The extruded section forms a tunnel that is substantially rectangular and is provided with fins on at least one side of the rectangle. The fins allow air to flow outside the housing by natural convection in the extrusion direction. A side without fins serves as a base for fastening the housing and as a support for power electronic components of the power electronic device. The fins are machined transversely to the extrusion direction to form notches in the fins. The notches being aligned in succession to allow air to flow outside the housing by natural convection in the optimum direction.

The present invention relates to the general field of housings made of metal extruded section members and designed for manufacturing waterproof power electronic devices.
Such waterproof power devices are, for example, battery chargers designed to be installed on board vehicles such as, for example, fork-lift trucks, golf carts, etc. that can be cleaned using methods that are relatively intrusive, such as, for example, methods using high-pressure fluid. In such applications, it is necessary for the battery charger to be fully waterproof in order to protect the electronic components that it contains.
In the particular context described above, it is naturally out of the question to use conventional ventilation with a fan blowing air into the housing. The action of the fan requires an opening to be provided, and fluid or solid particles can enter the housing through the opening, which is unacceptable for this type of power electronic device.
More particularly, the invention relates to such a housing whose extruded section member forms a tunnel that is of substantially rectangular closed section and that is provided with fins on at least one side of the rectangle. By increasing the heat exchange area via which the housing can exchange heat with the outside air, the fins make it possible to dissipate heat. The heat dissipation is increased when a flow of air is blown in contact with the fins. However, in the particular context described above, it is also out of the question to position a fan for blowing air over the fins of the housing. That is because fan technology does not make it possible to implement such a fan with satisfactory and relatable waterproofness at a reasonable cost.
Generally, a side that is not provided with fins serves as a base for fastening the housing and as a support for supporting the power electronic components of the power electronic device.
The housing can then exchange heat to a marginal extent with the support to which it is fastened. However, the nature of said support is totally unknown a priori. Its material, its thickness, or its surface can have very varied thermal characteristics allowing heat to be removed or preventing heat from being removed.
Thus, since the housing is closed and cannot be ventilated externally, it must therefore exchange the heat it generates with the surrounding air solely via radiation and natural convection, i.e. without artificial ventilation.
Even more precisely, the fins of the extruded section member forming the housing are thus adapted to the situation in which air flows by natural convection in the extrusion direction outside the housing.
Therefore, it is necessary to make provision for natural convection and for radiation to be maximized in order to guarantee that sufficient heat is removed to enable the power electronic device placed inside the housing to operate properly.
In addition, it is known that power electronic devices are generally mass-produced and are subject to very tight cost constraints.
As regards satisfying cost constraints and procuring waterproofness, it is known that the use of a one-piece element extruded to form a tunnel is particularly advantageous because it guarantees waterproofness on all four sides of the housing. This also facilitates mounting the battery charger or, more generally, mounting a power device, and thus contributes to reducing the final cost of the power electronic device.
For a heat dissipater or "heatsink", extruding an aluminum tunnel requires the fins to be in the extrusion direction. Therefore, currently existing housings made of extruded section members are provided with fins in the extrusion direction, and they thus enable the heat generated inside the housing by the power electronic device to be removed via the fins, provided that said fins are positioned in such a manner as to be vertical.
It is also known that thermal performance improves not only with increasing surface area in contact with the air, hence the advantageousness of fins, but also with increasing speed of air over said surface area. The air heating on coming into contact with the fins generates a natural upward movement of air, which movement is facilitated if the air can rise freely, and thus if the fins extend vertically.
Mounting the housing on a vertical wall with the fins also extending vertically thus procures optimum dissipation for an extruded housing. This requires the power device to be installed in the same way in all vehicles in which the power electronic device is to be installed.
Currently, this is a constraint that is holding back the development of the use of power devices implemented using extruded housings. A very wide variety of contexts are thus currently deprived of this solution.
Unfortunately, if the device is mounted on a horizontal plane, the plane of the fins is then also horizontal, and the convection of air is much weaker. In spite of the existence of radiation, a very significant reduction in effectiveness (a reduction by more than 30%) is observed.
Therefore, assembled solutions exist in which radiators carrying fins are assembled on a pre-extruded tunnel that is not provided with fins. That makes it possible for the direction of the fins to be perpendicular to the extrusion direction or for the direction of the fins to form an angle with said extrusion direction. The radiators used have standard comb-shaped section members that generally have long fins mounted on thick bases and that are designed for forced convection. Forced convection requires a higher density for the heat flow and thus greater thickness for the base of the fins. Such solutions generally lead to housings having a very large mass of aluminum or of metal, which is penalizing. In addition, such solutions are complex to manufacture in terms of machining and of assembly, because the waterproofness constraint is still present.

Multi-position housing made of metal extruded section member for manufacturing a waterproof power electronic device


An end member assembly includes a first end member and a second end member. An air spring assembly can be formed using an end member assembly on one end thereof. A method is also described.

The present novel concept broadly relates to the art of fluid suspension members and, more particularly, to a multi-component end member assembly suitable for use in forming an air spring assembly and a method of manufacturing the same.
Typical air spring assemblies include opposing end members and a flexible wall secured on the end members forming a spring chamber therebetween. A wide variety of arrangements for securing such a flexible wall on an end member are known and commonly used. It is recognized that different securing arrangements have different advantages, such as low cost, improved sealing or reliability, high strength, or a capability of disassembly and/or repair, for example. Thus, different securing arrangements are selected and used in different applications depending upon the specific needs and goals thereof. In many cases, a different securing arrangement will be selected and used on each of the two different end members of an air spring assembly.
Unfortunately, some securing arrangements and/or combination of arrangements can create assembly difficulties. This can undesirably limit the use of such arrangements and/or combination of arrangements. As an example, one securing arrangement includes a flexible wall secured on an outer side wall of an end member using a first retaining member. The flexible wall is then folded back over the retaining member and extends along the exterior thereof. A second retaining member can then optionally be secured outwardly of the first retaining member. The difficulty with assembling such securing arrangements is associated with positioning the flexible wall on the side wall of the end member prior to the securement of the first retaining member. Typically, this is due to the presence of a shoulder at one end of the outer side wall, though other features may also be present that can contribute to these assembly difficulties. The present novel concept overcomes the foregoing and other assembly difficulties.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Multi-component end member assembly and air spring assembly including the same


In an electrical part, a first resilient portion of an internal terminal is inserted into a terminal guide portion, and the internal terminal is inserted into the terminal guide portion such that a contact portion thereof resiliently contacts the inner side of the terminal guide portion. A curved second contact portion of the internal terminal is formed at one end, and a stopper, disposed at the internal terminal 3, is retained in a recess of an external terminal to prevent the internal terminal 3 from being removed from the terminal guide groove. In conventional electrical parts, the internal terminal is connected to the insulating substrate at an eyelet or the like by staking in order to transfer the resistance change resulting from the rotation of the operating shaft to the outside, so that when staking at the eyelet or the like is done with too much strength, the insulating substrate may crack. The electrical part makes it possible to overcome such a problem of the conventional electrical parts.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric part, such as a throttle position sensor, used for setting the fuel supply amount in, for example, an automobile at an optimum amount in accordance with the travel speed in order to allow the automobile to travel with its fuel amount kept at the optimum amount.
2. Description of the Related Art
A description will be given of such an electric part, taking as an example the throttle position sensor disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-109935.
As shown in FIG. 6, a conventional electric part, such as a throttle position sensor, has a housing 11 including an accommodating portion 11a, an opening 11c formed at one end thereof in the direction of its shaft center line Z, and a cover portion 11d for sealing the opening 11c. The housing 11 also has a through hole 11e at the central portion thereof in the direction of the shaft center line Z. A metallic bearing 11g is provided at the through hole 11e, which is insert molded to the housing 11.
An operating shaft 12, made of insulating resin, has integrally formed at one end a sliding element supporting member 13 that rotates with the operating shaft 12, and is rotatably held by the bearing 11g. Sliding member pieces 13a are mounted to a surface of the sliding element supporting member 13 by staking or the like.
To the outside portion of the housing 11 at the other end of the operating shaft 12 are mounted a knob 14, a coil spring 15, an annular seal 16 and an insulating substrate 17. The knob 14 is mounted to the outside portion of the housing 11 by heat staking or the like. The coil spring 15, having one end mounted to the housing 11 and the other end mounted to the knob 14, functions to automatically return the operating shaft 12 in the direction of rotation thereof. The seal 16 is provided between the bearing 11g and the operating shaft 12. The insulating substrate 17 is disposed so as to oppose the sliding element supporting member 13.
A resistance pattern 17a is, for example, printed on a surface of the insulating substrate 17. Each of the sliding element pieces 13a slidably contact the resistance pattern 17a in order to change the resistance as the operating shaft 12 rotates, thus allowing the current or the voltage to be changed. A wave washer 18 is provided between the sliding element supporting member 13 and a protrusion 11h in the housing 11, such that the sliding element supporting member 13 is at all times urged towards the insulating substrate 17 in order to prevent the creation of play in the Z direction of the operating shaft 12.
In order to transfer the aforementioned change in resistance outside the device, one end of the internal terminal 19 is staked at an eyelet 19a or the like to the resistance pattern 17a printed on the insulating substrate 17, and the resistance pattern 17a and the internal terminal 19 are connected and fixed together. One end of the external terminal 20 inserted molded and mounted to the housing 11 is connected to the other end of the internal terminal 19 using solder 19b or the like. The resistance change is transferred to the outside of the device through the other end of the external terminal 20.
Such a conventional electrical part, or a throttle position sensors has the problem that a large number of manhours is required to assemble it, since the resistance change due to the rotation of the operating shaft 12 is transferred to the outside of the device by connecting the internal terminal 19 to the insulating substrate 17 at an eyelet 19a by staking or the like.
When staking is performed with too much strength at the eyelet 19a, the insulating substrate 17 may crack.
On the other hand, when staking is performed too weakly at the eyelet 19a, a play is created between the insulating substrate 17 and the internal terminal 19, resulting in the possibility of poor contact between the resistance pattern 17a and the internal terminal 19.
In addition, the task of assembling the electric part becomes complicated, since soldering must also be carried out using, for example, solder 19b to connect the internal terminal 19, mounted to the insulating substrate 17 at the eyelet 19a by staking or the like, and the external terminal 20 inserted molded to the housing.
In view of the above-described problems, according to a first form of the present invention, there is provided an electrical part, comprising: a hollow housing with an opening at one end and a wall surrounding the hollow; an external terminal having one end disposed in the hollow portion of the housing and the other end led out from the hollow portion of the housing; a tabular insulating substrate with a resistance pattern, which is disposed at the bottom portion of the housing; an internal terminal having a first resilient portion and a second resilient portion; and a recess-shaped terminal guide portion formed at one end of the external terminal so as to face the opening of the housing, wherein the first resilient portion of the internal terminal is inserted into and resiliently contacted with the terminal guide portion, and the second resilient portion of the internal terminal is resiliently contacted with the resistance pattern, in order to connect the external terminal and the internal terminal together.
According to a second form of the present invention, the terminal guide portion formed at one end of the external terminal may be formed by a flat portion and an opposing portion thereof of the external terminal, or a side wall of the housing and the opposing portion of the external terminal, or the flat portion of the external terminal and an opposing portion thereof of the housing.
According to a third form and a fourth form of the present invention, the electrical part may further comprise a stopper cut and raised from a flat portion of the internal terminal, wherein a recess is formed either in a flat portion of the external terminal which opposes the flat portion of the internal terminal or in a side wall of the housing, in order to retain the stopper in the recess.

Holding structure for terminal of variable resistor


In a compression type union for compressing two tubing segments against an intervening washer, a male nut, a female nut, and a pair of caps, the caps having interengaging tongues and slots. The nuts bear against respective caps, and the caps bear against respective heads of the tubing segments. The caps being non-integral with either tubing segment or with either nut, and there is no interengagement of any kind between the nuts and the tubing segments. The union can be joined without concern for positioning either of the nuts.

Especially in the field for piping of hazardous gases, it is customary to couple adjacent segments of tubing by means of a compression-type union. The tubing is generally made of metal, and each segment terminates at a hard peripheral sealing surface. The well-known VCR (vacuum compression rod) union is well-known and widely used in chip manufacturing installations, and exemplifies this field.
It is important that abutting sealing faces not be scarred, even minutely, by relative rotational movement during assembly. This is a uniform objective which is not always fulfilled. To avoid the unfavorable result, a purely compressive force should be exerted to make the seal.
There are other problems with conventional VCR fittings. There is a pervasive problem that, even with great care, residual twisting forces may be set into a completed piping structure. This frequently results in an untidy appearance of moderately out of line pipes, and worse, stored torsional forces which might ultimately lead to loosening of the unions. This can be a very serious consequence.
Attempts have been made to avert these consequences by placing in the union an anti-twist member. Such members are generally characterized as a compression cap with a tongue. One member of a threaded joinder abuts against the cap, and the tongue fits in an axial slot on the other threaded member. The slotted member is held against rotation, and the other member tightened down. This is a workable concept, shown in McGushion U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,822 filed Oct. 8, 1991.
Disadvantages of this earlier construction are the need to slot one of the threaded members with consequent extremely difficult deburring requirements, and that one of the threaded members, generally the male threaded member must carefully and very accurately be held against rotation or a counter-torque could be exerted in the system.
It is an object of this invention to provide a torque transfer fitting for a compression-type union which need not be. restrained at either of the threaded members, which can utilize unmodified male and female nut members which do not require deburring, which can utilize two identical parts, and which parts can be so short that they can be manufactured in an inexpensive press operation, rather than having to be machined.

Tubing union with a torque transfer fitting


The present invention enables to complete a data erase of memory cells of a group in a semiconductor storage device where a data erase is uniformly performed to memory cells of a group until all the cell threshold values become below a reference and memory cells having a cell threshold value below a lower limit are supplied with an electric charge. When a production error occurs in such a way that some memory cells in a predetermined position of a group have a lower erase speed, the semiconductor device is formed in such a way that these memory cells have an erase speed higher than an ideal value. When some memory cells of a group have a lower erase speed, an excessive erase is performed in most memory cells of the group requiring electric charge supply, which increase the erase time as a whole.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor storage device such as an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM) and in particular, to a semiconductor storage device made from an all-at-once erasable flush memory.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently, various memory devices are uses in various electronic apparatuses. Among such memory devices, there are those which retain a binary data in a rewritable and nonvolatile manner.
The flash memory can be divided into several groups according to an internal structure and a writing method. For example, there are NAND type and NOR type. The NOR type may be AND type or DINOR (divided bit line NOR) type. The DONOR type is considered to be advantageous because of its high speed operation while the AND type is considered to be advantageous for high integration.
Here, explanation will be given on a conventional example of such a semiconductor storage device with reference to FIG. 4 to FIG. 10. It should be noted that FIG. 4 is a plan view schematically showing an entire configuration of a flash memory as the semiconductor storage device; FIG. 5 is a plan view schematically showing a layered configuration of memory cells; FIG. 6 is a schematic front view showing a cross section about Xxe2x80x94X in FIG. 5; FIG. 7 is a schematic side view showing a cross section about Yxe2x80x94Y in FIG. 5; FIG. 8 schematically shows a state for writing a data in a memory cell; FIG. 9 schematically shows a state for erasing a data in a memory cell by the substrate erase method; and FIG. 10 shows a cell threshold value characteristic to memory cells.
Here, a flash memory 100 as a conventional example of the semiconductor storage device. includes numerous memory cells 101 which are arranged on the surface of a semiconductor substrate 102 in a two-dimensional structure. As shown in FIG. 4, the memory cells 101 are grouped into a plurality of sectors 103.
Each memory cell 101 consists of at least one MOS transistor having, as shown in FIG. 5 to FIG. 7, a source region 111, a drain region 112, a floating gate (FG) 113, a control gate (CG) 114, insulation films 115, 116 and the like. Each of the regions 111 and 112 is a diffused layer formed on the semiconductor substrate 102. The FG 113 is located on a diffused layer 117 between the regions 111 and 112.
As has been described above, a plurality of sectors 103 are arranged in the two-dimensional manner on a semiconductor substrate 102 of the flash memory 100, and on each of the sectors 103, there are arranged a plurality of memory cells 101. These memory cells 101 are separated from one another by an element isolation region 118 of LOCOS (local oxidization of silicon) and STI (shallow trench isolation).
It should be noted that in the intermediate region between adjacent sectors 103, various circuits are arranged including a line decoder, a column decoder, a column selection circuit, a sense amplifier, and the like. For example, the plurality of sectors 103 are arranged in the column direction via a space of xe2x80x9c510 (xcexcm)xe2x80x9d, where the column selection. circuit (Y selector) is arranged.
Moreover, the plurality of sectors 103 are arranged in the line. direction via a space of xe2x80x9c330 (xcexcm)xe2x80x9d, where the line decoder (X decoder) is arranged. It should be noted that the space in the line direction of the plurality of sectors 103 where no such circuit is arranged is formed with a width of, for example, xe2x80x9c65 (xcexcm)xe2x80x9d.
In the flash memory 100 having the aforementioned configuration, a binary data can be written in each of the memory cells 101. When writing a new data or rewriting a data stored in the flash memory 100, the stored data in memory cells 101 are erased on the sector 103 basis immediately before the writing.
When writing a binary data in a memory cell 101, as shown in FIG. 8, a predetermined potential is applied to the source region 111, the drain region 112, and the CG 114 and electric charge (electrons) is poured from the semiconductor substrate 102 into the FG 113.
Here, in the memory cell 101 where a data is to be written, for example, xe2x80x9c0 (V)xe2x80x9d is applied to the source region 111, xe2x80x9c5 (V)xe2x80x9d is applied to the drain region, and xe2x80x9c10 (V)xe2x80x9d is applied to the CG 114. Accordingly, an electric charge is poured into the FG 113 and the cell threshold value becomes above a write reference. Simultaneously with this, in a memory cell 101 where no data is to be written, for example, xe2x80x9c0 (V)xe2x80x9d is applied to the drain region 112 (not depicted) and not electric charge is poured into the FG 113, thereby the cell threshold value is retained below the erase reference.
As shown in FIG. 10, the cell threshold value of the memory cell 101 becomes above the write reference or the below the erase reference. Thus, by detecting this, it is possible to read a binary data which has been written or erased.
When performing such a data read, for example, xe2x80x9c0 (V)xe2x80x9d is applied to the source region 111, xe2x80x9c1 (V)xe2x80x9d is applied to the drain region, and xe2x80x9c3 (V)xe2x80x9d is applied to the CG 114, so that the current flowing through the drain region 112 is detected by the sense amplifier (not depicted) to determine the stored data to be 1 or 0.
On the other hand, when erasing data stored in all the memory cells 101 of a certain sector 103, for example, xe2x80x9cxe2x88x9210 (V)xe2x80x9d is applied to the CG 114, xe2x80x9c+10 (V)xe2x80x9d is applied to the diffused layer 117, and the source region 111 and the drain region 112 are made into an open state, so that as shown in FIG. 9, electric charge (electrons) is discharged from the FG 113 to the diffused layer 117. As shown in FIG. 10, thus, the cell threshold value of the memory cell 101 becomes below the erase reference and in this memory cell 101, the stored data has been erased.
It should be noted that the aforementioned data erase in the memory cell 101 is performed for each of the sectors 103. Accordingly, until the cell threshold values of all the memory cells 101 in that sector 103 become below the erase reference, data erase is uniformly performed in all the memory cells 101 of the sector 103.
However, because of the production errors, the erase speed is not completely identical in all the memory cells 101. Accordingly, if the data erase is uniformly performed in all the memory cells 101 one sector, the data erase may be performed excessively in a memory cell 101 having a high erase speed.
In that memory cell 101, the cell threshold value is significantly lowered. However, if a particular memory cell 101 in the flash memory 100 has a too low cell threshold value, there arise a problem of read failure. For example, in an ordinary NOR type cell array, drain regions 112 of a plurality of memory cells 101 are connected to a single bit line. When a predetermined voltage such as xe2x80x9c3 (V)xe2x80x9d is applied to one of the word lines (CG 114) of the plurality of the memory cells 101, the memory cell 101 connected to that word line is selected and the stored data is read out.
Here, if the selected memory cell 101 contains a written data, no detection current is generated and the stored data is determined to be xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d by the sense amplifier, and if the selected memory cell 101 contains no written data, a read current is generated and the stored data is determined to be xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d.
However, in a memory cell 101 where a data erase has been performed excessively, a read current may be generated even when the predetermined voltage is not applied to the word line (CF 114). That is, even when the memory cell 101 has a written data, the stored data may be determined to be xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d, causing a read failure.
In order to cope with this, in the current flash memory, as shown in FIG. 10, when a data erase is performed in a certain sector 103, electric charge is given to those memory cells 101 having the cell threshold values of the FG 113 below a predetermined lower limit value.
This is called a write-back processing or the like. While an ordinary data erase is performed for the respective sectors 103 or for the entire memory, the write-back processing is performed by detecting respective memory cells having an excessive erase. Here, an excessive erase verify is executed and if the cell threshold value is still below the lower limit, the write-back processing is again executed.
It should be noted that the above explanation has been given on the substrate erase method as the data erase method of the flash memory 100. The data erase method may also be the source erase method. In the source erase method, when erasing written data in all the memory cells 101 of a certain sector 103, as shown in FIG. 14, xe2x80x9cxe2x88x9210 (V)xe2x80x9d is applied to the CG 114, xe2x80x9c+10 (V)xe2x80x9d is applied to the source region, xe2x80x9c0 (V)xe2x80x9d is applied to the diffused layer, and the drain region 112 is in the open state. Thus, electrons are discharged from the FG 113 to the source region 111 and the written data in the memory cells 101 is erased.
In the aforementioned flash memory 100, a binary data can be written into memory cells 1001 by making the cell threshold value of the FG 113 above the write reference and the stored data in the memory cells 101 can be erased by making the cell threshold value of the FG 113 below the erase reference. The data erase is performed uniformly in the numerous memory cells of a single sector 103. Those memory cells 101 having the cell threshold values below the lower limit are supplied with electric charge and no problem such as leak current is caused.
However, this electric charge supply requires a time, increasing the erase time of the sector 103. Accordingly, the number of memory cells 101 requiring electric charge supply is preferably as small as possible. If the erase speeds of all the memory cells 101 in a sector 103 are completely identical, no excessive data erase is caused and no electric charge supply is required, thereby reducing the erase time of the sector 103.
In an actual memory cell 101, each part consists of a diffused region and a layered film. As the portions associated with the erase speed, as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 7, there are a diffused layer width W, an overlap B of the FG 113 with respect to the element isolation region 118, and the like. It should be noted that the diffused layer width W, as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 7, is a dimension in a horizontal direction in the figures equivalent to the entire length of the diffused layer between the element isolation regions 118.
When a memory cell 101 of the flash memory 100 of the substrate erase method is expressed in a capacitance equivalent circuit, as shown in FIG. 11, a capacitance Cl between the FG 113 and the diffused layer 117, a capacitance C2 between the FD 113 and the CG 114, a potential difference VFG between the FG 113 and the diffused layer 117, and a potential difference VCG between the FG 113 and the CG 114 satisfy a relationship as follows:
VFG=(C2/C1)xc3x97VCG
For example, when the capacitance C2 between the FG 113 and the CG 114 is constant, if the aforementioned diffused layer width W increases, the capacitance C1 also increases. Accordingly, the potential difference VFG is lowered to lower the erase speed. Moreover, if the diffused layer width W is constant and the overlap B is reduced, the capacitance C2 is also lowered, thereby reducing the potential difference VFG to lower the erase speed.
On the other hand, when a memory cell 101 of a flash memory 100 of the source erase method is expressed in a capacitance equivalent circuit, as shown in FIG. 15, a capacitance C1 between the FG and the diffused layer 117, a capacitance C2 between the FG 113 and the CG 114, a capacitance Ce between the FG 113 and the source region 111, a potential difference VS between the CG 114 and the source region 111, and a potential difference VSG. between the FG 113 and the source region 111 satisfy a relationship as follows:
VSG=(C1+C2)/(C1+C2+Ce)xc3x97VS
Accordingly, in the flash memory 100 of the source erase method, if the diffused layer width W is increased, the capacitance C1 and the potential difference VSG are increased, thereby lowering the erase speed, and if the overlap B is reduced, the capacitance C2 and the potential difference VSG are lowered, thereby increasing the erase speed.
Accordingly, in either of the erase methods of the flash memory 100, if the diffused layer width W and the overlap B in all the memory cells 101 of one sector 103 are identical, the erase speeds are also identical. However, when the flash memory 100 was actually produced, it was found that the diffused layer width W and the overlap B in a sector cannot be made identical due to the production technique and the production condition.
For example, when a flash memory 100 of the substrate erase method is produced, as shown in FIG. 12, the diffused layer width W may be greater in a central region than in end regions of the sector 103. If data erase is performed in a sector 103 of a substrate erase type flash memory having such a configuration, the erase speed is lowered in the memory cells 101 in the end regions.
However, the data erase is performed until the cell threshold values of all the memory cells 101 in the sector 103 become below the erase reference. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 13, when the data erase is at a low speed only in some memory cells .101, the data erase is performed in the most of the memory cells 101 more than necessary.
For this, when a data erase is performed in a sector 103, most of the memory cells 101 in the center region often have cell threshold values below the lower limit and a plenty of memory cells 101 require write-back, which results in increase of the erase time of the sector 103.
On the contrary, when a flash memory of the source erase type is produced, the diffused layer width W may become smaller in the end regions of the sector 103 than in the center region. However, in this case also, a plenty of memory cells 101 require a write-back processing in the sector 103 where the data erase is performed and the erase time is increased.
It should be noted that in order to prevent the aforementioned production irregularities, there is a technique to produce a dummy pattern similar to the memory cell 101 up to the outer side of the sector 103. However, this is not preferable because this lowers the productivity of the flash memory 100 and increases the apparatus size.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor storage device capable of uniform data erase in a group of memory cells with a reduced number of cells in which the data erase is excessively performed and completing the data erase at a high speed, and a production method thereof.
The semiconductor storage device according to the invention comprises a group of memory cells arranged in a two-dimensional state on a semiconductor substrate, wherein a binary data write is performed by pouring electric charge into each of the memory cells of the group until a cell threshold value reaches a predetermined write reference while a binary data erase is performed by uniformly discharging the electric charge from the memory cells until all the cell threshold values become below a predetermined erase reference and those memory cells subjected to the data erase and having cell threshold values below a lower limit are supplied with an electric charge,
the device being characterized in that when a production error occurs in such a way that an erase speed of memory cells in a predetermined position of the group differs from an ideal value,
the device is formed with such a configuration that in the memory cells in the predetermined position, the erase speed is higher than an ideal value even if the production error occurs.
Accordingly, in the semiconductor storage device of the present invention, a data write is performed to each of the memory cells while a data erase is uniformly performed to all the memory cells of a predetermined group. When a production error occurs to lower an erase speed of some memory cells at a predetermine position of the group than an ideal value, the data erase is uniformly performed in all the memory cells of the group until the data erase is complete in the memory cells subjected to the production error. Consequently the data erase is performed more than necessary in most of the memory cells of the group and a plenty of memory cells require electric charge supply.
However, the semiconductor storage device according to the present invention is formed with a such a configuration that memory cells at a position where the production error occurs have a higher erase speed than an ideal value even if the production error occurs and accordingly, the memory cells thus formed will not lower their erase speed than the ideal value even if the production error occurs. These memory cells thus formed have a higher erase speed than most of the memory cells of the group, the data erase may be performed more than necessary requiring electric charge supply.
However, in most of the memory cells other than the aforementioned, the data erase will not performed more than necessary and it is possible to reduce the number of memory cells in which the data erase is performed excessively requiring electric charge supply. It should be noted that xe2x80x9csome memory cellsxe2x80x9d of a group means less than half of the group, for example, one tenth of the memory cells of the group.

Semiconductor storage device and production method thereof


A DSP superscalar architecture employing dual multiply accumulate pipelines. Dual MAC pipelines allow for a seem less transition between established RISC instruction sets and extended DSP instructions sets. Relocatable opcodes are provide to allow further extensions of RISC instruction sets. The DSP superscalar architecture also provides memory pointers with hardware circular buffer support, an interruptible and nested zero-overhead loop counter, and prioritized low-overhead interrupts.

The present invention relates to the field of digital signal processor (DSP) architectures, and more particularly to DSP architectures with optimized architectures.
With the increasing commercial importance of DSP-intensive applications, such as wireless communication, modems, and computer telephony, has come an increasing recognition of the benefit of implementing DSP functions on a CPU. Not only are CPUs usually needed for memory management, user interface and Internet Protocol software, CPUs also have excellent third-party software tool support.
Implementing certain DSP algorithms, such as the FIR Filter or Discrete Cosine Transform (DC7), in software, however, may degrade performance up to an order of magnitude as compared to specialized DSPs. Another difficulty is the problem of deterministic real-time allocation in sophisticated CPUs.
Some vendors have tried to address these problems by offering auxiliary processing components. DSP coprocessors, for example, use separate instruction sets, instruction stores and execution units, and DSP accelerators share the same I-stream with the CPU but have separate execution units. These approaches, however, impose a substantial burden on the CPU in managing DSP functions.

High performance RISC instruction set digital signal processor having circular buffer and looping controls


A compressor inlet pressure estimation apparatus for a refrigeration cycle system is disclosed. An electronic control unit 14 uses Tefin_lag(N) as an actual corrected temperature Tefin_AD(N) during a period Tp1 included in the timing t1 to t2. During a period Tp2 included in the timing t1 to t2, Tefin_fwd(N) is used as the actual corrected temperature Tefin_AD(N). Thus, a highly accurate corrected temperature Tefin_AD(N) can be determined over the on period (t1 to t2) of a compressor 2. In addition, Tefin_fwd(N) is used as the actual corrected temperature Tefin_AD(N) during the off period (t2 to 3) of the compressor 2. As a result, a highly accurate corrected temperature Tefin_AD(N) can be determined over the whole period including the on and off periods of the compressor 2. In this way, a highly accurate estimated value Ps_es(N) of the refrigerant inlet pressure of the compressor 2 can be determined.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for estimating the inlet pressure of the compressor of a refrigeration cycle system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the prior art, an automotive refrigeration cycle system including a compressor driven by a vehicle engine for compressing a refrigerant, a cooler for cooling a high-temperature high-pressure refrigerant discharged from the compressor, a decompressor for reducing the pressure of the refrigerant cooled by the cooler and an evaporator for evaporating the refrigerant reduced in pressure by the decompressor has been proposed (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-142094).
This conventional automotive refrigeration cycle system further includes a blower for blowing air toward the evaporator, in which the refrigerant is evaporated by absorbing heat from air sent from the blower. As a result, air sent from the blower is cooled by the refrigerant in the evaporator.

Compressor inlet pressure estimation apparatus for refrigeration cycle system


A sub-woofer arrangement for the reproduction of bass tones is provided in an armrest of a seat of a passenger car. The sub-woofer arrangement has a sound outlet orifice positioned so as to face a dashboard when lowered in a first position and be unobstructed when raised into a second position in a recess within the seat.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to reproduction of low frequency tones, and more particularly to an arrangement for reproducing bass tones within the passenger area of vehicles, namely automobiles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The transmission of low and very low tone audio frequencies is accomplished by electro-acoustic transducers, commonly called loudspeakers or drivers. These transducers are arranged in an essentially closed loudspeaker enclosure so as to provide a good acoustic pattern for reproducing high quality, low frequency sound.
One type of enclosure for the production of a low frequency tone is a bass reflex enclosure. In a bass reflex enclosure, a loudspeaker is installed in an outer surface of a loudspeaker housing in a manner so that a front side of a diaphragm of the loudspeaker radiates directly into the volume of a surrounding environment. An additional radiation orifice is provided in the housing which acts as a phase angle rotator at a specific frequency range. The additional radiation orifice directs a resonance pattern of air volume and acoustic mass from a back side of the diaphragm of the loudspeaker so as to effectively add the acoustic energy radiated from the front and back sides of the diaphragm.
In another low frequency tone reproduction arrangement, a twin chamber enclosure arrangement, the interior of a loudspeaker enclosure housing is partitioned into two volumes which may be of equal or different size. A loudspeaker is fitted in the partition. Sound projection is effected through an opening that connects one of the two volumes with the outside environment. This arrangement can reproduce high quality bass tones with a smaller enclosure than a bass reflex arrangement. An acoustic filter effect is achieved with the twin chamber arrangement because the arrangement acts as a Helmholtz resonator having a second order band-pass transmission characteristic. The net sound from the twin chamber arrangement comprises only sound radiated by a bass reflex channel. By appropriate absolute and relative sizing of the two volumes, a very low, and within certain limits, an arbitrarily broad-band tuning can be accomplished in combination with a suitable loudspeaker. See L. R. Fincham, A Bandpass Loudspeaker Enclosure, KEF Electronics Limited, Maidstone, England. The bass tone transmission can be limited to an exceptionally low frequency spectrum by merely tuning the two different resulting resonance frequencies of the enclosure.
Thus, an advantage of the twin chamber enclosure arrangement is that it can be made considerably smaller than a bass reflex enclosure yet still provide the same sound quality. In situations where a sub-woofer is used with the stereophonic reproduction of sound signals, it is possible to dispense with the provision of a separate bass enclosure for each channel if the loudspeaker fitted in the partition is designed as a double-coil loudspeaker. Reproduction of bass audio signals by a sub-woofer enclosure is possible because such enclosures are fitted with a low-pass filter (cross-over) with a very low limiting frequency so as to filter out all but the low frequency audio signals for reproduction. The consequence of the low frequency filtration is that in this low frequency range, the human ear is no longer able to localize the source transmitting the low-frequency sound. Because the twin-chamber arrangement acoustically has second order band-pass transmission characteristics, highly effective frequency filtration is possible even with simple filters.
Like bass reflex arrangements, sub-woofer enclosure arrangements require at least seven liters of volume for an acceptable sound reproduction. Because this minimum volume requirement typically does not allow placement of the sub-woofer in an interior passenger area of a car, some car manufacturers place the sub-woofer enclosure arrangement in a trunk and feed sound outlet orifices into the passenger area. However, such placement can be expensive and because the sub-woofer enclosure arrangement is present in the trunk, the useful volume of the trunk is reduced.
Some sub-woofer enclosure arrangements are placed under the front seat of a car. There are some disadvantages to this positioning in that servomotors for electrical seat adjustment are also placed under the front seat. Even if there is space remaining for a sub-woofer enclosure arrangement, different enclosure housings have to be designed for each car manufacturer and each model of car in order to make optimum use of the residual space.

Arrangement for reproducing bass tones in a vehicle


A lithographic printing plate precursor and process for its utilization have been discovered through which negative and positive original images can be printably reproduced on the plate precursor in substantially fewer development steps. The precursor plate is exposed sequentially to either the negative or positive original with the resultant image subsequently developable in a single process or step. The process is achieved by using a precursor plate having two coatings of significantly different photographic sensitivity to light, i.e., speed as characterized by "camera speed" or "contact speed" and imagewise exposing the originals in sequence to alternative speeds. The contact speed coating may be negative-working or positive working while the camera speed coating is negative-working. The camera speed coating is developed followed by exposure of the contact speed coating. Images produced at camera speed are removed and non-image bearing portions of the contact speed coating are removed. The remaining image areas corresponding to the negative and positive originals are treated to provide positive printable images.

The prepress operations associated with lithographic printing plate production are demanding and becoming increasingly complex. Depending on the demands and preferences of the customer, printers may be required to use both negative and positive original transparencies as the input materials to produce a finished plate. Additionally, the high quality of the finished plate must be maintained regardless of the type of original input and must be commensurate with the need to produce copies that may number in the millions. However, as a consequence of these increasing requirements, both unipolar and bipolar plates are now available to the printing industry so that a single negative or positive original (unipolar) or both negative and positive originals (bipolar) can be used as input for printing plate image production. Known unipolar plates comprise generally a single photosensitive layer on a hydrophilic substrate. Known bipolar plates comprise generally at least two photosensitive layers on a hydrophilic substrate and are known in the art as bilevel plates, referring to the two photosensitive layers.
Currently, if the printer uses a conventional unipolar plate such as a negative working or a positive working plate to reproduce a negative and a positive original, i.e., bipolar reproduction, one of the original input materials must be converted to suit the final plate mode. This is expensive and time consuming. If the printer resorts to the use of a bipolar plate as available in the art heretofore for reproduction of images from negative and positive originals, additional process steps in development, masking or exposure are invariably required which renders this alternative expensive and time consuming as well. The additional steps required in the present art of bipolar printing plate utilization flow from the fact that in order to obtain the requisite positive images on the final printing plate from a negative and a positive original input, a reversal of one of the original images needs to be accomplished during the photographic image transfer process.
Artisans in the photographic arts have found the problem of simplifying the production and lowering the cost of a lithographic printing plate produced from negative and positive originals to be a substantial challenge. A major objective of the instant invention is to effectively meet that challenge.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,576,901 and 4,581,321 disclose a process for producing negative copies by imagewise exposing a coating containing amide substituted 1,2-quinone diazides followed by heating, re-exposing and developing. The process permits the production of negative copies with the aid of a material which yields positive copies when it is processed in a conventional manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,741 discloses a process and apparatus for reversal processing to produce a negative of an original image on the plate. The printing plates is required to be exposed overall after heating. Exposure is carried out while the plate is conveyed through water.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,299,912 discloses a process for producing a lithographic printing plate using a plate containing two light sensitive layers, one of which is a gelatin-silver halide emulsion and the other is a nonsilver halide layer. The patent teaches the use of a proteolytic enzyme to aid in the removal of the gelatino layer after imagewise exposure followed by exposure of the non-silver halide layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,341,856 and 4,283,478 teach printing plates containing at least two light sensitive layers. Production of the final image containing printing plate entails at least two exposure steps.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,350,753 and 4,348,471 incorporated by reference teach positive acting printing plates having high pre-development image visibility, including positive coatings consisting of phenolic-Novolak resins. U.S. Pat. No. 3,635,709 incorporated herein by reference, teaches a positive acting lithographic printing plate wherein the light sensitive layer is a composition comprising an ester of 2-diazo-l-naphthol-4 (or-5)-sulfonic acid with a polyhydroxy phenol that is a condensation product of acetone and pyrogallol.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,567,445 incorporated by reference teaches a presensitized lithographic printing plate with two differentially spectrally sensitive layers separated by a Novolak resin. The base layer is of the type used in a negative-working presensitized lithographic plate while the top layer is a silver halide emulsion layer.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a process for the production of a lithographic printing plate containing printable images produced from negative and positive originals sequentially exposed before development of the plate.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a lithographic printing plate precursor having coatings sensitive to light of different exposure speed photographically processable according to the aforestated process.
As employed herein, the term printing plate precursor refers to a hydrophilic substrate having one or more light sensitive coatings or layers. The precursor plate is used to produce a lithographic printing plate useful in printing operations.

Process for producing negative and positive original images on a bilevel printing plate utilizing non-silver halide layer and silver halide overlayer


A processor for processing thermal media, comprising: a rotatably mounted heated drum; and a set of holddown rollers spaced around a segment of the periphery of the drum and in contact therewith, the drum and the set of rollers forming a path for thermal media; wherein the set of rollers includes at least first and second rollers of different diameters one from the other in order to suppress artifacts.

One way of heat processing media in a photothermographic processor is to bring it in contact with a heated drum. To maintain good media contact with the drum, a plurality of hold-down rollers can be used to hold the film against the drum. Since these hold-down rollers are generally only heated by contact with the drum, the first few hold-down rollers are cooled by the entering media until they reach a temperature equilibrium maintained by the heat flow from the drum, through the media in the contact nip. The highest rate of cool-down takes place during the first few revolutions of the hold-down rollers nip. The highest rate of cool-down takes place during the first few revolutions of the hold-down rollers on the film near the lead edge. This can produce a "once-around" stepwise density drop along the film as the roller surfaces drop in temperature with each revolution against the cooler film as illustrated in FIG. 1. Silicone foam covered rollers have proven to have good durability and sufficiently low thermal conductivity to keep the lead edge "once-around" stepwise density drop to a very low level. Each step is .pi.*d long (d=roller dia.) and represents one revolution of the hold-down rollers. The first few rollers that the film contracts while it is still heating up undergo the largest temperature drop and contribute the most to the density steps.
It should be noted that since all rollers are the same diameter, the "once-around" contribution of each roller is added in perfect registration to that of the others since the edge of each density step is located n*.pi.*d from the lead edge of the film where n is the number of revolutions.


An adjustable mounting bracket for secure adhesive mounting onto an exposed edge of a substrate, wherein the mounting bracket is adapted for subsequently supporting a selected structure such as tubing, wire bundles, etc., relative to the substrate. The mounting bracket includes slidably interfitting, generally L-shaped bracket members which cooperatively define a slidably overlying pair of mounting plates and an associated pair of slidably separable clamp jaw plates having inboard faces carrying a selected bonding agent and adapted to seat firmly against opposed substrate edge surfaces. A resilient fixture pin is carried by the mounting plates and can be actuated to apply a positive force urging the clamp jaw plates against the opposed surfaces of the substrate edge of the duration of a bonding agent cure time, after which the fixture pin can be forcibly removed from the mounting bracket.

This invention relates generally to mounting brackets and fixtures adapted for connection as by adhesive attachment to a supporting substrate, wherein the mounting bracket is adapted for quick and easy subsequent mounting of a selected structure such as tubing, wire bundles, etc., relative to the substrate. More particularly, this invention relates to an improved adjustable mounting bracket designed for secure adhesive bond-on attachment to an exposed edge of a substrate, such as mounting onto a rib protruding from the substrate or mounting onto an inner diameter edge of an opening formed in the substrate.
Adhesive attachment assemblies or fixtures and related methods for securing an attachment component or element such as a patch, threaded screw, or other structure onto a supporting surface or substrate are generally known in the art. For example, it may necessary to apply a thin patch to the skin of an aircraft or to the hull of a boat to repair a hole therein. Alternately, it may be desirable to mount a threaded element, such as a threaded stud or nut, or other device onto a substrate such as an aircraft panel without requiring a hole to be made in the substrate, and wherein the threaded element or the like is adapted for subsequent mounting and/or supporting of a selected structure such as tubing, wire bundles, an electrical junction box, or the like. Exemplary attachment assemblies and related attachment fixtures of this general type are shown and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,302,492; 4,338,151; 4,390,576; 4,668,546; 4,778,702; 4,822,656; 4,842,912; 5,013,391; 5,704,747; 5,603,472; 6,727,466 and 6,773,780, all of which are incorporated by reference herein. In these exemplary devices, the attachment component is urged or pressed against the substrate for at least some minimum time period to allow, for example, curing of an adhesive bonding agent such as a curable epoxy or the like to achieve a substantially optimized and secure bond with the substrate.
In other applications, the substrate may include an exposed edge having a position and size for convenient mounting of an attachment component used for subsequent mounting and supporting of tubing, wire bundles, electrical junction boxes, and other structures onto the substrate. For example, in an aircraft interior, a substrate panel may incorporate a standing rib having a thickness and height suitable for mounting the attachment component thereon. Alternately, the substrate panel may have one or more openings such as a lightening hole formed therein with a position and size to form an inner diameter exposed edge defined by the thickness of the substrate panel, wherein this exposed edge provides a convenient site for mounting of the attachment component. However, attachment components designed for adjustable quick and easy connection as by adhesive attachment to the exposed substrate edge have not been available, particularly with respect to accommodating a range of different edge wall thicknesses.
U.S. Publication 2005/0284995, published Dec. 29, 2005, discloses an adjustable mounting bracket for quick and easy attachment to an exposed substrate edge, wherein the mounting bracket carried a threaded member such as a nut or bolt for subsequent mounting of a selected structure such as tubing, wire bundles, etc., relative to the substrate. The adjustable mounting bracket comprises a pair of generally L-shaped bracket members defining a slidably overlying pair of mounting plates and an associated pair of slidably separable clamp jaw plates. A selected adhesive bonding agent is applied to inboard-facing surfaces of the clamp jaw plates which are then pressed firmly against opposed surfaces of the substrate edge for secure bond-on attachment thereto. At the conclusion of a bonding agent cure time, the threaded member is assembled with the selected structure to be supported relative to the substrate.
The present invention is directed to an improved adjustable mounting bracket of the general type disclosed in U.S. Publication 2005/0284995, wherein the mounting plates are retained in slidably overlying relation by a resilient fixture pin. This fixture pin is adapted for actuation to apply a positive force urging the clamp jaw plates into intimate seated engagement with the opposed substrate edges for the duration of the bonding agent cure time, to achieve a substantially optimum strength bonded attachment interface therewith. Thereafter, the fixture pin is adapted for quick and easy forced separation from the mounting bracket.


A method for preparing an antigen specific probe is provided by incubating a primary antigen specific monoclonal antibody with a biotinylated secondary antibody to produce a complex of the primary and secondary antibodies. The staining pattern produced by these probes reflects the specificity of the monoclonal antibody in the complex and the labeling of irrelevant, endogenous immunoglobulins is reduced substantially. This novel, indirect immunohistochemical method can be used to study normal and diseased tissues using a variety of monoclonal antibodies.

In indirect enzyme-linked immunohistochemical procedures, the secondary antibody serves the pivotal role of linking the primary antibody bound to the antigen of interest in a tissue section with a tertiary complex containing an enzyme reporter molecule. Two of the most commonly applied methods are the peroxidase-anti-peroxidase (PAP) (Sternberger L. A., et al., "The Unlabelled Antibody Enzyme Method of Immunohistochemistry: Preparation and Properties of Soluble Antigen-Antibody Complex (Horseradish-Antihorseradish Peroxidase) and its use in Identification of Spirochetes," J. Histochem. Cytochem., 18:315 (1970)) and the avidin-biotin-complex (ABC) method (Hsu S. M., et al., "A Comparative Study of Peroxidase-Antiperoxidase Method and an Avidin-Biotin Complex Method for Studying Polypeptide Hormones with Radioimmunoassay Antibodies," Am. J. Pathol., 75:734 (1981)). In the latter method, biotinylated secondary antibodies are applied to tissue sections in order to link peroxidase labeled avidin-biotin complexes with primary antibodies bound to a specific antigen in situ. Simplicity, high signal amplification and low background are features of the ABC method that have prompted its widespread use as an immunohistochemical detection system.
In the PAP, ABC and other indirect immunohistochemical methods, the secondary antibody used to recognize the primary antibody could bind to endogenous immunoglobulins in murine tissues. This source of non-specific background can be eliminated from many normal tissues by in vivo perfusion with buffer to wash out the vascular compartment. However, perfusion with buffer may not wash out extravasated immunoglobulins, especially from diseased or lymphoid tissues. Thus, it would be attractive to devise an immunohistochemical method that removes the need to eliminate endogenous immunoglobulins. This would greatly facilitate efforts to study normal or diseased murine tissues and to characterize transgenic mouse models of a variety of diseases. For example, immunohistochemical studies of tumors and tumor xenografts in nude mice could be conducted using a wide variety of existing mouse monoclonal antibodies (mAb) if background staining due to the presence of endogenous mouse immunoglobulins could be eliminated in tissue sections.
Several strategies have been devised to overcome this problem. For example, an acidic-potassium permanganate solution (Johansson O., et al., "Immunohistochemical Support for Three Putative Transmitters in one Neuron: Coexistence of 5-Hydroxytryptamine Substance P- and Thyrotropin Releasing Hormone-like Immunoreactivity in Medullary Neurons Projecting to the Spinal Cord," Neuroscience, 6:1857 (1981)) has been used to remove immunoglobulins from tissue sections, but this procedure damages tissues and/or the antigens of interest. Alternatively, it is possible to biotinylate the mAbs of interest and detect them with a reporter molecule coupled to avidin (Baetge E. E., et al., "Transgenic Mice Express the Human Phenylethanolamine N-Methyltransferase Gene in Adrenal Medulla and Retina," Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA, 85:3648 (1988); Haspel M. V., et al., "Generation of Tumor Cell-Reactive Human Monoclonal Antibodies using Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes from Actively Immunized Colo-Rectal Carcinoma Patients," Cancer Res., 45:3951 (1985); Imam A., et al., "A Novel Immunoperoxidase Procedure of using Human Monoclonal Antibodies for the Detection of Cellular Antigens in Tissue Sections," J. Immunol. Methods, 86:17 (19B6)). However, this strategy is impractical and costly when large panels of mAbs are used.
Another potential strategy would be to block access of the anti-mouse secondary antibodies to the endogenous mouse immunoglobulins by pre-incubating the tissue sections with a low dilution of Fab' fragments from an irrelevant species that recognize endogenous mouse immunoglobulins (Foulds S., et al., "The use of Fab' fragments in a screening method for the Detection of Human Monoclonal Antibodies," Hybridoma, 9:91 (1988); Nielsen B., et al., "A Method for the Blocking of Endogenous Immunoglobulin on Frozen Tissue Sections in the Screening of Human Hybridoma Antibody in Culture Supernatants," Hybridoma, 6:103 (1987)), but this approach requires large quantities of expensive Fab' fragments. Thus, there remains a need to improve the specificity and sensitivity of indirect immunohistochemical methods.

The Trustees of The University of Pennsylvania


An electric motor includes: a ring-shaped stator including a field coil; and a rotor holding a permanent magnet in a magnet holding portion on an outer circumference thereof in an exposed state and being supported to be rotatable about a rotary shaft core in an inner space of the stator, wherein the magnet holding portion is configured to have a magnet insertion portion and a pair of regulation bodies, and the permanent magnet is configured to include a cylindrical outer wall surface, a rear wall surface, a pair of side wall surfaces, and a pair of engaged surfaces.

JP 2013-21826A (Reference 1) discloses a technology in which a permanent magnet (a rotor magnet in the reference) is inserted into a magnet arrangement groove that is formed in a rotor yoke (a magnet back yoke in the reference) configuring a rotor, as an electric motor which is configured as described above. In the magnet arrangement groove, an overhang portion is formed to have a top portion width on an outer circumference side narrower than a bottom portion width on a rotary shaft core side. The permanent magnet is formed to have substantially the same cross-sectional shape as a space shape of the magnet arrangement groove.
In Reference 1, a shape of an outer side surface of the permanent magnet is formed to be a cylindrical surface shape which is in common with an outer circumferential surface of the rotor yoke. An outer surface thereof is exposed in a state where the permanent magnet is inserted into the magnet arrangement groove portion, and the overhang portion comes into contact with the permanent magnet, thereby hindering movement thereof when the rotor rotates. The permanent magnet is fixed to the magnet arrangement groove by using an adhesive.
JP 2009-44797A (Reference 2) discloses a technology in which a plurality of the permanent magnets (rotor magnets in the reference) are arranged on the outer circumference of the rotor yoke (a rotor core in the reference) in a circumferential direction and are fixed to the rotor yoke by using an adhesive, and cylindrical protection materials are arranged on the outer circumference of the permanent magnets.
JP 2012-257433A (Reference 3) discloses a technology in which even though the permanent magnet is not configured to be held by the rotor on the outer circumference thereof in an exposed state, the permanent magnets are arranged to be inserted into a plurality of accommodation holes which are formed at a predetermined interval in the circumferential direction in the vicinity of the outer circumference of the rotor yoke (a rotator in the reference) configuring the rotor.
In Reference 3, the outer side surface and a rear side surface of the permanent magnet are formed to be cylindrical surfaces having the rotary shaft core of the rotor as the center. Pole-to-pole step portions to be formed in portions of the rotor are arranged between the adjacent permanent magnets. Thus, a magnetic flux is directed toward a stator side without generating any closed magnetic flux at end portions of the permanent magnets. As a result, demagnetization durability is improved.
As disclosed in Reference 1, in a configuration in which an outer circumferential surface of a permanent magnet held by a rotor on an outer circumference thereof is formed to have a cylindrical surface shape equivalent to an outer circumferential surface of the rotor having a rotary shaft core as the center, the outer circumferential surface of the permanent magnet can approach an inner circumference of a stator. Thus, an action of a strong magnetic field realizes powerful rotations.
As disclosed in Reference 1, in a configuration in which a portion of the permanent magnet is caused to come into contact with a rotor yoke so as to be prevented from falling off, the permanent magnet can be reliably held in an appropriate position, compared to a case of fixing the permanent magnet by using an adhesive as disclosed in Reference 2.
However, as disclosed in Reference 1, when shapes of end surfaces of the permanent magnet are set so as to come into contact with an overhang portion of the rotor yoke, the end surfaces of the permanent magnets which are adjacent to each other in a circumferential direction become nonparallel. This configuration differs from that described in Reference 3. Thus, a magnetic flux extending outward from the end surfaces of the permanent magnet is closed, resulting in deterioration of demagnetization durability.
In the electric motor, filling a gap between the permanent magnet and the rotor yoke with a resin is also performed. However, as disclosed in Reference 3, when an epidermis portion is formed on the outer circumference of the rotor, it is assumed that the epidermis portion is outwardly deformed due to condensation pressure of the resin.
Particularly, in order to configure a powerful electric motor, a strong magnet which is made by including rare-earth elements such as samarium, neodymium, and dysprosium in the permanent magnet is used. However, the permanent magnet including the rare-earth elements is expensive, causing an increase in a manufacturing cost of the electric motor. Therefore, there is a demand of compactification of the permanent magnet to be used from a viewpoint of reducing the cost.

Electric motor with permanent magnet having curved outer wall and flat rear wall


A method and apparatus for pre-clocking have been disclosed.

In many applications in electronics there is a limit to how fast an output may be slewed based on signal integrity and other constraints (such as, but not limited to, drive capability, capacitive load, overshoot, ringing, etc.). For example, in Registered Dual Inline Memory Modules (RDIMMs) if the output is slewed too fast, signal integrity suffers. This may present a problem.
Often the output (or output transition) of an electronic device is directly related to how fast a register can change state. This register state change is propagated and eventually results in an output (or output transition).
For example, the time required (delay) to propagate a signal from a register clock edge to the output of the register is the sum of the internal register delay and the register output swing delay. This time (delay) may be too long for fast devices (such as, but not limited to next generation RDIMMs, such as DDR2-667 and DDR2-800). This may present a problem.


An impact crusher includes a center feed disk. The center feed disk includes a peripheral edge portion, a first face, an opposing, second face, a central bore extending through the first and second faces, and first and second countersunk pockets provided about the central bore in the first and second faces respectively. With this arrangement, a fastener having a shaft portion and a head portion can be inserted through the central bore to secure the center feed disk to a drive mechanism, with the head portion residing in the countersunk pocket. With this arrangement, once the first face portion becomes worn, the center feed disk can be removed, inverted and re-mounted such that the second face portion is exposed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of impact crushers and, more particularly, to a center feed disk for an impact crusher that, after a first side surface has become worn, can be inverted to make use of an opposing, second side surface for operating the impact crusher.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
There are a wide variety of impact crushers currently employed to reduce the size of large earth materials to smaller sized aggregate. Typically, a flow of large earth materials is dropped or fed onto a rotating feed disk that, using centrifugal force, disperses the large earth materials through the impact crusher onto crushing components. Generally, the crushing components include impeller shoes and anvils that are radially positioned about the feed disk. In any event, impact crushers reduce large aggregate earthen materials to aggregate sizes and shapes to meet the needs of, for example, the construction industry as ingredients for cement and the like.
The components of an impact crusher that are exposed to a material flow are subject to wear. The wear is essentially caused by abrasion, decomposition, fracture, impact, grinding and the like. In general, the wear results from the velocity, acceleration and composition of the material flow that is directed onto the components of the impact crusher. Over time, the wear reaches a point which mandates that one or more of the impact crusher components be replaced. One component that is prone to wear is the feed disk. A typical feed disk can process about 2,500 tons of material before becoming worn and in need of replacement. Thus, in an impact crusher that can process 42 tons of material an hour, the average life of a feed disk would be approximately 60 hours. Accordingly, every 60 hours or so, the feed disk must be replaced. As only one surface of the feed disk is usable, the costs associated with feed disk replacement are high.
Based on at least these reasons, there exists a need in the art for a feed disk that has a longer service life. More specifically, there exists a need in the art for a feed disk that can be inverted so that both surfaces of the disk can be used in operating the impact crusher before the disk is discarded.

Invertible center feed disk for a vertical shaft impact crusher


The radar sensor system includes a radar module, a plurality of antenna units, and a signal carrier. The plurality of antenna units are in communication with the radar module and distributed across a sensing region. The antennas may be connected in a series configuration and, further, may form a loop configuration with the radar module. As such, the radar module may include a centralized signal processor unit configured to receive analog signals from each antenna unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a radar sensor system for a motor vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
Remote sensing systems, such as, parking aid systems have become prevalent in the automobile industry. These systems utilize sensors which detect obstacles near the vehicle and indicate their presence to the vehicle operator. Parking aid sensing systems require very short range capabilities and a very wide field of view. Typically, the field of view is at least as wide as the car width. To date, many parking aid systems have been implemented with ultrasonic sensors. The short range and wide field of view requirements can be fulfilled at a moderate cost using multiple individual ultrasonic sensors. As vehicles require more and more functionality, system requirements have expanded encompassing everything from parking aid systems to crash anticipation systems. Crash anticipation systems detect objects which the vehicle may collide with. If an input is determined by a system controlled to be implemented, various automatic crash preparation steps can be taken. For pre-crash detection systems, sensors require all of the functions mentioned above, as well as, all weather capability, quick response times, and improved accuracy. For these reasons, radar technology may be more appropriate than ultrasonic sensors for many vehicle applications. However, to date, most radar systems have been designed with too narrow a sensing region for most pre-crash applications.
In view of the above, it is apparent that there exists a need for an improved radar sensor system for a vehicle.

Vehicular radar sensor with distributed antenna


A safety arrangement in a motor vehicle includes a processor (1) which is associated with a central accelerometer (2) to provide an input signal indicative of the acceleration being experienced by the central part of the vehicle and also with at least one front sensor (3) adapted to provide an input signal to the processor in response to an impact at the front of the vehicle. The front sensor (3) is able to distinguish between differing degrees of severity of impact. The processor (1) controls at least one safety device such as an air-bag (6). The safety device has different modes of performance. The processor is adapted to activate the safety device in response to a predetermined signal generated by the central accelerometer (2) and is also adapted to select or control the mode of performance of the safety device in dependence upon the signal from the front sensor (3).

THE PRESENT INVENTION relates to a safety arrangement, and more particularly relates to a safety arrangement in a motor vehicle.
It has been proposed to provide a motor vehicle with an accelerometer adapted to provide a signal indicative of the acceleration being experienced by a central part of the vehicle, that signal, or its integrated valve, being used to control the activation of a safety device, such as an air-bag. A problem with an arrangement of this type is that the accelerometer is not able to distinguish sufficiently quickly between impacts of different degrees of severity. The accelerometer can only respond to the deceleration of the central part of the motor vehicle which is separated from the point of impact by a "crumple zone". Thus the deceleration experienced by the central part of the vehicle or its integrated valve may be substantially the same at the time when the safety device has to be triggered, regardless of the degree of severity of the impact.
Whilst an accelerometer provided at the front of the vehicle would be able to distinguish between impacts of different severity sufficiently quickly, there would be a grave risk that a front-mounted accelerometer would be substantially damaged during an impact and thus would not prove to be reliable.


The present invention relates to a device at an antenna for eliminating grid lobes in the radar cross section of the antenna.. The invention displaces the grid lobes to a frequency range outside the working frequency of the antenna by inserting rows of dummy elements (r.sub.3, r.sub.4, r.sub.5) between rows of ordinary antenna elements (r.sub.1, r.sub.2) in the antenna (11). The dummy elements will behave like the ordinary antenna elements (15) as regards the rescattering when the dummy elements (17) are irradiated with signals from outside. Furthermore, the dummy elements (17) are not fed by a feeding network (16a, 16b) with microwave signals as is the case with the ordinary antenna elements (15). The dummy elements (17) are arranged in the rows of dummy elements (r.sub.3, r.sub.4, r.sub.5) so that the distances in X-direction and in Y-direction (a.sub.4, a.sub.5, a.sub.6, a.sub.7, a.sub.8) between these elements and nearby ordinary elements are less than half a wavelength of the threat frequency of the antenna. The threat frequency constitute the frequency range in which an incoming signal to the antenna constitutes a threat. Thereby no grid lobes will occur in the radar cross section of the antenna.

According to prior art a radar cross section (RCS=radar cross section) of an object is referred to as the effective rescattering of the object, when it is iradiated from the outside. The radar cross section is in other words a measurement of how well the object is visible with a radar. To decrease the risk of an other radar to localize an object, for instance an antenna, it is required that its radar cross section is minimized.
Antennas are constructed to be used within particular specific frequency ranges, for instance about the 10 GHz frequency range. In this text, the working frequency of the antenna is defined as the frequency range for which the antenna is designed to be used.
In this text the threat frequency of the antenna is defined for which an incoming signal to the antenna constitutes a threat, when the incoming signal has a frequency which is in this frequency range. Below, the incoming signal is defined as the signal is within the threat frequency, because all other incoming signals to the antenna are not of interest, since they do not constitute a threat to the antenna.
Antennas according to prior art can comprise a normally flat disc, acting as ground plane and provided with antenna elements, which for instance can consist of through openings in the disc. Microwaves irradiate through the openings, when the openings are fed by a feeding network with microwave signals. The feeding network can consist of a wave guide. This is well known to the person skilled in the art.
Other types of elements can for instance be dipoles, wave guide openings, so-called horn and micro strip elements, so-called patches.
Other types of feeding networks can for instance comprise coaxial conductors, micro strip and strip line.
According to prior art most of the antennas of design reasons are provided with substantially uniform antenna element patterns, i. e., the antenna elements are arranged in a periodical pattern in the antenna, and the distances between the antenna elements are between one half and one whole wave length of the working frequency of the antenna.
When the openings in above disclosed disc are arranged in a periodical pattern in the disc, the micro wave signals, which normally are transmitted from the antenna elements, can cause strong constructive interference, i. e., co-operation of the microwave signals, in more directions than the intended head lobe direction. These strong interferences are termed grid lobes in the radiation diagram of the antenna.
At reception of signals in the antenna, the grid lobes correspondingly give a high sensitivity for signals incoming to the antenna from more directions than the direction of the head lobe.
Likewise, if the antenna from outside is irradiated with a signal having a frequency lying close to or above the working frequency of the antenna, grid lobes will arise also in particular directions in the radar radar cross section of the antenna, in which the beams reflected to the antenna in the signal co-operate with each other. These directions corresponds to a high value of reflection, i. e., the radar cross section (RCS) becomes large.
The arrangement of the grid lobes in space is determined by the distance between the antenna elements and which frequency the antenna works or is irradiated from outside. In the case where an antenna is employed for transmitting or receiving signals in a fixed direction, substantially perpendicular to the front area of the antenna, the minimum distance between the antenna elements can be slightly more than one wave length without grid lobes occurring in the radiation diagram of the antenna.
However, in the case an antenna is irradiated from outside of an to the antenna incoming signal, the distance between the antenna elements must be less than half a wave length of the incoming signal for grid lobes not occurring in the radar cross section of the antenna.
Depending on which threat frequency the antenna has, there will be different requirements on distances between the antenna elements (less than half a wave length of the threat frequency) for grid lobes not occurring in the radar cross section of the antenna, wherein it most often is the threat frequency of the antenna, which controls the packing density of the antenna elements in the antenna.
The existence of grid lobes in particular directions in the radar cross section of the antenna can easily be avoided totally if the antenna elements do not form a regular pattern in the antenna. In this case there will be no direction from the antenna elements within the radar cross section of the antenna in which the transmitted beams or the to the antenna reflected beams co-operate with each other, so a strong constructive interference occurs within the radar cross section of the antenna. However, because of design technical reasons, most of the antennas are provided with substantially regular antenna element patterns.
The packing density between the antenna elements of an antenna can according to prior art not be designed infinitely high of physical reasons. This is depending on that the working frequency of the antenna determines the dimension of the wave guides feeding the antenna elements. Thereby the wave guides cannot be made as small as possible, which delimits the distance between the antenna elements to a particular minimum distance. The result is that grid lobes occur in the radar cross section of the antenna if the antenna elements are arranged in a periodical pattern in the antenna, because the antenna elements cannot be packed infinitely dense.
A method according to prior art to decrease the distance between the antenna elements of an antenna is to use a material with a high dielectric constant, said material being arranged in the antenna elements and their feeding net work. The physical dimension of the antenna element and the feeding net work hereby becomes less and the packing density between the antenna elements becomes larger, whereby created grid lobes are moved up in the frequency band.
A drawback with the method described above is that the complexity is high in manufacturing of the antenna and the antenna is expensive to manufacture.
An other drawback is that the dielectric material normally implies increased losses.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,461,392 an antenna system is disclosed comprising trays, in which a space between the trays is employed, in which space an attenuating material is arranged for reducing reflections of microwaves coming from the antenna system in the frequency range, where the attenuating material has an attenuating effect.
A disadvantage with this method is that grid lobes, as described above, occur in particular directions from the antenna system.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,684,952 an antenna device is disclosed comprising a group of elements where feeding conductors to the elements are not connected to any transmitter or receiver, but the elements are only used for reflecting or absorbing signals. The elements can be connected to terminators, be short cut, or open conductors with phase shifters. In the latter cases, the signals the element receives can be retransmitted in desired direction. For instance, they can be retransmitted to the source of the incoming signal, in harmless direction, or be transmitted to a in front of the element group arranged feeder and thereby form a reflector antenna for transmission and reception of signals.


A cover for a wheel or hub may be rotationally attached and removed from the hub by hand due to a mounting clip on the cover defining a space for a single lug nut and a tangentially oriented entryway.

Typically, the axle hub on a vehicle is exposed to view from the exterior of the vehicle. The appearance of this hub in some instances is not desirable due to its utilitarian design. The use of decorative hub covers recognizes the desire for an improved appearance of this area of the vehicle, typically regarded as the tire and wheel assembly. It is well known to cover the hub or exposed wheel of an automobile tire and wheel assembly with a decorative cover—or hub cap—to both improve the aesthetic impression of the vehicle and to reduce the amount of dirt and grime that comes into contact with the exposed lug nuts that hold the wheel to the axle hub.
The decorative hub covers must be removed from the wheel periodically in order to service the tire, wheel, brakes, hub, or axle. For example, in some assemblies where the axle hub has a grease fitting installed, the decorative hub cover must be removed to apply grease to the wheel bearing assembly as a matter of routine maintenance. In other vehicles, it is recommended that the torque value of the lug nuts be checked periodically to ensure proper, safe wheel mounting. Such periodic maintenance generally requires the hub cover to be removed from the wheel to perform the maintenance and then remounted to the wheel afterward.
Many typical known hub covers include a frictionally engaged, resilient locking system whereby the cover is snap-fitted to the hub by pressing the cover axially onto the wheel. One or more resilient engagement surfaces then snap into a groove or recess in the wheel to releasably lock the cover to the wheel. Most of these designs require the use of tools to some extent to either install or remove the decorative hub cover. Some decorative hub covers even take into account the needed tool by providing a slot in the cover so that the tool can be inserted into the slot to pry the cover from the tire and wheel assembly. Such a slot prevents the tool from damaging the finished surface of the decorative hub cover, which is often highly polished. This design, however, is problematic because the finished surface of the wheel itself or its decorative trim is usually damaged by the prying necessary to remove the hub cover.
Other such decorative hub cover designs leave it up to the individual to determine the best method of mounting and removal in order to minimize the damage to the surfaces of both the hub cover and the wheel. This does nothing to minimize the damage caused by applying tools to the surfaces of the decorative hub cover or the tire and wheel assembly.
Another known decorative hub cover design is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,217,003 and obviates the need for using tools to attach and release the cover to the wheel by rotatingly engaging a plurality of open faced, single walled retention members about the wheel axis into engagement with the lug nuts. The plurality of retention members act together to maintain the cover on the wheel by collectively defining an intermittent ridge or surface about the exterior of all the lug nuts that fits into the radially distal portion of each of the grooves defined between the lug nuts and the wheel. A resilient camming surface in each of the retention members prevents the cover from unwanted rotational disengagement with lug nuts. This cover attachment design thereby allows the cover to be attached and released from the wheel by simply rotating the plurality of retention members about the lug nuts about the wheel's axis without the need for additional tools. A problem with this design, however, is that the retention members must act collectively to lock the cover to the lug nuts. If some of the retention members are broken, the remaining retention members may not be able to maintain the cover on the lug nuts.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a cover for a wheel or hub that may be attached and released to the lug nuts without requiring the use of additional tools. It would also be desirable to have a cover with an attachment system that will maintain the cover on the wheel even if some portions of the attachment system become inoperable.


One embodiment provides a method, including: accepting, at an input surface, pen input; determining, using a processor of an electronic device, a modifier key characteristic of the pen input; and executing, using the processor, a modifier key function associated with the pen input. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Information handling devices ("devices"), for example cell phones, smart phones, tablet devices, laptop computers, and the like permit users to input handwriting, make selections, and provide other inputs using a finger tip or pen/stylus. This allows users to work more naturally with the device.
In some devices (e.g., tablet computing devices) the user relies primarily on a touch screen or "soft" keyboard (on-screen keyboard, OSK), which may be used to provide key strokes. In some devices, an input method editor (IME) may be used to interpret handwritten ink strokes as input characters in addition to a more conventional soft keyboard. In still other devices (e.g., tablet with detachable keyboard, laptop computer, etc.) a pen or stylus may also be utilized to interface with the device, e.g., in connection with a digitizer or touch screen responsive to pen or touch input, even though other input modes are available (e.g., physical keyboard).

Modifier key input on a soft keyboard using pen input


Systems and techniques are disclosed for improvement of machine learning systems based on enhanced training data. An example method includes providing a visual concurrent display of a set of images of features, the features requiring classification by a reviewing user. The user interface is provided to enable the reviewing user to assign classifications to the images, the user interface being configured to create, read, update, and/or delete classifications. The user interface is responsive to the user, with the user response indicating at least two images with a single classification. The user interface is updated to represent the single classification.

The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
Machine learning systems, such as neural network based systems, typically rely on training data to be effective. An example system that implements a neural network may ingest information indicating outcomes for particular inputs. This ingested information may be training data, and the neural network can be trained based on the information. Subsequent to training the neural network, the example system can receive real data and determine outputs associated with the real data. For example, a neural network can be trained to identify particular features in images. Other machine learning systems may utilize training data to generate a model enabling the systems to produce sufficiently accurate predictions in newly received data.
Obtaining such training data can present technical difficulties, and ensuring the accuracy of such training data can be difficult. For example, training a machine learning system to precisely label particular features can require training images with accurate feature labels. The accuracy of these feature labels can be dependent upon a reviewing user, or a system automatically generating labels, and therefore the accuracy of the machine learning system can be lower with lesser accurate training images.

Systems and user interfaces for enhancement of data utilized in machine-learning based medical image review