An environment is emulated in a host environment. Output generated in the emulated environment is displayed in a window of the host environment. The emulated environment's output is in the form of Postscript commands that map to the entire screen. The host environment emulates the Postscript commands an maps the output to a window. Input associated with the window is retrieved by an event driver running in the host environment. Each instance of input is referred to as an event. Each event is translated into an event of the emulated environment by an event driver. A translated event is stored in shared memory for access by a window server. The event driver notifies the window server that one or more events are queued in shared memory. The window server processes the queued events by, for example, transmitting the event to an application running in the emulated environment.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the execution of an environment in a window of another environment or operating system.
2. Background
OpenStep.TM. is an open, high-volume portable standard for object-oriented computing. It provides a standard application programming interface (API). The OpenStep specification is based on NeXTStep. NeXTStep.TM. is an object-oriented operating system of NeXT Computer, Inc.
The NeXTStep Window Server running in the NeXT environment is a low-level process that is responsible for drawing images to the screen and sending events to applications. The NeXTStep Window Server manages the screen, keyboard, and mouse.
The NeXTStep Window Server includes a Display Postscript interpreter that performs the actual drawing of lines, text, and images. Postscript is a device-independent graphics description language that processes commands to perform line drawing, typesetting, and image presentation on the screen and printer output.
In addition to providing graphic user interface (GUI) capabilities, NeXTStep provides an application development environment. In addition to the development environment, the NeXTStep Application Kit, or App Kit, provides object classes for providing functionality to an application.
The NeXTStep environment runs on the Mach operating system (OS). The Mach OS is a microkernel-based operating system. A microkernel-based OS provides a basic level of services with the bulk of the operating system services supplied by user-level services. For example, the Mach kernel provides process management, memory management, communication and Input/Output services. Services such as files and directories are handled by user-level processes.
The communication service provided by the Mach OS uses a data structure called a port A port is analogous to a mailbox. A sender (e.g., a thread, or executable subcomponent of a process) communicates with a receiver (e.g., thread of another process) by writing a message to the mailbox, or port. The receiver retrieves the sender's message from the port.
In the above example, the sender's message is not actually stored in the port. The message is stored in a message queue. The port contains a count of the number of messages in the message queue. When a port is created, an integer that identifies the port is sent back to the creator (e.g., a thread). The identifier is used to access the port to send or receive a message.
NeXT Computer, Inc. provides a technology referred to as Portable Distributed Objects (PDO). PDO provides the ability to use distributed object classes to write programs on non-NeXT platforms (e.g., HP, SunOS, and Solaris). PDO also provides Mach port emulation facilities.
Solaris.TM. is a UNIX operating environment that can run on multiple hardware platforms such as Intel x86, SPARC, and PowerPC processors. OpenWindows.TM. is a windowing system based on the X11 windowing specification that runs in Solaris. The X11/DPS is a windowing system that runs in OpenWindows. Solaris, OpenWindows, and X11/DPS are products that are available from Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun Microsystems, Inc., OpenWindows, X11/DPS, and Solaris are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the U.S. and certain other countries.)
The NeXTStep environment generates output using the entire screen. It would be beneficial to be able to run the NeXTStep/OpenStep environments in another environment such as Solaris such that the NeXTStep/OpenStep environment runs within a window of the environment. Prior emulation schemes provide emulation by emulating system-level instruction sets. It would be beneficial to provide emulation capabilities at the Postscript level.

Method and apparatus for executing and displaying output of an environment in a host environment


A vehicle stability control apparatus including a vehicle running stability control device for controlling an automotive vehicle for stable running of the vehicle, and a braking device for applying a brake to the vehicle, wherein a hazard detecting device or detecting a hazardous condition of the vehicle such as a collision of the vehicle with an obstacle and a deviation of the vehicle from the nominal running path, and an automatic brake application device is operable to activate the braking device, when the hazardous condition is detected at least during an operation of the vehicle running stability control device.

This application is based on Japanese Patent Application Nos. 11-225372 filed Aug. 9, 1999 and 2000-172059 filed Jun. 8, 2000, the contents of which are incorporated hereinto by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a vehicle stability control apparatus adapted to assure stable running of an automotive vehicle, and more particularly to techniques for improving running safety of the vehicle.
2. Discussion of Related Art
A so-called xe2x80x9cvehicle stability control (VSC)xe2x80x9d is known, wherein a vehicle running stability control device is operated under a hazardous running condition of an automotive vehicle, to apply a brake to at least one wheel of the vehicle, and/or reduce an output of an engine of the vehicle, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,802 by was of example. Under some running conditions of the vehicle, a vehicle running stability control is not sufficient or effective to assure stable running or turning of the vehicle, namely, to safely clear an obstacle or prevent a collision of the vehicle with the obstacle, or to prevent a deviation of the running vehicle from the nominal running path or traffic lane of the vehicle. JP-A-10-264795 discloses an example of an improved vehicle stability control apparatus which is adapted to deal with such a problem that may happen under severe vehicle running conditions beyond the capacity of the conventional vehicle stability control. This apparatus is equipped with a CCD (charge-coupled device) camera for obtaining an image of a scene in front of the vehicle as seen by the vehicle operator in the vehicle running direction. Described more specifically, the improved vehicle stability control apparatus incorporates obstacle-clearance determining means for detecting an obstacle which lies in front of the vehicle in a running path of the vehicle, on the basis of image data obtained by the CCD camera, and for determining whether it is possible to control the vehicle so as to prevent a collision of the vehicle with the obstacle. When the obstacle-clearance determining means determines that the vehicle running stability control does not permit the vehicle to be adequately controlled so as to clear the detected obstacle, the vehicle stability control apparatus terminates its vehicle stability control upon detection of a vehicle operator""s manipulation to prevent a collision of the vehicle with the obstacle.
The vehicle stability control apparatus disclosed in the above-identified publication is arranged such that the vehicle operator""s manipulation of the vehicle is predominant over the control performed by the vehicle running stability control apparatus, in the event that a collision of the vehicle with the obstacle is highly expected in the process of the vehicle running stability control, so that the vehicle collision with the obstacle can be prevented, rather than the vehicle running or turning stability control is continued. Accordingly, the apparatus assures safe running of the vehicle even under severe running conditions beyond the vehicle running stability control. However, the apparatus relies upon an adequate manipulation of the vehicle operator to clear the obstacle by brake application to the vehicle and/or operating the steering wheel. In some emergency cases, the vehicle operator may bet at a loss or get puzzled with a hazardous running condition of the vehicle, and cannot take an appropriate measure to adequately control the vehicle. If the vehicle operator did not manipulate the vehicle at all under such a hazardous running condition, the vehicle running stability control would be continued, leading to a possibility of the vehicle collision with the obstacle. When the vehicle-operator""s manipulation is performed, the vehicle running stability control is terminated, but the vehicle collision with the obstacle cannot be prevented if the manipulation is not adequate.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle stability control apparatus which assures safe running of the vehicle without an adequate manipulation of the vehicle by the vehicle operator in the event of a determination that there is a risk of a collision of the vehicle with an obstacle or a deviation of the vehicle from the nominal running path or traffic lane of the vehicle.
The above object may be achieved by a vehicle stability control apparatus according to any one of the following modes of the present invention, each of which is numbered like the appended claims and depends from the other mode or modes, where appropriate, to indicate and clarify possible combinations of elements or technical features. It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the technical features or any combinations thereof which will be described for illustrative purpose only. It is to be further understood that a plurality of elements or features included in any one of the following modes of the invention are not necessarily provided all together, and that the invention may be embodied without some of the elements or features described with respect to the same mode.
(1) A vehicle stability control apparatus comprising a vehicle running stability control device for controlling an automotive vehicle for stable running of the vehicle, and a braking device for applying a brake to the vehicle, said apparatus further comprising:
a hazard detecting device for detecting a hazardous condition of the vehicle; and
an automatic brake application device operable to activate the braking device, when the hazard detecting device has detected the hazardous condition of the vehicle at least during an operation of the vehicle running stability control device.
In the conventional vehicle stability control apparatus, an operation of the vehicle running stability control device is terminated upon determination that there is a risk of a collision of the vehicle with an obstacle, if the vehicle operator has operated the braking device and also operated the steering wheel during the operation of the vehicle running stability control device, and if the direction of operation of the steering wheel permits the vehicle to clear the obstacle.
In the vehicle stability control apparatus according to the above mode (1) of this invention, the vehicle is automatically braked by the automatic brake application device, to assure a safe state of the vehicle, without an adequate manipulation of the vehicle by the vehicle operator, upon detection of a hazardous condition of the vehicle during an operation of the vehicle running stability control device, for instance, in the event of determination that there is a risk of a collision of the vehicle with an obstacle or a deviation of the vehicle from the nominal running path, during an operation of the vehicle running stability control device. The automatic brake application device may or may not be operated to automatically brake the vehicle upon detection of the hazardous condition of the vehicle while the vehicle running stability control device is not in operation.
(2) A vehicle stability control apparatus according to the above mode (1), wherein the hazard detecting device includes an obstacle detecting device for detecting an obstacle in front of the vehicle as seen in a running direction of the vehicle, and the automatic brake application device is operated to activate the braking device, when an output of the obstacle detecting device at least during an operation of the vehicle running stability device indicates that there is a risk of a collision of the vehicle with the obstacle.
In the vehicle stability control apparatus according to the above mode (2), the vehicle is automatically braked by the automatic brake application device, to prevent the collision of the vehicle with the obstacle, without a manipulation of the vehicle by the vehicle operator, in the event of determination that there is a risk of the vehicle collision while the vehicle running stability control device is in operation. The automatic brake application device may or may not be operated in the event of determination of the presence of the risk of the vehicle collision while the vehicle running stability control device is not in operation.
(3) A vehicle stability control apparatus according to the above mode (2), wherein the automatic brake application device is operated during an operation of the vehicle running stability control device, when the output of the obstacle detecting device indicates that there is the risk of the collision of the vehicle with the obstacle.
In the vehicle stability control apparatus according to the above mode (3), the automatic brake application device is operated when it is determined that there is a risk of the vehicle collision with the vehicle while the vehicle running stability control device is in operation to improve the running stability of the vehicle. The operation of the vehicle running stability control device means that the vehicle is running in some hazardous condition. Accordingly, when the output of the obstacle detecting device indicates a risk of the vehicle collision with the obstacle during an operation of the vehicle running stability control device, it is generally difficult for the vehicle operator to manipulate the vehicle, that is, to operate the braking device and the steering wheel, so as to safely clear the obstacle. In other words, the vehicle operator""s manipulation of the vehicle is not necessarily sufficient or effective to prevent the vehicle collision with the obstacle. In the present vehicle stability control apparatus, on the other hand, the automatic brake application device assures an adequate brake application to the vehicle to safely prevent the vehicle collision with the obstacle, even in such an event.
(4) A vehicle stability control apparatus according to the above mode (1), wherein the hazard detecting device includes a vehicle-deviation determining device for determining whether there is a risk of a deviation of the vehicle from a nominal running path of the vehicle, the automatic brake application device being operable to activate said braking device, when an output of the vehicle-deviation determining device at least during an operation of said vehicle running stability control device indicates that there is said risk of the deviation of the vehicle from the nominal running path.
In the vehicle stability control apparatus according to the above mode (4), the vehicle is automatically braked by the automatic brake application device, to prevent the deviation of the vehicle from the nominal running path, without a manipulation of the vehicle by the vehicle operator, in the event of determination that there is a risk of the vehicle deviation while the vehicle running stability control device is in operation. The automatic brake application device may or may not be operated in the event of determination of the presence of the risk of the vehicle deviation while the vehicle running stability control device is not in operation.
(5) A vehicle stability control apparatus according to the above mode (4), wherein the automatic brake application device is operated during an operation of the vehicle running stability control device, when the output of the vehicle-deviation determining device indicates that there is the risk of the deviation of the vehicle from the nominal running path.
In the vehicle stability control apparatus according to the above mode (5), the automatic brake application device is operated when it is determined that there is a risk of the vehicle deviation from the nominal running path, while the vehicle running stability control device is operated to improve the running stability of the vehicle. The operation of the vehicle running stability control device means that the vehicle is running in some hazardous condition, in which the vehicle operator rarely has an intention to change the traffic lane from the present one to the adjacent one. That is, the vehicle deviation indicated by the output of the vehicle-deviation determining device is not desired by the vehicle operator, and must therefore be prevented by automatic brake application to the vehicle by operation of the automatic brake application device.
(6) A vehicle stability control apparatus according to the above mode (4) or (5), wherein the vehicle-deviation determining device includes a lane detecting device for detecting a lane-defining line which defines a traffic lane on which the vehicle is running, the vehicle-deviation determining device determining that there is a risk of the deviation of the vehicle from the nominal running path, when an angle between the lane-defining line detected by the lane detecting device and a longitudinal direction of the vehicle is larger than a predetermined upper limit.
The determination as to whether there is a risk of deviation of the vehicle from the nominal running path may be effected by detecting the traffic lane on which the vehicle is running, and estimating the running path along which the vehicle is going to run. However, the vehicle-deviation determining device of the vehicle stability control apparatus according to the above mode (6) of the invention is adapted to make the determination on the basis of the longitudinal direction of the vehicle as compared with the detected lane-defining line. This manner of determination is relatively simple, and the vehicle-deviation determining device is available at a reduced cost. However, the vehicle-deviation determining device may include a running-path estimating device for estimating the vehicle running path, as well as the lane detecting device.
(7) 7. A vehicle stability control device according to the above mode (6), wherein the vehicle-deviation determining device further includes a running-path estimating device for estimating an actual running path of the vehicle, on the basis of a yaw rate of the vehicle.
The vehicle-deviation determining device is capable of determining, with increased reliability, whether there is a risk of the vehicle deviation from the nominal running path, on the basis of not only the angle of the longitudinal direction of the running vehicle with respect to the lane-defining line, but also the angular velocity of the turning vehicle.
(8) A vehicle stability control device according to the above mode (6) or (7), wherein the vehicle-deviation determining device includes an image obtaining device for obtaining image data representative of an image of a scene in front of the vehicle as seen in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle, and an image-data processing device for processing the image data to determine a lane-defining line which defines a traffic lane on which the vehicle is running.
The image-data processing device of the vehicle-deviation determining device in the vehicle stability control apparatus according to the above mode (8) may be arranged to process the image data to determine the lane-defining line, on the basis of a difference in brightness or luminance between the lane-defining line and the roadway surface on which the vehicle is running. In this respect, it is noted that the lane-defining line is usually a white line having a comparatively high degree of luminance.
(9) A vehicle stability control device according to any one of the above modes (1)-(8), further comprising running stability control terminating device for terminating the operation of the vehicle running stability control device when the braking device is activated by the automatic brake application device.
If the automatic brake application to the vehicle by the braking device activated by the automatic brake application device were effected concurrently with the vehicle running stability control by the vehicle running stability control device, the automatic brake application and the vehicle running stability control would interfere with each other, causing an undesirable result regarding the running condition of the vehicle. In the vehicle stability control apparatus according to the above mode (9), the vehicle running stability control device is turned off when the automatic brake application is initiated by activation of the braking device by the automatic brake application device, so that the hazardous condition of the vehicle such as the vehicle collision with an obstacle or the vehicle deviation from the nominal running path can be prevented with increased reliability and stability.
(10) A vehicle stability control apparatus according to any one of the above modes (1)-(9), wherein said automatic brake application device controls said braking device to brake all of a plurality of wheels of the vehicle such that a total braking force generated by the all of said plurality of wheels is equal to a predetermined maxim value.
In the vehicle stability control apparatus according to the above mode (10), the vehicle is effectively braked with the maximum braking force, to assure improved safety of the vehicle, when the hazard detecting device has detected a hazardous condition of the vehicle such as the vehicle collision with an obstacle or the vehicle deviation from the nominal running path.
(11) A vehicle-collision preventing apparatus for preventing a collision of an automotive vehicle with an obstacle, comprising:
a braking device for applying a brake to the vehicle;
a running-path estimating device for estimating a running path of the vehicle;
an obstacle detecting device for detecting an obstacle existing in front of the vehicle and in the running path of the vehicle estimated by the running-path estimating device;
a vehicle speed detecting device for detecting a running speed of the vehicle;
a vehicle-collision determining device for determining, on the basis of the running speed of the vehicle detected by the vehicle speed detecting device, whether there is a risk of a collision of the vehicle with the obstacle detected by the obstacle detecting device on an assumption that the vehicle is braked at a predetermined reference deceleration value; and
an automatic brake application device operable to activate the braking device to brake the vehicle at a deceleration value whose absolute value is larger than that of the reference deceleration value, when the vehicle-collision determining device has determined that there is the risk of the collision of the vehicle with the obstacle.
In the vehicle-collision preventing apparatus according to the above mode (11) of this invention, the vehicle is automatically braked upon determination that there is a risk of a collision of the vehicle with an obstacle, irrespective of whether a vehicle running stability control is effected or not. The reference deceleration value may be a fixed value, for instance, about 0.5 G, or a variable which varies depending upon the detected vehicle running speed and/or other parameters indicative of the vehicle running condition. The deceleration value to be established by the automatic brake application under the control of the automatic brake application device may be slightly larger than the reference deceleration value, so that the vehicle can be braked to prevent the vehicle collision with high stability. Alternatively, the deceleration value to be established by the automatic brake application may be a highest possible value in order to minimize the vehicle running distance required to stop the vehicle. Further, the deceleration value to be established by the automatic brake application may be determined depending upon the detected vehicle running speed, a distance between the vehicle and the obstacle, and other parameters.
(12) A vehicle-collision preventing apparatus according to the above mode (11), wherein the running-path estimating device, the vehicle speed detecting device and the vehicle-collision determining device are kept operated even after an operation of the braking device is initiated by the automatic brake application device, the vehicle-collision determining device including deceleration increasing means for increasing the absolute value of the deceleration value to be established by the operation of the braking device under the control of the automatic brake application device, as long as the vehicle-collision determining device keeps determining that there is the of the collision of the vehicle with the obstacle.
In the vehicle-collision preventing apparatus according to the above mode (12), the deceleration value to be established by the operation of the braking device under the control of the automatic brake application device is gradually increased from a predetermined initial value. The running-path estimating device and the vehicle-collision determining device are adapted to repeatedly estimate the vehicle running path and determine where there is a risk of the vehicle collision, on the basis of the currently established deceleration value, each time the deceleration value is updated, i.e., increased. As long as the vehicle-collision determining device continues to determine that there is a risk of the vehicle collision, the deceleration value to be established by the automatic brake application is increased. If the vehicle-collision determining means determines that there is no longer a risk of the vehicle collision, the presently established deceleration value is maintained. Thus, the present arrangement does not cause an unnecessarily high rate of increase in the deceleration value of the vehicle. The deceleration value to be established by the automatic brake application may be determined on the basis of the predetermined reference value used by the vehicle-collision determining means for effecting the initial determination. Alternatively, the deceleration value to be established by the automatic brake application may be determined on the basis of the initial value of deceleration initially established immediately after the automatic brake application is initiated, or the last determined or established value. The deceleration value to be established may be incremented by a predetermined amount, or may be increased by an amount depending upon the currently detected vehicle speed or the currently detected actual deceleration value.
(13) A vehicle-deviation preventing apparatus for preventing a deviation of an automotive vehicle from a nominal running path of the vehicle, comprising:
a braking device for applying a brake to the vehicle;
a vehicle-deviation determining device for determining whether there is a risk of a deviation of the vehicle from a nominal running path; and
an automatic brake application device operable to activate the braking device to brake the vehicle when the vehicle-deviation determining device has determined that there is the risk of the vehicle deviation from the nominal running path.
In the vehicle-deviation preventing apparatus according to the above mode (13) of this invention, the vehicle is automatically braked by the braking device under the control of the automatic brake application device when a risk of a vehicle deviation is detected, irrespective of whether a vehicle running stability control is performed or not.
(14) A vehicle-deviation preventing apparatus according to the above mode (13), further comprising an alarm indicator device operable when the vehicle-deviation determining means has determined that there is the risk of the deviation of the vehicle, to warn an operator of the vehicle that there is the risk.
In the vehicle-deviation preventing apparatus according to the above mode (14), the vehicle operator is warned of a fact that the automatic brake application to the vehicle is initiated to avoid the vehicle deviation from the nominal running path. Accordingly, the vehicle operator can be made ready for the automatic brake application. The alarm indicator device is preferably adapted to provide a warning indication before the automatic brake application is initiated. However, the warning indication may be provided before or upon the initiation of the automatic brake application, or after the initiation of the automatic brake application, for instance, immediately before or at the time when deceleration of the vehicle as a result of the automatic brake application is initiated. Where the warning indication is provided before the initiation of the automatic brake application, this warning indication is effective to prevent the vehicle operator from falling asleep while driving the vehicle.
(15) A vehicle-deviation preventing apparatus according to the above mode (13) or (14), further comprising an operator-controlled member, and an automatic-brake-application inhibiting device for inhibiting an operation of the automatic brake application device when the operator-controlled member is operated.
The feature of the vehicle-deviation preventing apparatus according to the above mode (15) of the invention is equally applicable to the apparatus according to any one of the above modes (1)-(12).
If the vehicle is automatically braked under the control of the automatic brake application device in response to a determination that there is a risk of the vehicle deviation from the nominal running path, when the vehicle operator is manipulating the steering wheel for the purpose of changing the traffic lane on the roadway from the present one to the adjacent one. In the apparatus according to the above mode (15) wherein the automatic-brake-application inhibiting device is provided, the automatic brake application to the vehicle contrary to the intention of the vehicle operator can be avoided. If the automatic brake application is inhibited after it is initiated, it is desirable to cancel an effect of the automatic brake application. The operator-controlled member whose operation triggers the automatic-brake-application inhibiting device may be an accelerator pedal, a steering wheel or other operator-controlled member usually provided on the vehicle. Where the accelerator pedal is utilized as the operator-controlled member to inhibit the automatic brake application, the inhibiting device inhibits the automatic brake application when the accelerator pedal is depressed. A depression of the accelerator pedal indicates the vehicle operator""s intention to accelerate the vehicle, rather than decelerating the vehicle. Where the steering wheel is utilized as the operator-controlled member to inhibit the automatic brake application, the inhibiting device inhibits the automatic brake application when the steering wheel is rotated in a direction which is opposite to the direction in which the vehicle is deviating with respect to the nominal running path. Where the other operator-controlled members are utilized as the operator-controlled member to inhibit the automatic brake application, the inhibiting device inhibits the automatic brake application when an operation of the operator-controlled member satisfies a predetermined condition. The operator-controlled member may be a member exclusively provided for inhibiting the automatic brake application. It is also appreciated that the vehicle-deviation determining device may be operated in response to a control signal applied to a signaling device provided to indicate the direction of turning of the vehicle. In this case, for example, the vehicle-deviation determining device does not determine that there is a risk of the vehicle deviation, if the vehicle deviation follows the intention of the vehicle operator, more specifically, if the direction of deviation detected by the vehicle-deviation determining device is the same as the direction of turning of the vehicle represented by the control signal applied to the signaling device.
(16) A vehicle-deviation preventing apparatus according to the above mode (13), further comprising:
an alarm indicator device operable when the vehicle-deviation determining device has determined that there is the risk of the deviation of the vehicle, to warn an operator of the vehicle that there is the risk;
an operator-controlled member; and
an automatic-brake-application inhibiting device for inhibiting an operation of the automatic brake application device when the operator-controlled member is operated,
and wherein the automatic brake application device activates the braking device when a predetermined time has passed without an operation of the operator-controlled member after the alarm indicator device is operated.
In the vehicle-deviation preventing apparatus according to the above mode (16) wherein the vehicle operator is given a warning indication that the automatic brake is applied to the vehicle, before the automatic brake application is initiated. Accordingly, the vehicle operator who has been given the warning indication may easily inhibit the automatic brake application to the vehicle contrary to the vehicle operator""s intention. The predetermined time between the moment of activation of the alarm indicator device and the moment of inhibition of the automatic brake application may be a predetermined fixed time which is considered necessary to allow the vehicle operator to decide whether the automatic brake application should be effected or not. The predetermined time may be changed depending upon the detected vehicle speed or the expected length of time during which the vehicle has deviated from the nominal running path. It is desirable that the vehicle-deviation determining device be adapted to determine the presence of a risk of the vehicle deviation, at a relatively early point of time so that the safe running state of the vehicle can be secured even after the predetermined time has passed after the activation of the alarm indicator device. In addition, it is desirable that the automatic brake application can be terminated when the operator-controlled member is operated even after the automatic brake application has been initiated.
(17) A vehicle-deviation preventing apparatus according to the above mode (16), wherein the vehicle-deviation determining device includes a time estimating portion for estimating a length of time during which the vehicle has deviated from the nominal running path, and a time determining portion for determining the above-indicated predetermined time on the basis of the estimated length of time.
In the vehicle-deviation preventing apparatus according to the above mode (16), the predetermined time between the moment of activation of the alarm indicator device and the moment of inhibition of the automatic brake application is determined on the basis of the estimated length of time during which the vehicle has deviated from the nominal running path. This arrangement permits the automatic brake application to be initiated before its inhibition by the automatic-brake-application inhibiting device if the estimated length of time is relatively short, and permits the automatic-brake-application inhibiting device to inhibit the automatic brake application depending upon the operation of the operator-controlled member, if the estimated length of time is relatively long.
(18) A vehicle stability control apparatus according to any one of the above modes (1)-(10), further comprising a vehicle stop indicator device operable when the braking device is operated by the automatic brake application device, for providing an indication that the vehicle is being braked.
(19) A vehicle-collision preventing apparatus according to the above mode (11) or (12), further comprising a vehicle stop indicator device operable when the braking device is operated by the automatic brake application device, for providing an indication that the vehicle is being braked.
(20) A vehicle-deviation preventing apparatus according to any one of the above modes (13)-(16), further comprising a vehicle stop indicator device operable when the braking device is operated by the automatic brake application device, for providing an indication that the vehicle is being braked.
In the apparatus according to any one of the above modes (18)-(20), the vehicle stop indicator device provides an indication of the automatic brake application to the vehicles so that the operators operating the trailing vehicles following the vehicle in question can know that the vehicle in question is being braked for an emergency stop. Thus, the vehicle stop indicator device assures improved safety of running of the trailing vehicles. The vehicle stop indicator device may include a hazard lamp whose illumination is visible by the operators of the trailing vehicles.

Vehicle running stability control apparatus


An automatic control system for controlling the firmness of a fluid supported mattress of a bed assembly. The control system includes a motorized fluid pump, a control unit for operating the pump to adjust the firmness of the air mattress, a hand held remote control unit for actuating the control unit, and a transceiver system for transmitting information signals between the hand held unit and the control unit. The air control system provides for independent control of both bladders in a two bladder air mattress from a single unit, and allows a user to consistently set the firmness of each mattress air bladder to a desired value. The air control system includes an air pump specially designed to minimize transmission of motor noise into the environment.

Air supported mattresses are used with cots and beds to provide yieldable body supports. The air mattresses can be inflated with hand operated pumps or bag pumps. Motor driven blowers and pumps have also been used more effectively to supply air under pressure to air mattresses. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,908,895 and 4,644,597, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, describe possible constructions of air mattresses.
The air mattresses will typically sit within a border which supports the mattress such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,244, also assigned to the assignee of the present invention. Double, queen or king size beds can involve two air mattresses or two air chambers with individually adjustable air pressures. These air chambers may be further divided internally with free fluid flow between these further divisions. The air mattresses can be equipped with a one-way air pressure relief valve operable to limit the air pressure in the air mattress to about 1 psig (pounds per square inch gauge, i.e., relative to ambient pressure) to prevent seam separation and blowout.
The biasing or firmness characteristics of an air mattress are determined by the pressure of the air in the air mattress. Control mechanisms have been used to adjust the inflation of air mattresses. Young et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,224,706, for instance, disclose a mechanism for adjusting the amount of air in an air mattress. The mechanism disclosed in the '706 patent includes one or more receptacles connected to air mattresses for supplying air to and receiving air from the air mattresses. These receptacles are located in the frame below the mattress. The internal volumes of the receptacles are changed by the rotation of a hand crank. The variation of the volume in the receptacles adjusts the pressure of the air in the air mattresses.
Other control systems for air mattresses have allowed operators to vary the air pressure within the mattress at the touch of a button. The hand control units in these systems were either located on the air tube connecting the pump to the mattress or the hand control units made an electrical connection to the pump and solenoid valves. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,897,890, 4,829,616, 4,890,344, also assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
These hand control units typically allowed for the transmittance of two instructions to the pump/control unit. These instructions were either to increase or to decrease the pressure. The users had to rely on their tactile senses in adjusting the air pressure because the units supplied no information to the user regarding the pressure in the mattress.
One previous design of pressure control for an air mattress involved keeping the air pressure constant at all times whether the user was on the mattress or not. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,142,717 and 4,995,124. A control unit allowed for a preset pressure to be set. One problem with this arrangement was the dramatic change in pressure at the time a user applied weight to the mattress. The air mattress had to have an internal structure to support much of the users weight in order to prevent the escape of large volumes of air while regulating the pressure at the previously set value. The internal structure interfered with the comfort advantages of having an air supported mattress.
Another design of a pressure control unit provided a digital display of the internal pressure and push buttons. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,176. The user could either use a constant pressure mode where the pressure could be set by the user. The user also had the option of using a manual mode where the pressure was not kept constant but where the user directly controlled the flow of fluid into or out from the mattress.
In these previous designs, if the bed contained two separate mattresses or air bladders, two hand control units were supplied with each controlling its respective air bladder. Therefore, a person lying on one side of the bed could not assist their bed partner on the other side of the bed with an adjustment of the air pressure on the other side of the bed without physically going to that side of the bed. The hand control units were physically attached to the control unit, thereby restricting the location of a particular unit.
The processing involved in these earlier control systems for air beds was minimal. The constant pressure systems involved a periodic examination of the pressure and a comparison with the desired value. Air was then added or removed as needed with several steps used if needed to obtain the desired pressure. In the manual control designs, the operator directly controlled the pump and the release valve to control the flow of fluid into or out of the mattress.
Electric motor driven pumps have been used in the past to inflate air mattresses. The operating noise of such pumps was a common source of consumer complaints. The pumps were most frequently utilized when the bed user was preparing to go to sleep. A noisy pump detracted from the restful atmosphere necessary to induce sleep. The most frequent cause of noisy operation of such pumps is the rigid mounting of the fan motor to the pump housing. Such rigid mounting transmits vibrations and noises generated by the pump motor to the pump housing and to the environment around the pump. Further avenues of noise transmission to the environment in air pumps are the supply air inlet and the cooling air inlet. Sound insulating and dampening materials could be built into the pump motors and housings, but only at the risk of thermal insulation and resultant over heating of the pump motors.
It would be an advantage in the industry to provide a quiet pump in which the noise and vibration of the fan motor is dampened with respect to the pump housing and wherein adequate cooling of the pump motor was provided for. Further, the air inlet and cooling air inlet should be designed to minimize the amount of fan noise transmitted therethrough. It would be an important advance to provide a multi-speed motor to provide for optimal pumping with less noise and with a minimum of overheating problems. With respect to the control of the units, it would be a distinct advantage to have hand control units where the user of the unit was not tethered to the pump unit, and where the user could control both air bladders in the case where each side of the bed had its own independent bladder. It would also be a decided advance in the art to be able to accurately and consistently monitor and control the pressure of the air mattress to a desired setting.


A handpiece for removably attaching one of a plurality of probes including a housing, an actuation assembly arranged on the housing, a linkage assembly arranged on the housing and adapted to couple motion of the actuation assembly to actuation of the probe and an alignment feature arranged on the housing and adapted to control the orientation of a connected probe. Several probes are also disclosed in addition to method of performing a procedure.

Minimally invasive surgeries are well known and often involve an endoscopic or arthroscopic procedure where incisions are minimized and the surgery is performed within the body using one or more portals for insertion of instruments together with a camera or scope for viewing and conducting the procedure. Having contacted human fluids during use, the devices used for performing these procedures require that they either be sterilized or disposed of.
The choice between sterilization and disposal can often be balanced between the cost of the tool or device and the difficulty in sterilizing the device. Where the cost to replace it is low and/or the difficulty in sterilizing is high, the device will likely be discarded and replaced. In some instances, this may include discarding portions of the device that did not actually contact the patient. That is, where a portion of a device was inserted and another portion was not, the entire device likely is still discarded.
Minimally invasive surgeries often require multiple tools, wherein each tool is configured to perform a different function. Multiple tools increase sterilization and replacement costs.
There is a need for a minimally invasive medical tool configured to reduce sterilization and replacement costs. There is also a need in the art for methods of manufacturing and using such a medical tool.

Reusable handpiece for disposable probes


A sparse array antenna is disclosed. The antenna comprises series-fed antenna array columns tuned to a respective transmit and receive frequency. The transmitting and receiving radiation elements are formed with a given distance between each transmitting radiator element and each receiving radiator element, and the series-fed antenna columns are arranged in parallel, perpendicular to a symmetry line forming a symmetric interleaved transmit/receive array. Furthermore the receiving array columns operate as parasitic elements in a transmit mode and transmitting array columns operate as parasitic elements in a receive mode, thereby reducing creation of grating lobes. The created sparse array antenna may further be arranged to be scannable to also provide reduced sidelobes entering visual space when scanning the main radiation lobe from an off boresight direction. Typically the series-fed array columns may be formed as extended ridged slotted wave-guides tuned to a respective transmitting or receiving frequency.

The demand for increased capacity in the area covering communication networks can be solved by the introduction of array antennas. These antennas are arrays of radiating elements that can create one or more narrow beams in the azimuth plane. A narrow beam is directed or selected towards the client of interest, which leads to a reduced interference in the network and thereby increased capacity. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,509,881 an interleaved single aperture simultaneous Rx/Tx antenna is disclosed.
A number of simultaneous fixed scanned beams may be generated in the azimuth plane by means of a Butler matrix connected to the antenna columns. The antenna element spacing is determined by the maximum scan angle as the creation of interference lobes due to repeated constructive adding of the phases (also referred to as grating lobes) must be considered. In order to scan a phased array antenna, the element positions must be small enough to avoid grating lobes. For an element distance of 1λ the grating lobe will appear at the edge of the visible space (non-scanning condition). If the beam then is scanned off boresight, the grating beam will move into the visible space.
Thus, a problem in designing antennas is that the radiating elements in an array antenna have to be spaced less than one wavelength apart in order not to generate troublesome grating (secondary) lobes and in the case of a scanned beam, the spacing has to be further reduced. In the limit case when the main beam is scanned to very large angles (as in the case of an adaptive antenna for mobile communications base stations), the element separation needs to be reduced to half a wavelength or less to avoid generation of grating lobes within visible space. Thus it can as a general rule be established that an antenna array with a fixed lobe should normally have an element distance of less than 1 wavelength while an antenna array with a scanable lobe should normally have an element distance of less than half a wavelength for obtaining a proper scanning angle range.
As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,351,243, radiating elements in an array antenna are often placed in a regular rectangular grid as illustrated in FIG. 1. The element spacing is denoted dx along the x-axis and dy along the y-axis. The beam directions are found by transforming from element space to beam space. The corresponding beam space for the antenna illustrated in FIG. 1 is found in FIG. 2.
In this case the main beam is pointing in the direction along the antenna normal. The beams outside the visible space (i.e. outside the unit circle) constitute grating lobes and they do not appear in visible space as long as the beam is not scanned and the element spacing is less than one wavelength along both axes (λ/dx>1 and λ/dy>1). For a large array, the number of radiating elements in the rectangular arranged grid is approximately given by NR=A/(dxdy), where A is the area of the antenna aperture.
When the main beam is scanned along the x-axis, all beams in beam space move in the positive direction by an amount, which equals a function expressed as sinus of the scan (radiating) angle. For each horizontal row in a one-dimensional scan in the x-direction we can express secondary maxima or grating lobes as
            x      m        =                  sin                          (                      θ            s                    )                    +              m        ·                  λ                      d            x                                ,      m    =          ±      1        ,      ±    2    ,wherein xm is the position of lobe m, θs is the scan angle relative to the normal of the array and dx is the distance between the elements in the horizontal plane. As the distance between lobes here is λ/dx it will be realised that the largest element distance for a scan angle producing no grating lobes within the visible region is
      d    λ    <      1          1      +              sin                                                            (                      θ            max                    )
In a case illustrated in FIG. 3, a second beam (grating lobe) enters visible space in addition to the main beam. This may be avoided by reducing the element spacing along the x-axis. When the element spacing is less than half a wavelength (i.e. λ/dx>2), no grating lobe will enter visible space independent of scan angle, since |sin(θ)|≦1.
Radiating elements placed in an equilateral triangular grid are shown in FIG. 4. The vertical element spacing is defined as dy. A corresponding beam space is illustrated in FIG. 5. The element spacing must not be greater than 1/√{square root over (3)} wavelengths (i.e. a maximum value of dy is about 0.58 wavelengths) along the y-axis (and 2dx is one wavelength along the x-axis [equal to dy√{square root over (3)}=0.58·λ·√{square root over (3)}=λ]) to avoid generating grating lobes for any scan angle. Thus the optimum element spacing, dy, in an equilateral triangular grid of radiating elements is 1/√{square root over (3)} wavelengths. For a large array, the number of radiating elements in the triangular arranged grid is approximately given by NT=A/(2dxdy). (Also see reference E. D. Sharp mentioned above.) A reduction of (NR−NT)/NR=13% is obtainable for the equilateral triangular grid compared to the square grid assuming the same grating lobe free scan volume. (NT=4A/λ2 and NR=2A√{square root over (3)}/λ2.)
However there is still a demand for an optimisation of the radiating grid in an array antenna for obtaining a scanning sparse antenna array, which provides a further suppressing of grating lobes within visible space.


A tape end detecting device for detecting the end of the tape enclosed within a cassette includes a light emitting element for generating a light pulse signal, a pair of light receiving element, a light guide means comprising a central prism and a pair of side prisms disposed at both sides of said cassette loaded in position, and a tape end signal generating circuit adopted for generating a tape end detecting signal only when it receives the light pulse signal. Therefore, the tape end detecting device operates to generate an output upon receipt of the light signal, but does not generate when the light coming from outside is received.

The present invention relates to a device for detecting the end of the tape to be adopted to a video or audio cassette tape recorders, generally so called as "tape deck", for playing and/or recording analog or digital signal.
In a conventional cassette tape for use in video or audio cassette tape recorders, the magnetic tape enclosed in a cassette housing has transparent portions at both ends thereof, which are used to detecting the end of the tape by means of a tape end detecting device comprising a pair of light emitting and receiving elements. The light emitting element of the tape end detecting device is usually supported by a holder planted on a circuit board in such manner to be positioned at the same height of the running tape, while the light receiving elements are fitted to a chassis of the tape deck.
In such arrangement, it has been experienced that the holder projecting from the surface of the circuit board tends to be damaged upon building up of the circuit board. In addition, each of the light receiving elements must be connected to a tape end signal generating circuit formed on the circuit board through wirings, thereby resulting in a complex construction and assembling operation.
Furthermore, a conventional tape end detecting device has a disadvantage that it may generate a detecting signal even when the housing of the tape deck is opened for various services including repair, because the receiving element would be energized by the light from outside.

Tape end detecting device for tape decks using center and side prisms for directing light


The temperature in the sealed region of an electric lamp with a foil seal arrangement rises when the lamp is illuminated and the foil will oxidize due to the oxygen contained in the air if inappropriately protected. The oxidation leads to premature cracking in the foil, which renders further use of the lamp impossible. To prevent the foil from cracking due to oxidation and to permit the manufacture of a lamp with a long life, the foil is covered with lead oxide. For coating the foil with lead oxide, use is made of an aqueous solution of a lead compound, which decomposes on heating and produces lead oxide.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electric lamp with a hermetically closed sealing region incorporating a molybdenum foil and to a method for its manufacture.
2. Background of the Disclosure
For the hermetic sealing of the quartz glass bulb of an incandescent lamp or a discharge lamp, it is generally known to use a metal foil seal.
For example, FIG. 1 shows a tungsten halogen lamp. Molybdenum foils 2 are inserted in the sealed pinched base regions 3, which are formed at both ends of the lamp 10. To each of the outside edges of the molybdenum foils 2 is soldered a cap pin 4 as an outer lead which extends outward from the cap or end face 3a of the base region 3. In an envelope 1 is located a filament 5, whose two ends are connected by means of inner leads 6 to the inner edges of the molybdenum foils 2.
FIG. 2 is a larger-scale view of one of the sealed base regions 3 of the lamp 10. From the outer end or face 3a of the sealed base region 3 to the outer edge or end of the molybdenum foil 2, a microscopically small cavity G extends around the cap pin 4. This cavity is formed, in any event, as a result of the different thermal expansion coefficients between the quartz glass from which the envelope 1 is made and the material of the cap pin 4. Therefore, it is not possible to prevent the formation of such cavity G.
Air, including oxygen, passes into the aforementioned cavity G around the cap pin 4. As noted, the cavity extends from the outer end 3a of the sealed base region 3 to the outer end of the molybdenum foil 2. Oxygen speeds up the oxidation of the molybdenum foil 2. This oxidation leads to premature cracking of the molybdenum foil 2, which shortens the life of the lamp 10. Such oxidation in particular becomes a problem, if the sealed base region temperature rises above 350.degree. C.
Illustrated in FIG. 3 is a hitherto adopted solution for eliminating the aforementioned deficiency. The cap pin 4 at the outer end 3a in the sealed base region 3 is smeared with a tacky, vitreous material 15. This tacky, material 15 is formed by glass powder having a low melting point. The vitreous material 15, which is subsequently melted by heating, seals the opening of the cavity G.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,835,439 describes an arrangement of a sealed base region, in which a solution of alkali metal silicate is injected into the cavity G in order to eliminate the aforementioned deficiency.
In the previously described arrangement of the sealed base region, in which the opening of the cavity G is sealed with the low melting point vitreous material 15, it would appear to be disadvantageous that when switching on the lamp, the vitreous material melts, and then solidifies when switching the lamp off. The melting and resolidification of the vitreous material leads to the formation of numerous small cracks, which, when the lamp is switched off, allow the air to penetrate into the cavity G. Thus, the hitherto provided vitreous material has not been sufficiently effective for sealing the cavity G, and consequently, a long lamp life does not result therefrom. It is also difficult, due to the tackiness of the vitreous material 15, to automate the smearing process.
The alkali metal silicate solution described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,835,439 can be relatively easily injected into the cavity G, due to its good flow behavior. However, if the temperature rises above 350.degree. C., as stated, the oxidation prevention obtained is not adequate. Another disadvantage is that it takes a relatively long time for the filled solution to dry and harden.

Electric lamp with foil seal construction and method of producing the same


A propulsion system for a vehicle is provided. The propulsion system includes a first traction drive system and a second traction drive system. The first traction drive system includes a heat engine and a first drive motor. The heat engine supplies energy to the first drive motor to propel the vehicle. The second traction drive system includes a second drive motor and a first energy storage device. The second drive motor both supplies energy to the first energy storage device and receives energy from the first energy storage device. Also provided is a propulsion system for a vehicle that includes the first traction drive system and a propulsion means for supplying energy to a first energy storage device and for receiving energy from the first energy storage device.

1. Technical Field
The invention includes embodiments that relate to a propulsion system. The invention includes embodiments that relate to method of using the propulsion system.
2. Discussion of Art
Some vehicles use electric traction motors to propel the vehicle. These electric traction motors may be connected to an electrical coupling structure referred to as a link that provides the motors with power. Such links may be an electrical bus system. One or more electrical generators on-board the vehicle may be used to provide the power to the link. In certain operating conditions, such as when the vehicle is decelerating or is maintaining speed on a downhill grade, the back-electromotive force (EMF) produced by the electric motors is greater than the voltage provided by the engine-driven alternator. Under such conditions, the electric traction motors cease acting as motors and become generators. This process, known as dynamic braking, is a form of electric braking that is used to reduce wear on the mechanical brake system components of a vehicle. In the case where the vehicle is a locomotive, dynamic braking reduces brake wear on the locomotive and also all of the rail cars of the train. During dynamic braking, one or more resistors dissipate the electric power as heat. In the case where the vehicle is a truck or other medium or heavy duty vehicle using electric drive propulsion, dynamic braking can be used to reduce wear on the mechanical brake system components associated with each individual wheel.
Hybrid propulsion systems have been developed to recover some of the energy that would otherwise be wasted as heat during dynamic braking. The recovery of this otherwise-wasted energy is regenerative braking. Hybrid propulsion systems can use two different energy sources: a heat engine and an energy storage unit. The heat engine may burn fuel to produce mechanical work—an internal combustion engine, a turbine engine, and a diesel engine are examples. The energy storage unit may include an electrically re-chargeable battery, an ultracapacitor, or a flywheel having a high power density.
Conventionally, a hybrid propulsion system includes an on-board heat engine coupled to an alternator that converts the mechanical output power of the engine into an alternating current (AC) electrical power. A rectifier converts the AC output of the alternator into a direct current (DC). A portion of the DC output of the rectifier may charge an energy storage unit, and a remaining DC output portion drives an electrical motor, which in turn propels the vehicle.
During vehicle acceleration, the energy storage unit may discharge to augment electrical power output of the engine-alternator, and may provide boosted power levels for a period of time. During vehicle braking, the energy storage unit re-charges to regeneratively capture a portion of the energy otherwise-wasted during braking.
Heavy duty hybrid propulsion systems may require massive energy storage devices. Due to the simultaneous power and energy requirements, conventional heavy duty hybrid propulsion system may need parallel operation of many smaller energy storage units that are normally configured as several parallel strings of a large number of series-connected cells. Power sharing within the parallel energy storage units may be problematic.
It may be desirable to have a propulsion system with properties and characteristics that differ from those properties and characteristics of currently available propulsion systems. It may be desirable to have a propulsion system that implements a method that differs from those methods currently available.


A crossfire tube for attachment between casing bosses of combustors includes a bellows assembly having a bellows with opposite cylindrical ends welded to annular flanges. The annular flanges include a bolt circle for securing the flanges to the combustor bosses. The flanges bear against a gasket for sealing against inserts welded to the casing bosses for retrofit in the sealing assembly to combustors or to seats where the inserts and bosses are formed integrally during original equipment manufacture. A telescoping cylindrical sleeve surrounds the bellows to protect from falling foreign object damage.

The present invention relates to a crossfire tube assembly for gas turbines and particularly relates to a crossfire tube assembly having a gasket/bellows combination for air tight sealing of the crossfire tube assembly.
As well known, combustors in stationary land based gas turbines are interconnected by crossfire tubes. These crossfire tubes enable initial ignition of a combustor adjacent to an ignited combustor thereby eliminating the need for separate ignition, and corresponding elements for enabling separate ignition, from each combustor. Crossfire tubes are well known in the gas turbine environment. See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,249,372 and 6,606,865. In the system disclosed in the latter patent, a bellows with annular rings at opposite ends is arranged between combustor flanges. While those bellows assemblies have performed and have demonstrated significant improvement over prior crossfire tube assemblies, the sealing capability of prior crossfire tube assemblies of this type has been brought into question. Absent an air tight seal, hot gases escaping from the crossfire tubes may damage adjacent parts of the turbine. Accordingly there has been demonstrated a need for an improved sealing system for a crossfire tube assembly whereby the crossfire tube assembly is completely airtight with effective thermal disassociation between the hot gases flowing through the crossfire tube assembly and adjacent components of the turbine.

Crossfire tube assembly for gas turbines


A computer-implemented method of managing a machinery monitoring system is provided. The method includes relating an asset output to at least one asset input, generating at least one rule based on the relation, selecting at least one of live asset data, historical asset data, user-supplied asset data, and third party supplied asset data to test the at least one rule, testing the at least one rule incrementally using the selected asset data, and monitoring the output of the at least one rule at each increment.

This invention relates generally to monitoring systems, and more particularly to methods and systems for monitoring and diagnosing machinery.
At least some known monitoring systems, monitor machine drivers, for example, motors and turbines, or machine driven components, such as, pumps, compressors, and fans. Other known monitoring systems monitor process parameters of a process, for example, piping systems. Such monitoring systems may operate independent of, or may be integrated through, a distributed control system (DCS). The DCS may permit a user to create various combinations of parameters to perform analysis functions. However, within known distributed control systems, such combinations and analysis functions are specific to the DCS platform they are executing on, and as such, are generally not usable to monitor a plurality of machines or on other DCS systems without significant editing of software code.
Currently, software rules used to direct receipt, analysis and output of parameters that are measured for monitoring machinery are custom coded for each system on which they are operating. To operate properly, the rules may need to be set up in a very specific manner. Accordingly, system setup may take an excessive amount of service time to set-up the rules. In addition, optimizing rules to obtain accurate results in diagnosing machine malfunctions may also be time consuming, as no mechanism may exist that enables rules from one system to be copied or moved to another system. For example, a complex set of rules that diagnose a set of malfunctions on a particular machine type may have to be created by hand within on each system in which it is used, which may be a complicated and costly process. In addition, no known methods are available to validate the rules in a testing environment prior to putting the rules into service. Also, the software rules capturing the machine troubleshooting, analysis, and diagnosis knowledge of application engineers in a robust list of instructions may be a marketable intellectual property for the application engineers and for their employer. However, only very basic security features may be incorporated to protect this intellectual property.

Methods and systems for monitoring and diagnosing machinery by incremently testing a rule


Systems for minimally invasive disc augmentation include an anulus augmentation component and a nucleus augmentation component. Both are suited for minimally invasive deployment. The nucleus augmentation component restores disc height and/or replaces missing nucleus pulposus. The anulus augmentation component shields weakened regions of the anulus fibrosis and/or resists escape of natural nucleus pulposus and/or the nucleus augmentation component. Methods and deployment devices are also disclosed. Methods of closing a defect in an anulus fibrosus of an intervertebral disc using a barrier are also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the surgical treatment of intervertebral discs in the lumbar, cervical, or thoracic spine that have suffered from tears in the anulus fibrosis, herniation of the nucleus pulposus and/or significant disc height loss.
2. Description of the Related Art
The disc performs the important role of absorbing mechanical loads while allowing for constrained flexibility of the spine. The disc is composed of a soft, central nucleus pulposus (NP) surrounded by a tough, woven anulus fibrosis (AF). Herniation is a result of a weakening in the AF. Symptomatic herniations occur when weakness in the AF allows the NP to bulge or leak posteriorly toward the spinal cord and major nerve roots. The most common resulting symptoms are pain radiating along a compressed nerve and low back pain, both of which can be crippling for the patient. The significance of this problem is increased by the low average age of diagnosis, with over 80% of patients in the U.S. being under 59.
Systems and methods for repairing tears in soft tissues are known in the art. Also, disclosed in the art are methods of augmenting the intervertebral disc. However, the efficacious treatment of intervertebral discs has not been adequately addressed using the systems and methods in the art. Accordingly, there still remains a need for devices and methods to treat intervertebral discs that have been compromised, including, but not limited to, discs that have suffered from tears in the anulus fibrosis, herniation of the nucleus pulposus and/or significant disc height loss.

Method of rehabilitating an anulus fibrosus


A system implementing parallel memory error detection and correction divides data having a word length of K bits into multiple N-bit portions. The system has a separate error processing subsystem for each of the N-bit portions, and utilizes each error processing subsystem to process the associated N-bit portion of the K-bit input data. During memory write operations, each error processing subsystem generates parity information for the N-bit data, and writes the N-bit data and parity information into a separate memory array that corresponds to the error processing subsystem. During memory read operations, each error processing subsystem reads N-bits of data and the associated parity information. If, based on the parity information, an error is detected from the N-bit data, the error processing subsystem attempts to correct the error. The corrected N-bit data from each of the error processing subsystems are combined to reproduce the K-bit word.

A memory device can be an integrated circuit (also known as a chip or a microchip) that includes numerous memory cells. When the size of a cell reaches nanometer scale, errors become essentially unavoidable. The errors can include permanent errors or soft errors. The permanent errors can be caused by defects. The defects can be quickly and consistently screened during testing. The defects can be replaced by good memory elements using standard memory redundancy technology.
The errors in memory systems can include soft errors caused by ionizing radiation, voltage glitches, pattern sensitive bits, or read/write error probability of memory bits. The errors can be caused by unreliable data paths between the memory bits and the read sensing circuits or write driver circuits. In the case of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and statistic random access memory (SRAM) technologies, soft errors caused by ionizing particles can cause single bit error events, which oftentimes cannot be screened by normal testing. In the case of magnetic random access memory (MRAM) technology, including spin-transfer torque random access memory (STT-RAM) technology, the write and read error rates of each memory bit may be high enough where one in 1.0e9 events may be erroneous.

Parallel memory error detection and correction


A lapping system for eliminating crowning in a surface to be lapped includes a first lapping carrier adapted to carry a first workpiece and a second lapping carrier adapted to carry a second workpiece. A stabilizer assembly interconnects the first and second lapping carriers in a mutually stabilizing arrangement that stabilizes the first and second workpieces against rotation. The stabilizer assembly includes first and second stabilizer arms extending between the first lapping carrier and the second lapping carrier. Each lapping carrier and an associated stabilizer arm collectively defines a fixture having a carrier portion and a stabilizer portion, and which may be generally T-shaped. One end of each stabilizer arm is cantilevered from its associated lapping carrier, while the free end of each stabilizer arm is pivotally mounted to the opposite lapping carrier. Downward lapping forces are applied independently to each lapping carrier. In an alternative embodiment, the stabilizer arm extending from the lapping carrier is mounted to an anchor that is not another lapping carrier.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the manufacture of magnetic heads used in magnetic storage devices such as disk drives and tape drives. More particularly, the invention is directed to an improved lapping apparatus that reduces or eliminates rocking motion during the lapping of magnetic head wafers comprising multi-slider row bars.
2. Description of the Prior Art
By way of background, the conventional fixturing of a magnetic head wafer workpiece for lapping can lead to an undesirable condition known as crowning. Crowning occurs when the row bar surface being lapped is allowed to rock during lapping, thus creating unwanted facets. FIGS. 1–4 (not to scale) are illustrative. These figures show a workpiece 2 secured in a lapping carrier 4 (sometimes referred to as a "magazine") that is in turn slidably mounted in a reference fixture 6 (sometimes referred to as a "nest"). The workpiece 2 is assumed to comprise a matrix of individual slider units arranged in a plurality of row bars. In FIG. 1, the row bars extend in a direction that is perpendicular to the plane of the figure. In FIG. 2, the row bars extend in a horizontal direction.
The reference fixture 6 has a set of support pads 8 on the bottom thereof that rest on the surface of a lapping element 10. This arrangement allows the reference fixture 6 and the lapping carrier 4 to move up and down, and thereby follow the lapping element's surface contour. The reference fixture 6 includes a vertically-walled aperture 12 that slideably receives the lapping carrier 4. In order to properly orient the workpiece 2 relative to the surface of the lapping element 10, a lateral force "LF" is applied to the lapping carrier 4 such that it is urged against positioning pads 14 extending from one of the walls of the aperture 12. The pads 14 serve as vertical reference surfaces for the lapping carrier 4. As shown in FIG. 1, there are three positioning pads 14 extending from the left vertical wall of the aperture 12. The lateral force LF is applied by way of a plunger actuator 15 or other force-imparting element (e.g., a spring). A downward force "DF" is also applied to the lapping carrier 4 to urge the lapping face of the lowermost row bar against the lapping element 10. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 2A, the downward force DF is applied using transducers 16 that engage a loading frame 17 placed over the lapping carrier 4. To ensure that no lateral forces are imparted to the lapping carrier 4, the transducers 16 have spring-loaded ball elements 18 that engage polished surfaces 19 on the loading frame 17. FIG. 2 also shows the use of additional positioning pads 14 on the ends of the lapping carrier 4.
FIG. 1 is representative of ideal conditions wherein the plunger 15 at all times urges the lapping carrier 4 against the pads 14. In this position, the workpiece lapping face 18 maintains a constant angle relative to the lapping element 10. Unfortunately, as shown in FIG. 4, frictional forces imparted by the lapping element 10 to the workpiece 2 can overcome the lateral force LF and cause the lapping carrier 4 to pivot away from its home position against the pads 14. This produces the crowning effect referred to above.
In the fixture of FIGS. 1–4, crowning can be corrected by increasing the lateral force LF imparted to the lapping carrier 4 by the plunger 15. The problem with this standard technique for controlling crowning is that friction is increased between the lapping carrier 4 and the pads 14. This increased friction opposes the downward force DF applied to the lapping carrier 4 by the transducers 16, and can cause the lapping carrier to rotate about an axis that is perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 2, as shown by the arrows "R." This will result in non-uniform lapping across the row bar being lapped.
It is to improvements in the lapping of magnetic head wafer modules that the present invention is directed. In particular, what is needed is a lapping system design that effectively controls crowning without increasing the downward forces required to produce a required lapping force or introducing non-uniform lapping effects.

Lapping system with mutually stabilized lapping carriers

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention provides an MIM capacitor using a high-k dielectric film preventing degradation of breakdown field strength of the MIM capacitor and suppressing the increase of the leakage current. The MIM capacitor comprises a first metal interconnect, a fabricated capacitance film, a fabricated upper electrode, and a third metal interconnect. The MIM capacitor is realized by forming an interlayer dielectric film comprising silicon oxide so as to cover the first metal interconnect, then forming a first opening in the interlayer dielectric film to a region corresponding to a via hole layer in the interlayer dielectric film just above the first metal interconnect so as not to expose the upper surface of the first metal interconnect, then forming a second opening to the inside of the first opening so as to expose the surface of the first metal interconnect and then forming a capacitance film and a third metal interconnect.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device having a high performance capacitor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In ICs (Integrated circuits) handling analog signals, passive devices such as capacitance elements, resistance elements, and inductance elements are important constituent elements for integrated circuits. Since it has been difficult to build in such passive devices in IC chips, the passive devices have been mounted as external parts on mounting boards. However, in view of requirement for increase in the operation speed and space saving of systems in recent years, attempts for incorporating such passive devices to the inside of IC chips have been made vigorously.
An MIM (Metal-Insulator-Metal) capacitor of sandwiching a dielectric film between metal electrodes has recently attracted attention as a method of forming a capacitor in the IC chip. This has a feature suitable for the use for high frequency operation due to less coupling resistance since the upper and lower electrodes can be formed with metal interconnects of low sheet resistance and low coupling resistance since it can be formed in a multilevel interconnect layer. However, since silicon oxide having a specific dielectric constant of 3.9 or silicon nitride having a specific dielectric constant of 7.0 has been mainly used so far as a capacitance dielectric film, a large area is necessary in a case of forming a capacitor of large capacitance to result in a problem of increasing the chip area and increasing the chip cost. As a method capable of overcoming the problem, MIM capacitors using a high-k film (dielectric film of high dielectric constant) have been noted in recent years.
The feature and the problem of the MIM capacitor using the high-k film are to be described with reference to an existent example described in JP-A-2004-214304 (Patent Document 1) shown in FIG. 2.
As shown in FIG. 2, after forming a first interlayer dielectric film 300 comprising silicon oxide from tetraethoxy silane as the starting material by using a plasma CVD method on a substrate in which a semiconductor device is formed, an opening is formed to the first interlayer dielectric film 300, and the opening was filled with a conductive plug 250 comprising tungsten. Then, after forming a second interlayer dielectric film 301 comprising silicon oxide of 1 μm thickness from tetraethoxy silane as a starting material by using a plasma CVD method, an opening was formed to a desired region to expose the conductive plug 250. Then, after forming titanium nitride of 50 nm film thickness, a lower electrode 200 comprising titanium nitride was left only in the region inside the opening formed in the second interlayer dielectric film 301 by using a lithographic method, and a dry etching method. Then, after forming a first capacitance film 400 comprising an HfAlO film (hafnium oxide film containing aluminum) of 20 nm thickness by using an ALD method (Atomic layer Deposition method), a titanium nitride film of 50 nm thickness was formed, and an upper electrode 201 was formed so as to cover the opening formed in the second interlayer dielectric film 301 by a lithographic method and a dry etching method. By the steps described above, an MIM capacitor comprising the lower electrode 200, the first capacitance film 400, and the upper electrode 201 can be formed. The MIM capacitor formed according to the steps described above is to be referred to as Existent Example 1 (refer to Patent Document 1).
In the MIM capacitor according to Conventional Example 1, since the HfAlO film having a specific dielectric constant of about 20 is used as a capacitance film, a capacitor of a large capacitance can be formed in a small area and the problem involved in the MIM capacitor using silicon oxide or silicon nitride as the capacitance film can be overcome.
However, the MIM capacitor constituted as described above has a drawback that a small capacitance cannot be formed easily at a high accuracy.
As a method of overcoming the problem, it has been proposed a method of using a capacitance film of low capacitance density for a capacitor requiring accuracy for the capacitance. Since the variation of the capacitance caused by the fabrication fluctuation can be restricted in a case where the capacitance density is low, even a capacitor of a small size can be formed at a high accuracy with less variation. An existent example of a step of forming such an MIM capacitor is to be described with reference to FIG. 3 (JP-A-2004-152796 (Patent Document 2)).
As shown in FIG. 3, after forming a first interlayer dielectric film 300 by using a plasma CVD method from tetraethoxy silane as a starting material on a substrate formed with a semiconductor device, and after forming titanium nitride of 50 nm film thickness and silicon nitride of 20 nm film thickness, a first fabricated capacitance film 401 comprising silicon nitride of 20 nm film thickness was formed only to a desired region by using a lithographic method and a dry etching method. Then, after forming HfAlO of 20 nm film thickness and titanium nitride of 50 nm film thickness successively, a first lower electrode 202 and a second lower electrode 203 comprising titanium nitride, a first fabricated capacitance film 401 comprising silicon nitride, a second fabricated capacitance film 402 and a third fabricated capacitance film 403 comprising HfAlO, and a first upper electrode 204 and a second upper electrode 205 comprising titanium nitride were formed by the combination of a lithographic method and a dry etching method. Then, after forming a second interlayer dielectric film 301 comprising silicon oxide of 1 μm thickness by using a plasma CVD method and after planarizing the same by a chemical-mechanical polishing method and after forming openings in the second interlayer electric film 301 so as to expose the first upper electrode 204 and the second upper electrode 205, a tungsten film was formed so as to fill the openings by using a sputtering method and a CVD method, and the tungsten film in the region other than the openings was removed by using chemical-mechanical polishing to form a first conductive plug 251 and a second conductor plug 252. Then, an aluminum film of 500 nm thickness was formed by a sputtering method and a metal interconnect 206 connected with the first conductive plug and a metal interconnect 207 connected with the second conductive plug were formed by using a lithographic method and a dry etching method. By the steps described above, a semiconductor device having an MIM capacitor comprising the first lower electrode 202, the first fabricated capacitance film 401, the fabricated third capacitance film 403, and the first upper electrode 204 (referred to as type A) and an MIM capacitor comprising the second lower electrode 203, the second fabricated capacitance film 402, and the second upper electrode 205 (referred to as type B) can be formed. The MIN capacitor formed in accordance with the steps described above is referred to as Conventional Example 2 (refer to Patent Document 2)
The MIM capacitor according to Conventional Example 2 is identical with Conventional Example 1 in that the fabrication fluctuation for the upper electrode or the lower electrode results in the variation of capacitance. However, according to Conventional Example 2, since capacitors of different capacitance densities can be formed simultaneously, high capacitance density and high capacitance accuracy can be satisfied together by using a capacitor of high capacitance density for the capacitor of large capacitance (type B capacitor) and using a capacitor of high capacitance accuracy (type A capacitor) in a case of intending to suppress the capacitance variation with a small area.

Manufacturing method of semiconductor device


A speckle reduction device includes: a beam-shaping lens to shape at least one laser beam emitted from at least one light source, and to transmit the shaped laser beam to a panel; and a vibration unit to vibrate the beam-shaping lens in directions of two or more vibration axes such that a direction of the laser beam to be transmitted to the panel is changed to forms a plurality of different patterns.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and do not constitute prior art.
A laser is widely used in projection display devices due to the following advantages: the laser has a wide color reproduction range, so that the laser can express an image close to a natural color; the laser allows an optical system to be easily designed; and the laser is excellent in light emission efficiency.
The inventor(s) has noted that due to the high coherence of laser, speckles, which are small twinkling particles, occur when laser beams are projected onto an uneven screen surface, thereby deteriorating image quality.
The inventor(s) has noted that in order to reduce the occurrence of speckles, there has been proposed a method of reducing the occurrence of speckles by arbitrarily changing phases of laser beams from respective R, G, and B laser light sources so as to reduce the coherence of laser beams.
However, in order to arbitrarily change the phases of laser beams, the inventor(s) has noted that it is necessary to additionally provide a separate device, such as a diffuser sheet, on a laser beam line. Thus, costs are increased, the size of the display device is increased, the structure of the display device is complicated, and the optical efficiency of the display device is lowered.
In addition, the inventor(s) has noted that there is a limitation in that speckle occurrence reduction efficiency falls short of expectations.

Speckle reduction device and method of reducing speckle


The present invention relates to a method for making shaped structures with internally coated cavities with an inside diameter in the nanometer to micrometer range and the shaped structure obtained thereby.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for making shaped structures with internally coated cavities with an inside diameter in the nanometer to micrometer range and shaped structures made thereby.
2. Discussion of the Background
Tubes having an internal diameter of less than 0.1 mm are referred to as hollow fibers, mesotubes, or nanotubes. These hollow fibers with small inside diameters have been used for separation (e.g., medical dialysis), for gas separation, or for osmosis of aqueous systems (e.g., water conditioning). A discussion of the utility of these fibers may be found in Kirk Othmer, Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 4th Edition, Vol. 13, pp. 312–313. The fiber material is usually a porous or nonporous polymer, which act as a semipermeable membrane. In addition, the hollow fibers used for separation purposes typically have a surface area of 100 cm2 per cm3 of volume and an inside diameter of 75 μm to 1 mm.
Hollow fibers are also used in microelectronics. For this purpose, superconducting fibers are used, which have a diameter of about 60 μm are made from superconducting materials by filling polymeric hollow fibers with a compound that acquires superconducting properties after thermal decomposition of the polymer (J. C. W. Chien, H. Ringsdorf et al., Adv. Mater., 2 (1990), p. 305).
Extrusion-spinning methods are usually employed to obtain hollow fibers with an inside diameter of approximately 2 μm; several such extrusion-spinning methods are described in Kirk Othmer, Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 4th Edition, Vol. 13, pp. 317–322. However, extrusion-spinning methods are limited in that they are unable to provide hollow fibers with an inside diameter of less than 2 μm.
Very thin fibers can be made by electrostatic spinning techniques; however, this technique is limited in that the resultant fibers do not have cavities. In this case, polymer melts or polymer solutions are extruded in an electric field through cannulas at low pressure. The principles of this technique can be found in European Patent 0005035, European Patent 0095940, U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,789 or International Patent WO 91/01695. Although the electrostatic spinning technique can produce massive fibers with diameters of 10 to 3000 nm, hollow fibers cannot be produced with this technique.
Heretofore, hollow fibers with a very small inside diameter have been obtained only through electrochemical synthesis, such as described in L. A. Chemozantonskii (Chem. Phys. Lett. 297, 257 (1998)), by the methods of supramolecular chemistry (S. Demoustier-Champagne et al., Europ. Polymer J. 34, 1767 (1998)), or with self-organizing membranes as templates (E. Evans et al., Science, Vol. 273, 1996, pp. 933–995). Also, carbon hollow fibers based on fullerene chemistry (carbon nanotubes) with single-walled and multi-walled structures of an individually coiled graphite layer (layer of carbon hexagons condensed with one another on all sides) or concentrically disposed graphite cylinders are described in "Fullerenes and related structures," Editor A. Hirsch, Springer Verlag 1999, pp. 189–234, or N. Grobert, Nachr. Chem. Tech. Lab., 47 (1999), 768–776.
However, these methods are severely limited, as they are only applicable to special materials and cannot be used for making hollow fibers that are mechanically or chemically stable.
For many applications, as in the separation of gases, it is useful to use hollow fibers with small outside and/or inside diameters, made from various materials suitable for the respective application. In particular, it is especially desired that the materials be resistant to thermal, mechanical, and chemical stresses. In certain cases the hollow fiber material must have a porous structure. In addition, they may be selected from electrical conductors or insulators and can contain polymers, inorganic substances or metals. German Patent 1023456.9 provides a suitable hollow fiber with an inside diameter of 10 nm to 50 μm, obtained from technically usable materials such as polymers, inorganic substances or even metals, together with a method for production thereof. The hollow fibers described in German Patent 1023456.9 preferably have inside diameters of 50 nm to 20 μm, more preferably 100 m to 5 μm, even more preferably 100 nm to 2 μm, or 100 run to 1 μm, 500 nm to 1 μm, 10 nm to 1 μm or 100 nm to 500 nm.
The length of the hollow fibers is dictated by the intended use and usually ranges from 50 μm up to several mm or cm. The wall thickness, or in other words the thickness of the outer walls of the hollow fibers, is variable, and usually ranges from 10 to 5000 nm, preferably 10 to 1000 nm, particularly preferably 10 to 250 nm.
In addition to the very small inside diameters, hollow fibers according to German Patent 1023456.9 exhibit a series of characteristics that make them suitable for use in the fields of medicine, electronics, catalysis, chemical analysis, gas separation, osmosis or optics. For example, the outer walls of the hollow fibers can be composed of diverse materials, such as polymers, metals or metal-containing inorganic compounds. The outer walls may be coated with these materials. Accordingly, the hollow fibers may e composed completely of these materials or can be provided with a plurality of layers of the same or different materials. Because of the very small inside diameter, the surface-to-volume ratio of the hollow fibers is very large.
The method for making hollow fibers according to German Patent 1023456.9 can be performed by providing a fiber of a first decomposable material with at least one coating of at least one further material and then decomposing the first material, with the proviso that the resulting hollow fiber has an inside diameter of 10 nm to 50 μm. In an alternative version of the method according to German Patent 1023456.9, a fiber of a first, decomposable material is first coated. This fiber can comprise a material that can be decomposed by thermal, chemical, radiochemical, physical, biological, plasma or ultrasonic means or by extraction with a solvent. Subsequently, the electrostatic spinning technique can be used for making these fibers. Details on the electrostatic spinning technique can be found, for example, in D. H. Reneker and I. Chun, Nanotechn. 7, 216 (1996). A schematic diagram of an electrostatic spinning apparatus is illustrated in FIG. 1.
However, according to the teaching of German Patent 1023456.9, it is necessary to build up the individual layers of the hollow fibers in successive process steps in order to obtain multi-layer hollow fibers. This leads to considerable complexity in both apparatus and process engineering. For many applications, such as in catalysis, it would be desirable to use shaped structures with internally coated cavities, especially internally coated hollow fibers that have small outside and/or inside diameters, that are obtained from materials appropriate for the respective intended use, and that can be made inexpensively by simple techniques.

Method for making shaped structures with internally coated cavities

TransMIT Gesellschaft fuer Technologietransfer mbH