An operational amplifier output circuit having a low, stable quiescent current includes an input stage (22) receiving an input voltage (v.sub.in ") and producing first (v.sub.1) and second (v.sub.2) signals. An output stage (23) includes a pull-up transistor (1) and a pull-down transistor (2), a base of the pull-up transistor (1) receiving the first signal (v.sub.1). An emitter of the pull-up transistor (1) is coupled by an output conductor (30) to a collector of the pull-down transistor (2). A base of the pull-down transistor is coupled to receive the second signal (v.sub.2), and an emitter of the pull-down transistor (2) is coupled to a second reference voltage conductor (GND). A feedback stage (24) includes a first sensing circuit (36) coupled to the pull-up transistor 1 and produces a third signal (v.sub.3) representing a collector current of the pull-up transistor (1), a second sensing circuit (37) coupled to the pull-down transistor (2) and producing a fourth signal (v.sub.4) representing a collector current of the pull-down transistor (2), a combining circuit (38) receiving the third (v.sub.3) and fourth (v.sub.4) signals to produce an error signal (v.sub.5) representing the larger of the third (v.sub.3) and fourth (v.sub.4) signals, and an error amplifier (17) receiving the error signal (v.sub.5) to produce a feedback signal (v.sub.6) regulating the first (v.sub.1) and second (v.sub.2) signals to establish a stable quiescent current in the pull-up transistor (1) or the pull-down transistor (2).

Since lateral PNP transistors in conventional bipolar integrated circuit manufacturing processes have very limited speed and current capabilities, it is a common practice to provide wideband micropower operational amplifiers with output stages having only NPN transistors in the main signal path. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,200 and the paper "A 1-GHz Bipolar Class-AB Operational Amplifier with Multipath Nested Miller Compensation for 76-dB Gain", by Klaas-Jan de Langen et al., IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 32, No. 4, April, 1997. U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,200 discloses an NPN output stage in which a current source 30 must be large enough to allow pull-up transistor 24 to supply the largest possible expected load current. Consequently, the quiescent current is very large, and the power dissipation of the output stage is higher than desirable.
This is one main drawback of existing solutions involving use of only NPN transistors in the main signal path. Another drawback is that attempts to supply the largest expected load current by using Darlington transistors to increase the current gain results in unacceptably large saturation voltages of the pull-down transistors of the output stage. This technique therefore is not useful in low voltage and micropower operational amplifiers. In the closest prior art micropower operational amplifier, the maximum ratio of the peak output current to the quiescent current is limited to approximately 50. Furthermore, it is desirable that the quiescent current (i.e., the current with the input signal equal to zero volts) of a micropower amplifier be stable so that variations in the quiescent current do not produce non-linearities in the output signal and that the operational amplifier be capable of driving a large capacitive load.
FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,645 by Seevinick et al., entitled "AMPLIFIER ARRANGEMENT WITH QUIESCENT CURRENT CONTROL", discloses an amplifier arrangement wherein the first output transistor T.sub.1 and a second output transistor T.sub.2 are push-pull transistors driven by a drive circuit 10 having two transistors T.sub.11 and T.sub.12 which have current sources T.sub.13 and T.sub.14 respectively, as load devices. Currents which are a measure of the currents flowing through the first output transistor T.sub.1 and the second output transistor T.sub.2 are generated by a first current measuring circuit 20 and a second current measuring circuit 30. These currents are applied to a negative feedback circuit 40 which controls the intensity of the current sources T.sub.13 and T.sub.14 in such a way that the harmonic mean value of the currents flowing through the first output transistor T.sub.1 and the second output transistor T.sub.2 is substantially equal to a reference value. A drawback of this circuit is that it has a large quiescent current. Also, the constant current source I4 in FIG. 1 of the Seevinick et al. patent must be large enough to supply all of the base current ever needed by the pull-up transistor T1 and the pull-down transistor T2 during any transient. For this reason alone is the Seevinick et al. circuit not suitable for very low power applications. Also, the maximum output voltage is approximately 2.5 V.sub.BE voltage drops lower than the positive supply voltage, undesirably limiting the output voltage range.
There is an unmet need for a very low power, wideband operational amplifier push-pull output stage with a lower, more stable quiescent current than has previously been achieved.

Operational amplifier push-pull output stage with low quiescent current


A discharge electrode for a laser device allowing return plates to be easily attached/detached and a laser device with the discharge electrode are provided. To this end, structure in which a pair of an anode (5A) and a cathode (5B), provided facing each other inside a laser chamber (2) sealing in laser gases, for discharging electricity to excite the laser gases flowing through a space between them, thereby oscillating a laser beam, a conductive anode base (6) for holding the anode (5A), an insulating cathode base (8) for holding the cathode (5B), and a plurality of return plates (9B) for electrically connecting the anode base (6) and the laser chamber (2) and supplying an electric current to the anode (5A) are provided, and in which upper portions and lower portions of the return plates (9B) are connected respectively with an upper fixed plate (9A) and a lower fixed plate (9C), is given.

The present invention relates to a laser device, and more particularly to connection structure of discharge electrodes in a laser device and a laser device including the discharge electrodes.
A laser device which discharges electricity between discharge electrodes to excite a laser medium, thereby oscillating a laser beam has been hitherto known and is shown, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 1-268078 Official Gazette. FIG. 10 shows the structure of an excimer laser device disclosed in the aforesaid Official Gazette, and FIG. 11 shows the structure of discharge electrodes in the excimer laser device disclosed in the aforesaid Official Gazette.
In FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, an excimer laser device 101 includes a laser chamber 102 sealing in a laser medium such as laser gases. Inside the laser chamber 102, a pair of discharge electrodes 105A and 105B composed of an anode 105A and a cathode 105B are disposed facing each other. The anode 105A is fixed to a conductive anode base 106, and the cathode 105B is fixed to an insulating cathode base 108.
A pair of preionization electrodes 118 and 118 are disposed facing each other on both sides of the discharge electrodes 105A and 105B, and a high-voltage current is supplied from a high voltage power supply though a preionization circuit and a current introducing terminal which are not illustrated, thereby performing preionization.
Inside the laser chamber 102, a cross flow fan 114 for sending laser gases into a space between the discharge electrodes 105A and 105B and a heat exchanger 103 for cooling the laser gases heated by electric discharge are disposed at predetermined positions. Electricity is discharged between the anode 105A and the cathode 105B to excite laser gases, shown by the arrows G, flowing through the space between the anode 105A and the cathode 105B, thereby oscillating a laser beam.
The anode base 106 and the cathode base 108 are supported by support posts 110 with a predetermined space between them. The anode base 106 and the laser chamber 102 are electrically connected with a plurality of return plates 109 arranged at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction of the discharge electrodes 105A and 105B. It should be mentioned that connection points of the return plates 109 and the laser chamber 102 are not clearly illustrated in the aforesaid Official Gazette. Each of the return plates 109 is made of a conductive plate-shaped member, and disposed parallel to the gas flow G so that a portion 109A with a thin plate thickness faces to the upper reaches and the lower reaches of the gas flow G with respect to the gas flow.
The prior art disclosed in the aforesaid Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 1-268078 Official Gazette, however, has the following problems.
Namely, in the prior art, in order to smoothly supply an electric current to the whole area in the longitudinal direction of the anode 105A to suitably discharge electricity, the plurality of return plates 109 are provided in the whole area in the longitudinal direction. When the excimer laser device 101 is assembled, the plurality of return plates 109 need to be attached one by one so as to connect the anode base 106 and the laser chamber 102, which requires a lot of trouble over assembling.
Furthermore, the discharge electrodes 105A and 105B become worn-out as the result of electric discharge, and hence they need to be replaced regularly. Every time the discharge electrodes 105A and 105B are replaced as above, the plurality of return plates 109 need to be attached/detached, which takes a lot of time and labor.
The present invention is made to solve the problems in the aforesaid art, and its object is to provide a discharge electrode for a laser device allowing return plates to be easily attached/detached and a laser device with the discharge electrode.
To attain the aforesaid object, a discharge electrode for a laser device according to the present invention has structure in which a pair of an anode and a cathode, provided facing each other inside a laser chamber sealing in laser gases, for discharging electricity to excite the laser gases flowing through a space between them, thereby oscillating a laser beam, a conductive anode base for holding the anode, an insulating cathode base for holding the cathode, and a plurality of return plates for electrically connecting the anode base and the laser chamber and supplying an electric current to the anode are provided, and in which upper portions and lower portions of the return plates are connected respectively with an upper fixed plate and a lower fixed plate.
Furthermore, a laser device according to the present invention has structure in which a pair of an anode and a cathode, provided facing each other inside a laser chamber sealing in laser gases, for discharging electricity to excite the laser gases flowing through a space between them, thereby oscillating a laser beam, a conductive anode base for holding the anode, an insulating cathode base for holding the cathode, and a plurality of return plates for electrically connecting the anode base and the laser chamber and supplying an electric current to the anode are provided, and in which upper portions and lower portions of the return plates are connected respectively with an upper fixed plate and a lower fixed plate.
According to the aforesaid structure, the plurality of return plates are integrated at the upper and lower portions thereof to be formed into a unit. Thereby, when the return plates are attached/detached, each unit of return plates may be attached/detached, which saves a lot of time and labor compared with a case where a plurality of return plates are attached.
Moreover, the discharge electrode for the laser device and the laser device may each have structure in which the return plates are disposed almost parallel to gas flow of the laser gases flowing through the space between the discharge electrodes.
According to the aforesaid structure, the return plates rectify the gas flow of the laser gases, thereby making the flow of the laser gases smooth and increasing flow velocity. As a result, electric discharge is stabilized, and the power of the laser beam is raised.

Laser discharge electrodes with current return plate structure


Present invention of vehicle's steering wheel rotation angle sensing device comprises, rotor rotating connected with steering shaft transmitting manipulation power to vehicle's wheel; main gear rotating connected with said rotor; first rotation gear and second rotation gear rotating with said main gear; first magnetic body and second magnetic body rotated in same rotation ratio with first rotation gear and second rotation gear connected with them individually, formed in hexahedral shape in which upper surface is larger than opposite bottom surface; first sensor and second sensor sensing phase change caused by rotation of said first magnetic body and second magnetic body; PCB substrate comprising said first sensor and second sensor and various terminals and pins; housing.

In general, direction control apparatus used in automobile is a device for control direction of it according to driver's intention, and it comprises steering wheel, steering shaft connected to said steering wheel for transmitting operating force, and steering wheel rotation angle sensing device assembled to the steering shaft for sensing steering wheel's rotation angle.
And, vehicle's steering wheel rotation angle sensing device uses magnetic bodies and magnetic sensors for sensing magnetic power of them in said steering wheel's rotation.
Here, conventional magnetic body of vehicle's steering wheel rotation angle sensing device is formed of circular shape and assembled to rotation gear, said magnetic body is not firmly assembled to the rotation gear, so said magnetic body moves freely apart from the rotation gear, and disadvantage of calculation error about rotation angle due to magnetic power variation was occurred.
To solve said problem, conventionally adhesive agent was used in bonding magnetic body to rotation gear.
But, in said bonding method, when the magnetic body rotates in long time, bonding power of said adhesive agent diminishes so that the magnetic body may be detached from the rotation gear, and also bonding process must be added in manufacturing process, it takes more time and manufacturing cost increases in the process.
In the meanwhile, in conventional vehicle's steering wheel rotation angle sensing device when said rotation gear rotates, gear teeth of said rotation gear are in contact state, but gap is occurred between gear tooth of one rotation gear and gear trough of the other rotation gear, so that one rotation gear must rotate more for the gap and power transmission efficiency is lessened by the gap(backlash).
Said backlash is an obstacle for exact rotation angle sensing.

Vehicle's steering wheel rotation angle sensing device

Abstract: By present invention it is possible to prevent magnetic body from moving freely to vertical direction without using adhesive agent, and to manufacturing angle sensing device without process of attaching the magnetic body to rotation gear, so total cost and time for manufacturing it also can be diminished.


A spherical object is detected as it passes through an array of planer light beams and associated detectors. The construction of the apparatus is such that at least 4 planar light beams are obscured by the passing object, two parallel beams in one direction and two parallel beams in a second direction. The apparatus records the time at which each affected light beam is obstructed by the passing object. The apparatus then calculates the spatial position, velocity and trajectory of the object.

This invention relates generally to devices for measuring the trajectory or flight path of a projectile. More specifically, it relates to systems using an array of light beams to determine the position, velocity and trajectory of a sphere or ball, such as a baseball as it passes through the Strike Zone.
Devices for determining the velocity and position of a ball are numerous in the art. These devices are typically used in sports training or sports games including especially baseball and golf. In the game of golf, such devices are often used to determine the flight path of the ball. In the game of baseball, such devices are frequently used to determine ball location or ball speed at the Strike Zone.
The inventions in the art can be grouped into several different categories depending on the technologies used. One method prevalent in the art uses radar systems. Another common method is the use of cameras and associated image processing. Ultrasonic sensors are also used, as are mechanically activated switches.
Another common method in the art, related to the current invention, utilizes light beams or laser beams and light detectors organized in an array. U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,972 uses a light array of crossing light beams to indicate the location of a projectile passing through the array. U.S. Pat. No. 7,944,549 uses an optical screen formed by a single light source and an array of detectors which receive the reflected light from the object in motion. U.S. Pat. No. 7,367,906 uses two light beam arrays. A first array detects horizontal position, a second array located a known distance from the first detects vertical position, and the know distance between arrays is used to calculate the velocity of the ball. U.S. Pat. No. 7,295,329 uses two light sources and light detectors to determine location of a moving object. U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,855 uses a light beam array with alternating emitters and detectors and calculates the length of time it takes for the ball to travel through the array as the basis for ball velocity. Ball position is determined by the location of obscured detectors. U.S. Pat. No. 6,985,206 uses two or more light curtains (potentially at the front and back of the strike zone) and measures the time it takes the ball to travel between light curtains to determine the velocity of the ball. U.S. Pat. No. 5,479,008 uses parallel light beams to calculate an instantaneous spatial position of a sphere in order to calculate a horizontal launch angle of a golf ball. This patent calculates the height dimension of the sphere based on information obtained from the light screen. U.S. Pat. No. 5,631,558 measures velocity using 2 parallel planes at a set distance apart; additionally, 2 groups of sensors arranged in an arc. The velocity of the sphere is not determined directly from the light screen but is calculated from the time it takes to traverse from a first group of sensors to a second group of sensors.
The drive for improvements in the art is due largely to the need for precision and accuracy at low cost. Cost is an important consideration since it is possible to obtain an accurate trajectory of a projectile using carefully located high speed cameras and associated image processing. However, this approach is prohibitively expensive for many applications.
The inventions, related to the current technology, available in the art, measure components of position (x, y and z components) and/or components of velocity (velocity in the x, y and z directions). In many circumstances, it is the velocity components perpendicular to the principle axis of flight (the x and y directions) that are most important. For example, the effectiveness of a breaking ball in baseball is largely based on the velocity of the ball in the directions perpendicular to the principle line of flight. It is here that the current inventions in the art fall short. None of the methods in the art accurately calculate the velocity without assuming a straight flight path (i.e. x and y components are assumed to be zero). This limits the usefulness of the information. For example, since the effectiveness of a baseball pitch (such as a breaking ball) is almost entirely based on the non-linear characteristics of the flight path, the assumption of a linear trajectory results in information that is of little value for analyzing curve ball effectiveness. The current invention provides nonlinear position, trajectory and velocity information with accuracy which is not available in the current state of the art for a simple, low cost apparatus.
Therefore, it is a primary objective of the current invention to provide more complete information on position and velocity than is currently provided; an improved measuring apparatus that precisely defines both the spatial position of the ball at the Strike Zone and additionally, the velocity vector (velocity and trajectory) of the ball at the Strike Zone while at the same time eliminating the assumption of a straight line trajectory.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a method for determining position and velocity that is more accurate than current methods. An accurate calculation of trajectory is required to make an accurate determination of Strike or Ball. Accuracy is also important to coaches and trainers as well as applications beyond sports.
It is still a further objective of the present invention to provide a method of determining position and velocity that is simple and low cost.

Apparatus and method for determining the spatial position and velocity vector of a spherical projectile


A pulse detection system for expanded time radar, laser and TDR sensors detects specific cycles within bursts of cycles. A sensor transmits and receives short bursts of RF cycles. A transmit pulse detector triggers on a selected cycle of the detected transmit burst and starts a range counter. A receive detector triggers on a selected cycle within a received echo burst to stop the range counter, thereby indicating range. Cycle selection is enabled by an analysis window of time. The detection system can provide accuracies on the order of one picosecond and is well-suited to accurate ranging along an electromagnetic guide wire.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to radar detection circuits and more particularly to baseband carrier detection circuits for expanded time ranging systems. The invention can be used to accurately detect the time of occurrence of pulsed RF echoes for sampling radar, TDR (Time Domain Reflectometry) and laser sensors.
2. Description of Related Art
Short range, high resolution pulse-echo ranging systems, such as wideband and ultra-wideband pulsed radar and pulsed laser rangefinders often transmit a short sinusoidal burst on the order of 1-nanosecond in duration and consisting of about six cycles of RF. Radars having these parameters can be found in, for example, commercial pulse-echo rangefinders used to determine liquid levels in tanks. These radars operate in an expanded time mode, whereby the transmit pulse rate is slightly higher than the receiver gate, or sampling, rate, to produce a stroboscopic slow motion sampling effect, i.e., a down-sampling, time expansion effect.
The stroboscopic effect produces detected output pulses that resemble the received RF echo pulses, but occur on a vastly expanded time scale. Time expansion factors of 100,000 to 1-million are common. Accordingly, RF echo pulses having a 6 GHz carrier frequency produce sampled output echo pulses having a 6 kHz carrier frequency. These 6 kHz pulses are expanded time replicas of the RF echo pulses. At 6 kHz, pulse detection or other processing is vastly easier. Examples of expanded time radar architectures are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,191,724, "Short Pulse Microwave Transceiver," by the present inventor, Thomas E. McEwan, and in U.S. Pat. No. 6,414,627, "Homodyne Swept Range Radar," also by the present inventor.
A problem arises in precisely detecting pulsed RF produced by these systems. One sinewave cycle looks very much like the next within a sinewave burst, so a detector has difficulty detecting a particular sinewave cycle within the burst. For best ranging accuracy, the detector must consistently detect one specific cycle within the echo burst. Preferably, one particular point on a selected sinewave cycle must be detected.
One approach to the detection problem is a fixed threshold detector that triggers on the first sinewave cycle to cross the threshold. Unfortunately, variations in received signal amplitude make this approach unattractive since cycle jumps are inevitable as amplitude varies with target range, aspect angle and size.
Another approach is to detect the envelope of the sinusoidal burst and then threshold detect the envelope, with the detection time occurring at a threshold crossing. Alternatively, the envelope's time-of-peak (TOP) can be detected. Yet another technique is constant fractional maximum detection (CFD), wherein a peak detector detects peak amplitude, which is coupled through a voltage divider to set a tracking detection threshold at a constant fraction of the pulse maximum. In all these cases, the envelope is slower and of lower bandwidth than an individual cycle within the burst, and so detection accuracy suffers accordingly. A ten fold reduction in accuracy is not uncommon with these envelope detection techniques.
An automatic sinusoidal burst detection technique is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,137,438 "Precision Short Range Pulse-Echo Systems with Automatic Pulse Detectors," by the present inventor. A peak detector detects peak envelope amplitude and sets a fraction of this peak—as a form of a CFD—as the threshold for the next repetition of the expanded time sinusoidal burst. Thus, a consistent detection point can be set on a selected cycle in the burst. This approach, while effective, has two limitations. First, rapid pulse-to-pulse variations are not tracked since the peak of one pulse is used to set a threshold on the next pulse. Second, detection does not occur at the zero axis crossings of the sinewaves where the voltage rate of change is fastest and detection can be accomplished with a minimum of noise and error. Thus, a better approach is needed for varying targets and for higher accuracy.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,990, "Method and Apparatus for Determining a Fluid Level in the Vicinity of a Transmission Line," by Oswald et al, discloses a detection technique employing a threshold detector to define an analysis window of time. Whenever pulse amplitude exceeds the threshold, a TOP detector is enabled and detection occurs. The analysis window gates out noise outside the window. However, the '990 patent fails to teach detection of multiple sinusoids in a burst—it is limited to single transients. Multiple cycles within a burst present an ambiguity as to which cycle to detect, and this problem is not addressed in the '990 patent. Furthermore, the '990 patent is limited to an analysis window derived from a single transient above threshold. A sinusoidal burst is not a transient. Thus, an entirely new technique is needed.

Carrier phase detection system for radar sensors


A method and system are provided for using icons to show the validity of markup language elements applicable to a computer-generated document. A user of a computer-generated document such as a word processing document attaches a schema to the document setting out the rules and procedures with which the document may be annotated with markup language elements for structuring portions of the document. According to one aspect of the invention, the user attaches an Extensible Markup Language (XML) schema to the document for setting the data types, data structures and XML elements rules for the document so that the user may annotate the document with XML structure. When the user begins to annotate the document with a desired markup language structure, such as XML structure, an application pane is displayed to the user to provide the user with assistance in applying allowable XML elements at allowable locations and in allowable order and number. A series of icons are presented alongside the presented elements in the application pane to indicate the level of validity of a given element based on the editing context and location in the document.

Computer software applications allow users to create a variety of documents to assist them in work, education, and leisure. For example, word processing applications allow users to create letters, articles, books, memoranda, and the like. Spreadsheet applications allow users to store, manipulate, print, and display a variety of alpha-numeric data. Such applications have a number of well-known strengths, including rich editing, formatting, and calculation.
To keep up with demand for more advanced functionality for such computer software applications, software developers have begun to use markup languages to allow users to annotate a software application document to give the document a useful structure apart from the normal functionality of the software application responsible for creating the document or the visible formatting associated with the document. For example, a user may wish to create on her word processing application a template document for preparation of a resume, a will, or an article that she wishes to transmit to a publisher. By applying structure to the document, persons or institutions receiving the document may make use of the structure by processing the document to utilize data defined by the document structure.
For example, some word processing applications allow users to annotate a word processing document with Extensible Markup Language (XML) elements so that the user may define certain data types and data definitions for data inserted into the document. If the user has prepared a resume document, the user may annotate the resume document with XML elements to define certain allowable data structures and data types within the document. A resume document, for example, may include an "experience" section in which the user will include present and past work experience. Using XML, the user may desire to annotate the "experience" section of the document to define that certain allowable information in a prescribed order in a prescribed number may be included in the "experience" section of the document. For example, the user may wish to annotate the "experience" section of the document to allow for no more than four present or past experience items.
By annotating a document such as a resume document with a structure, as defined, for example by using XML, the user or a recipient of the document may develop software applications for reading the user's document and for making use of data defined by the structure. For example, a user may prepare an article document to send to a publisher of the article, and the user may annotate the article document with XML structure to define certain sections of the article such as the "title" and the "body" of the article. The publisher may develop computer software applications for reading the article document and for extracting the data such as text or images included within a given structure. For example, the publisher may write a computer software application that will read the user's article document and extract the text and images associated with the "body" section without regard to other structure or content contained in the document.
Unfortunately, most users of such computer software applications do not have the requisite understanding of markup languages, such as XML, in order to correctly apply allowable markup language elements to a document. Therefore, there is a need for a method and system for providing a user with help functionality for assisting the user in annotating a document with desired markup language elements for adding structure to the document. It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present invention has been made.

Using icons to show the validity of computer language structural elements applicable to a computer-generated document


A tire having a tread comprising two shoulder ribs and at least one main rib, wherein the two shoulder ribs and the at least one main rib form at least two shoulder grooves. The two shoulder grooves each have a plurality of inboard walls and a plurality of outboard walls, each disposed at a substantially constant angle from a base of the shoulder groove to a shoulder rib surface. Further, the plurality of inboard walls includes a first set of walls disposed at a first angle from the base of the shoulder groove to a main rib surface and a second set of walls disposed at a second angle from the base of the shoulder groove to the main rib surface.

As a tire wears, its circumferential tread decreases in radial thickness. In addition, tread elements such as grooves, ribs, and sipes decrease in radial thickness. For example, a series of lateral grooves may be in communication with a first shoulder and a second shoulder when the tire is new, but not be in communication with the first and second shoulders when the tire is worn because at least one of the lateral grooves has a depth less than the depths of the remaining lateral grooves.

Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC


An outside air temperature of a vehicle is detected, an operating time of a fan is set in accordance with the detected outside air temperature based on a fan operating time map, and an idle speed increase time is set in accordance with the an operating time based on an idle speed increase time map.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a fan operation control method and apparatus to control an operating time of an electric fan that cools an internal combustion engine after the internal combustion engine is stopped and an idle speed increase time required for charging the battery.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, an internal combustion engine mounted on a vehicle, for example, is relatively hot immediately after the internal combustion engine is stopped. If the internal combustion engine is restarted under such circumstances, fuel in a fuel pipe of a fuel injection system becomes hot (for example, approximately 100° C.), and therefore, bubbles (fuel vapor) are formed and thus the amount of fuel injected is reduced. This makes an air-fuel ratio in each cylinder significantly leaner than a desired air fuel ratio, which can result in unstable engine speed during idling operation (hereinafter referred to as "idle speed") and can significantly reduce startability of the internal combustion engine. For this reason, it has been proposed to cool an internal combustion engine by operating a fan for a predetermined time after the internal combustion engine is stopped.
As a method to cool the internal combustion engine as described above, a method of controlling a fan motor has been proposed in which an operating time of the fan is calculated using the amount of energy supplied to the internal combustion engine and characteristic values of the fan (for example, refer to Published Japanese Translation of PCT Application No. 2006525462 (JP-A-2006-525462)).
In the control method as proposed above, the operating time of the fan required after the internal combustion engine is stopped is calculated based on an integral value of the measured amount of energy supplied to the internal combustion engine before the internal combustion engine is stopped, and on operational data and ambient environmental data of the internal combustion engine at the present time. After the internal combustion engine is stopped, the fan is operated using electric power supplied from the battery. Then, the electric power of the battery consumed after the internal combustion engine is stopped is compensated by charging the battery using electric power generated by an electric generator that is driven to rotate by the internal combustion engine after the internal combustion engine is restarted.
On the other hand, even during normal operation of the internal combustion engine, if an electrical component that consumes a large amount of electricity is used during idling, the capacity of the electric generator becomes insufficient to cover the electric load required to supply electricity to the electrical component at the normally set idle speed. Therefore, a technology has been proposed in which the set idle speed is corrected to increase as the electric load increases (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 61-70149 (JP-A-61-70149)).
According to the technology described above, detection means for detecting charge/discharge condition of the battery is provided, and when the detection means detects that the battery is discharging due to increase of the electric load, control means corrects the idle speed to increase.
However, according to the technology described in JP-A-2006-525462, the operating time of the fan is calculated based on the amount of energy supplied to the internal combustion engine and the characteristic values of the fan. It is difficult to accurately measure these values, and as a result, it is also difficult to calculate the fan operating time. Further, according to the technology described in JP-A-2006-525462, because the operating time of the fan after the internal combustion engine is stopped fluctuates, it is not possible to effectively charge the battery to compensate for the decrease in the battery charge amount. For example, if a battery charging time is set in order to sufficiently charge the battery at all times, the battery is unnecessarily charged when the operating time of the fan is short.
Further, according to the technology described in JP-A-61-70149, it is detected whether the battery is discharging due to increase in the electric load. If it is detected that the battery is discharging, the idle speed is corrected to increase. Therefore, a plurality of devices, such as a comparator and a delay circuit, are required, and further, a complicated circuit is also required. Further, according to the technology described in JP-A61-70149, the idle speed can be increased only when the battery is discharging, and it is not possible to deal with the decrease in the battery charge amount after the internal combustion engine is stopped.

Fan operation control method and apparatus


A connecting device for gardening tool has a locking sleeve with a screw bolt and a tool head connector firmly secured in the locking sleeve by inserting the cubic part of the connector into the cubic portion of the locking sleeve and screwing the screw bolt on the locking sleeve. The connecting device allows gardening tool heads to be changed easily and conveniently to satisfy different requirements.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connecting device, and more particularly to a connecting device for a gardening tool so that various tool heads can be attached to a gardening tool depending on different requirements and the tool heads are secured tightly by the connecting device.
2. Description of Related Art
Normally, a tool head on a conventional gardening tool is not intended to be separated from the tool shaft and changed because the head is permanently attached to the shaft to keep it from becoming loose. With reference to FIG. 6, a conventional gardening tool is composed of a wooden shaft (60) with a steel tool head (65) permanently attached to one end. Consequently, when the tool head (65) wears out, the entire gardening tool have to be discarded and replaced. Additionally, for gardening work, several gardening tools with long shafts have to be available for various requirements. The gardening tools occupy a lot of space in a storage room and tend to be a hindrance when users clean the storage room or put them in order. Therefore, there is a need for a connecting device for gardening tools that allows a single shaft to be used with different tool heads such that the tool heads can be easily interchanged and secured firmly on the shaft during use.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention intends to provide a connecting device for a gardening tool that allows different tool heads to be interchanged and used to mitigate and obviate the aforementioned problems.
The main objective of the invention is to provide a connecting device for a gardening tool to interchange tool heads easily and secure the tool head tightly on the shaft during use.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

No. 16, Lane 26, Fu-Cheng Rd., Fu-Hsing Hsiang


A hood latch assembly configured to securely latch a striker bar of a hood to a main frame of a vehicle includes a main body having a moveable secondary latch pivot arm, and a moveable primary latch member. The primary latch member is configured to secure the striker bar in a primary closed position, and the secondary latch pivot arm is configured to secure the striker bar in a secondary closed position above the primary latch member.

Vehicles, such as automobiles, typically include a hood that is pivotally secured to a main structural frame. The hood covers an engine, for example. During vehicle operation, the hood is secured in a closed position such that it does not pivot into an open position.
FIG. 1 illustrates an isometric view of a front end of a vehicle 10. The vehicle 10 includes a main structural frame 12 and a hood 14 that is pivotally secured to the frame 12. In order to gain access to an engine chamber 16 of the vehicle 10, the hood 14 is pivoted into an open position. Typically, an operator engages (pulls, for example) a hood release activation handle (not shown) within the cockpit of the vehicle 10. The hood release activation handle is typically connected to a cable that is, in turn, connected to a portion of a hood latch assembly 18 secured to a front upper portion of the frame 12.
When the hood release activation handle is engaged, the hood latch assembly 18 releases a striker bar 20 extending underneath a front edge of the hood 14, thereby propping the hood 14 up a small distance above the frame 12. The operator may then position a hand within the clearance area, engage the hood latch assembly 18 so that it fully releases the striker bar 20, and pivot the hood up into a fully open position (and brace the hood open by way of a brace bar pivotally secured to the frame).
When the operator is finished inspecting the engine chamber 16, the operator may then allow the hood 14 to fall back toward the frame 12. The force of the hood 14 falling into the frame secures the striker bar 20 to the hood latch assembly 18 so that the hood 14 is securely fastened to the frame 12.
Typically, the hood latch assembly 18 includes numerous separate and distinct components. For example, the hood latch assembly 18 includes an 8-piece assembly having traditional wire springs, sheet metal stampings, and assembly rivets. Accordingly, the process of manufacturing the hood latch assembly 18 may be time and labor intensive. Additionally, the high number of separate and distinct parts increases the likelihood of individual components degrading or otherwise breaking.


A valve train of an internal combustion engine includes at least one basic camshaft with a cam carrier provided thereupon in a rotationally fixed and axially displaceable manner. The cam carrier has at least one valve-actuating cam as well as a tubular basic element that receives the basic camshaft in at least some sections. At least one cam element of the cam carrier, in particular the valve-actuating cam, is arranged on the basic element. At least one torque-transmitting connecting element is located between the basic element and the cam element. An internal combustion engine having at least one valve train and a method for producing a valve train are also disclosed.

The invention relates to a valve train of an internal combustion engine, having at least one basic camshaft on which a cam carrier having at least one valve-actuating cam is disposed in a rotationally fixed and axially displaceable manner, wherein the cam carrier has a tubular basic element which at least partially accommodates the basic camshaft, on which basic element at least one cam element of the cam carrier, in particular the valve-operating cam, is arranged. The invention furthermore relates to an internal combustion engine and a method of manufacturing a valve train.
Valve trains of the aforementioned type are known in the art. They are used for internal combustion engines, where the operating cycle of gas-exchange valves of individual cylinders of the internal combustion engine can be controlled to improve the thermodynamic property. The at least one cam carrier, which can also be referred to as a cam piece, is arranged on the basic camshaft in a rotationally fixed and axially displaceable manner. The cam carrier is displaced in the axial direction by an adjusting device, which includes a shift gate on the cam carrier and a fixedly arranged actuator, typically in a cylinder head of the internal combustion engine. The actuator has an extendable follower which can be brought into engagement with a helical or spiral groove of the shift gate. At least one valve-actuating cam having an eccentricity, which serves to actuate a gas exchange valve of internal combustion engine at a certain rotational angle of the basic camshaft, is associated with the cam carrier. The valve-actuating cam therefore rotates together with the basic camshaft, so that the gas-exchange valve of the internal combustion engine is operated at least once per revolution of the valve-actuating cam or its eccentricity. The valve-actuating cam preferably cooperates with a roller cam follower of the gas exchange valve by making direct contact therewith.
Preferably, several valve-actuating cams are provided which may be associated with different cam groups. The valve-actuating cams can now vary in the angular position, in the extent in a radial direction and/or in the eccentricity in the circumferential direction. By way of the axial displacement of the cam carrier, the cam carrier can be brought into at least two, for example, in a first and a second actuating position. In the first actuating position, the gas exchange valve is actuated by a first of the valve-actuating cams and in the second actuating position by a second of the valve-actuating cams that are assigned to the same cam group. By the displacement of the cam carrier, in particular the opening timing, the opening duration and/or the stroke of the gas change valve can be selected, in particular as a function of an operating state of the internal combustion engine.
Conventional cam carriers are integrally formed and are made of a metallic solid material, which is subjected to various manufacturing steps. The manufacturing steps include, for example, reaming an internal toothing of the cam support, grinding or turning cylindrical portions of the cam carrier used for rotational support, electron-beam hardening of a surface of the valve-actuating cam as well as gas nitration of surfaces in the area of the shift gate. These manufacturing steps require a not inconsiderable effort and associated costs. In addition, split bearings with two bearing shells or bearing shell halves are required for supporting the conventional cam carriers in the cylinder head of the internal combustion engine which results, on the one hand, in additional manufacturing and assembly costs and causes, on the other hand, increased friction losses in the event of an imperfect pairing of the two bearing shells or bearing shell halves.
To reduce the manufacturing complexity, the cam carrier may have a modular design and may be composed of the basic element and the at least one cam element. The basic element is essentially tubular and at least partially receives the basic camshaft. For this purpose, it encompasses the basic camshaft in the circumferential direction at least partially, preferably completely. The basic element preferably has an internal toothing which engages with an external toothing of the basic camshaft for holding the basic element on the basic camshaft in a rotationally fixed manner. The basic element can be completely drawn together with the internal toothing as a profile and can thus be easily and inexpensively produced. The at least one cam element is arranged on the basic element. The cam element is in particular formed as a cam disc. For example, the valve-actuating cam is embodied as a cam element. However, the cam element may alternatively also be another element, such as the shift gate, a spacer or a locking element. The cam element is preferably made of bearing steel, which is (fine-) punched and ground or reamed on its inner side. Identical or similar cam elements can be ground or reamed together, which allows for an efficient and economical production.
For example, DE 10 2009 022 657 A1 discloses a camshaft for an internal combustion engine. This camshaft consists of a basic shaft having at least one external toothing, and at least one cam carrier which is axially displaceably mounted on the basic shaft and has at least one inner toothing co-operating with the external toothing. The external toothing or the internal toothing is to be made of plastic, wherein the cam carrier made of plastic is molded around the cam elements. Therefore, a modular construction of the cam carrier and the cam elements is already described to some extent. However, the production cost is very high.

Valve train of an internal combustion engine, an internal combustion engine, and a method for producing a corresponding valve train


An overdrive digital-to-analog converter (DAC), a source driver, and a method thereof are provided. The DAC comprises a voltage divider unit, a selection unit, a buffer unit, and a detection unit. The voltage divider unit provides a plurality of reference voltages. The detection unit outputs a regulation signal according to a comparison result between a specific reference signal corresponding to an input digital signal and an output voltage output from the buffer unit. The selection unit regulates an overdrive voltage input to the buffer unit according to the regulation signal and the input digital signal. Accordingly, the output voltage of the buffer unit is changed quickly, and the conversion speed of the DAC is improved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital-to-analog converter (DAC). More particularly, the present invention relates to a DAC capable of improving conversion speed, a source driver, and a method thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional DACs usually adopt a decoder to output a corresponding analog voltage according to an input digital signal. A reference voltage can be generated by means of resistors connected in series. By dividing the voltage with the resistors, the reference voltage corresponding to the input digital signal can be generated. When the input digital signal changes, the decoder switches to the corresponding reference voltage, and a voltage buffer outputs a corresponding analog voltage.
In source drivers of a liquid crystal display (LCD), the conversion speed of the DAC directly influences the display quality of the LCD. As the DAC needs to drive pixels in a panel, and the conversion speed of pixel voltage is determined by the driving capability of the DAC. Therefore, when the load on the panel end increases, the driving current required by the DAC also increases, and the conversion speed becomes lower, thus further influencing the display quality of the LCD.
FIG. 1 shows a DAC according to the conventional art. The DAC 100 includes a voltage divider unit 110, a selection unit 120, and a buffer unit 130, and generates an output voltage VOUT according to an M-bit input digital signal DAS, where M is a positive integer. The voltage divider unit 110 uses resistors R(1)-R(2M+1) to generate reference voltages V(1)-V(2M) between an upper limit voltage VU and a lower limit voltage VD. The reference voltages V(1)-V(2M) are coupled to the buffer unit 130 via switches S(1)-S(2M) in the selection unit 120. The decoder 122 selectively turns on one of the switches S(1)-S(2M) according to the input digital signal DAS. Next, the buffer unit 130 generates the output voltage VOUT according to the reference voltages V(1)-V(2M) corresponding to the input digital signal DAS.
The buffer unit 130 is constituted by an operational amplifier 135. Under ideal conditions, the output voltage VOUT changes with the change of value of the input digital signal DAS. However, a load capacitor CL that needs to be driven by the buffer unit 130 impacts the conversion speed of the output voltage VOUT. The greater the capacitance of the load capacitor CL is, the lower the slew rate of the buffer unit 130 will be.
With the increase of the size of the LCD panel, the capacitance of the load capacitor that needs to be driven by the source driver increases. Thus, the problem that the lower conversion speed of the DAC due to the load capacitor becomes more obvious, thereby further adversely influencing the display quality of the LCD.

Overdrive digital-to-analog converter, source driver and method thereof


An amphibious vehicle has a power train including an engine having an oil sump connected to a lower portion of the engine an in-line transmission and a power take off. The power take off is located between the engine and the transmission thereby separating the engine and the transmission, is driven by the engine crankshaft and drives the transmission; and is adapted to transfer drive to a marine propulsion unit located at the rear of the amphibious vehicle by means of a drive shaft which runs below or through the oil sump of the engine or alongside the engine. The output from the transmission is adapted by a transfer drive to drive a differential located at the rear of the amphibious vehicle; and optionally also to drive a front differential, to provide all-wheel-drive The vehicle may have a vee-type hull or a cathedral type hull; and may comprise retractable suspension, with angled retraction.

The present invention relates to an amphibious vehicle.
The phrase "sandwich power take off" or "sandwich PTO" as used herein refers to a power take off which is positioned between, and separates, the engine and a speed change transmission in a power train. Such a power take off is driven by an engine main output shaft, typically a crankshaft; and drives a transmission input shaft.
In an amphibious vehicle, particularly a planing amphibious vehicle, it is advantageous to use a power train in which an engine and transmission are positioned towards the rear of the vehicle. The weight of the power train is therefore positioned towards the back of the vehicle, which is necessary for good vehicle performance when the vehicle is in marine mode. Furthermore, the position of the power train maximises the space available towards the front of the vehicle for the passenger compartment.
A power train is disclosed for use in an amphibious military personnel carrier in U.S. Pat. No. 5,752,862 (Mohler). The disclosed power train uses a rear mounted engine and a combined transmission and differential mounted at the front of the vehicle. Although Mohler uses the drive shafts from the differential to drive caterpillar tracks, such drive shafts could also be used to provide drive to the front road wheels of a civilian amphibious vehicle. However, the power train arrangement disclosed in Mohler has several disadvantages for application to such a civilian vehicle. First, the location of the transmission at the front of the vehicle may reduce passenger and/or luggage space. Secondly, the arrangement requires a propeller shaft running through the passenger area. This shaft, which carries full engine power and rotates at engine speed, takes up valuable passenger space and will generate noise. Third, front wheel drive is not an optimal solution for a rear engined vehicle, as traction will not be as good as if the engine weight is placed over the driven wheels. This can give problems for example in take-off on slippery surfaces, and unusual on-road handling characteristics.
Other power train arrangements for use in an amphibious vehicle are known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,617 (Aquastrada) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,765,368 (Asbeck). In these power trains an engine and transmission are connected end-to-end in conventional automotive rear wheel drive fashion, but with the overall arrangement reversed to drive the front wheels. As can be seen particularly clearly from Aquastrada, this forces the passenger seating area towards the front of the vehicle, followed by a long rear deck area, which cannot be used for passenger or luggage space.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,350,037 (Hofheins et al) describes an amphibious vehicle in which an engine drives an output shaft by way of a transmission unit. A marine propulsion propeller is driven through a drive shaft which has an operative connection with a take-off shaft projecting from the transmission unit. A clutch for controlling driving engagement to the take-off shaft is also provided. However, the power take-off in Hofheins is not positioned between the engine and transmission and is not a sandwich power take-off, and cannot therefore transmit as much power. Hofheins also has the disadvantage that due to the relative positioning of the components, the shaft to the propeller has to slope downwards when the propeller is in use; but must be withdrawn into the vehicle when not in use. The drawbacks of this layout include the complication of an additional clutch unit, and the fact that the universal joints run at a constant angle when the propeller is in use, leading to vibration and shortened service lives. Where a shaft passing through a hull moves up and down, flexible seals must be provided, which will need maintenance; and water seepage into the hull will inevitably occur.


To achieve improved frequency-response correction of a vibration-signal transmitter in a vibration isolation system, the invention proposes a method in which an analog sensor signal representing vibrations is generated through the use of a vibration-signal transmitter, this sensor signal is amplified for correcting frequency-dependent sensitivity of the vibration-signal transmitter, an actuator control signal is generated by processing the amplified sensor signal, and an actuator is controlled with the actuator control signal for counteracting the vibrations, wherein the amplification of the sensor signal includes first amplification through the use of an analog amplification stage and second amplification through the use of a digital amplification stage. The invention further proposes a correction device and also a vibration isolation system for carrying out the method.

From EP 0 927 380 B1, a method and device are known for limiting vibrations that occur within a vibration isolation system or that are to be suppressed to a low-frequency range.
Furthermore, for vibration isolation, velocity sensors according to the moving coil principle, also called geophones, are used, among other things, as vibration sensors. For low hardware costs, they offer large bandwidth and sensitivity to vibrations. The sensitivity of these sensors is rather linear starting at a lower cutoff frequency, but drops significantly at low frequencies starting from this cutoff frequency. For typical geophones used in vibration isolation systems, this cutoff frequency lies at ca. 4 Hz. However, because the control bandwidth should typically equal at least 0.1 Hz, it is necessary to raise the sensitivity curve of the geophone below 4 Hz.
Analog circuits, which are constructed for this purpose and which can achieve a frequency response correction between 0.5 and 4 Hz, are known. At low frequencies, very high amplification is necessary to achieve linearity. For analog implementation, this generates very high noise in the sensor signal. In addition, analog electrical components for frequency-response correction are cost-intensive and have large dimensions. The large dimensions restrict, for example, the possibilities for placing the components for the frequency-response correction close to the sensor, because little space is typically available close to the damper.
One problem is thus to present a way to achieve improved frequency-response correction for a vibration-signal transmitter in a vibration isolation system.

Method and device for frequency-response correction in vibration isolation systems


An inductively heatable reactor for effecting fluid phase chemical processes. The reactor comprises an inductively heatable, fluid permeable reactor element having at least one solid block in which is provided a plurality of fluid conveying ducts which extend through the reactor element in a substantially parallel arrangement from one end face thereof to the other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates t inductively heatable reactors suitable for implementing fluid phase reaction processes.
2. Description of Related Art
Various reactor designs are known. It is known, for example, to carry out reaction processes by passing fluid phase reactants through a furnace-heated reactor tube. However, such a reactor provides adiabatic reaction conditions therein and a relatively long reaction time. Consequently, the reactions tend to suffer from the disadvantage of a lack of selectivity towards product formation, and by-products are often formed by competing reactions.
In GB Patents 1182421 and 1325675 fluid heaters having as their essential feature a porous, fluid-permeable, electrical resistance heater element, which can be in the form of a hollow cylindrical body, are described. The heater elements described therein are heated by direct current and arranged so that the fluid to be heated passes through the element from an entry side thereof to an exit side, the hot exit fluid being cooled after it emerges from the element. One drawback of the direct current heating used in the heaters of GB Patents 1182421 and 1325675 (said also to be usable as reactors) is that there may be heat losses due to thermal conduction by way of the leads carrying the current. Additionally, the finely porous nature of the reactor elements would be liable to cause them to foul with reaction products and carbon deposits after relatively short periods of use.
The use of fluid-permeable heater elements that are heated indirectly by electrical induction has been reported in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,091,021 and 3,826,895, and in GB Patent 1593473. The thermal heater elements described in the two U.S. Patents consist of a felted plug or packing of randomly oriented, electrically conducting fibres (metallised at their points of contact to improve electrical conductivity) which fill most the length of a tube (in the case of U.S. Pat. No. 3,826,895, a plurality of such elements being connected in series); the element of GB 1593473 is of a different design and comprises a packing of touching small metal spheres in a tube. The design and large thickness of the inductively heatable reactor elements described in the aforementioned patents would be unlikely to allow fluid residence times of the order of milliseconds or the substantially uniform thermal treatment of each and every part of the fluid flowing through them. Furthermore, the metallic connections would be subject to chemical attack in an acidic atmosphere at an elevated temperature.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,428,695 there is described a fluid phase reaction process which is carried out by continuously passing a stream of reactants through an elongated tube. The use of an inductively heated graphite tube reactor (32.5 cms (13") long, internal diameter 0.31 cms (1/8"), outer diameter 1.25 cms (1/2")) centred within a high silica glass tube is specifically described in this U.S. patent, the inductive heating being effected by means of a copper coil supplied with power from a high frequency generator operating at 450 kilocycles. The tubular reactor described in this patent is said to allow short reactor times to be employed. However, such a reactor design is thought to incur a fairly broad reaction time distribution, even if short reaction times are employed, which can lead to a decreased selectivity for the desired reaction product(s) and the formation of unwanted by-products. Furthermore, single bore tubular reactor elements tend to exhibit poor heat transfer characteristics since the surface area of the walls enclosing the reaction zone is small compared to the volume of the reaction zone. Consequently, the uniform thermal treatment of all the fluid reactants passing through the reactor element may be unattainable. Furthermore, the tubular reactor element of U.S. Pat. No. 3,428,695 is not particularly amenable to scale-up, since the problems associated with having a single large hole passing through the reactor element will be accentuated as the dimensions of the reactor element are increased.

Reactors for effecting chemical processes


An improved VECSEL device is provided in which the gain of each of the quantum well layers can be increased in a periodic gain structure. A vertical external cavity surface emitting laser (VECSEL) device comprising: a substrate; a bottom DBR mirror formed on the substrate; a multiple quantum well layer formed on the bottom DBR mirror and comprising: a plurality of quantum well layers; first and second strain compensation layers sequentially formed above and below each of the quantum well layers to gradually relieve the strain of the quantum well layers; a capping layer formed on the multiple quantum well layer; an optical pump radiating a pump beam to the surface of the capping layer; and an external cavity mirror separated from and facing the bottom DBR mirror.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a vertical external cavity surface emitting laser (VECSEL) device, and more in particular, to a VECSEL device with an improved structure to improve the gain of each quantum well layer in a multiple quantum well layer having a periodic gain structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
A vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) radiates a single longitudinal beam of light having a very narrow spectrum. The projection angle of the beam is small and thus the coupling efficiency is high. Also, since monolithic integration with other appliances is easy due to the characteristics of the surface light emission, the VCSEL is appropriate as a pumping light source.
However, a conventional VCSEL cannot radiate a single lateral light beam as easily as an edge emitting laser diode (LD). Also, the radiation area should be 10 μm or less for a common single lateral mode operation, and even then the VCSEL enters a multiple mode due to a thermal lens effect as the light output increases. Thus, the maximum power of the output single lateral light is 5 mW.
A vertical external cavity surface emitting laser (VECSEL) provides the advantages of the VCSEL described above and simultaneously achieves a high power operation. The VECSEL has an external mirror in place of the upper DBR of the VCSEL, and thus has an increased gain area and can obtain an output power of 100 mW or more. Recently, a VECSEL device having a periodic gain structure with quantum wells (QW) arranged periodically has been developed to compensate for the disadvantages of surface emitting lasers (SEL) which cannot obtain as much gain as edge emitting lasers because of a lesser gain volume than edge emitting lasers. Also, a VECSEL device has been developed to uniformly pump a large area since electric pumping does not provide uniform carrier injection for a large area.
A strain compensation layer that compensates for strain in the quantum well layer to suppress structural defects in a VECSEL structure having a periodic gain has been suggested by Kuznetsov et al. ["Design and Characteristics of High-power Diode-Pumped Vertical-External-Cavity Surface-Emitting Semiconductor Lasers", Kuznetsov et al. IEEE J. Selected topics in Quantum electronics, Vol. 5(3), p. 561, 1999].
However, in a VECSEL device, the strain compensation layers completely offset strains around the quantum well layers, and when all the strains are offset, the maximum gain of the quantum well layers is lowered. Therefore, a structural improvement of the VECSEL is required in the VECSEL device including the strain compensation layers to obtain the maximum gain of the quantum well layers.

High power vertical cavity surface emitting laser


A portable grill with a battery power system includes a primary direct-current power source and a secondary direct-current power source. The primary power source can connect onto the outside of the grill via a clip. The secondary power source, which can be disposed within the grill so as not to be exposed to outside elements, can continue to power the grill when the user removes and/or replaces the primary power source during the operation of the grill. A user feedback system can remotely alert the user with information regarding the time or power remaining in the primary power source.

Users often prepare food on grilling devices such as pellet grills. Pellet grills include a number of components that require electric power, such as heating elements, fuel feeder systems, blowers, and the like. Typical pellet grills usually receive power through a power cord plugged in to an alternating current (AC) household outlet or another stationary outlet.
However, power cords reduce the portability of pellet grills. For example, in order to power a pellet grill from an outlet, the pellet grill cannot be further away from the outlet than the length of the power cord. This limits the use of typical pellet grills to locations having stationary outlets, such as houses, buildings, or other structures. Users cannot prepare food in such pellet grills elsewhere, for example, at a park or campsite that lacks such outlets. Users may bring generators to such locations, but generators are loud, heavy, and expensive. In addition, corded pellet grills may limit users to using the grill in dry conditions only, due to concerns over exposing the power cord to moisture from rain and snow.
Other types of grills, such as gas-powered grills, cook at higher temperatures and require less time. However, as noted above, pellet grills and smokers generally require much longer cook times because they operate at lower temperatures. Monitoring the grill during these long cook times is inconvenient and time-consuming. Many users, for example, will stay nearby their pellet grills during long cook times so they can monitor and control temperatures, smoke color and amount, or other grilling conditions.
Accordingly, there are a number of disadvantages in grilling devices and systems that can be addressed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Grill with battery power system and measurement


A thin film transistor substrate includes: a gate insulating film that covers a gate electrode and a common electrode; a transparent oxide film selectively disposed on the gate insulating film; a source electrode and a drain electrode that are spaced from each other on the transparent oxide film; and a light transmissive pixel electrode electrically connected to the drain electrode. The transparent oxide film includes a conductive region and a semiconductor region. The conductive region is disposed in a lower portion of the source electrode and the drain electrode and disposed in a portion that continues from the lower portion of the drain electrode, extends to part of an upper portion of the common electrode, and forms the pixel electrode. The semiconductor region is disposed in a portion corresponding to a lower layer in a region between the source electrode and the drain electrode.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin film transistor substrate used in a display or the like and to a method for manufacturing the same.
Description of the Background Art
Active matrix substrates (hereinafter referred to as "TFT substrates") including thin film transistors (hereinafter referred to as "TFTs") as switching elements are widely known to be used in electro-optic devices, such as displays including liquid crystals (hereinafter referred to as "liquid crystal displays; LCDs").
The LCDs including the TFT substrates (TFT-LCDs) need improved display characteristics (such as a wide viewing angle, high definition, and high quality) and also need low costs as a result of simplifying manufacturing steps for an efficient manufacturing.
The TFT-LCD typically has a liquid crystal cell as a basic structure in which a TFT substrate (element substrate) and a counter substrate (CF substrate) sandwich a liquid crystal layer, and the LCD is formed of the liquid crystal layer including a polarizer bonded thereto. The TFT substrate includes a plurality of pixels arranged in matrix, each of the pixels including a pixel electrode and a TFT connected to the pixel electrode. The counter substrate includes a counter electrode disposed opposite to the pixel electrode and a color filter (CF). For example, a full transmissive LCD includes a backlight (BL) on a back surface side of the liquid crystal cell.
In this manner, the liquid crystal cell including the pixel electrode and the counter electrode disposed to sandwich the liquid crystal layer is a liquid crystal cell of a vertical electric field driving mode typified by a twisted nematic (TN) mode, the pixel electrode and the counter electrode generating an electric field for driving the liquid crystals. The TFT substrate of the TN mode is typically manufactured in four or five photolithography processes, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-268353 (1998) and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-339072, for example.
Meanwhile, in terms of the wide viewing angle of the TFT-LCD, an in-plane switching (IPS) mode ("IPS" is a trademark) has been developed, the IPS mode being one of lateral electric field driving modes in which both of the pixel electrode and the counter electrode (common electrode) are disposed on the same layer on the TFT substrate. The IPS mode can obtain the viewing angle wider than that in the vertical electric field driving mode, but hardly obtains bright display characteristics due to an aperture ratio and a transmittance of an image display portion lower than those in the vertical electric field driving mode. This problem arises in a situation where an electric field for driving liquid crystals fails to effectively operate on the liquid crystals in a region directly above the pixel electrode having a comb teeth shape.
A fringe field switching (FFS) mode has been developed as a lateral electric field driving mode capable of improving this problem, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-56474, for example.
Moreover, in terms of the high definition and the high quality of the TFT-LCD, technologies have been developed to use a semiconductor made of an oxide material having a mobility higher than that of conventional silicon (Si) as a semiconductor for an active layer of the TFT formed in the TFT substrate, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-103957, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-77822, and Kenji Nomura et al (2004), "Room-temperature Fabrication of Transparent Flexible Thin-film Transistors Using Amorphous Oxide Semiconductors", Nature, 432: 488-492.
The oxide semiconductor includes zinc oxide (ZnO) system, InGaZnO system in which gallium oxide (Ga2O3) and indium oxide (In2O3) are added to zinc oxide (ZnO), or the like. Such oxide semiconductor has a film having light-transmissive properties higher than those of a Si semiconductor film, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-115902, for example, discloses that an oxide semiconductor film having a transmittance of 70% or more to visible light with wavelengths of 400 to 800 nm is used. Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-254121 discloses a liquid crystal display that makes use of the light-transmissive properties of the oxide semiconductor and uses part of one oxide semiconductor pattern as a channel semiconductor of a TFT and the other part thereof as a transparent pixel electrode by increasing an electrical conductivity by irradiation with an energy ray.
The typical oxide semiconductor film mentioned above can be etched with a weak acid solution, such as oxalic acid and carboxylic acid, and has an advantage of an easy patterning process. However, it is easily dissolved by an acid solution normally used for an etching process of typical metal films (Cr, Ti, Mo, Ta, Al, Cu, and alloys thereof) that are used for a source electrode and a drain electrode of the TFT.
Thus, the oxide semiconductor film needs not to be lost upon etching (patterning) of the metal films that are to be the source electrode and the drain electrode in a process of manufacturing them, depending on a structure of the TFT substrate.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-72011 discloses a technology of adding new elements to an oxide semiconductor to improve resistance to a chemical solution and a technology of optimizing film thicknesses of the metal films that are to be the source electrode and the drain electrode and a film thickness of the oxide semiconductor. However, it is desirable to manufacture the TFT substrate using the typical oxide semiconductor film without using the technology of improving the resistance to the chemical solution.
There is an increased demand for the LCD of the FFS mode because of its sufficient viewing angle characteristics and its transmittance of a panel. However, the TFT substrate used in the LCD of the FFS mode needs to include both of the pixel electrode and the counter electrode (common electrode) formed on the TFT substrate, thereby increasing the number of wiring layers of the TFT substrate. This increases the number of photolithography processes needed for forming the TFT substrate, thereby increasing manufacturing costs.
For example, the TFT substrate in the typical LCD of the FFS mode disclosed in FIGS. 1 and 3 in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-56474 is manufactured in six photolithography processes. On the other hand, the TFT substrate of the conventional TN mode can be typically manufactured in four or five photolithography processes, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-268353 (1998) and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-339072. Thus, reducing the number of photolithography processes is a major challenge in manufacturing the TFT substrate of the FFS mode. If it is made possible to reduce more photolithography processes also in the TFT substrate of the conventional TN mode and to manufacture the TFT substrate in, for example, three photolithography processes, the manufacturing costs can be reduced, which is certainly more desirable.
As described above, the typical oxide semiconductor film is easily dissolved by the acid solution used for etching the metal films (Cr, Ti, Mo, Ta, Al, Cu, and alloys thereof) that are used for the source electrode and the drain electrode of the TFT. Therefore, for a structure that exposes a lower layer of a semiconductor film upon the etching process of the source electrode and the drain electrode, such as the structure of the TFT shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-56474 (FIGS. 1 and 3), a special oxide semiconductor having the resistance to the chemical solution needs to be used, resulting in difficulty in using the typical oxide semiconductor.
Furthermore, when the oxide semiconductor film is used for a channel layer of the semiconductor, it is difficult for the structure of the TFT, such as the structure in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-56474 (FIGS. 1 and 3), to stably obtain sufficient electrical characteristics of an interface at an electrical bonding portion between the source electrode and the drain electrode, and the oxide semiconductor having the high mobility fails to make full use of its performances due to an increase in electrical resistance at the interface.
Moreover, the liquid crystal display in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-254121 needs a special process not being used for manufacturing the typical liquid crystal display such that the oxide semiconductor is irradiated with the energy ray to be used as the pixel electrode, thereby increasing the manufacturing costs. It is known that an electrical conductivity temporarily increases and then decreases due to a change over time or a heat treatment in the technique of decreasing a resistance (increasing a carrier) by the irradiation with the energy ray to increase the electrical conductivity, so that necessary electrical characteristics cannot be obtained in the end. Additionally, in the liquid crystal display in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-254121, the channel semiconductor of the TFT and the transparent pixel electrode are separately formed with an end of the gate electrode disposed in the lower layer as a boundary therebetween, and thus the gate electrode fails to sufficiently shield the channel semiconductor from the light, thereby deteriorating the electrical characteristics.

Thin film transistor substrate and method for manufacturing the same


An apparatus, method and system for treating spinal conditions by moving or spatially fixing at least one vertebra relative to another vertebra. The invention includes a link member the ends of which are configured to be secured to adjacent vertebrae and which are offset from a central portion of the link member. The link members can be in the form of a C-shaped or V-shaped rod or plate to form the offset. The offset provides increased bone volume that can be used for grafts or fusion. Attachment structure in the form of bone screws, bolts, or hook members are provided to secure the link members to respective vertebrae or other bones. A plurality of link members can be connected in chain-like fashion to connect multiple points on a plurality of vertebrae or other bones even though those points are nonlinear. In another aspect of the invention, a multi-directional attachment member is provided and may be used with the link members to form a spinal implant or external bone fixation system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to apparatus and methods for treating and correcting spinal abnormalities or conditions, stabilizing the position of the spine and vertebrae thereof and fixing or moving the position of bones other than those in the spine. More specifically, the present invention provides an apparatus and system which includes a plurality of links usable together under various circumstances to treat, e.g., different spinal curvature conditions or bone fractures.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
The prior art includes many different apparatus and methods for treating spinal conditions. Known apparatus utilize elongate plate members having several aligned openings or an elongated slot therein for receiving screws or bolts that are affixed to vertebrae. The plate is secured to the screws or bolts and exerts force on the selected vertebra or vertebrae to move same into a desired position or to maintain same in a desired position. The plate also overlies the majority of the lateral bone surface of the vertebrae.
In using such known plate systems, a problem arises when the points on the vertebrae defined by the screws or bolts are not collinear, i.e., they do not lie in a straight line. This creates a problem for the physician because the openings in the plate are collinear and, therefore, the screws do not line up with the plate openings. The physician has several options to compensate for such nonalignment, all of which present additional problems themselves.
The plate can be contoured in the frontal plane to attempt to line the screws up with the plate openings. Due to the thickness and high strength of the plate, this is essentially impossible to do intraoperatively. Another option is to bend the screws or bolts so that they fit in the slots or openings in the plate. This creates an immediate high stress region in the screw or bolt which can cause failure of the same upon cyclical loading or, even worse, can lead to a fracture of the pedicle of the vertebra.
A third option is to place the screws or bolts in a less than optimum position or trajectory in the pedicle of the vertebrae so that they line up with the plate openings. This too can lead to pedicle fractures or cut-out, as well as nerve root injury.
Other known apparatus for treating spinal deformities are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,102,412 and 5,181,917. These apparatus include elongate rod members which have vertebra engaging means secured thereto in an adjustable fashion. The apparatus can be used with bone bolts or screws, or laminar or pedicle hooks. However, the rods are essentially straight which makes utilizing nonlinear points of connection on adjacent vertebrae difficult without the use of specially formed components. In addition, spinal apparatus and systems such as those disclosed in the aforementioned patents include a large number of moving parts and therefore are inherently susceptible to malfunction.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus for treating spinal conditions which avoids the problems of the prior art, permits attachment to nonlinear points on adjacent vertebrae, and provides increased bone volume for grafts and fusion.
The prior art includes various apparatus for the treatment of non-spinal conditions, e.g., in long bones and the pelvis. Such conditions include fractures, joint fusions, osteotomies, etc. The prior art apparatus for treating the aforesaid non-spinal conditions do not permit attachment of the bone fixation device to non-linear attachment points on the bone or bones being treated. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved apparatus and method for the treatment of non-spinal conditions.

Apparatus, method and system for the treatment of spinal conditions and fixation of pelvis and long bones


A method for verifying the conformance of an application program to a set of system rules characterized by the development of a conformance database, the performance of a static analysis of the application program to determine whether the application program is in static conformance with the conformance database and the performance of a dynamic analysis of the application program to determine whether the application program is in dynamic conformance with the conformance database. The static analysis produces a graph of the basic blocks of the application program and analyzes the graph for conformance to system rules, dead code and coverage metrics. The dynamic analysis adds a small amount of monitoring code into an executable application program which monitors the application program as it is exercised in a test harness. The monitoring code produces a log database which can be analyzed for run-time non-conformities of the application program.

This invention relates generally to computer software and more particularly to software designed to test application programs.
A digital computer system includes both hardware and software. The hardware includes the physical portions of the computer system such as the central processing unit (CPU), memory, input/output (I/O) ports and peripherals. The software portion of the system comprises a sequence of instructions stored in memory which direct and control the operation of the hardware.
The computer system's software includes both system and application software. The system software, often referred to as the "operating system", interacts directly with the hardware of the computer system to perform such functions as storing data to memory, inputting and outputting data and manipulating the registers of the CPU. Application software interfaces with system software and typically performs user-specific applications such as spreadsheet analysis, word processing and computer aided design (CAD).
A problem encountered by application software developers is that application software developed to work with a particular operating system will almost certainly not work with other operating systems, even if these alternative operating systems are closely related an operate on similar hardware platforms. Application software developers therefore tend to write application programs for the most common operating systems to maximize the potential size of their market. After application software has been developed for a particular operating system it may, with varying degrees of effort, be modified or "ported" to run on other operating systems.
Another problem encountered by software developers is that hardware from different vendors tends to be different in architecture even if they are using the same operating system. Since many application software developers bypass the operating system to increase system performance, their application software may not run on all hardware platforms which support the operating system. In these circumstances software developers have several choices: 1) they can choose not to bypass the operating system and accept lower performance of their application program; 2) bypass the operating system but only support the most common hardware platform; or 3) bypass the operating system and port the application program to support multiple hardware platforms.
There is a trend in the industry towards computer systems designed around open standards rather than proprietary standards. In proprietary standard systems the structure and operation of the computer system is owned and protected by a particular vendor with a combination of patents, trade secrets and copyrights. Proprietary system manufacturers tend not to license others to make systems which would compete with their own. Examples of proprietary systems include computer systems manufactured by Digital Equipment Corporation, Apple Computers, Inc. and Wang Laboratories. In open standard systems certain details concerning the structure and operation of the computer system are published and are typically made available free of charge or for a modest licensing fee. Examples of open standard systems include systems which use the MS-DOS operating system of Microsoft, Inc. or certain versions of the UNIX system from AT&T. In theory, application developers would rather produce application software for open standard systems than proprietary standard systems due to a potentially larger number of systems which could run their software. The advantage for hardware and operating system vendors in conforming their systems to open standards is that they will probably have a larger base of application software available to their customers and may therefore sell more of their hardware platforms and operating systems.
When a new computer architecture is developed it can be decided whether it should adhere to proprietary or open standards. For example, the relatively new reduced instruction set computer (RISC) processors available from such companies as Sun Microsystems, MIPS, AMD and Motorola can be designed into systems which operate under proprietary standards or can be designed into systems which operate under more open standards. The trend with RISC processors is to design them into systems which utilize some form of UNIX, making them compatible with other such systems at least at the UNIX source code level which is typically written in the language C. However, even computer systems having the same RISC processor and running under a version of UNIX are probably not compatible at the object module or binary code level due to incompatible uses of the processors registers, ports and memory interfaces. If a number of vendors wish to produce a truly open standard system, it is therefore necessary that they agree upon certain design and operating rules so that an application program which conforms to the same design and operating rules will run on all conforming systems.
A problem encountered with such an approach is how to ensure that an application program which is supposedly designed according to the standard rules will actually operate on systems provided by a number of manufacturers. For example, certain application programs written for the MS-DOS operating system will not work on some PC-clones because the hardware is not 100% compatible. As another example, some UNIX applications will work only with certain versions of the UNIX operating system. There is therefore a need in the software industry for procedures which can verify that application software developed in conformance with a set of accepted design rules will operate with computers and operating systems from any vendor which also adopts those design rules.

Method for analyzing calls of application program by inserting monitoring routines into the executable version and redirecting calls to the monitoring routines