A cleaning device to clean a plurality of nozzles of a surface-mount technology (SMT) includes a first cleaning container, a supporting board, a filtering member, a second cleaning container and a connection member. The first cleaning container defines a first opening in a bottom thereof. The supporting board to fix the plurality of nozzles is connected to the bottom of the first container. The filtering member is located at a bottom of the supporting board. The second cleaning container is connected to the filtering member, and operable to receive cleaning fluid. The connection member is connected the first cleaning container and the second cleaning container. Injection of air to the first cleaning container and the second cleaning container allows the cleaning fluid to circularly flow through the second cleaning container, the connection member, the first cleaning container, the supporting board, and the filtering member to clean the plurality of nozzles.

1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates to cleaning devices, and more particularly to a cleaning device for cleaning nozzles of surface-mount technology (SMT) machines.
2. Description of Related Art
Nozzles of SMT machines are used to suck up electrical parts to solder them on a printed circuit board. FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a nozzle 50 of SMT machines. The nozzle 50 includes a hollow pipe 51, a baffle-board 52, and a sucker 53 in communication with the hollow pipe 51. The baffle-board 52 is disposed between the hollow pipe 51 and the sucker 53, and has a substantially umbrella shape. Frequently, soldering tins that remain in the nozzle 50 are cleaned by a cloth with a cleaning fluid. However, it is difficult to clean the soldering tins that remain in inner surfaces of the hollow pipe 51 and the sucker 53 after SMT process because of the small diameters of the hollow pipe 51 and the sucker 53, resulting in fail of sucking up the electrical parts.
Therefore, a need exists in the industry to overcome the described limitations.

Cleaning device for cleaning nozzles of SMT machines


An optical system, particularly an illumination system, of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus contains at least one plane reflecting surface for folding the beam path. The at least one reflecting surface is arranged with respect to an optical axis of the optical system such that the intensity ratio between two mutually perpendicular polarization directions is at least substantially preserved for an axially parallel light ray deviated by the at least one reflecting surface. In accordance with a second aspect, the at least one reflecting surface is arranged such that a maximum effect on the polarization of the projection light is achieved, so as to be able to compensate for polarization dependencies which occur in other components of the illumination system.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an optical system for microlithographic projection exposure apparatuses, such as are used for the production of large-scale integrated electrical circuits and other microstructured components. The invention relates in particular to illumination systems having a plurality of reflecting surfaces for folding the beam path.
2. Description of Related Art
Integrated electrical circuits and other microstructured components are conventionally produced by applying a plurality of structured layers to a suitable substrate which, for example, may be a silicon wafer. In order to structure the layers, they are first covered with a photoresist which is sensitive to a light of a particular wavelength range, for example light in the deep ultra-violet (DUV) spectral range. The wafer coated in this way is subsequently exposed in a projection exposure apparatus. A pattern of diffracting structures, which is arranged on a mask, is thereby projected onto the photoresist with the aid of a projection lens. Since the projection scale is generally less than 1, such projection lenses are often also referred to as reduction objectives.
The performance of such projection exposure apparatuses is determined not only by the imaging properties of the projection lens, but also by the properties of an illumination system which precedes the projection lens. Its object is to generate a projection light beam, which is directed at the mask to be projected. For this purpose the illumination system contains a light source, for example a pulse-operated laser, and a plurality of optical elements which generate a projection light beam with the intended properties from the light provided by the light source. These properties include, for example, the intensity and illumination-angle distributions over the cross section of the projection light beam, that is to say the angular distribution of the light rays which form the projection light beam.
Increasing importance is being attached to the polarization distribution of the projection light beam generated by the illumination system, since it has proved expedient for the projection light generated by the illumination system to arrive at the mask with a polarization state which is defined as accurately as possible. For example, it may be desirable for the projection light arriving at the mask to be linearly polarized substantially or fully in a given direction. Beam-splitter layers, which are often contained in catadioptric projection lenses, can achieve very high efficiencies with linearly polarized light in a suitable way. It may, however, be also desirable to direct substantially unpolarized or circularly polarized projection light onto the mask. For example, this can prevent or at least reduce resolution differences which depend on the direction of the structures contained in the mask.
The simplest situation is when the illumination system is intended to generate linearly polarized light, since the lasers conventionally used as light sources emit linearly polarized light. However, the subsequent optical elements can undesirably affect the polarization state of the projection light. If a rod homogenizer is being used for mixing the light, for example, then it is relatively difficult to control the polarization state of the projection light passing through. This is associated inter alia with the fact that skewed total reflections take place at the lateral interfaces of the rod homogenizer, and these change the polarization state by their phase-shifting effect. An undesirable effect on the polarization state can also be caused by diffractive optical elements with a polarization-dependent diffraction efficiency, or by optical elements which have an intrinsic or induced birefringence. The reflectivity of deviating mirrors, which may be arranged in illumination systems in order to fold the beam path, is also polarization-dependent.
Since the projection light is generally intended to arrive not only with an intended polarization at the mask but also with a defined polarization at the photoresist, attempts have also been made in the past to use measures inside the projection lens so as to affect the polarization of the projection light passing through. The context for this, inter alia, is that the projection lenses may also include optical elements which undesirably affect the polarization state of the projection light.

Optical system, in particular illumination system, of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus


An apparatus and process for obtaining samples of liquid and gas from subsurface soil is provided having filter zone adjacent an external expander ring. The expander ring creates a void within the soil substrate which encourages the accumulation of soil-borne fluids. The fluids migrate along a pressure gradient through a plurality of filters before entering a first chamber. A one-way valve regulates the flow of fluid into a second chamber in further communication with a collection tube through which samples are collected at the surface. A second one-way valve having a reverse flow provides additional communication between the chambers for the pressurized cleaning and back-flushing of the apparatus.

Contamination of subsurface soil and its environmental impact has been the subject of considerable public attention and has caused much concern with respect to the storage and disposal of materials such as waste with the potential for contamination. When exposed to soil, it is common for such contaminating or hazardous materials to lodge in the interstices or pore space of the soil, or to become part of the soil solutions, which can be generally defined as the interstitial water in the soil together with solutes and dissolved gases. The frequent lack of detectability by sight of such hazardous materials and subsurface soil solutions can mean that the problems caused by such hazardous materials often do not manifest themselves until the situation has reached a critical point. The need exists, therefore, for methods and apparatuses for obtaining samples of liquid and gas from subsurface soil in order to subsequently analyze some samples for the possible presence of hazardous materials. Even where no concern for hazardous materials exists, it is important to be able to obtain samples of liquid and gas from subsurface soil for various other scientific purposes.
Various devices exist within the prior art pertaining to sampling of subsurface soil. Some such devices are for in situ collection of representative soil solution samples, and these are sometimes called lysimeters. One type of lysimeter is referred to as a suction lysimeter and utilizes a receptacle implanted in the earth having a conduit extending from the receptacle to the earth's surface and utilizing a vacuum pull through the conduit to draw soil solution samples through a filter into the receptacle and through the conduit to the earth's surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,227 to Timmons teaches an apparatus and process disclosing a lysimeter utilizing a filter section which is a rigid, porous, fluoroplastic through which moisture from soil surrounding the lysimeter can pass into a chamber of the lysimeter.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,149 to Wierenga discloses a soil solution sampler of the lysimeter type wherein the sampler comprises a receptacle comprised of a first tube formed from porous stainless steel to permit flow of solution through its walls, and a second tube formed of non-porous stainless steel joins to the end of the first tube. An air conduit for applying a vacuum to the interior of the receptacle and for applying positive pressure to the interior of the receptacle is provided and extends into the receptacle into the earth's surface. The sampler has a sample transfer conduit for conveying samples from the receptacle to the surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,930,754 to Mogg et al. discloses a portable water sampling apparatus for sampling water from a well wherein the apparatus comprises a wheeled hose reel cart which supports a long length of plastic hose or tubing with the tubing having a small diameter length of inner tubing telescoped inside itself throughout most of its length. The inner tubing passes through the wall of the outer tubing near the upper end thereof and is connected to a pressurized cylinder of gas. Admission of gas to the inner tube at its upper end when the lower ends of the tube are submerged beneath the water level in a well will force water up through an annular space between the tubes and out the upper end of the outer tube for collection. The channeled plug at the bottom of the tubes is used to prevent the tubes from collapsing and help maintain the tubes straight and together as they are lowered into the well. The channeled plug also provides a partial support for a weight to hang from the bottom of the tubes for aid in placement.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,160,622 to Colburn also discloses a portable water sampling apparatus for sampling water in a well. The apparatus of Colburn comprises a wheeled hose reel cart supporting a long length of coextruded plastic hose or tubing with the coextrusion comprising a small diameter portion of tubing attached by a web to a large diameter portion of tubing and with the small diameter tubing being connected to a pressurized cylinder of gas. A generally j-shaped piece of metal tubing is utilized and projects from the inside of the smaller tubing, which it fictionally engages, into the center of the larger tubing at the lower end thereof. When the lower ends of the tubes are well submerged beneath the water level in a well, admission of gas to the smaller tube at its upper end forces water entering the larger tubing in the annular space surrounding the metal tubing up through the larger tube and out the upper end of the larger tube for collection.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,589 to Smith et al. discloses a method for performing production testing of wells comprising the steps of introducing into and withdrawing from a well a small diameter tubing by an injector apparatus. While in the well, the small diameter tubing is hung in the well with its lower end adjacent a formation to be tested, and gas is injected through the tubing to lift a layer of uncontaminated reservoir fluid to the surface continued gas injection accomplishes formation flow characteristic evaluation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,010,776 to Lucero et al. discloses an environmental contamination detection and analyzing system and method. The method and system for detecting environmental contamination according to Lucero et al. utilizes a test probe located in a medium wherein the probe is adapted to collect a fluid sample from the medium for determining the presence of a contaminant having a vapor pressure. Pneumatic communication lines extend from a test point and connect to the probe and a detector/analyzer is connected to the distal end of the communication lines of the probe. A fluid sample is taken into the probe and transported in the pneumatic communication lines by a carrier gas to the detector/analyzer for analysis of the contaminant.
Another method and apparatus for obtaining samples from the earth is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,214,551 to Edwards.
Despite the prior art references, there exists room for improvement in the art.

Process and apparatus for obtaining samples of liquid and gas from soil


The present invention discloses a multi-rotor aircraft with a multi-axis misalignment layout, which comprises a frame, a plurality of upper power sources, a plurality of lower power sources, a plurality of upper propellers, and a plurality of lower propellers. The plurality of upper propellers are provided at intervals and are connected to the upper part of the frame through the plurality of upper power sources. The plurality of lower propellers are provided at intervals and are connected to the lower part of the frame through the plurality of lower power sources. In the vertical projection direction of the frame, the plurality of upper propellers and the plurality of lower propellers are staggered. The upper propellers and the lower propellers are staggered so that the pitch between the upper propellers and the lower propellers is large.

The multi-rotor aircraft in the prior art is more commonly designed with 4 shafts and 8 propellers, and 8 shafts and 8 propellers. According to different design requirements and layouts, there are various frame structures such as X-type, H-type, and Y-type.
The multi-rotor aircraft with 4 shafts and 8 propellers is designed coaxially. The power shaft of the motor corresponding to the 4 propellers on the upper layer and the power shaft of the motor corresponding to the 4 propellers on the lower layer are in one-to-one correspondence. The pitch between the upper propellers and the lower propellers is small, the upper propellers and the lower propellers overlap in the vertical projection direction, and the propeller efficiency is low. In addition, in this multi-rotor aircraft, the frame is a cantilever structure, and the rigidity of the fuselage is poor.
The multi-rotor aircraft with 8 shafts and 8 propellers is designed non-coaxially. The 8 propellers are provided at intervals on the same plane. The overall size of the aircraft is large, the volume of the aircraft is large, the weight is large, and the flight resistance is also large. In addition, similar to a multi-rotor aircraft with 4 shafts and 8 propellers, the frame of this multi-rotor aircraft is also a cantilever structure, and the rigidity of the fuselage is also poor.
In summary, the multi-rotor aircraft in the prior art has the defects of greater flight resistance, larger volume, poorer fuselage rigidity, and lower propeller efficiency at the same load capacity.

Multi-rotor aircraft with multi-axis misalignment layout


An electron microscope is disclosed which permits one to observe a high-contrast TEM image at a high-resolution. The electron microscope according to this invention comprises an objective lens OL which forms a first diffraction image P.sub.1 at the back focal plane of the objective lens OL; a selected area diaphragm 12 located behind the objective lens OL; an objective minilens ML which is located between the objective lens OL and the selected area diaphragm 12, the minilens ML is excited in such a way that the minilens ML produces a second diffraction image P.sub.2 at the position of the selected area diaphragm 12, while the object plane of the minilens being located at the position of the first diffraction image P.sub.1 ; an intermediate lens IL.sub.1 located behind said selected area diaphragm 12 and excited in such a way that the object plane of the intermediate lens IL.sub.1 is located at the position of a TEM image produced by both said objective lens OL and minilens ML; and a lens system (IL.sub.2, PL) which magnifies a TEM image produced by said intermediate lens IL.sub.1 and projects the magnified TEM image onto a viewing screen 13.

Transmission electron microscopy has two modes or operation: (1) TEM image observation mode in which a TEM image that is a magnified image of a magnified specimen is observed; and (2) diffraction image observation mode in which a diffracted electron beam image focused at the back focal plane of the objective lens is projected onto the screen by the imaging lens system and observed. The latter mode is referred to as the selected area electron diffraction (SAED) method. The operations of the imaging lens systems in the TEM image observation mode and in the diffraction image observation mode are schematically illustrated in FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b). Shown in these figures are a specimen 1, an objective diaphragm 2, a selected area diaphragm 3, a screen 4, an objective lens OL, a first intermediate lens IL.sub.1, a second intermediate lens IL.sub.2 and a projector lens PL.
FIG. 3(a) shows the operation of the imaging lens system in the TEM image observation mode. In this mode, the objective diaphragm 2 is inserted to improve the contrast of the TEM image. The selected area diaphragm 3 is taken off. The electron beam is converged so as to obtain the desired brightness.
When the electron beam hits the specimen 1, a diffraction image P.sub.1 is focused at the position of the objective diaphragm 2, i.e., at the back focal plane of the objective lens OL. Also, a TEM image Q.sub.1 is focused at the position of the selected area diaphragm 3. The first intermediate lens IL.sub.1 focuses the TEM image at a desired position while taking the TEM image Q.sub.1 focused as the position of the selected area diaphragm 3 as an object plane. The TEM image is subsequently magnified by the second intermediate lens IL.sub.2 and the projector lens PL and focused onto the screen 4. The arrows indicate the TEM images.
FIG. 3(b) illustrates the operation of the lenses in the selected area diffraction image observation mode. In this mode, the objective diaphragm 2 is taken off, and the select area diaphragm 3 is inserted. The electron beam illuminates a wide area of the specimen such that a collimated beam hits the specimen, whereby a clear diffraction image is obtained. The first intermediate lens IL.sub.1 focuses the diffraction image at a given position while taking the diffraction image P.sub.1 as an object plane, the image P.sub.1 being focused at the position of the objective diaphragm 2. This diffraction image is then magnified by the second intermediate lens IL.sub.2 and the projector lens PL and focused onto the screen 4.
The objective diaphragm has been indispensable when the TEM image is observed in the TEM image observation mode. However, in modern TEMs of quite high resolution, the gap between the pole pieces of the objective lens OL is as small as several millimeters. Therefore, it is difficult to insert the objective diaphragm between the pole pieces. Also, if the insertion of the objective diaphragm is possible, it is substantially impossible to bring the position of the objective diaphragm into the back focal plane of the objective lens. As a result, it is difficult to effectively cut scattered electron beams other than the desired diffracted electron beam to obtain a high-contrast and wide field of view TEM image. In order to obtain a high-contrast and wide field of view TEM image, a selected area diaphragm is used instead of an objective diaphragm. Such an electron microscope is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,629,575. In this electron microscope, the objective lens is very weakly excited so that the diffracted electron beam is focussed at the selected area diaphragm. However, in this electron microscope, since the objective lens is very weakly excited, the spherical aberration coefficient Cs and chromatic aberration coefficient Cc fairly increase. As a result, it is impossible to obtain high resolution image using such electron microscope.
When crystalline specimens such as a metal specimen is observed, it is necessary to frequently switch the mode of operation between the TEM image observation mode and the diffraction image observation mode. For example, in order to photograph one TEM image and one diffraction image having the same field of view as the TEM image, the mode is usually switched 20 or 30 times. As can be understood from the above description, each time the mode is switched, the objective diaphragm must be inserted or taken off and the selected area diaphragm must be inserted or taken off. In this way, the objective diaphragm and the selected area diaphragm must be operated. Hence, the mode switching has been quite cumbersome to perform.


In a pair of spectacles using liquid crystal lenses, an electrical circuit, for controlling the optical transmission of the liquid crystal lenses, controls the amplitude and/or duty cycle of the voltage driving the lens so as to operate the liquid crystal lens in the transition region, between maximum and minimum optical densities.

The present invention relates generally to variable optical density lenses and in particular to liquid crystal lenses in which the optical density is varied as a function of ambient light intensity.
One type of liquid crystal spectacle lens with a rapid response to changes in ambient light is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,474 and another is disclosed in our International patent application, PCT/GB 93/00119, in which we describe an electrical circuit for controlling the duty cycle of a waveform for driving a liquid crystal lens in dependence upon ambient light levels, in order to adjust the amount of light transmitted through the lens, the circuit including means for adjusting the response time of the circuit to changes in ambient light. That invention consists of a means for varying the rate at which the duty cycle and hence the optical density changes in response to changes in ambient light, and, in addition, comprises an arrangement for setting the threshold at which darkening starts and a means for obtaining a desired darkening characteristic above the threshold.
However, practical difficulties arise in implementing the method proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,474 for two interrelated reasons, namely user comfort and the unavailability of suitable liquid crystal cells. The operating principle outlined in U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,474 involves operating the liquid crystal cell in one of two states, a state of maximum transmission and a state of minimum transmission. The average value of the transmission depends on the proportions of time spent in the two states. It was argued in U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,474 that provided the switching frequency of the liquid crystal cell exceeded a certain value, known as the critical flicker fusion frequency, the wearer would perceive the average value of transmitted light. The critical flicker fusion frequency varies with light level according to the Ferry-Porter law and varies from 10 to 45 Hz over the range of light levels of interest in U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,474.
Human sensitivity to flicker has been studied in detail (see Lighting and Research Technology 6, (1974) 127, G W Brundrett). Brundrett reports that the critical flicker frequency also depends on the amplitude of the flicker compared to the mean light level. Sensitivity to flicker above the critical flicker fusion frequency was noted and led to headaches, dizziness and other side effects. The sensitivity of humans to flicker, based on electroretinogram data, has also been measured (see Abstracts of the Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Opthalmology, 1988,Vol.29 D S Greenhouse, S M Berman, I L Bailey, and T Raasch). Although the study indicates that there was still a measurable retinal response at 200 Hz, it was less than one thousandth of the response at the critical flicker fusion frequency. Therefore, to avoid undesirable side-effects, when using the method employed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,474, the switching frequency should be at least 200 Hz.
To implement this approach with a switching frequency of 200 Hz, the switching time of the cell needs to be short compared to the times in the two transmission statesxe2x80x94a switching time of 20% of the minimum time in a state could be taken as a guide. The minimum time in a state will be the time in the state of minimum transmission when the liquid crystal cell is giving its highest average transmission, or the time in the state of maximum transmission when the liquid crystal cell is giving its lowest average transmission. A ratio of average values of transmission of 4:1 could be achieved by varying the proportions of time in the state of maximum and minimum transmissions from 1:4 to 4:1 and would give a minimum transmission similar to that found in conventional sunglasses of fixed transmission. At a switching frequency of 200 Hz that corresponds to a minimum time in a state of 1 ms. Therefore a cell switching time of less than 200 xcexcs is needed.
However, nematic cells of the type proposed in U.S. Pat No. 4,279,474 have minimum switching times of about 10 ms and could not therefore be used. An alternative is the use of ferroelectric cells, which exhibit switching times of 100 xcexcs or less but have practical disadvantages. Ferroelectric cells are, at present, not sufficiently robust for use in sunglasses and suffer irreversible damage if squeezed. The thickness of the liquid crystal is usually less than that in nematic cells, and needs to be more precisely controlled, making the manufacture of ferroelectric cells more difficult. In addition, a higher drive voltage is needed, up to 15V compared to the 5V used for nematic cells and to achieve effective operation a complex drive waveform is often employed. The generation of this kind of waveform is unattractive in solar powered eyewear, where it is desirable to use the minimum power at a low voltage to minimize the size of the solar cell array.
Accordingly, there is a need for another method of operating liquid crystal lenses, particularly of the nematic type, which alleviates the problems of flicker.
According to the present invention there is provided a liquid crystal lens device having an electrical circuit comprising means for detecting the ambient light level, and means for controllably varying the optical transmission of the liquid crystal lens dependent on said ambient light level, characterised by
means for controlling the duty cycle of the voltage driving the lens so as to cause the liquid crystal lens to operate in the transition region, between maximum and minimum optical densities.
Preferably, the RMS value of the pulse voltage is controlled so as to be arranged to remain between the threshold values of the liquid crystal lens.
Advantages of this method of operation are that a cell with slow response characteristics can be used and that flicker in the transmitted light at the driving frequency is very small. This thus avoids problems inherent in driving cells between states of maximum and minimum light transmission.
The transmission of a nematic liquid crystal cell depends on the root mean square (RMS) of the applied voltage over a wide range of voltage waveforms. In the case of a rectangular waveform (which is convenient to generate), the RMS and hence the transmission, will depend on the amplitude of the waveform and the square root of the duty cycle, at least for duty cycles of a few percent or greater.
The approach of varying the RMS by changing the amplitude, but maintaining an essentially constant duty cycle, has been exploited in sunglasses using LC cells as lenses (see H.Seki, Y.Masuda and Y.Itoh, Proc.Soc. for Information Display 32-3(1991) pp191-195). A serious drawback with this approach is that nematic LC cells show a rapid change in transmission over a small range of RMS voltage, demanding sensitive and stable control of the amplitude of the applied waveform, on which the RMS depends directly. In consequence, where the amplitude is determined by a supply voltage susceptible to change, as in solar powered spectacles, the resulting darkening characteristic is unlikely to be near the optimum. Although improvement would be possible by including circuitry, typically an analogue amplifier, to vary precisely the amplitude of the drive waveform, it is not practical to include analogue circuits in the type of low power consumption application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) that are desirable for solar powered sunglasses.
There are several advantages in the design and operation of the drive circuitry for LC lenses when the duty cycle of the drive waveform is varied. The RMS of the waveform is a function of the square root of the duty cycle, permitting a more gradual variation of RMS value and hence cell transmission. Avoiding the need to vary the amplitude of the drive waveform allows the design of a simpler drive circuit, using standard digital CMOS techniques. Such circuits can be readily incorporated into low power ASICs, which are advantageous in minimizing the power requirements of the system to enable the specification of a small and unobtrusive solar cell as the power source. To avoid unwanted changes in the RMS value of the drive waveform where the supply voltage varies, as it would in solar powered sunglasses, a simple voltage regulator can be employed. Alternatively, the amplitude could be allowed to change with supply voltage and the duty cycle compensated to maintain the RMS vale of the waveform constant.
The control of flicker in the transmitted light is important to avoid unpleasant visual effects for the wearer and in order to minimize the risk of headaches and other effects. The amplitude and frequency components of the waveform of the flicker in transmitted light depend on the time-response characteristic of the LC cell, the nature of the drive waveform and the local gradient of the transmission against RMS voltage characteristic. All other things being equal, the slower the response of the LC cell, the smaller the flicker in transmitted light. For a given LC cell, the most favourable condition with a rectangular drive waveform is a 50% duty cycle, but this will not be maintained in a system where the duty cycle is varied to alter the transmission of the LC cell. For a waveform of constant period, the flicker will grow as the time between the high to low and low to high transition increases with reducing duty cycle. An improvement is to divide the time for which the drive is high into several shorter pulses, whilst maintaining the same RMS value for the waveform. An alternative solution is to reduce the period of the drive waveform, i.e. increase its frequency, as the duty cycle falls. If the time for which the drive waveform is low does not change with duty cycle, the flicker will be reduced. A penalty with both techniques is that the number of transitions per second would increase, requiring more power to charge and discharge the capacitance of the LC cell.
It is presently proposed to employ conventional nematic cells with the circuit of the invention.

Method of controlling liquid crystal lens in solar powered spectacles using light sensors


A method and system authenticates an authenticatee and provides an authentication to a recipient. The authenticatee may be either the called party or the calling party. A network platform or customer premise equipment may be utilized to provide information for authentication. Customer premise equipment provides the authentication to the recipient.

Due to increased theft and fraud over telephony and Internet services, users may wish to identify or verify an individual or merchant prior to giving out personal information. These problems exist today in the PSTN and are more exacerbated in HFC based telephony. Existing techniques, such as Caller ID, are insufficient because Caller ID indicates the endpoint not the caller. Furthermore, Caller ID may not be available, may be blocked, and may not be accurate. For example, a telephone subscriber may request virtually any identifier as a "Name" for Caller ID purposes. Therefore, the "Name" may not necessarily indicate the identity of the individual.
It is a frequent experience of many people that they receive unsolicited marketing calls at home. If the phone subscriber is successfully enticed into a purchase, the subscriber is often asked to provide personal information such as a credit card number, social security number, PIN numbers, etc. Frequently the caller's phone system does not provide any Caller ID information related to the marketing call through the network. Thus, Caller ID does not allow the subscriber to validate the identity of the calling party or the company. A fraudulent caller may register under a false "Caller ID" name that seems legitimate and may fool some subscribers even if they check the Caller ID transmitted. A subscriber may use Caller Originated Call Trace, however, Call Originated Call Trace may only be employed after the call is ended, requires police authority to obtain the data, and costs money (i.e., the subscriber obtains a subscription to the service). In addition, Call Originated Call Trace does not provide accurate identification for similar reasons to Caller ID.
Consumers who may peruse the Internet for goods/services, but prefer to call when making a purchase may be susceptible to fraud because the consumer is obtaining the vendor's phone number from the web-site(s). However, the phone number listed on the web-site may not be the actual phone number of the vendor. For example, a hacker may, unbeknownst to a website operator or vendor, place a different number on a web-site and thus allow the hacker to, for at least some period of time, intercept calls intended for the vendor. Similarly, vendors may not necessarily know that the caller is who they represent themselves to be.
It is also a frequent experience of vendors, that a person may call and use another person's stolen or fictitious identity information with the intent to defraud the vendor. In addition, the caller may be the actual owner of the credit card used in the transaction, but then after receiving the merchandise, the caller may deny having placed the order.
Therefore, there is a need for a method and system for validating user and/or vendor information.

Method, architectures and technique for authentication of telephone calls


A multi-stage low power, high dynamic range variable gain amplifier comprises an input stage cascaded with one or more current amplifier stages, whereby the gain of each stage may be independently controlled. The input stage may be comprised of a variable transconductance amplifier using variable emitter degeneration. The current amplifier may be comprised of a differential Darlington amplifier coupled to a differential cascode amplifier. The transconductance amplifier converts an input voltage signal to a current signal. The variable gain amplifier is designed for efficient low power operation.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to variable gain amplifiers (VGAs) and particularly to VGAs used in communication devices.
II. Description of the Related Art
In a wireless communication environment, a wireless communications receiver may receive a signal which experiences rapid and wide variations in signal power. In receivers such as are used in a wideband digital code division multiple access (CDMA) mobile station, it is necessary to control the power of the demodulated signal for proper signal processing. Furthermore, in transmitters such as are used in a CDMA mobile station, it is necessary to control the transmit power in order to avoid excessive interference to other mobile stations. These same power control considerations apply to narrowband analog frequency modulation (FM) wireless communication system receivers and transmitters.
Dual-mode CDMA/FM wireless communications devices exist which are required to provide power control of transmitted and received signals of both digital CDMA and analog FM modulation. In these dual-mode mobile stations, the control process is complicated by the differing dynamic ranges and industry regulation standards associated with the CDMA and FM signals. That is, the magnitude of the received CDMA signals may vary over a range of approximately 80 dB, whereas the magnitude of the received FM signals may vary over a range of as much as 100 dB. The provision of separate automatic gain control (AGC) circuitry for both the CDMA and the FM signals increases the complexity and expense of such dual-mode mobile stations. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide AGC circuitry capable of operating upon both the CDMA and FM signals.
FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate an exemplary environment for a VGA performing AGC functions. FIGS. 1A and 1B are a block diagram of a dual-mode CDMA/FM cellular telephone 900 designed, for example, in accordance with the telecommunication industry standard "Mobile Station-Base Station Compatibility Standard for Dual-Mode Wideband Spread Spectrum Cellular System," TIA/EIA/IS-95, generally referred to simply as IS-95. A VGA is used for receive and transmit AGC amplifiers 902, 904 respectively, of cellular telephone 900. The front end receiver portion of cellular telephone 900 comprises antenna 906, duplexer 908, low noise amplifier (LNA) and mixer circuit 910, and filter 930. As cellular telephone 900 travels throughout the coverage area of a CDMA system, the signal level at antenna 906 varies from about -110 dBm to -30 dBm. Note that each of these front end elements generally provides the same gain no matter what signal level is applied to it over the operating range such that the dynamic range of the signal which is applied to receive AGC amplifier 902 is the same as the dynamic range of the signal at antenna 906, approximately 80 dB. Similarly, when the cellular telephone 900 travels throughout the coverage area of an FM system, the signal level at the antenna varies approximately 100 dB.
The output of receive AGC amplifier 902 is provided to baseband analog application specific integrated circuit (BAASIC) 912 which converts the analog signal to a digital signal. The analog to digital signal conversion process works best if the signal level which is applied to the analog to digital converter remains constant. Receive AGC amplifier 902 performs the function of compensating for the variations input power such that the output power of receive AGC amplifier 902, and thus the input to the analog to digital converter, remains constant.
Mobile station modem ASIC 914 provides demodulation for both the CDMA and FM signals, as well as various digital and power control functions associated with CDMA operation. Such functions are well known in the art and not critical to the present invention, and thus are not described further herein. User interfaces 916 provide the interface to the human operator. Such user interfaces 916 are also well known in the art and not critical to the present invention, and are thus not described further herein.
Mobile station modem ASIC 914 also provides a baseband modulated digital representation of the CDMA waveform, or a modulated analog representation of the FM waveform to BAASIC 912. BAASIC 912 converts the baseband signals representation to analog intermediate frequency (IF) form at a constant signal level and supplies it to transmit AGC amplifier 904. Transmitter AGC amplifier 904 provides power control to the signal and supplies it to upconverter 918, power amplifier and driver circuitry 920, isolator 922, duplexer 908 and antenna 906. As cellular telephone 900 travels throughout the coverage area of a cellular system, the transmit signal level at antenna 906 varies inversely from receive power in that when the receive power is at a minimum the transmit level is near the maximum. This variation in transmit power level is accomplished by AGC amplifier 904. Note that the input power to AGC amplifier 904 is typically fixed, and the gain of power amplifier 920 may also be fixed.
More information about the automatic gain control loop in a wireless communication system and about power control in general can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,283,536, entitled "HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE CLOSED LOOP AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL CIRCUIT" issued Feb. 1, 1994, U.S. Pat. No. 5,107,225, entitled "HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE CLOSED LOOP AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL CIRCUIT" issued Apr. 21, 1992, U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,262 entitled "TRANSMITTER POWER CONTROL SYSTEM" issued Nov. 30, 1993, U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,115 entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL IN A DIGITAL RECEIVER" issued Nov. 12, 1995 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,283,536 entitled "HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE CLOSED LOOP AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL CIRCUIT" issued Oct. 26, 1993, each of which is assigned to the assigned hereof and incorporated herein by reference.
Mobile communication receivers and transmitters like those described above are designed to have a high compression point, low noise injection and low power consumption. Receivers with a high compression point and low noise injection have a high dynamic range in that they can detect signals over a wide range of power levels. Transmitters with a high compression point and low noise injection have a high dynamic range in that they can transmit signals over a wide range of power levels. Receivers and transmitters with low power consumption increase battery life. Hence, these characteristics are important when designing a variable gain amplifier for a communication system in which signals are transmitted and received over a large range of power levels.
A receiver should be able to detect information from both a strong signal broadcast by a nearby and powerful transmitter and a weak signal broadcast by a distant and low power transmitter. The extent over which the receiver can detect weak to strong signals is termed its dynamic range. Likewise, a transmitter should be able to transmit low powered signals to a nearby receiver and high power signals to a distant receiver.
The dynamic range of a receiver is established by its minimum detectable and maximum detectable signal levels. The minimum detectable signal level of a receiver is determined by the receiver's noise figure. Likewise the minimum transmittable power is set by the transmitters noise figure if the signal level falls near or below the noise floor. A VGA's noise figure is in part a function of the noise injection properties and gain of the VGA. In general, the higher the receiver's gain, the better it's noise figure; i.e. the better able it is to detect a very weak signal in the presence of noise.
The maximum detectable signal level of a receiver may be established by the receiver's intermodulation distortion (IMD) performance. When multiple signals pass through any device, mixing action between the signals occurs because of the non-linearities of the device. For example, in a location where CDMA and analog FM systems co-exist, third-order IM products from the analog FM system generally fall within the CDMA passband. This IM products act as "jammers" that contribute to IMD which can interfere with detection and demodulation of the desired signal within the receiver. A VGA's IMD performance is in part a function of its linearity and its gain. In general, the lower the receiver's gain, the better it's IMD performance. This is in contrast to the noise figure requirements as described above. Thus, design of a VGA for a receiver with a large dynamic range includes the difficult tradeoff between IMD performance and noise figure.
Similar design considerations are relevant with respect to transmitter VGAs, with the difference being that generally, receiver VGAs are designed to provide a relatively constant output power level for a varying range of input power levels while transmitter VGAs are designed to receive relatively constant input power levels and provide a varying range of output power levels.
Furthermore, mobile receivers are designed to be compact, lightweight, and have a long operating lifetime. Mobile receivers are powered by a minimal number of battery cells to reduce their size and weight to enhance their portability. Because battery voltage is proportional to the number of battery cells, the AGC circuitry, including the variable gain amplifier (VGA), must operate at low supply voltages. It is also desirable to enhance battery lifetime in order to increase the period between battery replacement or recharging. Therefore, the AGC circuitry, including its VGA, should consume little DC current and power.
This requirement for low DC power consumption also implies a design tradeoff similar to that already mentioned. More DC power is required for a high gain amplifier that has good noise figure. However, less DC power is required for a low gain amplifier that has good IMD performance. Existing VGA designs are inefficient in that they are unable to conserve DC power sufficiently at low gain levels.
What is needed is a VGA with a high dynamic range, good noise figure and IMD performance, as well as low DC power consumption.

High dynamic range variable gain amplifier


An optical scanner is disclosed which includes: a reflective surface from which incoming light is reflected; a scanning mechanism altering a reflective-surface angle of the reflective surface, relative to an entry direction in which the incoming light enters the reflective surface, to thereby scan reflected light from the reflective surface; and a controller controlling an intensity of the incoming light, depending on the reflective-surface angle.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an optical scanner altering an angle of a reflective surface reflecting the incoming light, relative to an entry direction in which the incoming light enters the reflective surface, to thereby scan reflected light from the reflective surface, and more particularly to technologies of controlling the intensity of the reflected light from the reflective surface.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are known as optical scanners for scanning light, such a type of an optical scanner that alters an angle of a reflective surface reflecting the incoming light, relative to an entry direction in which the incoming light enters the reflective surface, to thereby scan the reflected light from the reflective surface. See, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. HEI 11-203383.
Such an optical scanner is used in many various fields, such as image forming, and image reading. In the field of image forming, such an optical scanner is applied to retinal scanning type display devices which scan a beam of light on the retina of a viewer for direct presentation of a desired image onto the retina; projectors; laser printers; devices for use in laser lithography; or other applications. In the field of image reading, such an optical scanner is applied to facsimile machines; copiers; image scanners; bar-code readers; or other applications.
An example of such an optical scanner is of a type in which oscillation of a reflective surface achieves the scanning of light. Another example of such an optical scanner is of a type in which unidirectional rotation of a reflective surface achieves the scanning of light.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. HEI 11-203383, an example of the above-described oscillating type optical scanner is constructed to include a mirror for reflecting light; and a vibrating body for torsion-vibrating the mirror.
While this example falls within a type of an optical scanner that performs the oscillation of a reflective surface through its vibration, there exists an alternative type of an optical scanner that performs the oscillation of a reflective surface without through its vibration. A more specific example of the alternative type is an optical scanner utilizing a galvano mirror.
In contrast, an example of the above-described rotating type optical scanner is constructed to utilize a polygon mirror having a plurality of adjacent mirror facets in succession around the polygon mirror. The optical scanner utilizing the polygon mirror differs in that successive uses of the plurality of mirror facets achieve repeated scans, from the optical scanner oscillating a reflective surface in which continuous use of the same reflective surface achieves repeated scans.

Optical scanner reflecting and outputting light with controlled intensity and image forming apparatus using same


A combustion plate for use in a totally aerated combustion burner has a ceramic plate body with a multiplicity of flame holes formed therein for ejecting a premixed gas. The plate body is provided, in a lattice shape, with non-flame-hole portions having no flame holes therein. Each of such regions of the plate body as are enclosed by the non-flame-hole portions constitutes a collective flame-hole portion having formed therein a plurality of flame holes. It is so arranged that flame lifting can be effectively prevented in the flame holes on the periphery of the collective flame-hole portions. Along each of such sides of the non-flame-hole portions as are adjacent to each of the collective flame-hole portions, outside flame holes are formed at a predetermined spacing therebetween in a longitudinal direction of the non-flame-hole portions. This predetermined spacing is greater than a spacing, in the longitudinal direction of the non-flame-hole portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a combustion plate for use in a totally aerated combustion burner (or a fully primary aerated burner) which is disposed in a heat source equipment mainly for supplying hot water or for heating a residential space, in which a ceramic plate body has formed therein a multiplicity of flame holes (burner holes) so as to eject a premixed gas.
2. Description of the Related Art
As this kind of combustion plate, there is known one in which non-flame-hole portions (i.e., portions having no flame holes) are formed on the plate body in a lattice shape, and in which each of the regions of the plate body enclosed by the non-flame-hole portions is made to be a collective flame-hole portion having formed therein in a crowded manner a plurality of flame holes (see, for example, Patent Document 1). According to this arrangement, the premixed gases that are ejected through flame holes on the periphery of the collective flame-hole portions adjacent to the non-flame-hole portions partly recirculate in a manner to swirl above the non-flame-hole portions. Then, the premixed gases that recirculate back from the flame holes on the periphery of the collective flame-hole portions that are positioned on both sides of the non-flame-hole portions interfere with each other. As a result, there will be formed, above the non-flame-hole portions, stable flames that are hard to be lifted off, thereby obtaining flame holding (stabilizing) effect.
Conventionally, a plurality of flame holes on the periphery of one of the collective flame-hole portions and a plurality of flame holes on the periphery of the other of the collective flame-hole portions lie face to face to each other along both sides, in the width direction, of the non-flame-hole portions, each of the flame holes on the respective periphery forming a pair. In this arrangement, the premixed gas that recirculates from the flame hole that makes one of the pair will get interfered with the premixed gas that recirculates from the other of the pair, above the non-flame-hole portions.
However, according to this arrangement, the following has been found out, i.e., if flame lifting occurs at part of the flame holes on the periphery of the collective flame-hole portions, starting with that point as an origin, the flames from the other flame holes on the periphery of the collective flame portions are likely to be lifted. In particular, in case the excess air ratio (amount of primary air/stoichiometric air amount) of the premixed gas is made higher, flame lifting is likely to occur in the flame holes on the periphery of the collective flame-hole portions. Caused by the above occurrence, there is a case in which flame lifting occurs in the entire collective flame-hole portions.


A current measuring method capable of reducing the size of a current sensor while ensuring electric insulation easily and suitable for enhancing reliability by preventing heat generation. A current measuring device comprises a printed board (3) having a conductor for measurement (4), and a noncontact current sensor (100) being mounted on the printed board (3), wherein the current sensor (100) is mounted on the surface (92) of the printed board (3) opposite to the side provided with the conductor for measurement (4). Since the current sensor (100) is mounted on the rear surface (92), electric insulation between the secondary conductor of the current sensor (100) and the conductor for measurement (4) can be ensured relatively easy.

As techniques for measuring a current on a printed board, those using a shunt resistor, a magnetoresistive element or a Hall element have hitherto been widely known.
As techniques for measuring a current by use of a Hall element, there have been known, for example, a current detecting unit disclosed in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-233865 (hereinafter referred to as the first conventional example), a current measuring method using a current sensor disclosed in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-267965 (hereinafter referred to as the second conventional example), and a current measuring method using a current sensor disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,942,895 (hereinafter referred to as the third conventional example).
The first conventional example comprises a printed board, on one side of which a concavity is formed and from the other side of which a hole that communicates with this concavity is provided, a magnetic sensor disposed on or in the hole on one side, a coil section provided in the upper part of the printed board, a first magnetic material core that is provided in the upper part of the coil and has a projection on the side opposite to the magnetic sensor, and a second magnetic material core that is provided in the concavity so as to be opposite to the magnetic sensor. By connecting the coil section of the current detection unit directly to the current conductor on the printed board, the efficiency of current detection is high and a structure that permits surface mounting is provided.
The second conventional example comprises a conductor through which a current to be measured is caused to flow, a thin piece of magnetic material, and a magneto-electric transducer. A flat convexity is provided in the middle of the conductor and the magneto-electric transducer is fixed to the inner side of the lower part of the convexity so as to be perpendicular to a current to be measured. A thin piece of magnetic material to cause a magnetic field generated by the current to be concentrated at the magneto-electric transducer is provided. By mounting the conductor of the current sensor that is to be measured and the current conductor on the printed board, which are connected in series, on the board, it is possible to realize a high-efficiency current sensor capable of shutting off foreign noise.
As seen in these conventional examples, a current conductor that is provided with in a current sensor (hereinafter referred to as a primary side current conductor) and a current conductor that is provided on a printed board and becomes an object of measurement (hereinafter referred to as a conductor for measurement) a redirectly connected in series, and letting a current flow through the primary side current conductor is a common way to measure the current flowing through the conductor for measurement with high accuracy. This method has been widely adopted.
Also, in a current measuring method using a shunt resistor, the shunt resistor and a conductor for measurement are directly connected in series, letting a current flow to the shunt resistor causes generating of drop, and the current flowing through the conductor for measurement is measured with high accuracy by measuring the potential difference.
Furthermore, in the latest technology, there have been devised methods of measuring a current in a noncontact manner by sticking a high-sensitivity magnetic sensor such as GMR to a current conductor.
However, because in the first to third conventional examples, the primary side current conductor and the conductor for measurement are directly connected, it is necessary to ensure sufficient electric insulation between a signal line that is provided within the current sensor and used to output sensor signals (hereinafter referred to as the secondary side current conductor) and the conductor for measurement, posing the problem that there are given restrictions to the mounting of the current sensor. When electric insulation is not sufficient, there is a possibility that noise and excessive input may be transmitted to the side of a circuit that uses sensor signals from the current sensor. Also, when a current flowing through the conductor for measurement is large, it is necessary to increase the size of the primary side current conductor to adapt to the large current, posing the problem that the current sensor becomes large in size. Furthermore, when the primary side current conductor and the conductor for measurement are directly connected, heat is generated because a current flows through a contact resistor in the connection part, posing the problem that there is a possibility that if the calorific value is large, the reliability of the current sensor may be impaired.
Similarly, in a current measuring method using a shunt resistor, it is impossible to ensure electric insulation between a signal line to output sensor signals and the conductor for measurement, posing the problem that there are given restrictions to the mounting. Also, when a current flowing through the conductor for measurement is large, it is necessary to increase the size of a heat sink of the shunt resistor to adapt to the large current, posing the problem that the current sensor becomes large in size. Furthermore, when the shunt resistor and the conductor for measurement are directly connected, heat is generated because a current flows through the resistor, posing the problem that there is a possibility that if the calorific value is large, the reliability of the current sensor may be impaired. Moreover, because in the case of the shunt resistor, selection is required it is necessary to have a precise resistance value.
Furthermore, noncontact current measuring methods by the latest high-sensitivity magnetic sensor such as GMR pose the problems that sufficient accuracy cannot be ensured because the magnetic hysteresis is large, and that attaching accuracy is severe, the mounting place is limited and the direction of a current cannot be detected because it is necessary to use a bias magnet.
Therefore, the present invention was made by paying attention to such unsolved problems in the conventional techniques and has as its object the provision of a current measuring method and a current measuring device that easily ensure electric insulation, can reduce the size of a current sensor and are suitable for improving reliability by preventing heat generation.

Current measuring method and current measuring device


A rotor stripper mount pivotably fixed at its ends to the rotor frame of a round baler for arcuate fore-and-aft movement selectively fixable to the rotor frame. The arcuate fore-and-aft movement alters the distal relationship between the stripper channels and the rotor fingers and surfaces.

The present invention relates generally to an improved agricultural round baler of the type employing a rotor for assisting the baling process, and particularly to such a baler with an adjustable rotor stripper mount.
For several years agricultural round balers have been used to consolidate and package crop material so as to facilitate the storage and handling of the crop material for later use. Usually, a mower-conditioner cuts and conditions the crop material for windrow drying in the sun. When the cut crop material is properly dried, a baler, most likely a round baler, is pulled along the windrows to pick up the crop material and form it into cylindrically-shaped round bales. More specifically, the pickup of the baler gathers the cut and windrowed crop material from the ground. The pickup assembly then conveys the cut crop material with a conveyor, such as a rotating conveying rotor, into a bale-forming chamber within the baler. The pickup assembly has a drive mechanism that operates to activate both the pickup and the conveying rotor, and the pickup drive mechanism is operably connected to and driven by the main drive mechanism of the baler. The baling chamber consists of a pair of opposing sidewalls with a series of belts that rotate and compress the crop material into a cylindrical shape. When the bale has achieved a desired size and density, the operator wraps the bale to ensure that the bale maintains its shape and density. The operator then raises the tailgate of the baler and ejects the bale onto the ground. The tailgate is then closed and the cycle repeated as necessary and desired to manage the field of cut crop material.
The rotor conveyor mechanism ("rotor" or "rotor mechanism") between the pickup and the bale-forming chamber is, itself, known in the prior art, as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,595,055 and 6,644,006. The rotor mechanism usually takes one of two forms . . . a cutter or a feeder, both of which forms also convey crop material as described above. An elongate shaft or tube has a plurality of fingers pivotably affixed spirally along the length thereof that move into and out of the path between the pickup and bale-forming chamber as the shaft or tube is rotated. The fingers thus engage the crop material and convey the crop material within a transverse opening toward and into the bale-forming chamber. When the rotor floor has a series of elongated slots, a knife carriage fixed to the side sheets may be used. The knives, having a cutting and registration surface, are pushed up through the floor into the crop path between the rotor fingers. This mechanism is referred to as a "cutter"; however, without the cutting edge, it is called a "feeder". The cutter is better in certain crop conditions, i.e., where the customer desires his crop to be more finely chopped in the bale.
Structurally, the rotor conveyor is rotatably mounted in its own frame, which is, in turn, mounted to the baler between the pickup and the bale-forming chamber. A plurality of stripper channels are affixed to a transverse stripper mount which is rigidly affixed at its ends to the rotor frame, as by welding, and spaced therealong between each of the openings between the fingers, forming a table-like arrangement such that as the fingers rotate to convey the crop material through the transverse opening, the crop material engages the stripper channels and the fingers are substantially wiped clean.
A troublesome problem presented with a fixed stripper mount, i.e., not adjustable, is that damage may occur to the stripper mount and or stripper channels due to poor clearance between or among the various components. It would be a great advantage to have an adjustable bolt-in stripper mount that can easily be replaced and/or adjusted relative to the rotor fingers.

Adjustable rotor stripper mount for a round baler


A high-speed input circuit for industrial control provides an optoisolator protected by a series current regulator and shunting voltage regulator. The combined effect of the regulators is to allow the input circuit to work over a wide range of voltages while providing extremely fast response time.

The present invention relates to an industrial control systems and in particular to an I/O module for industrial control systems, the I/O module accommodating large voltage ranges and sensitive to high-speed switching.
Industrial control systems were originally developed to provide control logic for equipment in factories operating to manufacture products on an assembly line or in batch processes. Early industrial control systems replaced racks of relays with specialized circuitry that mimicked these relays but used a programming language.
Current industrial control systems continued this evolution, using modern electronic computer processors and circuits, but may be distinguished from standard computers by architectures that address the needs for high reliability, safety, and resistance to environmental damage and normal contamination. This latter concern generally means that industrial control system components are designed without cooling fans or ports that communicate with the outside air, placing a premium on low heat dissipation.
Industrial control systems must function in a highly varied set of manufacturing applications. For this reason, industrial control systems normally employ a modular construction form in which one or more modular controllers are teamed with local or remote I/O modules and other control devices that provide the actual interface between the controller and the hardware of sensors and actuators driving the industrial process.
One type of input I/O module operates as an interface to receive an input signal from a sensor or the like, the sensor providing an output voltage in a first voltage range indicating a low state and an output voltage in a second voltage range indicating a high state, Generally, a low state may be represented by an input voltage between zero and 10 volts and a high state may be represented by an input voltage from 10 to 32 volts.
It is important to prevent high electrical voltages originating in the controlled equipment or process from damaging the industrial control system. For this reason, I/O modules normally include an isolator. One possible isolator is an optical isolator (optoisolator/optocoupler) which provides an electrically actuated light source (an LED) insulated and isolated from a photodetector (for example, a photo diode) the latter that communicates with the remainder of the industrial control system. The optical isolator provides for good common mode rejection (that is, canceling noise that is present on both the ground and input side of the I/O module) and protects the industrial control system from extremely large voltage inputs which may accidentally be applied to the inputs of the I/O module.
Different sensors attached to an I/O module may have different output voltage ranges with high state voltages ranging from as low as 5 volts to 30 volts or more. One way of accommodating this voltage range without exceeding the current capacity of the optical isolator is to use a series limiting resistor. Such an approach may require different limiting resistors for different input voltage ranges and thus the the fabrication of multiple I/O modules for different applications.
An alternative approach is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,043,703 to Bavol, assigned to the assignee of the present invention and hereby incorporated by reference, In this invention, a transistor-based, series current limiter 28 is placed between one input of the I/O module and the light source of the optocoupler to provide to limit the current to the optocouplers over the wide input voltage range. This active regulation of series current allows a single I/O module to work over a wide input voltage range.
In these prior art designs, resistance to electrical noise is provided by a noise limiting capacitor and shunt resistor placed in parallel across the optocoupler's input. The capacitor serves to bypass high-frequency noise signals, and a resistor and a capacitor serve to provide a load that tends to diminish low-power high-voltage spikes.
Modern control environments may require the processing of electrical signals from a sensor connected having extremely high switching rates, for example, operating at frequencies of up to four megahertz and requiring a pulse width measurement having accuracies within plus or minus 30 nanoseconds. It is difficult to obtain high frequency response over a large voltage range of input voltages while preserving immunity against electrical noise.

Rockwell Automation Asia Pacific Business Centre Pte. Ltd.


Systems and methods are disclosed for controlling a torque output of a motor/generator via one or more torque commands generated by a controller. The target output being determined by a target torque based upon a low voltage side target of a DC/DC converter including a battery operatively coupled to one or more low voltage loads, a high voltage side target of the DC/DC converter including a supercapacitor operatively coupled with an inverter that is operatively coupled to the motor/generator, and a ripple compensation torque.

The present application generally relates to controls for powertrains including regenerative start/stop alternator functionality (hereinafter referred to as "RSSA powertrain system(s)" or "RSSA powertrain(s)"), and more particularly but not exclusively to systems and methods of controlling RSSA powertrains including a supercapacitor. Various control strategies for RSSA powertrains have been attempted, but current proposals suffer from a number of limitations and drawbacks, including those respecting efficiency and integration of RSSA powertrain function with other systems and subsystems, among others. There remains a substantial need for the unique apparatuses, methods and systems disclosed herein.

Systems and methods for control of powertrains with regenerative start/stop alternator functionality


A table shear may include a clamp and a shearing mechanism, the shearing mechanism supported by the clamp. The shearing mechanism may include a fixed lower shear blade, a lower shear blade backup plate supporting the fixed lower shear blade, a moveable upper shear blade and a shear compression cylinder. The shear compression cylinder abuts the movable upper shear blade.

Many structures are built using concrete, including, for instance, buildings, parking structures, apartments, condominiums, hotels, mixed-use buildings, casinos, hospitals, medical buildings, government buildings, research/academic institutions, industrial buildings, malls, bridges, pavement, tanks, reservoirs, silos, foundations, sports courts, and other structures.
Pre-stressed concrete is structural concrete in which internal stresses are introduced to reduce potential tensile stresses in the concrete resulting from applied loads. This can be accomplished by two methods—post-tensioned pre-stressing and pre-tensioned pre-stressing. When post tensioning concrete, the pre-stressing assembly is tensioned after the concrete has attained a specified strength. The pre-stressing assembly, commonly known as a tendon, may include for example and without limitation, anchorages, one or more strands, and sheathes or ducts. The strand is tensioned between anchors which are embedded in the concrete once the concrete has hardened. The strand may be formed from a metal or composite or any suitable material exhibiting tensile strength which can be elongated, including, for example and without limitation, reinforcing steel, single wire cable, or multi-wire cable. The strand is typically fixedly coupled to a fixed anchorage positioned at one end of the tendon, the so-called "fixed end", and is adapted to be stressed at the other anchor, the "stressing end" of the tendon. The strand is generally held to each anchor by one or more wedges. Typically, anchors include a tapered recess which, when the strand is placed under tension, causes the wedges to further engage the strand. Wedges are typically made of metal.

Shearing apparatus and process for post tensioning tendon


A clear thermoplastic blend comprises from about 25 to about 90 percent by weight of low flow polycarbonate resin having a MVR (Melt Viscosity Rate) of from about 1 to about 7 cc/10 min at 300° C./1.2 kg and from about 10 to about 75 percent by weight of a polyester resin derived from the condensation of a cyclohexanedimethanol or equivalent thereof alone or with an ethylene glycol or equivalent thereof with a terephthalic acid or equivalents thereof or a combination of terephthalic acid and isophthalic acid or equivalents thereof.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,942,585 to Scott et al relates to clear blends of polycarbonates and polyesters where the polyester comprises a dicarboxylic acid component based on 1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid units and a glycol component comprising 2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-1,3-cyclobutanediol units. Miscible polycarbonate polyester blends are described in a Free Volume approach to the Mechanical Behaviour of Miscible Polycarbonate Blends, by A. J. Hill et al, J. Phys. Condens. Matter, 8, 3811-3827 (1996) and in Dynamic Mechanical and Dielectric Relaxation Study of Aliphatic Polyester Based Blends by Stack et al., J. M. Polym. Mater. Sci. Eng. (1993), 69, 4-5, Eastman Chemical Company, Kingsport, Tenn. 37662. U.S. Pat. No. 4,879,355 to Light et al relates to a clear polymer blend comprising a glycol copolyester having repeat units from 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol, terephthalic acid and an alkylene glycol; a polycarbonate resin; and an aromatic polyester having repeat units from terephthalic acid, isophthalic acid and Bisphenol A. U.S. Pat. No. 4,786,692 to Allen et al. relates to a blend of an aromatic polycarbonate and a copolymer derived from a glycol portion comprising 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol and ethylene glycol. Some of these references describe clear properties of the thermoplastic blends.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,661 to Borman et al relates to copolyester compositions which comprise the reaction product of at least one straight chain, branched, or cycloaliphatic C2-C10 alkane diol or a chemical equivalent and a mixture of at least two cycloaliphatic diacids. The diacid mixture comprises predominantly a trans isomer and at least one aromatic diacid. As set forth in column 5, lines 41 to 45, "The reaction is generally run with an excess of the diol component and in the presence of a suitable catalyst ***". U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,562 to Borman et al additionally describes an impact strength modifier for compositions of the type set forth in the '661 patent.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,314 to Fox describes the addition of a polyester polymer derived from a cyclohexanedimethanol and a mixture of iso- and terephthalic acid to an aromatic carbonate polymer to enhance the solvent resistance as compared to a polycarbonate article.
Other references include U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,043,322; 6,037,424; 6,011,124; 6,005,059; 5,942,585; 5,194,523; and 5,017,659 and GB 1,559,230A.
Transparent blends of polycarbonate and polyesters may have attractive properties like toughness and chemical resistance. It is desirable to obtain improved properties of optical transparency and good chemical resistance without deleteriously affecting other desirable properties.

Polycarbonate polyester molding composition


In one disclosed embodiment, a processor includes a first execution unit and a second execution unit, a register file, and a data path including a plurality of lanes. The data path and the register file are arranged so that writing to the register file by the first execution unit and by the second execution unit is allowed over the data path, reading from the register file by the first execution unit is allowed over the data path, and reading from the register file by the second execution unit is not allowed over the data path. The processor also includes a power control circuit configured to, when a transfer of data between the register file and either of the first and second execution units uses less than all of the lanes, power down the lanes of the data path not used for the transfer of the data.

Vector processors consume high amounts of power due to the wide data width. A normal vector unit can only be turned on or off in its entirety, hence wasting power if it only executes smaller data width operations. This invention specifies a method to turn on and off a portion of the vector data path on the fly.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method to control the number of active vector lanes in a processor


Provided is an information processing apparatus that includes a control authority managing unit configured to change a control authority for a device by a first user on a basis of whether or not a status is a monitored status. The monitored status is a status in which the device or the first user is under supervision of a second user having a management authority for the device, and the first user does not have the management authority for the device.

In the past, various kinds of techniques for controlling a device arranged in a building such as a house on the basis of a manipulation of a user at a remote site have been proposed.
For example, a technique of determining whether or not remote control can be performed on an indoor device through an outdoor mobile device on the basis of a verification result of an attribute certificate presented from the mobile device is disclosed in Patent Literature 1 below.

Information processing apparatus and information processing method


An anesthetic and cooling mixture is sprayed from an aerosol can and onto an injured area of a person. The mixture includes lidocaine, camphor, vitamin E, H2O, polylactic acid and a propellant.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The disclosure relates to skin cooling applications and more particularly pertains to a new skin cooling application for spraying on a person's skin where there person has sustained an injury to help cool the area and relieve pain.
2. Summary of the Disclosure
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a mixture which may be sprayed from an aerosol can. The mixture includes lidocaine, camphor, vitamin E, H2O, polylactic acid and a propellant.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.


A circuit includes a plurality of circuit components formed on a semi conductive substrate die and a bond wire. The plurality of circuit components include at least one active component that operates on an information signal, a tuning node coupled to the at least one active component, an Electro Static Discharge (ESD) protection inductor, and a chip pad. The chip pad couples to the tuning node. The ESD protection inductor communicatively couples between the tuning node and a rail formed on the semi conductive substrate die. The ESD protection inductor provides ESD protection prior to packaging of the semi conductive substrate die or in some cases prior to the installation of the packaged die on a PC board or the equivalent. The bond wire couples between the chip pad and a package pad and serves as a tuning inductor for the circuit.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to communication systems and more particularly to Electrostatic Discharge Circuits used to protect Radio Frequency transceivers within such communication systems.
2. Related Art
Communication systems are known to support wireless and wire lined communications between wireless and/or wire lined communication devices. Such communication systems range from national and/or international cellular telephone systems to the Internet to point-to-point in-home wireless networks. Communication systems typically operate in accordance with one or more communication standards. For instance, wired communication systems may operate according to one or more versions of the Ethernet standard, the System Packet Interface (SPI) standard, or various other standards. Wireless communication systems may operate in accordance with one or more standards including, but not limited to, IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, advanced mobile phone services (AMPS), digital AMPS, global system for mobile communications (GSM), code division multiple access (CDMA), local multi-point distribution systems (LMDS), multi-channel-multi-point distribution systems (MMDS), and/or variations thereof.
Depending on the type of wireless communication system, a wireless communication device, such as a cellular telephone, two-way radio, personal digital assistant (PDA), personal computer (PC), laptop computer, home entertainment equipment, et cetera communicates directly or indirectly with other wireless communication devices. For direct communications (also known as point-to-point communications), the participating wireless communication devices tune their receivers and transmitters to the same channel or channels (e.g., one of the plurality of radio frequency (RF) carriers of the wireless communication system) and communicate over that channel(s). For indirect wireless communications, each wireless communication device communicates directly with an associated base station (e.g., for cellular services) and/or an associated access point (e.g., for an in-home or in-building wireless network) via an assigned channel. To complete a communication connection between the wireless communication devices, the associated base stations and/or associated access points communicate with each other directly, via a system controller, via the public switch telephone network, via the Internet, and/or via some other wide area network.
For each wireless communication device to participate in wireless communications, it includes a built-in radio transceiver (i.e., receiver and transmitter) or is coupled to an associated radio transceiver (e.g., a station for in-home and/or in-building wireless communication networks, RF modem, etc.). Typically, the transceiver includes a data modulation stage (baseband processor) and an RF stage. The baseband processor converts between data and baseband signals in accordance with the particular wireless communication standard. The RF stage converts between baseband signals and RF signals. The RF stage may be a direct conversion transceiver that converts directly between baseband and RF or may include one or more intermediate frequency stages.
In some constructs, the RF stage is formed on a single semi conductive substrate die. In other constructs, the RF stage is formed in conjunction with a baseband processor on a single semi conductive substrate die. In either case, prior to packaging of the single semi conductive substrate die, signal pads of the RF stage are susceptible to Electro Static Discharge (ESD). ESD protection is essential for protection of the circuitry of the RF stage that is exposed by the signal pads. This ESD protection must minimally load the signal pads while providing excellent ESD protection. Meeting this combination of requirements is difficult. As processing dimensions become smaller, challenges in meeting these requirements becomes greater.
These ESD protection requirements are not limited to RF circuits, however. Any circuits that operate upon information signals and that have signal or tuning pads exposed on the semi conductive die have these same or similar requirements. With some of these circuits, a first group of circuit elements are formed on the semi conductive die while other circuit components are formed as external components, e.g., package components. It is also difficult to protect these types of circuits from ESD events prior to packaging. Thus, these types of circuits have significant ESD protection requirements.

Use of an internal on-chip inductor for electrostatic discharge protection of circuits which use bond wire inductance as their load


The invention describes serving, on application level, services between IP networks supporting addresses which require translation, wherein a service is processed between a common address space common to IP networks and a specific address space specific to an IP network via a first interface which is accessible from the specific address space and a second interface which is accessible from the common address space.

IPv6 (IP version 6) has been presented as main enabling technology for providing IP based inter-operator services. Ipv6 is the universal solution for that, but in short term also IPv4 (IP version 4) solutions may be needed. In case IPv4 is used, the problem is that when using SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), NATs (Network Address Translators) are required and they cause serious problems for services like PoC using UDP (User Datagram Protocol) data streams for media.
FIG. 6 shows a typical IPv4 networks arrangement. A server in an operator's network is given an IPv4 address from an operator's public address space. For example, a server in a first operator's network is given a public IPv4 address 3, and a server in a second operator's network is given a public IPv4 address 4. Clients, e.g. mobiles, are assigned dynamic private IPv4 addresses as shown in FIG. 6. Thus, the clients are able to contact any server in their own network and in other networks having a server with a public IPv4 address and servers with public IPv4 addresses can contact each other unless restricted by firewalls.
However, since an NAT is required for translating the public address space into the private address space and vice versa, no inter-operator direct mobile-to-mobile IP connections are possible. In addition, the server cannot send any data to the clients, because the IP addresses reported in the SIP messages are from an unroutable address space.
FIG. 7 illustrates the operation of an NAT. For HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) traffic all computers send traffic to a public IPv4 address 3 and a TCP (Transport Control Protocol) port number 80, for example. For the source ports an NAT in a router with a public IPv4 address 1 receiving traffic from the HTTP server assigns new random port numbers and keeps also a mapping table on the assigned IP address/port relationships. In this way, a big number of users can use the same public IP address.
In case TCP is used there are sessions which are always opened and closed. Thus, the NAT knows that when the TCP session is closed the public port number does not have to be reserved anymore and can be assigned to a new private IP address user. However, with UDP there are no sessions. As a result, in the NATs there is typically an inactivity timer, and if a public UDP port has not been used during the length of this time, e.g. 40 seconds, the port will be assigned to a new user. Therefore, there is a problem with NATs for services using UDP data streams for media.
It is known that IPv6 makes obsolete NATs and problems related to them. It is also known to have application level intelligence on NATs. However, this might handle part of the problems caused by NATs, but not all of them. More information thereon can be found in J. Rosenberg et al.: "NAT and Firewall Scenarios and Solutions for SIP", Internet Engineering Task Force, Internet Draft (work in progress), June 2002.

Network-network interface for inter-operator service


A variable displacement pump including a control mechanism shiftable between first and second states, when the control mechanism is in the first state, the spool is in an initial position in which fluid communication between an introduction port and the remaining ports is restrained, fluid communication between a first control port and a drain port is allowed, and fluid communication between a second control port and the drain port is restrained, and when the control mechanism is shifted to the second state in accordance with increase in fluid pressure discharged, the spool is in an operating position in which the fluid communication between the introduction port and the first control port is allowed, the fluid communication between the first control port and the drain port is restrained, and the fluid communication between the second control port and the drain port is allowed.

The present invention relates to a variable displacement pump applicable to, for instance, a hydraulic source that supplies a working oil to sliding parts of an internal combustion engine for a vehicle.
Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication No. 2011-111926 A discloses a variable displacement pump for use in an internal combustion engine for a vehicle. Briefly explained, the variable displacement pump includes a cam ring, a pair of springs disposed to apply a displacement force to the cam ring in a direction in which an eccentric amount of a central axis of the cam ring with respect to a rotation axis of a rotor is increased as a whole (hereinafter referred to as "an eccentric direction"), and a pair of control fluid chambers configured to apply a displacement force to the cam ring in a direction in which the eccentric amount of the central axis of the cam ring is reduced as a whole (hereinafter referred to as "a concentric direction") by introducing same discharge fluid pressure into an inside of each of the control fluid chambers. The springs are arranged such that biasing forces thereof are exerted on the cam ring in directions opposed to each other. As the eccentric amount of the central axis of the cam ring is reduced, a load that is applied to the cam ring in the concentric direction is discontinuously and stepwise increased. With this construction, the variable displacement pump has a two-stage discharge fluid pressure characteristic in which a first predetermined fluid pressure is retained in a first rotation speed range and a second predetermined fluid pressure is retained in a second rotation speed range. The discharge fluid pressure characteristic is brought close to a required fluid pressure characteristic of the engine, so that useless energy consumption can be lowered.


An apparatus (1) that measures the thickness of a thin film layer of a wafer (24), includes a filtered white light source that forms a monochromatic light beam. The white light source includes a halogen lamp (10), a condensing lens (12), a circular aperture (14), a collimator lens (16), a narrow band filter wheel (18), and a second collimator lens (20). The monochromatic light beam generated by this filtered white light source illuminates an entire surface of the wafer (24). Prior to illumination, the wafer (24) is deformed into a reflective condenser. Thus, the monochromatic light beam that illuminates the wafer (24) is reflected off the wafer (24) and collected by an optical scheme that redirects the beam to a detector array (31) of a charge coupled device (CCD) camera (30). The monochromatic light beam incident upon the CCD camera detector array (31) contains an image of an interference fringe pattern that is formed by coherent interactions in the monochromatic light beam as it is reflected within the wafer structure (24). The interference fringe pattern image is displayed on the CCD camera detector array (31) and captured by the CCD camera (30). The captured image is then converted to a map of measured reflectance data by a digitizing circuit (34) and a computer (36). This map of measured reflectance data is then compared to reference reflectance data to generate a map of the thin film layer thickness over a full aperture of the wafer (24).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for performing thin film layer thickness metrology and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for performing thin film layer thickness metrology on a silicon/silicon dioxide/silicon (Si/SiO.sub.2 /Si) structured semiconductor wafer by deforming the wafer into a reflective condenser.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In one particular application wherein the present invention is especially practical, a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) semiconductor wafer, typically consisting of an Si/SiO.sub.2 /Si sandwich structure, is fabricated by growing a silicon dioxide (SiO.sub.2) film on one surface of each of two silicon (Si) wafers and bonding the two silicon dioxide film surfaces together at high temperature. It should be noted that other materials, silicon nitride for example, may be used for the insulator material, and that other materials may be used for the wafer material. In such an application, an outer surface of one of the two silicon wafers in the sandwich structure is mechanically ground and polished to an average thickness of several microns. This mechanical grinding and polishing unfortunately results in large spatial variations in the thickness of this one silicon wafer, or this outer silicon layer. To reduce these spatial variations, a thickness error map that indicates thickness non-uniformities in this outer silicon layer over the entire wafer surface is require, for example, to initialize a further micropolishing process.
A sequence of measuring the spatial variations in the thickness of the outer silicon layer followed by thinning and smoothing the surface of this layer by micropolishing may need to be performed several times before the entire outer silicon layer achieves a desired thickness. In order to reduce costs and increase production, a measurement of at least 400 points on a wafer surface in 60 seconds is desirable.
Current commercial instruments, however, can typically provide a thickness measurement of a thin film layer at only a single point thereon. These instruments use a focused lens or a fiber bundle to locally illuminate a surface of the thin film layer with a beam of monochromatic light, and a grating or prism spectrograph to measure the surface spectral reflectance at each point. In all cases, this surface spectral reflectance data must be numerically corrected due to variations in the angle of incidence caused by the f-number of the illuminating beam.
Current commercial instruments may be extended to cover an entire thin film layer, such as an outer silicon layer of an SOI semiconductor wafer, by moving either the measuring instrument or the wafer in a controlled manner. However, the time required for these instruments to determine the thickness of an outer silicon layer of an SOI semiconductor wafer at a single point on the outer silicon layer is on the order of several minutes, and characterizing the entire outer silicon layer with at least 400 measurement points far exceeds the time desired for efficient wafer production. It is therefore desirable to perform thin film layer thickness metrology over an entire thin film layer, such as an entire outer silicon layer of an SOI semiconductor wafer, in an efficient, albeit an economical and highly accurate manner.

Apparatus and method for performing thin film layer thickness metrology by deforming a thin film layer into a reflective condenser