, the flexibility of static or configurable wavelength routing and wavelength conversion comes at a financial cost and may also result in degradation of optical signals as they pass through the node, thereby limiting data rates or ranges over which optical signals can be transmitted through the network.
An all-optical wavelength routed network allows high data rates to pass between origin-destination pairs of access nodes without electrical conversion at intermediate routing nodes along a path joining the origin-destination pair in the network. A continuous lightpath is set up between a pair of access nodes by configuring the intermediate routing nodes to pass the lightpath along links of the network joining the access nodes. In the absence of wavelength conversion, a lightpath occupies the same wavelength on all fiber links on the lightpath. This is often referred to as wavelength continuity on a lightpath.
If the network supports wavelength conversion in addition to wavelength routing, a lightpath may change wavelength at intermediate nodes along its route and therefore may have different wavelengths on different links along its path. If the routing nodes are reconfigurable, different lightpaths can be established and terminated on an ongoing basis, for example, as the demand for communication capacity between different pairs of access nodes changes.
Establishing a lightpath for a communication session between two access nodes involves both determining a path in the network between the two access nodes and allocating a free wavelength on each of the links on that path. Intermediate routing nodes are then configured to optically couple appropriate wavelengths between successive links on the path to provide a continuous all-optical path between the access nodes. Once established, the entire bandwidth on the lightpath is reserved for this communication session between access nodes until it is terminated, at which time the associated wavelengths become available on all the links along the path.
Assignment of lightpaths to a set of desired connections between pairs of access nodes requires both assignment of a path through the network for each connection, and assignment of a wavelength to each link in each path. It is often desirable to select the assigned routes and wavelength to optimize a particular performance metric. This selection is known as the "routing and wavelength assignment (RWA)" problem. Numerous research studies have been conducted on the RWA problem. Several RWA schemes have been proposed that differ in the assumptions on the traffic pattern, availability of the wavelength converters, and desired objectives. The traffic assumptions generally fall into one of two categories: static or dynamic. In static RWA models the demand is assumed to be fixed and known. That is, all the lightpaths that are to be set up in the network are known beforehand. A typical objective is to accommodate the demand for lightpaths while minimizing the number of wavelengths used on all links. By contrast, in a stochastic/dynamic setting, lightpath requests between source-destination pairs are assumed to arrive one by one at random, and have random terminating times. A typical objective in this case is to minimize the blocking probability for new requests, or the total (perhaps weighted) number of blocked requests over a given period of time.
The RWA problem is critically important in increasing the efficiency of wavelength-routed optical networks. With a good solution of this problem, more customers can be statically accommodated by the given system. In dynamic systems, fewer requests to establish lightpaths are rejected during periods of congestion.
Even in the static case, the typically proposed formulations for optimal lightpath establishment require solution of difficult mixed integer linear programs. In particular, the optimal static lightpath establishment problem without wavelength converters was proven to be NP-complete by showing the equivalence of the problem to the graph-coloring problem. Since the associated integer linear programs are very hard to solve, corresponding relaxed linear programs in which the optimization variables are not required to be integral have been used to get bounds on the desired objective function. Alternative formulations of such relaxed problems have been considered to get tighter bounds. The usefulness of these bounds lies in the fact that they can be used as benchmarks against which performance of various heuristic RWA algorithms can be compared. However, there is no general way of converting an optimal non-integer solution to an optimal integer one.
Due to computational complexity of obtaining an optimal solution to the RWA problem, much of the previous work on the RWA problem has focused on developing efficient heuristic methods. A common approach is to decouple the routing and wavelength assignment steps by first finding a route from a predetermined set of candidate paths for all requested paths and then searching for an appropriate wavelength assignment for each route. However, given that the number of wavelengths is restricted and wavelength converters may not be available at all nodes, a suitable wavelength may not be available on all the links along a chosen route.
Recent work in WDM networks is based on a maximum-load model. In the maximum-load model, the route of each request is given and the problem is to find the minimum number of wavelengths to satisfy a given request set. This is a worst-case model, where no blocking of lightpaths is allowed, and there are no assumptions made on the traffic pattern. The traffic is characterized only by its load, which is the maximum number of lightpaths that can be present over any link in the network. However, this approach to designing a network can result in over-designing the network and using many wavelengths to support a typical request patterns.
Most of the literature on the RWA problem considers either networks without any wavelength converters or networks with wavelength converters at every node. The benefits of wavelength conversion have been analyzed under different traffic models. However, the high cost of full wavelength conversion at every node has led to research on networks with sparse wavelength conversion. In a network with sparse wavelength conversion, only a fraction of the nodes are equipped with wavelength converters.

Routing and wavelength assignment in optical networks


A brake support structure for effectively utilizes a space is disposed so as to be hardly visible in appearance. In addition, the brake support structure protects the pipes. A brake support structure includes a vehicle frame having rear frames extending from main frames with a swing arm having a front end pivotally supported on the rear frames and a rear end for rotatably supporting a rear wheel. Brake pipes are connected to a brake caliper for braking the rear wheel. An upper cross member interconnects the rear frames and is disposed near the swing arm. The brake pipes extend between the upper cross member and the swing arm.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a brake support structure for braking wheels of a two-wheeled vehicle. More particularly, to a brake support structure for supporting a brake pipe for supplying a brake fluid.
2. Description of Background Art
A brake support structure is known in related art wherein a rear brake pipe extends from a rear brake caliper and is disposed on an upper surface of a swing arm that turns 180 degrees around over a pivot shaft and is coupled to a rear brake master cylinder. See, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 7-144676.
However, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 7-144676 suffers the following two problems:
The first problem relates to the layout of the brake pipe near the pivot shaft, the brake pipe is required to have a certain curvature or greater because of the need for the absorption of vibrations of the swing arm. However, it is difficult to provide a space for the curvature around the pivot shaft.
The second problem is that the need for a separate stay for the pipe results in disadvantages as to cost and weight.


A magnet-mounting member for holding permanent magnets against side faces of each claw-shaped magnetic pole has pairs of extreme-end and basal-end hooking tabs for preventing displacement of the permanent magnets in either a basal-end or extreme-end direction. The magnet-mounting member is configured such that a function of the basal-end hooking tabs to prevent displacement of the permanent magnets can be disabled by deforming the basal-end hooking tabs. When the magnet-mounting member is forced onto the claw-shaped magnetic pole, the basal-end hooking tabs go into contact with the permanent magnets and deform outward, whereby the magnet-retaining function of the basal-end hooking tabs is disabled. When the magnet-mounting member has been fully pushed onto the claw-shaped magnetic pole, the basal-end hooking tabs resume an original shape to prevent the permanent magnets from being displaced in either direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a structure of a rotor of an alternating current (AC) generator or motor, and more particularly, to a structure for mounting permanent magnets in the rotor to prevent leakage of magnetic flux from between facing side faces of adjacent claw-shaped magnetic poles.
2. Description of the Background Art
There exist conventionally known techniques for increasing output of a rotating electric machine whose rotor includes a pair of intermeshed pole core bodies having claw-shaped magnetic poles. One of such techniques is to fit permanent magnets in gaps between one claw-shaped magnetic pole and the next which are arranged along a circumferential direction of the rotor in order to reduce leakage of magnetic flux through the gaps between the adjacent claw-shaped magnetic poles for increasing output of a rotating electric machine.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-86715 discloses an arrangement for fixing permanent magnets in gaps between adjacent claw-shaped magnetic poles for preventing magnetic flux leakage through the gaps. According to the Publication, the permanent magnet fitted on each side of every claw-shaped magnetic pole is fixed thereto by means of a reinforcing member having a generally M-shaped or C-shaped cross section in such a manner that the reinforcing member embraces the permanent magnet. With this arrangement, the permanent magnets embraced by respective reinforcing members can be fixed to the claw-shaped magnetic poles in a reliable fashion. Also, the reinforcing members sustain centrifugal force exerted on the permanent magnets as well as flutter-producing force acting on the claw-shaped magnetic poles, so that the reinforcing members serve to mitigate adverse influence of these forces on the permanent magnets. Additionally, each of the reinforcing members has a magnet-retaining structure which prevents the permanent magnets from coming off the reinforcing member in either a basal-end or extreme-end direction thereof.
The claw-shaped magnetic poles are shaped such that an outer surface of each claw-shaped magnetic pole has a generally trapezoidal shape narrowing from a basal end toward an extreme end, and side faces of each claw-shaped magnetic pole also narrow from the basal end toward the extreme end.
This conventional arrangement has a problem that, if the reinforcing members having the aforementioned magnet-retaining structure are to be installed after the permanent magnets have been fitted on both sides of each claw-shaped magnetic pole, it is difficult to install the reinforcing members, because the magnet-retaining structure of each reinforcing member interferes with the permanent magnets. Another problem of the conventional arrangement is that, if the reinforcing members are to be installed after the permanent magnets have been affixed to each reinforcing member, gaps are likely to be created between the permanent magnets and the side faces of each claw-shaped magnetic pole, thereby causing leakage of magnetic flux through the gaps and eventual performance degradation of the rotating electric machine.

Rotor of rotating electric machine and method of assembling rotor of rotating electric machine


A charging apparatus for applying single polar electrostatic charges to a surface of a continuously travelling long web support before coating the support with a coating composition comprises a fine wire shaped corona discharging electrode connected to a electric source and a pass roller coated by a coating, the pass roller facing said corona discharging through the support.

In a conventional method of coating, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4a and 4b of the accompanying drawings, a single polar electrostatic charges applied on the surface of a support 2 by corona discharging from a corona discharging electrode 3 generated by a direct current high-voltage electric source 4, thereafter a liquid coating composition corresponding to a photographic light-sensitive material on a support 2 by means of a coating device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,457,256 and a method of applying electrostatic discharging generated by a high-frequency high voltage on the surface of a support 2 to oxidize the surface of the support, wherein the surface of a grounded metal pass roller is insulated by a titanic acid series ceramic, etc., is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,649,097 and Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Sho. 63-238139.
However, the method described in aforesaid U.S. Pat. No. 4,457,256 has the following problem. That is, since the surface of a grounded pass roller 1 is electrically conductive, it is required to reduce the length of the corona discharging electrodes 3 by .beta..perspectiveto.5 mm shorter than the width of the support 2 at each end thereof for preventing the occurrence of spark discharging between the corona discharging electrode 3 and the surface of the grounded pass roller 1 as shown in FIG. 4(a), thereby the surface potential of the support 2 is reduced at the vicinity .gamma. of each end as shown in FIG. 4(b), and hence the coating composition is liable to be cut at high speed coating to reduce the yield thereof.
Also, the methods described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,649,097 and Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Sho. 63-238139 propose that a grounded pass roller is insulated by a ceramic for avoiding the occurrence of sparking as described above but since a high-frequency high voltage is employed as the discharging voltage, it is necessary to apply coating of the insulating material having a thickness of at least 0.5 mm onto the grounded pass roller for desirably preventing the occurrence of sparking. However, in the case of applying corona discharging to the support by a direct current high voltage, the discharging current is greatly reduced if such an insulating layer of grounded pass roller has such a thickness. Therefore, the conventional method can not be practically used for applying a desired surface potential to a support by corona discharging by d.c. high voltage.

Method of applying single polar electro-static charges to continuously travelling long web support, and apparatus practicing same


Oxygen-scavenging compositions comprising an oxidizable metal component and a solid, halogen-free, acidifying electrolyte component and, optionally, a water-absorbant binder and/or a polymeric resin exhibit good oxygen-scavenging performance and oxidation efficiency. The compositions can be used as an oxygen absorbent in packets or in combination with thermoplastic resins melt-fabricated into a wide variety of oxygen-scavenging packaging articles.

Products sensitive to oxygen, particularly foods, beverages and medicines, deteriorate or spoil in the presence of oxygen. One approach to reducing these difficulties is to package such products with packaging materials containing at least one layer of a so-called "passive" gas barrier film that can act as a physical barrier to transmission of oxygen but does not react with oxygen. Films obtained from ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH) or polyvinylidene dichloride (PVDC) are commonly used for this purpose due to their excellent oxygen barrier properties. By physically blocking transmission of oxygen, these barrier films can maintain or substantially maintain initial oxygen levels within a package. Because passive barrier films can add cost to a packaging construction and do not reduce levels of oxygen already present in the packaging construction, however, there is a need for effective, lower cost alternatives and improvements.
An approach to achieving or maintaining a low oxygen environment inside a package is to use a packet containing an oxygen absorbent material. The packet, also sometimes referred to as a pouch or sachet, is placed in the interior of the package along with the product. Sakamoto et al. discloses oxygen absorbent packets in Japan Laid Open Patent Application No. 121634/81 (1981). A typical ingredient used in the oxygen scavenger carried in the packet is reduced iron powder which can react with oxygen to form ferrous oxide or ferric oxide, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,650. Also, it is known to include in the packet, along with iron, a reaction promoter such as sodium chloride, and a water-absorbing agent, such as silica gel, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,992,410. Japan Laid Open Patent Application No. 82-24634 (1982) discloses an oxygen absorber composition comprising 100 parts by weight (pbw) iron powder, 2 to 7 pbw ammonium chloride, 8 to 15 pbw aqueous acid solution and 20 to 50 pbw of a slightly water soluble filler such as activated clay. Japan Laid Open Patent Application No. 79-158386 (1979) discloses an oxygen arresting composition comprising a metal, such as iron, copper or zinc, and optionally, a metal halide such as sodium chloride or zinc chloride at a level of 0.001 to 100 pbw to 1 pbw of metal and a filler such as clay at a level of 0.01 to 100 pbw to 1 pbw of metal.
Although oxygen absorbent or scavenger materials used in packets can react chemically with oxygen in the package, also sometimes referred to as "headspace oxygen", they do not prevent external oxygen from penetrating into the package. Therefore, it is common for packaging in which such packets are used to include additional protection such as wrappings of passive barrier films of the type described above. This adds to product costs. With many easy-to-prepare foods, another difficulty with oxygen scavenger packets is that consumers may mistakenly open them and consume their contents together with the food. Moreover, the extra manufacturing step of placing a packet into a container can add to the cost of the product and slow production. Further, oxygen absorbent packets are not useful with liquid products.
In view of these disadvantages and limitations, it has been proposed to incorporate directly into the walls of a packaging article a so-called "active" oxygen absorber, i.e., one that reacts with oxygen. Because such a packaging article is formulated to include a material that reacts with oxygen permeating its walls, the packaging is said to provide an "active-barrier" as distinguished from passive barrier films which block transmission of oxygen but do not react with it. Active-barrier packaging is an attractive way to protect oxygen-sensitive products because it can not only prevent oxygen from reaching the product from the outside but also absorb oxygen present within a container.
One approach for obtaining active-barrier packaging is to incorporate a mixture of an oxidizable metal (e.g., iron) and an electrolyte (e.g., sodium chloride) into a suitable resin, melt process the result into monolayer or multilayer sheets or films and form the resulting oxygen scavenger-containing sheets or films into rigid or flexible containers or other packaging articles or components. This type of active-barrier is disclosed in Japan Laid Open Patent Application No. 56-60642 (1981), directed to an oxygen-scavenging sheet composed of a thermoplastic resin containing iron, zinc or copper and a metal halide. Disclosed resins include polyethylene and polyethylene terephthalate. Sodium chloride is the preferred metal halide. Component proportions are such that 1 to 500 parts metal halide are present per 100 parts resin and 1 to 200 parts metal halide are present per 100 parts metal. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,153,038 discloses plastic multilayer vessels of various layer structures formed from a resin composition formed by incorporating an oxygen scavenger, and optionally a water absorbing agent, in a gas barrier resin. The oxygen scavenger can be a metal powder such as iron, low valence metal oxides or reducing metal compounds. The oxygen scavenger can be used in combination with an assistant compound such as a hydroxide, carbonate, sulfite, thiosulfite, tertiary phosphate, secondary phosphate, organic acid salt or halide of an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal. The water absorbing agent can be an inorganic salt such as sodium chloride, calcium chloride, zinc chloride, ammonium chloride, ammonium sulfate, sodium sulfate, magnesium sulfate, disodium hydrogenphosphate, sodium dihydrogenphosphate, potassium carbonate or sodium nitrate. The oxygen scavenger can be present at 1 to 1000 weight % based on weight of the barrier resin. The water absorbing agent can be present at 1 to 300 weight % based on weight of the barrier resin.
One difficulty with scavenger systems incorporating an oxidizable metal (e.g., iron) and a metal halide (e.g., sodium chloride) into a thermoplastic layer is the inefficiency of the oxidation reaction. To obtain sufficient oxygen absorption in active-barrier packaging, high loadings of scavenger composition are often used. This typically requires that sheets, films and other packaging layer or wall structures containing a scavenging composition be relatively thick. This, in turn, contributes to cost of the packaging material and may preclude attainment of thin packaging films having adequate oxygen- scavenging capabilities. Another problem associated with incorporating many halide-containing compounds into oxygen-scavenging compositions is the potential for corrosion of processing equipment.
Other oxygen-scavenger systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,162, directed to compositions comprising iron particles and yeast mixed together with moisture, the moisture being provided by a vinegar/water solution or a mixture of ascorbic acid and sodium bisulfate; and Japanese Laid Open Patent Application JP52-104490, directed to use of sodium sulfate decahydrate in an oxygen scavenger composition in the presence of a filler and a metal such as iron or zinc and optionally a metal halide.
While a variety of approaches to maintaining or reducing oxygen levels in packaged items have been advanced, there remains a need for improved oxygen-scavenging compositions and packaging materials utilizing the same.
An object of the present invention is to provide improved oxygen-scavenging compositions and packaging. Another object is to provide low cost, oxygen-scavenging compositions of improved efficiency. Another object is to provide oxygen-scavenging compositions that can be used effectively, even at relatively low levels, in a wide range of active-barrier packaging films and sheets, including laminated and coextruded multilayer films and sheets. Another object is to provide active-barrier packaging containers that can increase the shelf-life of oxygen-sensitive products by slowing the passage of external oxygen into the container, by absorbing oxygen present inside the container or both. Other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Efficiency oxygen-scavenging compositions and articles


Digital data are transmitted as packets within frames, at an average frame rate equal to the sampling rate divided by the number of samples per frame. When, as a result of subband or other coding, the number of packets required per frame would not be an integer, frames containing the next lower integer are transmitted, followed by frames containing the next higher integer. Preferably a first portion of each frame contains synchronization information, a second portion contains allocation information, and a third contains samples of, and scale factor information for, the transmitted signal.

The invention relates to a digital transmission system comprising a transmitter and a receiver, for transmitting a wide-band digital signal having sample frequency F.sub.s, for example a digital audio signal, via a transmission medium, and for receiving said signal; and more particularly to such a system which transmits a second digital signal which comprises consecutive frames, and each frame comprising a plurality of information packets, each information packet comprising N bits, N being larger than 1. The receiver comprises a decoder having an input for receiving the second digital signal, and a decoder has an output coupled to an output terminal to supply the wide-band digital signal.
The invention also relates to a transmitter and a receiver for use in the transmission system, to a transmitter in the form of a device for recording the second digital signal in a track on a record carrier, to a record carrier obtained by means of the transmitter, and to a receiver in the form of a device for reading the second digital signal from the track on the record carrier.
A transmission system of the type defined in the opening sentence is known from the article "The Critical Band Coder--Digital Encoding of Speech signals based on the Percentual requirements of the Auditory System" by M.E. Krasner in Proc. IEEE ICASSP 80, Vol. 1, pp 327-331, Apr. 9-11, 1980. This article relates to a transmission system in which the transmitter employs a subband coding system and the receiver employs a corresponding subband decoding system, but the invention is not limited to such a coding system, as will become apparent hereinafter.
In the system known from said publication the speech signal band is divided into a plurality of subbands whose bandwidth approximately corresponds to the bandwidths of the critical bands of the human ear in the respective frequency ranges (cf. FIG. 2 in the article of Krasner). This division has been selected because on the ground of psycho-acoustic experiments it is foreseeable that the quantisation noise in such a subband will be masked to an optimum extent by the signals in this subband if in the quantisation allowance is made for the noise-masking curve of the human ear (this curve gives the threshold value for noise masking in a critical band by a single tone in the centre of the critical band, cf. FIG. 3 in the article by Krasner).
In the case of a high-quality digital music signal, which in conformity with the Compact Disc Standard is represented by 16 bits per signal sample in the case of a sample frequency of 1/T=44.1 kHz, it is found that with a suitably selected bandwidth and a suitably selected quantisation for the respective subbands the use of this known subband-coding system yields quantised output signals of the coder which can be represented by an average number of approximately 2.5 bits per signal sample, the quality of the replica of the music signal not differing perceptibly from that of the original music signal in substantially all passages of substantially all kinds of music signals.
The subbands need not necessarily correspond to the bandwidths of the critical bands of the human ear. Alternatively, the subbands may have other bandwidths, for example they may all have the same bandwidth, provided that allowance is made for this in determining the masking threshold.

Digital transmission system, transmitter and receiver for use in the transmission system