A method and a receiver for receiving positioning signals are disclosed. The positioning signals are received from a plurality of first sources in a first frequency range and from a plurality of second sources in a second frequency range different from the first frequency range. The receiver is switched between the first and second frequency ranges to receive the positioning signals, and the receiver obtains time offset information about a time taken to switch the receiver between the first and second frequency ranges, by obtaining a solution to a set of simultaneous equations based on combined navigation data for the first and second sources.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to navigation systems, and more particularly, to receiving positioning signals at different frequency ranges, and obtaining information about a time taken to switch between the frequency ranges.
2. Description of the Related Art
Positioning systems, for example Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Global Orbiting Navigational Satellite System (GLONASS), enable the location of a receiver to be accurately determined. Such systems operate by transmitting navigation messages from a plurality of sources whose locations are known. The messages include information for identifying the time at which the message was sent, which enables the receiver to determine the travel time of the signal and hence the distance to the source. This distance is referred to as a pseudorange (PR). To calculate the receiver's location in three dimensions, signals from at least four satellites are required to calculate three spatial coordinates and a clock offset between the receiver and the satellite clocks, since the receiver normally incorporates a much less accurate clock than the atomic clocks used in the satellites.
To calculate its location, the receiver receives signals from any visible satellite, i.e. any one of the satellites to which there is a direct line-of-sight for the relevant frequency range. However, in some environments, such as built-up urban areas, surrounding topographical features may block the lines of sight to many of the satellites. In this case, the minimum number of satellites to obtain a position fix may not be visible. Accordingly, it is desirable to develop a dual-mode receiver that can use satellites from more than one navigation system to calculate its location. However, in such dual-mode receivers significant errors can be introduced due to the use of different systems; for example, as a result of having to switch between the different frequencies used in the different systems.

Receiving positioning signals at different frequencies


A composition and method for using the composition in the fabrication of an electronic device are disclosed. Compounds, compositions and methods for depositing a high quality silicon nitride or carbon doped silicon nitride.

Silicon nitride films are used in semiconductor for a variety of applications. For example, the silicon nitride film is used as a final passivation and mechanical protective layer for integrated circuits, a mask layer for selective oxidation of silicon, as one of the dielectric materials in a stacked oxide-nitride-oxide (O—N—O) layer in DRAM capacitor or in 3D NAND flash memory chips, or as a CMP stop layer in a shallow trench isolation application. In one particular application, O—N—O stack in 3D NAND flash requires silicon nitride with low stress and high wet etch rate in phosphoric acid.
Olsen, "Analysis of LPCVD Process Conditions for the Deposition of Low Stress Silicon Nitride", 5 Materials Science in Semiconductor Process 51 (2002) describes a wide range or process conditions that are used to optimize the deposition of low stress silicon nitride films by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition. The results show that an increase in the index of refraction beyond 2.3 by means of increasing the gas flow did not reduce the residual stress appreciably but had a significant detrimental effect on the thickness uniformity and deposition rate.
Taylor et al., "Hexachlorodisilane as a Precursor in the LPCVD of Silicon Dioxide and Silicon Oxynitride Films", 136 J. Electrochem. Soc. 2382 (1989) describes growing films of silicon dioxide and silicon oxynitride by LPCVD using gas-phase mixtures of Si2Cl6, N2, and NH3. Films of silicon dioxide and silicon oxynitride were grown by LPCVD using gas-phase mixtures of HCDS, N2O, and NH3 in the temperature range 600-850° C. The deposited silicon dioxide and silicon oxynitride films exhibited low chlorine content, typically <1% atomic percent.
M. Tanaka et al., "Film Properties of Low-k Silicon Nitride Films Formed by Hexachlorodisilane and Ammonia", 147 J. Electrochem. Soc. 2284 (2000) describes a low-temperature process with good step coverage of silicon nitride (SiN) formed by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) using hexachlorodisilane (HCD).
JP2000100812 describes a method for depositing a film using SiCl4 and NH3 as source gases. The substrate surface may be nitrided using NH3 prior to deposition. An extremely thin film having an improved insulator property is formed. The silicon nitride film is useful as a capacitor insulator film of a semiconductor integrated circuit.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,355,582 describes a method for forming a silicon nitride film wherein the substrate to be subjected to the film formation is heated, and silicon tetrachloride and ammonia gases are supplied to the substrate heated to a predetermined temperature.
U.S. Pat. No. 10,049,882 describes an atomic layer deposition (ALD) method for fabricating a semiconductor device including the step of forming a dielectric layer on a structure having a height difference. The method includes forming a structure with a height difference on a substrate and forming a dielectric layer structure on the structure. Forming the dielectric layer structure includes forming a first dielectric layer including silicon nitride on the structure with the height difference. Forming the first dielectric layer includes feeding a first gas including pentachlorodisilane (PODS) or diisopropylamine pentachlorodisilane (DPDC) as a silicon precursor, and a second gas including nitrogen components into a chamber including the substrate such that the first dielectric layer is formed in situ on the structure having the height difference.
PCT Pub. No. WO2018063907 discloses a class of chlorodisilazanes, silicon-heteroatom compounds synthesized therefrom, devices containing the silicon-heteroatom compounds, methods of making the chlorodisilazanes, the silicon-heteroatom compounds, and the devices; and uses of the chlorodisilazanes, silicon-heteroatom compounds, and devices.
PCT Pub. No. WO2018057677 discloses a composition that includes trichlorodisilane as a silicon precursor for use in film forming. The composition includes the silicon precursor compound and at least one of an inert gas, molecular hydrogen, a carbon precursor, nitrogen precursor, and oxygen precursor. The publication also discloses a method of forming a silicon-containing. film on a substrate using the silicon precursor compound and the silicon-containing film formed thereby.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,984,868 discloses cyclical methods of depositing a silicon nitride film on a substrate. In one embodiment such a method includes supplying a halogen silane as a silicon precursor into a reactor; supplying a purge gas to the reactor; and providing an ionized nitrogen precursor into the reactor to react with the substrate and form the silicon nitride film.
Finally, US Pub. No. 2009/0155606 discloses cyclical methods of depositing a silicon nitride film on a substrate. In one embodiment a method includes supplying a chlorosilane to a reactor in which a substrate is processed; supplying a purge gas to the reactor; and providing ammonia plasma to the reactor. The method allows a silicon nitride film to be formed at a low process temperature and a high deposition rate. The resulting silicon nitride film has relatively few impurities and a relatively high quality. In addition, a silicon nitride film having good step coverage over features having high aspect ratios and a thin and uniform thickness can be formed.
There is a need in the art to provide a composition and method using same for depositing high carbon content (e.g., a carbon content of about 10 atomic % or greater as measured by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)) doped silicon-containing films for certain applications within the electronics industry.
Thus, there is a need to develop a process for forming high quality silicon nitride or carbon-doped silicon nitride using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process or an ALD-like process, such as without limitation a cyclic chemical vapor deposition process. One particular application, e.g., O—N—O stack in 3D NAND flash, requires a silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, or silicon carboxynitride films which exhibit low stress and/or high wet etch rate in phosphoric acid. Further, it may be desirable to develop a low temperature deposition (e.g., deposition at one or more temperatures of about 500° C. or lower) to improve one or more film properties, such as, without limitation, purity and/or density, in a CVD, an ALD, or an ALD-like process.
The disclosure of the previously identified patents, patent applications and publications is hereby incorporated by reference.
There is a need in the art to provide a composition and method using the same for depositing silicon nitride or carbon-doped silicon nitride having the following characteristic: a) a carbon content of about 5 atomic % or less, about 3 atomic % or less, about 2 atomic % or less, about 1 atomic % or even less as measured by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), preferably stoichiometric silicon nitride; b) oxygen content of about 5 atomic % or less, about 3 atomic % or less, about 2 atomic % or less, about 1 atomic % or less as measured by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS); step coverage of 90% or higher, 95% or higher, 99% or higher, dielectric constant of 7.0 or less, 6.0 or less, and 5.0 or less

Methods for making silicon and nitrogen containing films


An integrated self-photographing (“selfie”) apparatus includes an extendable pole and gripping apparatus for photography equipment; the gripping apparatus includes a support platform and a retractable clamping structure. The described gripping apparatus is connected with the upper end of a stretchable and retractable pole. The support platform has an open slot, the described gripping apparatus is equipped with a curved segment corresponding to the open slot, and the described stretchable and retractable pole can recede into the open slot with the curved segment after being folded. The clamping structure contains snapping sockets which correspond to the snapping posts on a mirror that can be attached. The present design eliminates the need for assembly when used. The extendable pole can be conveniently retracted and stored in the open slot on the support platform and the curved segment of the clamping structure, which allows easy transport.

When people travel, they frequently take along photography equipment like a digital camera or smart phone to record the scenery and their traveling companions by means of photography. In order for all the travelers in a group to be photographed together, the traditional method used is for one of the individuals in the group to take the photographic apparatus and face it towards themselves while taking a photo in reverse, which is called self-photographing or taking a "selfie." However, because of the relatively large size of the photographic apparatus, self-photographing is very inconvenient, and it is further necessary to press the button to photograph, which can cause the image to shake, and the camera's focus and radius not to match property, thus causing the resulting photograph to be very poor; moreover, when the number of people is relatively large, it may be impossible for everyone to be photographed together.
In order to overcome the above-described flaws with self-photographing ("selfie" taking), various types of self-photography apparatuses have been introduced in the market, some of which makes use of hand-carried self-photographing apparatuses to hold the photographic apparatus at a certain distance from the photographer, and others make use of remote controls in order to take photographs, in order to achieve better photographing angles and self-photographing results. Currently-existing self-photographing apparatuses must be disassembled into several parts when transported, and require assembly at the time of usage, then again require disassembly after usage, which creates a great deal of inconvenience for the user. During the process of assembly, disassembly, and transport it is easy for the photographic apparatus to become inoperative due the breaking or loss of parts, which is another inconvenience.


The embodiments described herein can provide a variable reluctance sensor (VRS) interface that may reduce the probability of erroneous transitions in a resulting generated detect signal. As such, the VRS interface can improve the accuracy of position and/or motion determinations, and thus can improve the performance of a wide variety of devices that use variable reluctance sensors. To facilitate this, the VRS interface includes a pre-processing circuit configured to modify a VRS signal to prevent the modified VRS signal from dropping below a threshold value and generating erroneous transitions in the detect signal pulse between leading and lagging edges of a tooth. In one embodiment the pre-processing circuit comprises a peak and hold circuit. In another embodiment the pre-processing circuit comprises a resistor-capacitor circuit. In either case the pre-processing circuit can prevent erroneous transitions in the detect signal and thus may improve the performance and accuracy of the system.

Variable reluctance sensors (VRSs) are commonly used to measure the angular position and/or speed of a moving or rotating ferromagnetic object. For example, they can be used to measure the angular position and/or speed of a rotating wheel having one or more teeth. One such application is the crankshaft of an automobile. For example, a toothed ferrous (iron based) wheel is mounted to the crankshaft and the VRS is used to sense each passing tooth during rotation of the crankshaft.
In such an application crankshaft position can be used to set engine timing for engine control including ignition and fuel injection timing and the like. The VRS typically includes a coil and biasing magnet positioned near the toothed wheel, in which each tooth passing by the VRS changes the magnetic flux which is converted to an electrical voltage induced in the coil. A VRS interface senses and conditions the electrical signal to derive timing parameters. In this manner, the rotating motion of the crankshaft is converted to an electronic signal which is used to determine the position and speed of the crankshaft.

Variable reluctance sensor interfaces with signal pre-processing and methods of their operation


A door bumper assembly for an automotive vehicle sliding door has an adjustable bumper head with a door face for mating with a door inner surface when the door is in a closed position to provide a predetermined lateral load to the door. A bumper base is mounted between the bumper head and a vehicle body surface at a rearward end of a door track and has a hinge face for contacting a door hinge to prevent door rearward longitudinal movement when the door is moved to a fully open position. A bolt threaded on both ends is attached on a first end to the bumper head to allow lateral adjustment with respect to the bumper base, and passes through the bumper base for attachment on a second end to a vehicle body portion.

Automotive vehicles, particularly van type vehicles, may have a sliding door for alternately covering and uncovering an access opening. The access opening is typically on a side of the vehicle and the door slides in a rearward direction on a set of tracks to a position slightly outward of an outer body surface of the vehicle to uncover the access opening. A set of door hinges connects the door into the set of tracks, with each separate hinge mounted to the door on one end and into a corresponding track on the other end, for example with a roller. It is known to have a bumper situated at a rear end of one of the tracks to engage one of the hinges to prevent further opening of the sliding door. When the hinge contacts the bumper, the sliding door is in a fully open position with the bumper limiting longitudinal movement toward the rear of the vehicle.
There is, however, a need to limit lateral movement of the sliding door when in a closed position to cover the access opening since the door can produce undesirable NVH (Noise, Vibration, Harshness) characteristics, such as squeak and rattle, if not adequately constrained. This may result when the vehicle is driven over rough roads since the hinded rollers require a certain tolerance to allow free movement within the tracks and to allow for build variation. In addition, if not properly constrained, the door may develop a poor "feel" when closed, and may give the impression that it is open when in fact it is latched shut. While it is known to furnish a wedge-slot combination on a forward edge of the sliding door to achieve a better fit between the B-pillar and the sliding door when in the closed position, a similar arrangement is not feasible for the rear edge of the sliding door due to the greater degree of lateral motion with respect to the door when moving to the closed position.

Dual function adjustable bumper for automotive vehicle sliding door


The present invention provides a die for molding a honeycomb structure, which can be molded without causing bending on a cell grid and which can readily cope with changes of shrinkage percentage of the product. The invention also provides a honeycomb structure, which has no bending on the cell grid and has high strength. The die according to the present invention includes a metal die 1, having a feed hole forming unit 14 provided with feed holes 15 and a slot forming unit 11 provided with slots 12, and a guide ring 2, which has an abutment surface 25 placed face-to-face to a part of the metal die 1 via a clearance sector 22. The slot forming unit includes an outer peripheral slot forming unit 130 and a main-body slot forming unit 160, and there is provided a protruded surface 17 protruded in extruding direction between a main body end surface 16 and an outer peripheral end surface 13. The shortest linear distance "d" between the protruded surface 17 and the guide ring 2 is greater than the clearance distance "c" of the clearance sector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a molding die for molding a honeycomb structure and also to the honeycomb structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well known, a catalytic converter can be used for purifying exhaust gas emitted from an automobile engine. A honeycomb structure 8 used for catalyst support for such a catalytic converter in automobile comprises, for example, a cell grid 81 to form the honeycomb structure and a skin layer 82 to enclose the outer periphery of the honeycomb structure as shown in FIG. 30. Such a honeycomb structure 8 is produced by an extrusion molding method. Conventional type molding dies used for the above extrusion molding included a die 90, which comprises a metal die 91 for extruding molding material and a guide ring 92 for defining the outer diameter of the honeycomb structure as shown in FIG. 29.
As shown in FIG. 29, the metal die 91 integrally comprises a feed hole forming unit 14 having feed passageways or feed holes 15 for feeding molding material and a slot forming unit 11 where slots 12 communicating with the feed holes 15 are provided. On the other hand, the guide ring 92 has an abutment surface 25 where the material extruded from outer peripheral slot forming unit 130 of outer peripheral portion of the slot forming unit 11 is abutted, and the abutment surface 25 is placed face-to-face to an outer peripheral end surface 13 of the outer peripheral slot forming unit 130 of the metal die 91 with a clearance sector 22 therebetween.
When the honeycomb structure is extruded and molded in this molding die 90, the molding material introduced from the feed holes 15 is extruded in the form of a grid through the slots and a cell grid 81 is formed, and the molding material extruded from the outer peripheral slot forming unit of the slot forming unit 11 is brought into contact with the abutment surface 25 of the guide ring 92. The molding material thus abutted is formed to the skin layer 82 at the clearance sector 22 and is extruded in radially inward direction. Further, it is deflected toward axial direction of the honeycomb structure along an inner guide sector 23 of the guide ring 92, thereby forming the skin layer 82.
Therefore, when the honeycomb structure 8 is formed using this conventional type molding die 90, it is possible to determine the outer diameter of the honeycomb structure 8 depending on the position of the inner guide sector 23 of the guide ring 92. Specifically, by changing the position in radial direction of the inner guide sector 23 of the guide ring 92, the outer diameter of the honeycomb structure can be freely adjusted. Also, the thickness of the skin layer 82 can be determined by clearance distance of the clearance sector 22.
However, there are the following problems in the above conventional type molding die 90 for the honeycomb structure. When the skin layer 82 of the honeycomb structure is designed thick, bending may occur on the inner cell grid 81 when the molding material for forming the skin layer 82 is deflected toward axial direction of the honeycomb structure from the clearance sector 22 along the inner guide sector 23.
A detailed description will now be provided for such a case. In the molding die 90 as described above, the molding material for forming the skin layer 82, which is extruded in radially inward direction of the honeycomb structure 8 is deflected by extrusion force of the molding material, which forms the cell grid 81 extruded through the slots 12. In case the skin layer 82 is thick, component force in radial direction applied on the cell grid from the skin layer 82 becomes too high, and the cell grid 81 is bent inwardly. If bending occurs on the cell grid, compressive breaking strength of the completed honeycomb structure decreases.
Accordingly, the conventional type molding die 90 can be effectively utilized when the skin layer 82 is relatively thin compared with the thickness of the cell grid 81, but it is difficult to suit the molding of the honeycomb structure if the thickness of the skin layer 82 is relatively thick compared with the thickness of the cell grid 81. For example, to meet the requirements of the lightweight type honeycomb structure as produced in recent years, it is necessary to reduce the weight by extensively reducing the thickness of the cell grid and to increase overall strength by increasing the thickness of the skin layer, and it is difficult to use the conventional type molding die 90 for such purpose.
In contrast to this, a molding die for the purpose of preventing the bending of the cell grid is described in each of Japanese Patent Publications Laid-Open 57-157706 and 4-305077. In each of these molding dies, an opposed wall surface placed face-to-face to the inner guide sector 23 is provided, and the skin layer is formed between the inner guide sector 23 and the opposed wall surface.
Although the molding die disclosed in each of the above patent publications is effective for improvement of shape such as bending of the cell grid, outer diameter of the honeycomb structure is determined by the inner guide sector 23 and the opposed wall surface when the thickness of the skin layer is defined by these two components. For this reason, there is a problem in that it is very difficult to change the setting of outer diameter. Specifically, the shrinkage percentage of the product after drying may vary for each material lot, while both metal die and the guide ring must be replaced with those having suitable shrinkage percentage in order to maintain dimensional accuracy of the product.
To solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a die for molding a honeycomb structure, which can be molded without causing the bending of the cell grid even when the honeycomb structure has a relatively thick skin layer, and also to provide a honeycomb structure having high strength and without bending on the cell grids.


An electrohydraulic valve system for controlling a braking system of a work machine includes a valve body forming a bore and a fluid channel, a valve spool disposed within the bore, and a first armature positioned with respect to the valve spool to move the valve spool axially within the bore between a first position and a second position. A spring is disposed within the bore, where the valve spool is biased to its first position by the spring. A first electromagnetic coil is operably controlled between an energized state and a de-energized state, and a lockout system is formed at least partially within the valve body. The lockout system includes a second armature, a second electromagnetic coil, and a lockout spring, where the second electromagnetic coil is operably controlled between an energized state and a de-energized independently of the first electromagnetic coil.

Work machines, such as an agricultural tractor or those in the agricultural industry, include a braking system for slowing or stopping the machine during operation or holding the machine stationary (e.g., a park or service brake). The braking system may include a park device control for controlling a park or service brake, for example. The braking system may include a park device control for controlling a park brake, for example. In these systems, a hydraulic valve can be electrically controlled to actuate between two or more positions to control a flow of hydraulic fluid to a brake actuator. ISO 25119 is an international standard that governs regulatory requirements of agricultural equipment, including ensuring control systems of the equipment or work machine functions correctly. Moreover, this standard sets out general principles for the design and development of safety-related parts of control systems on tractors, self-propelled ride-on machines, and other work machines in the agricultural and forestry industries. Thus, to meet the regulatory requirements of work machines, it is desirable to control the valve to prevent or reduce any errant actuation thereof during operation.

Lockout solenoid valve for brake actuator and system thereof


There are provided a camera system which operates the proper image blur corrector when image blur correction devices are incorporated in a camera body and in an interchangeable lens, and a method for controlling this camera system. The camera system (1) includes the camera body (3) and the interchangeable lens (2), which is removably attachable to the camera body (3). The camera body (3) has an imaging unit (71), the body image blur corrector (75), and a body microprocessor (12) configured to control the operation of the imaging unit (71) and the body image blur corrector (75). The interchangeable lens (2) has the lens image blur corrector (82) and a lens microprocessor (20) configured to control the operation of the lens image blur corrector (82). The body microcomputer (12) selects either the body or lens image blur corrector (75 or 82), sets the selected image blur corrector to a correction enabled state, and sets the other image blur corrector to a correction disabled state.

Single-reflex digital cameras with which an optical image of a subject is converted into an electrical image signal and can be outputted are rapidly growing in popularity. With a single-reflex digital camera such as this, the camera system is made up of a camera body and an interchangeable lens that is removably mounted on the camera body. With this camera system, the basic function of the camera body is to form images of subjects, and the interchangeable lens has the optical function of constituting part of the imaging optical system.
With this single-reflex digital camera, when the user looks at a subject through the viewfinder, the light that is incident on the interchangeable lens (that is, the subject image) is reflected by a reflecting mirror disposed along the optical path to the rear of the interchangeable lens, and is incident on a pentaprism. As a result, the subject image is converted by the pentaprism into an erect image, and the user can see the subject image through the optical viewfinder.
Also, with this single-reflex digital camera, since a plurality of interchangeable lenses of different focal length can be mounted on a single camera body, the user can photograph a wide variety of scenes using the interchangeable lens best suited to each scene.
Meanwhile, there has been a proposal for standards for a single-reflex camera system in which the communication system between the camera body and the interchangeable lens, the lens mount, and so forth are standardized in order to make such products more convenient to use. This would make these products interchangeable as long as the camera body and interchangeable lens met the standards, so a user could combine camera main bodies and interchangeable lenses made by different manufacturers.
Thus, these single-reflex digital cameras have become a system that is extremely convenient to use, which means that as these single-reflex digital cameras become more popular, they can be used not only by the professionals and experienced amateurs who used them in the past, but also by beginners and so forth.
Nevertheless, even with a single-reflex digital camera, just as with ordinary digital cameras, hand shake often adversely affects the resulting photographic image. Therefore, as the number of pixels increases in the imaging sensors built into the camera body, and as the enlarged printing of these photographic images becomes more prevalent, for example, the effect of hand shake becomes more pronounced. The effect of hand shake is even more pronounced when the camera is used by a novice.
In view of this, a camera system has been proposed for a single-reflex digital camera, in which an optical image blur corrector for adjusting the optical path and thereby correcting image blur caused by hand shake is built into an interchangeable lens (see Patent Document 1, for example).
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application H10-73860

Image blur correction for a camera system and display of comparison of camera and lens blur correction specifications


In a liquid crystal display device of the present invention, a source line is formed of a gate metal and a gate line is formed of a source metal for reduction of the number of masks, whereby deterioration of a liquid crystal on the gate line is prevented. During a period in which the liquid crystal display is not used, an inverse voltage for preventing deterioration of the liquid crystal is applied to it. In addition, when the gate line is scanned, a width of a start pulse inputted in a shift register for driving a gate line is increased to approximately ten times as large as an ordinary width to improve a duty ratio in an inverted period of the gate line.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device, and in particular to a liquid crystal display device, which uses a thin film transistor (TFT) formed on a transparent substrate such as glass or plastics, and a driving method of the same. In addition, the invention relates to an electronic apparatus using the liquid crystal display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, with the advance of the communication technology, cellular phones have been widely used. In future, transmission of moving images and transmission of a larger volume of information are expected. On the other hand, through reduction in weight of personal computers, those adapted for mobile communication have been produced. Information terminals called PAD originated in electronic notebooks have also been produced in large quantities and widely used. In addition, with the development of display devices, most of those information portable apparatuses are equipped with a flat panel display.
Moreover, in the recent technique, as a display device provided in them, an active matrix display device tends to be used.
In the active matrix display device, a TFT is arranged for each pixel and a screen is controlled by the TFT. Such an active matrix display device has advantages in that it is high in performance, image quality, and moving image responsiveness, and the like compared with a passive matrix display device. Therefore, it is expected that the main stream of a liquid crystal display device also shifts from passive to active.
In addition, in recent years, among active matrix display devices, manufacturing of a display device using low temperature polysilicon have been promoted. With the low temperature polysilicon, in addition to manufacturing a pixel, a driving circuit can be integrally formed around a pixel portion. Thus, since it is possible to realize compactness and high definition of a display device, the display device is expected to be more widely used in future.
An operation of a pixel portion of an active matrix liquid crystal display device will be hereinafter described. FIG. 3 shows an example of a structure of the active matrix liquid crystal display device. One pixel 302 is constituted by a source signal line S1, a gate signal line G1, a capacitance line C1, a pixel TFT 303, and a storage capacitor 304. However, the capacitance line is not always necessary if other wiring or the like can also be used as the capacitance line. A gate electrode of the pixel TFT 303 is connected to the gate signal line G1. One of a drain region and a source region of the pixel TFT 303 is connected to the source signal line S1, and the other is connected to the storage capacitor 304 and the pixel electrode 305.
A driving method of this pixel will be hereinafter described. When a signal voltage is inputted in the gate signal line G1 and the pixel TFT 303 is turned ON, a signal voltage is inputted from the source signal line S1 and an electric charge is stored in the storage capacitor 304. A voltage is applied to the pixel electrode 305 by this stored electric charge, and the voltage is applied between electrodes sandwiching a liquid crystal. An orientation of molecules of the liquid crystal changes in association with this applied voltage, and a transmitted light amount is controlled.
FIG. 4 shows a relationship between an applied voltage and a transmitted light amount. The applied voltage is changed in the range of −Vm to Vm, whereby the transmitted light amount can be changed. Note that it is assumed that the transmitted light amount reaches a maximum transmitted light amount Tmax when the applied voltage is zero. Here, there is a problem in that, when an electric field is continuously applied in a fixed direction, ions accumulate on one side of a liquid crystal and the liquid crystal deteriorates instantly. Thus, it is a general practice to drive the pixel with an applied voltage of an inverted polarity every time a signal is written in the pixel.
FIG. 5 shows a relationship among a gate signal voltage, a source signal voltage, and a voltage applied to the liquid crystal at the time when this display device is driven. In this figure, an applied voltage to a liquid crystal in certain one pixel is shown with the attention paid to certain one gate signal line and certain one source signal line.
When a gate signal line is selected and a voltage is applied to a liquid crystal, an orientation of liquid crystal molecules changes in accordance with the applied voltage. Consequently, a transmitted light amount changes to display an image. Here, a voltage applied to the liquid crystal changes in the range of −V to V, and its polarity is inverted every time a signal is written in a pixel. Note that |V| is set to a value equal to or lower than |Vm| in FIG. 4.
FIG. 6A shows an example of a sectional view of a pixel portion of a conventional active matrix liquid crystal display device. A pixel TFT 102 and a storage capacitor 103 are formed in a pixel portion 101. Here, reference numeral 104 denotes an insulating substrate of a TFT substrate; 105, a source region or a drain region of the pixel TFT 102; 106, a channel region of the pixel TFT 102; 108, a gate insulating film; and 107 and 112, electrodes of the storage capacitor 103, which sandwich an insulating layer 109 between them. Note that the electrode 107 is formed of a semiconductor layer, and an impurity element is doped in the electrode 107. The electrode 107 is connected to the drain region of the pixel TFT 102. In addition, reference numeral 215 denotes a gate signal line; 210, a source signal line; 116, drain wiring; 113, an interlayer insulating film; 118, a pixel electrode; 119 and 126, orientation films; 120, a liquid crystal; 121, an insulating substrate of an counter substrate; 122, a black matrix (BM); 123, a color filter; 124, a planarization film; and 125, a counter electrode.
In the manufacturing of this active matrix liquid crystal display device, reduction of manufacturing costs and improvement of yield have been advanced by reducing the number of steps therefor.
Here, in order to reduce the number of masks to be used, the pixel electrode 118 to be connected to the drain wiring 116 is directly brought into contact with the drain wiring 116 to achieve conduction.
The source signal line 210 is patterned in the same layer in which the drain wiring 116 and the pixel electrode 118 are patterned. Consequently, a sufficient space part has to be secured between the source signal line 210 and the pixel electrode 118 in order to prevent short-circuit of the source signal line 210 and the pixel electrode 118. In addition, it is necessary to cover this space part with a BM in order to prevent leakage of light from this space part.
FIG. 6B shows a top view of the pixel in this case. For ease of understanding, a part of an area from which the pixel electrode 118 and the BM are removed is shown. Here, FIG. 6A corresponds to a sectional view along line A-A′ in FIG. 6B. Note that, in FIG. 6B, the same reference numerals as those of FIG. 6A denote the same portions. Reference numeral 210 denotes a source signal line; 116, drain wiring; 215, a gate signal line; 118, a pixel electrode; and 220, a semiconductor layer, which is equivalent to reference numerals 105 to 107 in FIG. 6A.
Here, a space part 230 is provided between the source signal line 210 and the pixel electrode 118 to prevent the source signal line 210 and the pixel electrode 118 from short-circuiting. Consequently, the area of the pixel electrode 118 cannot be enlarged. Therefore, an opening ratio cannot be increased. In addition, this space part 230 is covered by a BM 122 provided on an counter substrate in order to prevent leakage of light from this space part 230. Here, it is necessary to arrange the BM 122 to overlap the end of the pixel electrode 118 taking into account deviation at the time when a TFT substrate and the counter substrate are adhered to each other, invasion of light, and the like. There is a problem in that the opening ratio further decreases due to this arrangement.
Consequently, a display device having a structure as shown in FIG. 7A has been proposed. Note that, in FIG. 7A, the same reference numerals as those in FIGS. 6A and 6B denote the same portions.
In FIG. 7A, reference numeral 111 denotes a gate electrode; 114, source wiring; 110, a source signal line; and 115, a gate signal line.
In the display device of the sectional view shown in FIG. 7A, the source signal line 110 is formed simultaneously with the gate electrode 111, and the gate signal line 115 is formed simultaneously with the source wiring 114 and the drain wiring 116. Here, the source signal line 110 is connected to the source region of the pixel TFT 102 by this source wiring 114. With this structure, layers in which a source signal line and a gate signal line are formed can be interchanged without increasing the number of masks. Such an arrangement of the source signal line and the gate signal line is called an inverse-cross structure. With this structure, since the source signal line 110 is arranged in a layer below the drain wiring 116, the pixel electrode 118 can be formed above the source signal line 110 and the opening ratio can be increased.
FIG. 7B shows a top view of FIG. 7A. For ease of understanding, a part of an area from which the pixel electrode 118 and the BM are removed is shown. Here, FIG. 7A corresponds to a sectional view along lines A-A′ and B-B′ in FIG. 7B. The pixel electrode 118 is formed to cover up to the source signal line 110 to prevent leakage of light. Thus, the part of the BM 122 provided on the counter substrate is reduced compared with that in FIG. 6B. In this way, the opening ratio is increased compared with that in FIG. 6.
In the display device using the inverse-cross structure, the gate signal line is formed on the same insulating surface on which the pixel electrode is formed, and an orientation film and a liquid crystal are formed above the insulating surface.
In FIG. 5, it is assumed that a signal voltage for selecting a gate signal line is Vo and a signal voltage for not selecting a gate signal line is set to −Vo. When the number of gate signal lines is assumed to be y, a period in which the gate signal lines are selected (a gate signal line selecting period) is approximately 1/y of one frame period. Thus, the larger y the shorter the gate signal line selecting period becomes, and a ratio of periods in which a signal voltage for not selecting a signal line is applied (a gate signal line non-selecting period) increases. Therefore, the voltage of −Vo continues to be inputted while a pixel is not selected.
In the case in which a standard of a display device is VGA, −Vo is inputted in periods equal to or more than 479/480. A duty at this point is 0.2% or less.
Note that as shown in FIG. 5, since a polarity of a voltage applied to the source signal line is inverted periodically, the voltage does not affect a liquid crystal portion significantly. On the other hand, a voltage inputted in the gate signal line tends to have a fixed polarity as described above. Such a signal voltage inputted in the gate signal line affects a liquid crystal portion arranged immediately above the gate signal line. This becomes a cause for facilitating deterioration of the liquid crystal. In such a case, it is necessary to use a fluorine-based liquid crystal (e.g., T1213, T1216, etc. of Merck & Co., Inc.) with less deterioration, and an inexpensive cyanic liquid crystal cannot be used.

Liquid crystal display device and electronic apparatus using the same

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


In a method of operating a combined-cycle plant, which essentially comprises a gas-turbine group, a waste-heat steam generator (14) and a steam cycle equipped with a steam turbine (17), the gas-turbine group being operated according to sequential combustion (4, 9), at least one steam quantity (50) proportioned by a control (C) is extracted at a suitable point in terms of pressure in order to increase the operational output of the steam turbine (17). This steam quantity (50) is then fed to the gas-turbine group at a suitable point in such a way that, to maintain the output thus induced, at least the metering (D, E) of a fuel quantity (5, 10) at at least one combustion chamber (4, 9) is influenced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of operating a combined-cycle plant.
2. Discussion of Background
A modern combined-cycle plant according to the prior art is normally operated with the following control actions: the control members to be activated by the output or speed controller, namely compressor guide-row adjustment, intake-air preheating and steam injection with a steam quantity from the waste-heat steam generator, cause thermodynamic changes in the cycle, such as those of mass flow and pressure ratio. These changes in turn require an adaptation of the fuel quantities. This is done via appropriate control members which initiate fuel metering. If there is an intercooler in the compressor system, the cooling-water quantity can be changed via cooling-water metering in order to optimize the aerodynamic ratios of the sectional compressors.
Thus, for example, partial closing of the compressor guide rows and/or preheating of the intake air results in a decrease in the cycle air flow, which decrease brings about a decrease in the pressure ratio on account of the absorption principle of the turbine. In order to now prevent a temperature rise in the two combustion chambers, the fuel quantities must be reduced. This is expediently done by using the two parameters which can easily be recorded in a reliable manner--the turbine outlet temperature and the pressure at the outlet of the compressor system. However, direct recording of the hot-gas temperatures and the outlet temperature of the high-pressure turbine is actually problematic on account of the very high temperature level prevailing there.
Conversely, when the compressor guide rows are opened further, the two fuel quantities to the combustion chambers must be increased, which takes place via the same control mechanism as before. However, the increase in output thus achieved is based on an increased combustion-chamber and turbine mass flow, which involves an increase in the pressure ratio. The reduction brought about by this in the turbine outlet temperature on the low-pressure side only marginally reduces the steam production increased by the increasing mass flow, so that the useful output increases approximately in proportion to the increase in the air quantity delivered by the compressor. A greater increase in the operational output of the steam turbine is therefore not possible.

Method of operating a combined-cycle plant


A circuit configuration for monitoring and/or for regulating supply voltages. The circuit enables at least two supply voltages (U12) or (U22) that are produced by means of two feed-ins (Q1, Q2) and that are provided for consumer circuits (V1, V2) to be monitored and limited simultaneously. To this end, the circuit configuration comprises a corresponding voltage monitoring electronics unit which detects the supply voltages (U12, U22) and compares them with associated tolerance values (ΔU12, ΔU22). The voltage monitoring electronics unit also provides a control signal (y) which signals whether the first supply voltage (U12) is lower than the associated tolerance value (ΔU12). The control signal (y) is used to control a shunt electronics unit through which a shunt current (IS) passes temporarily. Said shunt current (IS) is fed by feed-in (Q1) and by feed-in (Q2) and passes through the shunt electronics unit at least when the control signal (y) signals that at least the supply voltage (U12) is greater than the associated tolerance value (ΔU12).

Electronic consumer circuits, in particular those used is areas at risk of fire and/or explosions, are typically protected by means of voltage limiters from excessive elevations of initially applied voltages, or in other words overvoltages that would increase beyond the voltage level permitted for a given circuit.
Circuit configurations that have at least one semiconductor element, connected in a shunt to the input voltage of a downstream consumer circuit and having a variable ohmic resistor, are often used as voltage limiters.
For instance, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,589,049 and 4,849,845, circuit configurations for monitoring and/or regulating, in particular limiting, a supply voltage for a downstream consumer circuit are described that include the following:                a voltage monitoring electronics unit, reacting the supply voltage, for generating a control signal that signals whether the supply voltage is lower than an associated tolerance value;        a shunt electronics unit, triggered by the control signal, with at least one semiconductor element for regulating and guiding a shunt current driven by the supply voltage,                    and the supply voltage drops at least in part via the shunt electronics unit, and            the shunt current flows through the shunt electronics unit at least whenever the control signal signals that the supply voltage is greater than the tolerance value.
When such circuit configurations, serving as active voltage limiters, are used for electronic consumer circuits that are used in areas at risk of fire and/or explosion, particular in circuits that are intended to meet European standards EN 50019 and/or EN 50020, at least the voltage-limiting shunts are made redundant, for instance by means of multiple cascading, in terms of current-carrying capacity and/or voltage strength, because of the required enhanced or intrinsic safety.
This in turn necessarily means increased expense for components and/or wiring, and typically this also means an increased demand for space for such voltage limiters.

Circuit configuration for monitoring and/or regulating supply voltages


A chain-link conveyor comprising a plurality of chain links hinged together by transversely extending hinge pins disposed in traction eyes. A top plate of each chain link is provided with fingers and recesses disposed between the respective fingers at both a front edge and a rear edge, as viewed in a direction of movement of the conveyor. The fingers are staggered with respect to each other so that the fingers and recesses on adjacent links are adapted to engage with each other. An additional finger is disposed substantially centrally of the chain link in the front edge, as viewed in the direction of movement of the conveyor and the corresponding central recess is provided in the rear edge of an adjacent link. The chain links may be injected moulded plastic links or links blanked from sheet metal.

The present invention relates to a chain link conveyor comprising a plurality of identical chain links hinged by transversely extending hinge pins insertable through eye part at front and rear edges of adjacent links so as to enable the hinged links to be pivotable about both a normally horizontally disposed hinge pin and, to a limited extent, about a normally vertical axis through a mid point of the hinge assembly, wherein an edge of each chain link includes two eye parts and the other edge includes one eye part for receiving the hinge pin of an adjacent link, with the opening of the one eye part making it possible by the hinge pin to be moved only during running of the conveyor. Each chain link includes a top plate arranged to support articles to be transported with the conveyor, with the top plate including a plurality of fingers separated by recesses and extending out from the front edge and rear edge of the respective links, and with at least one recess and at least one finger being disposed at a center line of the link.
Chain link conveyors of the aforementioned type include a large number of identical hinged chain links so as to form an endless conveyor. The individual chain links are configured so that the chain can be fed around drive sprockets and carrier wheels, and so that the chain can run through normally horizontally-disposed curves or bends. Chains for such conveyors are commonly known as flex-chains which are, unlike the types of chains which can run only in a straight line, and which are therefore known as straight-running chains. The invention thus relates to a flex-chain for a chain-link conveyor, wherein the chain links can be made of plastic or metal and, preferably, stainless steel.
It is a common problem when flex-chains are run in curves that the chain opens at the outer edge of the curve, which limits the size of the articles which may be placed on the conveyor. If only small openings are desired in the use of commonly-known chains for running around curves, this normally necessitates the use of curves with a large radius, which has many disadvantages.
In, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,368, a metal flex-chain for chain-link conveyors is proposed which is adapted to run in curves having radii of 20-25 cm. With such a construction relatively large openings may arise in the support surface of the conveyor.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,872, a plastic flex-chain for a conveyor is proposed, wherein the top of each chain link is provided with ribs of a special configuration, so that running in curves results in a number of smaller openings in the support surface of the conveyor. However, chain-link conveyors of this type have limited application, in that such chain-link conveyors can naturally only be used for the transport of items which can be supported by the upper surface of the ribs.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,709, a so-called flex-chain of the type described above is proposed; however, the coupling between the chain links is effected with a cardan link which, among other things, comprises a substantially spherical coupling part insertable in each chain link and through which the hinge pin in each link is inserted. The construction achieved hereby is complicated and has several disadvantages; namely, it is difficult to clean the chain links sufficiently, and the construction automatically results in a relatively high construction height, that is, a relatively thick conveyor which requires high side rails, etc. Furthermore, the central projection is positioned so that it extends out over the cardan link, which further increase the height of the construction and results in a relatively large opening between the projection on a link and the recess of the adjacent link.
Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,709 proposes a configuration which is in the form of plastic chain links.


A catheter is provided that comprises at least one proximal tubular module and a distal tubular module, each of the tubular modules having at least one section with spiral cuts, each pair of adjacent tubular modules are coupled by a joint, the joint comprising, (a) at least one snap-fit connector on a first tubular module and a snap-fit acceptor positioned on the adjacent tubular module, the snap-fit connector being elastically deformable when engaged, and (b) at least one stabilizing element, including, a tongue element positioned on the first tubular module or the adjacent tubular module, and a groove element positioned on the opposite, first tubular module or the opposite, adjacent tubular module.

Currently, there are a large number of different vascular catheters and microcatheters, each designed to enable access to different anatomical locations in the vasculature. A key issue that catheter design faces is controlling pushability and flexibility across the length of the catheter. Controlling pushability and flexibility is important in order to enable the physician to negotiate access through various complex and often tortuous, anatomical vasculature which is often found in the cardiovascular or neurovascular systems. One approach to modulating flexibility is to form the catheter body from different types of materials, e.g., stainless steel and or polymers, each of which has different functional properties. These materials may be combined into a tubular construction via a coiled or braid wire pattern set within a layered polymer composition. Another approach is to vary the cylindrical diameter and wall thickness of the catheter. Alternatively, a variety of different spiral-cuts can be introduced into the wall of the catheter, thereby increasing flexibility; these spiral cuts can either be continuous or discontinuous in nature. However, there are no current catheters which combine both different types of materials as well as different cut patterns in easy-to-assemble modules. Assembling a catheter from multiple modules, each of which is made from a different material, can be difficult because the physical properties of these materials make functional combination problematic, i.e., a stainless steel tube cannot be fused directly to a nitinol tube. However, assembling a catheter from different modules, each of which had different properties, would allow one to tailor the catheter to meet the particular requirements of different types of vascular anatomy.
The present invention provides a way for assembling catheter modules each having different physical properties. The catheter properties can be tailored directly to meet a particular anatomical need. Thus, it is possible to specifically control flexibility, resistance to plastic deformation, axial torque transmission, and column strength of the catheter in an anatomically specific manner. The modular catheters of the present invention are particularly useful for supporting a guidewire and/or delivering an agent through a vessel stenosis or tortuous anatomy as is often encountered in the cardiovascular or neurovascular systems.


Logic circuit for generating carry or sum bit output by combining binary inputs, includes bit level carry generate and propagate function logic receiving binary inputs and generating bit level carry generate/propagate function bits for binary inputs by respectively logically AND and OR combining respective bits of binary inputs; logic generating high output if a carry is generated out of a first group of most significant bits of binary input or if carry propagate function bits for the most significant bits are all high; logic for receiving bit level carry generate and propagate function bits for binary inputs to generate high output if any of carry generate function bits for the most significant bits are high or if carry is generated out of another group of least significant bits of binary input; and logic for generating the carry or sum bit output by combining outputs of the two logics.

Addition of two binary numbers is a fundamental operation used in many electronic circuits. For example, binary addition is used in integer arithmetic-logic units, and also, all the floating-point operations use integer addition in their calculations. Memory accesses require integer addition for address generation, branches use addition for forming instruction addresses, and for making greater-than or less-than comparisons. Thus, many modern circuits contain several integer adders, many of which may appear on frequency-limiting paths.
In an addition of two numbers, the digit in each column of the first number is added to the digit in the corresponding column of the second number, and any carry digit resulting from the previous column is also added, in order to obtain the value of the sum in each column. Thus, for two n-bit binary numbers a=an−1 . . . a1a0 and b=bn−1 . . . b1b0, their sum is the n+1 bit number given by s=sn . . . s1s0, where:sn=cn si=ai⊕bi⊕ci ci+1=aibi+ci(ai+bi)where ck is the carry into position k, + denotes logical OR, proximity denotes Logical AND and ⊕ denotes Exclusive OR.
The carry bit into any chosen column can be generated from two logical functions called Generate and Propagate. The bit level Generate function gi indicates whether a carry is generated by a particular column in the addition. The function gi is true if a carry is generated at column i. The bit-level propagate function pi indicates whether any carry for a particular column will be propagated on to the next column. The function pi is true if carry into column i is propagated into column i+1. The bit level generate and propagate functions can be constructed from the bits in column i of the two numbers to be added, as follows:gi=aibi pi=ai+bi
Thus, in the addition of a=an−1 . . . a1a0 and b=bn−1 . . . b1b0, the carry into the j+1'th column is given by:Gj:0=cj+1=gj+pjgj−1+pjpj−1gj−2+. . . +pjpj−1 . . . p1g0
FIG. 1 shows an implementation of a circuit to generate Gj:0 based on the above equation. However, the circuit of FIG. 1 is not a practical circuit to realize for large values of j. It is an OR of j+1 AND-terms, the largest of the AND gates also having j+1 inputs. Moreover, the fan-out of the p's is very large, pj having a fan-out of j.
High speed practical implementations realize the carry function in a tree like structure. A prior art method is known as parallel prefix and will now be illustrated (S Knowles, "A Family of Adders", Proc, 14th IEEE Symp. On Computer Arithmetic, pp 30-44, 1999). The parallel prefix method uses bit-level generate and propagate functions to construct Group Generate and Group Propagate functions.Gj:k=gj+pjgj−1+pjpj−1gj−2+. . . +pjpj−1. . . pk+1gk Pj:k=pjpj−1 . . . pk+1pk
The function Gj:k is true if the group of bits from k to j generates a carry and the function Pj:k is true if the group of bits from k to j propagates a carry coming into that group into the next group.
The parallel prefix method uses Group Generate and Group Propagate functions of smaller sized groups to construct the Group Generate and Group Propagate functions of a larger group. A large group of bits from i to j is divided into 2 groups say from i to k−1 and k to j. The larger group generates a carry if either the most significant group generates a carry or the least significant group generates a carry and the most significant group propagates this carry. This is illustrated in FIG. 2. In logical notation this can be expressed as.Gj:0=Gj:k+Pj:kGk−1:0
The Group Propagate function of a large group can be constructed from Group Propagate functions of smaller groups:Pj:i=Pj:kPk−1:i
These two constructions allow the Group Generate of a larger group to be formed recursively from smaller groups, which themselves are formed from even smaller groups and so on.
This method allows for the construction of Gj:i in ┌ log2(j−i)┐ levels, once the bit-level generate and propagate functions have been formed.
It is possible to form the Group Generate of a large group in fewer levels still. If the large group i to j is divided into 3 groups say, i to k′−1, k′ to k″−1, and k″ to j then:Gj:i=Gj:k″+Pj:k″Gk″−1:k′+Pj:k″Pk″−1:k′Gk′−1:i
The drawback of this method is that although fewer combining levels are needed, the gates at each combining level are more complex and the fan-out on the Group Generate and Group Propagate functions increases. Both of these impact heavily on the delay of the circuit. This situation is further exasperated when all the carries for an adder need to be constructed.
The following is an example of the parallel prefix method for a 9-bit addition, using base 3. A circuit diagram for this example is shown in FIG. 3.
Given two 9-bit numbers a=a8a7 . . . a1a0 and b=b8b7 . . . b1b0, we form 3-bit groups a8a7a6, a5a4a3, a2a1a0 for a and b8b7b6, b5b4b3, b2b1b0 for b.
Then the generate and propagate functions for each group areG8:6=g8+p8g7+p8p7g6, P8:6=p8p7p6 G5:3=g5+p5g4+p5p4g3, P5:3=p5p4p3 G2:0=g2+p2g1+p2p1g0, P2:0=p2p1p0
These Group functions are now combined to form:G8:0=G8:6+P8:6G5:3+P8:6P5:3G2:0
The other carries could be constructed in the following manner:G7:0=G7:6+P7:6G5:3+P7:6P5:3G2:0 G6:0=G6:6+P6:6G5:3+P6:6P5:3G2:0 G5:0=G5:3+P5:3G2:0 G5:0=G5:3+P5:3G2:0 G4:0=G4:3+P4:3G2:0 G2:0=g2+p2g1+p2p1g0 G1:0=g1+p1g0 G0:0=g0
An improved prior art technique for determining the carry bits is the Ling method (H. Ling, "High Speed Binary Adder", IBM Journal of Research and Development, Vol 25, No 3, pp 156-166, 1981). Ling observed a variation of the above, which allows for a small speed up on the parallel prefix method. He observed that if the delay of the carry term Gj:i could be reduced by increasing the delay of some other term, the overall delay will be reduced as long as the carry term is still on the critical path. Ling observed that every term inGj:i=gj+pjgj−1+pjpj−1gj−2+. . . +pjpj−1 . . . pi+1gi contains pj except for the very first term, which is simply gj. However, Gj:i can still be simplified by noting thatgk=pkgk
Therefore pj can be factored out of Gj:i to create a pseudocarry Hj:i, whereGj:i=pjHj:i Hj:i=gj+Gj−1:i
The function Hj:i is a little simpler than the function Gj:i. The fan-in of the OR gate for Hj:i and Gj:i is the same but the fan-in of each AND-gate is reduced by 1. This is illustrated in FIG. 4. Ling also observed that the pseudocarry Hj:i of a large group could be constructed from the pseudocarries Hj:k and Hk−1:i of smaller groups:
                                             H                          j              :              i                                =                                                    g                j                            +                              G                                                      j                    -                    1                                    :                  i                                                      =                                          g                j                            +                              G                                                      j                    -                    1                                    :                  k                                            +                                                P                                                            j                      -                      1                                        :                    k                                                                                G                                                            k                      -                      1                                        :                    1                                                                                =                                    [                                                g                  j                                +                                  G                                                            j                      -                      1                                        :                    k                                                              ]                        +                                          P                                                      j                    -                    1                                    :                  k                                                                                p                                      k                    -                    1                                                                                [                                                            g                                              k                        -                        1                                                              +                                          G                                                                        k                          -                          2                                                :                        i                                                                              ]                                                                                =                                    H                              j                :                k                                      +                                          P                                                      j                    -                    1                                    :                                      k                    -                    1                                                                                H                                                      k                    -                    1                                    :                  i
This provides a method for constructing the pseudocarry of a large group in terms of pseudocarries of smaller groups, which can be constructed from the pseudocarries of yet still smaller groups.
As in the parallel prefix case more than two pseudocarries can be combined to form the pseudo carry of a large group:
If the large group i to j is divided into 3 groups say, i to k′−1, k′ to k″−1, and k″ to j then:Gj:i=pjHj:i Hj:i=gj+Gj−1:i Gj−1:i =Gj−1:k″+Pj−1:k″Gk″−1:k′+Pj−1:k″Pk″−1:k′Gk′−1:i Gk″−1:k′=pk″−1Hk″−1:k′Gk′−1:i=pk′−1Hk′−1:i Hj:i=Hj:k″+Pj−1:k″−1Hk″−1:k′+Pj−1:k″−1Pk″−2:k′−1Hk′−1:i
This method still suffers the same problems as the parallel prefix method, that is, more complex gates. Note that Hj:i has the form H2+P2H1+P2P1H0, which is exactly the same as that of the Group generate function G2+P2G1+P2P1G0 in the parallel prefix method, and higher fan-out is the also the same. Ling's method will now be illustrated by way of example.
The following is an example of a 9-bit Ling adder, which is illustrated in FIG. 5a. G8:0=G8:6+P8:6G5:3P8:6P5:3G2:0=p8H8:0 H8:0=H8:6+P7:5H5:3+P7:5P4:2H2:0
The pseudocarry functions are:H8:6=g8+g7+p7g6 H5:3=g5+g4+p4g3 H2:0=g2+g1+p1g0
Note that at the first level, the highest complexity function for Ling has the form H2+H1+P1H0, where as for parallel prefix this is G2+P2G1+P2P1G0.
But the complexity of H8:0 is the same as G8:0, both being of the form A+BC+DEF. One may try to combine P7:5P4:2 and thus reduce the complexity of the second level to A+BC+DE, butP7:5P4:2=P7:2=p7p6p5p4p3p2 which is an AND of 6 terms and generally slower to calculate thanH2:0=g2+g1+p1g0
The Ling adder does have the problem that to produce the actual carry out the logical AND of pj and Hj:i needs to be formed which would impact the delay. This extra delay can however be eliminated by noting that the critical path for a n-bit adder is in producing the n−1 th bit which can be expressed as:
                                             S                          n              -              1                                =                                    a                              n                -                1                                      ⊕                          b                              n                -                1                                      ⊕                          G                                                n                  -                  2                                :                0                                                                                =                                    a                              n                -                1                                      ⊕                          b                              n                -                1                                      ⊕                                          p                                  n                  -                  2                                                                          H                                                      n                    -                    2                                    :                  0                                                                        But pn−2 can be computed faster than Hn−2:0 and so a multiplexer can be used. This is shown in FIG. 5b. Sn−1=(an−1⊕bn−1⊕pn−2)Hn−2:0+(an−1⊕bn−1)Hn−2:0c
Although Ling's method is better than the parallel prefix method, it nevertheless has a number of shortcomings. It parallelizes the computation of Gj:i as pjHj:i, but one of the functions, pj, is a very simple bit level propagate while the other function, Hj:i, is much more complex and so the parallelization is very limited. This parallelization, Gj:i=pjHj:i cannot be extended to more than two functions, that is no method is provided to parallelize Gj:i as XYZ etc. Ling's method allows for the speed of the first level only (compared to the parallel prefix method) and even this is very limited allowing for at most a reduction in the fan-in of the AND gates at the first level by at most 1. It offers no advantage over parallel prefix method when combining Group functions, in terms of the complexity of the gates and the fan out of Group functions.
The first drawback of Ling's approach is that although the carry function Gj:i=pjHj:i is broken down as a combination of two simpler functions, which can be computed in parallel, one of the functions is a very simple pj=aj+bj while the second is much more complex. Thus the impact on the delay in calculating the carry is very small.
A further prior art technique for generating carry bits is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,827 (IBM Corporation). The IBM technique involves generating G3:0 by factorising p3p2 out of the expression for G3:0. The result is:G3:0=g3+p3p2[g2+g1+p1g0]=[g3+p3p2][g3+g2+g1+p1g0]
The function G15:0 is then determined using a similar factorisation involving a group function, giving:G15:0=[G15:12+P15:12P11:8][G15:12+G11:8+G7:4+P3:0G3:0].
The IBM method provides the advantage that the above factorisation reduces all AND gates to only two inputs. This is particularly useful in dynamic logic implementations because AND gates slow down significantly as the number of inputs is increased. Thus, the aim of the IBM idea is to reduce the number of inputs to a minimum for each AND gate. This can be achieved by combining only four bits at each level to produce a group generate function or a carry, and performing the above factorisation, in which each AND gate has only two inputs. In this type of technology, it is not as crucial to limit the number of inputs on an OR gate. However in the IBM method, the generate function is fully calculated at each stage by performing an AND operation between the two terms in brackets. This is unnecessary, and slows down the circuit.

Logic circuit and method for carry and sum generation and method of designing such a logic circuit


A method and system for pre-charging and biasing a latch-type sense amplifier are described. According to an embodiment of the invention, the data latch portion of the latch-type sense amplifier includes two cross-coupled inverters having two output nodes, and two input nodes. The input nodes of the data-latch are connected to a pair of complementary bit-lines via bias control transistors. The bias control transistors are to pre-charge the input nodes based on the voltage levels of the bit-lines so as to bias the voltage levels at the input nodes in a direction the input nodes will seek upon activation of the sense amplifier.

A sense amplifier is a circuit that is used in memory device designs to sense small voltage differentials between two input signals, for example, such as the complementary bit-lines connected to a memory cell. Certain types of regenerative sense amplifier circuits contain circuit nodes that are highly sensitive to electrical noise due to the very high gain nature of some designs. These nodes, if not properly addressed, can cause anything from functional failure to out of specification performance. Accordingly, these nodes must be controlled in such a way as to reduce the susceptibility of faulty operation without adversely impacting the performance characteristics of the sense amplifier function.
FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a conventional latch-type, cross-coupled sense amplifier circuit 10 for sensing voltage differentials on a pair of complementary bit-lines. The latch consists of the inverter formed by PMOS and NMOS transistors M1 and M2, which is cross-coupled with the inverter formed by PMOS and NMOS transistors M3 and M4. The bit-lines 12 and 14 are connected to the input nodes of the data-latch via NMOS transistors M5 and M6. When the sense amplifier enable (SAE) signal 16 is in a low voltage state, the data-latch is coupled to VDD via PMOS transistor M7, and isolated from GROUND via NMOS transistor M8. When SAE 16 changes to a high voltage state, the NMOS transistor M8 is enabled, or turned on, thereby forming a circuit path to GROUND and initiating the data latching operation.
One of the problems with the circuit shown in FIG. 1 is that there is nothing to control the voltage levels at the critical nodes CN1 and CN2 just prior to the activation of the sense amplifier. For example, just prior to the circuit being activated (e.g., when the sense amplifier enable signal (SAE) changes from a low to a high voltage state), the voltage levels at theses critical nodes CN1 and CN2 may vary unexpectedly due to electrical noise caused by coupling effects and/or the general characteristics of the silicon substrate. Consequently, the voltage differential may not be sufficient for the latching device to latch the proper data.
One solution to this problem involves utilizing a separate circuit or logic component to apply an overcompensating differential voltage to the sense amplifier thereby overriding any spurious noise present in the critical nodes CN1 and CN2. Another solution is to utilize a pre-charging device to pre-charge the critical nodes CN1 and CN2 and overdrive any spurious noise that may be present. A third solution is to utilize a separate balancing circuit to balance the voltage levels at these critical nodes so as to negate the effect of any spurious noise that may be present. Unfortunately, all three of these solutions negatively impact the performance of the sense amplifier device by generally making each sense/read operation take longer. In addition, the extra set-up circuitry for pre-charging and/or balancing the critical nodes takes up valuable space on the silicon chip and consequently adds to the cost of any memory device that includes such set-up circuitry. An improved method and system for pre-charging and biasing the critical nodes of a latch-type sense amplifier are desirable.

Method and system for pre-charging and biasing a latch-type sense amplifier


The subject invention provides a weatherstrip assembly for sealing between a frame and a closure member of a vehicle. The weatherstrip assembly includes a body having an exterior surface and an interior surface defining a channel. The body has a plurality of retaining lips extending into the channel. A seal extends from the exterior surface. A locking fin has a first end and a second end. The first end of the locking fin is mounted to one of the interior surface and the exterior surface and the second end of the locking fin disposed within the channel. A shim extends from the second end of the locking fin. The shim engages the interior surface and supports the locking fin within the channel. The retaining lips and the locking fin at least partially define a slot for sandwiching the frame between the retaining lips and the locking fin within the slot.

1. Field of the Invention
A weatherstrip assembly for sealing between a frame and a closure member of a vehicle. In particular, the subject invention relates to a unique design of a locking fin and a shim for the assembly.
2. Description of Related Art
There is a desire within the transportation industry to easily couple a weatherstrip to a frame of a vehicle. Many techniques have been used to hold a weatherstrip to a frame during assembly. One solution in the industry involves a weatherstrip having a body defining a cavity into which the frame is disposed. A plurality of fingers extend from the body within the cavity. The frame has a thickness. The fingers abut the frame and provide a friction coupling between the body and the frame. The friction coupling mounts the weatherstrip to the frame. It is noteworthy though that not all frames have a continuous thickness. Often, converging sheet metal panels at unique positions on the vehicle create varying thicknesses longitudinally along the frame. As a result, the engagement of the fingers with the frame varies depending on the thickness of the frame. When engagement of the fingers with the frame is reduced, the friction coupling between the body and the frame is reduced, which could lead to disconnection of the weatherstrip assembly from the frame.
Therefore, there remains an opportunity to develop a weatherstrip capable of varying the friction force imparted on the frame depending on the thickness of the frame.

Weatherstrip assembly having a variable length shim

HENNIGES AUTOMOTIVE SEALING SYSTEMS NORTH AMERICA INC.


The present invention relates to a facility comprising: a fixed frame fixedly installed on an outer wall of a veranda or a balcony of a high-rise building; a foldable evacuation box which can be unfolded in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped having an open top side and has and evacuation door on a side thereof; a fall prevention and evacuation means which can be structurally changed to an emergency stairway for fire evacuation; an evacuation box locking means which allows the foldable evacuation box to be unfolded in a rectangular parallelepiped form; a locking means which holds and fixes the fall prevention and evacuation means to the fixed frame; and an entry prevention door which prevents an evacuee from entering inside a veranda or a balcony from the foldable evacuation box through the fixed frame.

Commonly, a high-rise buildings are increasing in the present day in order to make effective use of a small site and to expand a living space of the building. A main entrance door for human access is usually prepared in the high-rise buildings, a veranda is installed in the opposite side of the main entrance door, and a safety parapet for preventing falling is installed on the veranda.
Such high-rise buildings have an advantage of being able to accommodate a large number of people in the small site, and it is possible to look down the scenery in the high building, and have an advantage of having various convenience facilities inside.
However, the high-rise buildings have a disadvantage of having a high frequency of fires due to the residence of many people inside the buildings soared on the small site, and have a problem that once a fire occurred, it could lead to a mass mortality damage.
Meanwhile, there is a way to avoid the fire by using a descending life line installed in the veranda to solve this problem. However, the descending life line has a problem that is difficult for the general public to operate it, and the other problem of the descending life line is that people cannot overcome their anxiety of using the descending life line in addition to their fear of fire because of the burden of putting the weight of the user on one rope.
Meanwhile, as a prior art of this invention, "A safety balustrade for fire-escaping" of Korean patent registration number "10-0927317" has been filed and registered. The safety balustrade for fire-escaping may consist of: a first frame blocking the upper glass wall in ordinary day without fire risk, and being pivoted by a hinge fixed to the outer wall of the building and facing the lower glass wall or the lower outer wall in the event of fire; a second frame being placed between the first frame and the upper glass wall to block the upper glass wall in ordinary day without fire risk, and being pivoted to direction of the lower glass wall or the lower outer wall along the first frame in the event of fire; a stepping board, wherein its two ends of one side and two ends of the other side are connected to the first frame and the second frame respectively and it is erected abreast with the upper glass wall to prevent falling accident of upper floor residents in ordinary day without fire risk, and when the first frame and the second frame are pivoted to the direction of the lower glass wall and the lower outer wall, the stepping board is unfolded in the orthogonal direction between the first frame and the second frame in a state of being connected to the first frame and the second frame to provide a stepping space at the same time as widening the gap between the first frame and the second frame; and fixing means which fixes the one side of the second frame to the upper building structure for the first frame and the second frame not to be pivoted to the lower glass wall or the lower outer wall by the hinge in ordinary day without fire risk.
However, the above structure had a problem that residents of an upper floor may come into a veranda or a balcony of a lower floor, steal money and valuables or threaten his/her body when the structure is axially rotated to the downstairs direction, and then is structurally changed to the emergency stairway for fire evacuation.

Foldable balcony balustrade-combined fire/disaster evacuation facility

Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology


A set of progressive golf clubs with an elliptical pad construction on the back of the striking face that corresponds to a location, shape and size of a predetermined golfer's impact pattern for the lofts and lengths of each of the golf clubs in the set. The elliptical pad progressively changes in location, shape and size from the long irons, to the mid irons, to the short irons, and to the wedges, based on the location, shape and size of a predetermined golfer's impact pattern for each of the long irons, mid irons, short irons, and wedges.

Golf club heads come in many different forms and makes, such as wood- or metal-type, iron-type (including wedge-type club heads), utility or specialty-type, and putter-type. Each of these types has a prescribed function and make-up. The present invention will be discussed as relating to iron-type clubs, but the inventive teachings disclosed herein may be applied to other types of clubs.
Iron-type golf club heads generally include a front or striking face, a back, a toe, a heel, a top line, a hosel, and a sole. The front face interfaces with and strikes the golf ball. A plurality of grooves, sometimes referred to as score lines, is provided on the face to assist in imparting spin to the ball. The back can also be described as the back of the striking face and may vary in design, depending whether the iron-type golf club head is a blade, muscle back or cavity back design. The hosel is generally configured to have a particular look to the golfer, to provide a lodging for the golf shaft, and to provide structural rigidity for the club head. The sole of the golf club is particularly important to the golf shot because it contacts and interacts with the playing surface during the swing. The toe is the region of the golf club head that is distal to the shaft, while the heel is the region of the golf club head that is proximal to the shaft. The top line is the uppermost region of the golf club head, extending between the toe and heel of the golf club head.
In conventional sets of iron-type golf clubs, each club includes a shaft with a club head attached to one end of the shaft, and a grip attached to the other end of the shaft. The club head includes a face for striking a golf ball. The angle between the face and a vertical plane is called the loft angle.
The set generally includes irons that are designated number 3 through number 9, and a pitching wedge. One or more additional long irons, such as those designated number 1 or number 2, and wedges, such as a gap wedge, a sand wedge, and a lob wedge, may optionally be included with the set. Alternatively, the set may include irons that are designated number 4 through number 9, a pitching wedge, and a gap wedge. Long irons are typically designated with the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5. Mid-irons are typically designated with the numbers 6 or 7. Short irons are typically designated with the numbers 8 or 9. Wedges are typically designated with the letters P (pitching wedge), G (gap wedge), S (sand wedge), or L (lob wedge), or may be designated with the degree of the loft angle (e.g., 52°, 54°, 56°, 58°, 60°, etc.). Alternatively, the set may also include hybrid-type golf clubs, which typically replace the long irons, such as the 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 irons. Each iron has a shaft length that usually decreases through the set as the loft for each club head increases from the long irons to the short irons. The overall weight of each club head increases through the set as the shaft length decreases from the long irons to the short irons. To properly ensure that each club has a similar feel or balance during a golf swing, a measurement known as swingweight is often used as a criterion to define the club head weight and the shaft length. Because each of the clubs within the set is typically designed to have the same swingweight value for each different lofted club head or given shaft length, the weight of the club head is often confined to a particular range.
The length of the shaft, along with the club head loft, moment of inertia, and center of gravity location, impart various performance characteristics to the ball's launch conditions upon impact and dictate the golf ball's launch angle, spin rate, flight trajectory, and the distance the ball will travel. Flight distance generally increases with a decrease in loft angle and an increase in club length. However, difficulty of use also increases with a decrease in loft angle and an increase in club length.
Iron-type golf clubs generally can be divided into three categories: blades and muscle backs, conventional cavity backs, and modern multi-material cavity backs. Blades are traditional clubs with a substantially uniform appearance from the sole to the top line, although there may be some tapering from sole to top line. Similarly, muscle backs are substantially uniform, but have extra material on the back thereof in the form of a rib that can be used to lower the club head center of gravity or improve feel. A club head with a lower center of gravity than the ball center of gravity facilitates getting the golf ball airborne. Because blade and muscle back designs have a small sweet spot, which is a term that refers to the area of the face that usually results in a desirable golf shot upon striking a golf ball, these designs are relatively difficult to wield and are typically only used by skilled golfers. However, these designs allow the skilled golfer to work the ball and shape the golf shot as desired.
Cavity backs move some of the club mass to the perimeter of the club by providing a hollow or cavity in the back of the club, opposite the striking face. The perimeter weighting created by the cavity increases the club's moment of inertia, which is a measurement of the club's resistance to torque, for example, the torque resulting from an off-center hit. This produces a more forgiving club with a larger sweet spot. Having a larger sweet spot increases the ease of use. The decrease in club head mass resulting from the cavity also allows the size of the club face to be increased, further enlarging the sweet spot. These clubs are easier to hit than blades and muscle backs, and are therefore more readily usable by less-skilled and beginner golfers.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.