A polyamide precursor of a polybenzazole polymer is prepared by reacting an aromatic bis(alkenyl)ester with a ring forming, aromatic diamine. The precursor can be prepared in an organic solvent for the monomers to form a soluble polyamide precursor which can be subsequently cyclocondensed to form a PBX polymer. A polybenzoxazole precursor is prepared by the reaction of a bis(alkenyl)ester and a bis(ortho-hydroxyamine). A polybenzazole polymer is easily prepared by heating the polyamide, PBX precursor.

This invention relates to a method for preparing polyamide precursors and poly(amide/benzazole) intermediates for benzazole polymers, to a method for preparing polybenzazole polymers; and to the polybenzazole polymer precursors, poly(amide/benzazole) intermediates and the resulting polybenzazole polymers.
Polymeric materials which are relatively easy to process and useful in ultra high temperature applications such as 300.degree. C. to 400.degree. C. are of interest for preparing films, coatings, fibers, electronic components and composites. Depending on the specific end-use application, the polymers should exhibit one or more of the following properties: mechanical integrity, low moisture absorption, thermo-oxidative stability, thermal stability, solvent resistance, hydrolytic stability, resistance to highly acidic or basic solutions, a low coefficient of thermal expansion and a low dielectric constant. For example, in the electronics industry, it is generally desirable for the material to exhibit a relatively low dielectric constant, high thermo-oxidative stability, good solvent resistance, low moisture uptake and a low coefficient of thermal expansion.
In addition to the mentioned physical properties, the processability of the materials is an important property. For example, in the preparation of electronic components such as wafers and flexible circuit boards, the electronic component is often coated with an insulative or protective coating. To effectively coat the component, the electrically effectively coat the component, the electrically insulative or protective coating is commonly applied from solution and the solvent evaporated.
Currently, polyimide resins are one class of materials which are commonly employed for preparing high strength films, fibers, composites, and coatings, including insulative or protective coatings in the electronics industry. However, polyimide resins suffer from water absorption and hydrolysis which can lead to circuit corrosion and migration of metal ions into the dielectric polyimide layer.
Polybenzazoles (PBX) resins such as polybenzoxazole (PBO), polybenzothiazole (PBT) and polybenzimidazole (PBI) resins exhibit relatively better thermo-oxidative stabilities than polyimides and have improved resistance to water absorption and hydrolysis.
A common method for preparing PBX polymers comprises polymerizing the monomers, commonly an ortho substituted diamine such as bis(ortho-hydroxyamine), bis(ortho-thioloamine) or a tetraamine with an aromatic diacid chloride, dicarboxylic acid or alkyl or aryl diester in a non-oxidizing acid liquid reaction medium, preferably polyphosphoric acid or methanesulfonic acid. The monomers are completely reacted and directly converted to the final PBX polymer under a non-oxidizing atmosphere with vigorous mixing and high shear. The water formed during the reaction, which stops or impedes the polymerization reaction, is compensated by the dehydrating nature of the acid. While the polymer forms a solution in the acid (commonly called a "dope"); it is typically extremely viscous and flows only at elevated temperatures.
The PBX materials can be spun into fibers or extruded into films from their acidic solutions. For example, fibers and films can be directly formed from the polymerization solution ("dope") by extruding or spinning with subsequent removal of the acid solvent. However, the corrosive nature of the acid solvent renders the PBX polymers unsuitable for certain end use applications such as the preparation of electronic components. The polymer can be isolated by evaporation of the solvent or polymer precipitation from the dope and the polymer redissolved in another solvent. While some PBX polymers are soluble in cresol, the preferred solvents are again non-oxidizing acids, including polyphosphoric acid, methanesulfonic acid or sulfuric acid. Therefore, the problems associated with the corrosive nature of the acid solvent are not alleviated. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,533,693; 4,608,427; 4,772,678; and 4,847,530.
There are a number of other methods for preparing PBO polymers. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,316,213 teaches preparing aromatic polyamides and aromatic polyoxazoles including PBO polymers by the reaction of a diamine having a structural formula: ##STR1## wherein X is for example hydrogen or alkyl and R is an aromatic tetravalent radical with a diphenyl ester of a dicarboxylic acid having the formula: ##STR2## wherein R.sup.1 is arylene and Y is aryloxy, preferably phenoxy to form a prepolymer such as represented by the formula: ##STR3## Unfortunately, the prepared prepolymer precipitates from solution at relatively low inherent viscosities or degrees of polymerization (i.e., relatively low molecular weights). To process the prepolymer it is melted into desired shape and then converted to the desired PBO polymer. U.S. Pat. No. 3,449,296 teaches the reaction of the same diamine compounds with a diacid halide.
Other techniques for preparing PBO materials from a diamine and a dicarboxylic acid or an acid halide or ester thereof are also described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,939,215; 3,408,336; and 4,452,972.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,551,389 teaches a method for preparing aromatic polybenzimidazoles (PBI) by the reaction of an aromatic tetraamine with a diphenyl ester of an aromatic dicarboxylic acid, a diphenyl ester of a heterocyclic dicarboxylic acid or an anhydride of an aromatic dicarboxylic acid. See also U.S. Pat. No. 3,509,108. Again, the described method makes PBI materials which are solid and insoluble in most common organic solvents.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,332,883 teaches preparing a polyoxazole precursor of an olefinic unsaturated monoepoxide on a hydroxy group containing the polycondensation product of an aromatic and/or heterocyclic dihydroxy diamino compound in a dicarboxylic acid chloride or ester. The product is a photosensitive PBO precursor. The prepolymers are prepared by reacting the diamine with an ester or chloride of a dicarboxylic acid at lower than ambient temperatures, e.g., -5.degree. C. to -20.degree. C. in an organic solvent. The resulting prepolymer is soluble in the solvent as a viscous solution, and is precipitated from solution and then reacted with an epoxy such as a glycidylmethacrylate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,153 discloses a method for producing a prepolymer of an aromatic polybenzothiazole (PBT) or polythiazole from an aromatic diaminodithio compound salt in a dicarboxylic acid derivative in the presence of a phosphoric acid compound. The dicarboxylic acid derivatives include those having carboxylic acid groups substituted as follows: ##STR4## wherein Ar is an aromatic ring. The reaction is conducted in the presence of a polyphosphoric acid compound at a controlled temperature such that a prepolymer having a large polymerization degree can be obtained without ring closure. Unfortunately, polyphosphoric acid and its attendant disadvantages are not eliminated in the described method.
In view of the stated deficiencies of the prior art, it remains desirable to provide a method to prepare PBX polymers and oligomers or precursors thereof which are more easily processed as a non-corrosive solution while retaining the excellent physical and chemical properties of the resulting polymer.

Method for the preparation of amide oligomers and polybenzazole polymers therefrom


A tuning fork-controlled gyro includes two legs and a base part, one end of each leg being connected with the base part and the legs being freely vibratable and provided with an electrode pattern comprising drive electrodes for generating a vibration in the legs of the tuning fork either in the plane of the tuning fork or out of the plane of the tuning fork and sensing electrodes for sensing vibrations occurring in the legs of the tuning fork in a plane perpendicular to the plane in which the vibration was generated. The legs and the base part are made of a single piezoelectric piece, the electrodes for driving and sensing are separated and are applied on one of the legs of the tuning fork and the sensing electrodes comprise first sensing electrodes for sensing vibrations out of the plane of the tuning fork or in the plane of the tuning fork respectively and second sensing electrodes for sensing vibrations in the plane of the tuning fork or out of the plane for regulating the in-plane or out-of-plane driving of the tuning fork.

It is already known to utilize vibrating masses as sensor elements for the gyros. These masses have most recently been constructed from quartz, which simplifies driving and sensing since quartz is piezoelectric. This also increases the possibility for constructing a robust gyro with high G numbers since the sensor can be made small. An example of such a sensor element is described in SE 89 00 666-2.
The base of this sensor element is firmly clamped, whereas the legs of the tuning fork can freely vibrate in two planes which are at right angles with respect to one another.
A mechanical vibration is generated piezoelectrically in one plane by means of drive electrodes. Vibrations are also produced, in a plane which is at right angles to the plane in which the drive electrodes generate vibration, through Coriolis forces which act on the sensor element when it is subjected to rotation around its longitudinal axis. These vibrations produced can be piezoelectrically sensed by means of sensor electrodes.
The legs of the sensor element have a transition part in connection to its base and an attachment part, which parts are rigid and do not participate in the vibration in any significant way. The drive and sensor electrodes cover significant parts of the vibrateable ends of the legs. Since the entire sensor element is integrally constructed of a piezoelectric material, for example quartz, all the material in the legs apart from the rigid transition part and mounting part will participate in the buildup of the respective sensing of the vibrations. This provides a gyro which withstands heavy environmental stresses, especially high acceleration stresses, and which has a small external volume. Due to weak currents and relatively high interference levels, however, it has been difficult to meet the necessary requirements for drift and zero signal.
Due to imperfections in production, there will always be a certain mechanical coupling between the two directions of vibration. This leads to an output signal being present from the sensor electrodes even if the sensor is not subjected to any rotation. Such "crosstalk" is undesired since it worsens the performance of the gyro. One way of eliminating this coupling between the two directions of vibration is described in the abovementioned which is namely to balance one of the legs in such a manner that the legs have identical vibration characteristics. This balancing can be done by attaching or removing a mass from suitably selected places on the legs. Even if balancing the masses of the legs is necessary for other reasons, it is desirable to be able to adjust the characteristics of the sensor element in another way since an adjustment of the characteristics of the sensor element by means of such masses is troublesome and increases the costs of sensor element production.
In the sensor element described in SE 89 00 666-2, both legs are utilized both for driving and sensing which implies that the two electrode sets must share the space on the legs. The electrodes must be optimized for the available space, and the sensor electrodes are preferably placed close to the transition between base and leg, while the drive electrodes are placed further out on the legs.
Such a placement of the electrodes presents problems, however, due to the fact that the weak currents which are generated on sensing can easily be affected via stray capacitances due to the high electrical voltages of the driving. It has therefore been difficult to achieve the desired drift and zero signal requirements with the type of electrode configurations described in the above patent.
There is a requirement for small inexpensive gyros which have a high G number. The disadvantages with small dimensions in a quartz sensor are, however, that very small output signals are obtained which are easily disturbed by external factors.
As the accuracy requirements increase relating to drift and zero signal, effects such as stray capacitances and unevenly etched geometry will acquire an increased negative significance. The capacitance arising between the drive electrodes, Co, also entails a drift (caused by, for example, temperature variations) since it frequently cannot be completely compensated.

Electrode pattern intended for tuning fork-controlled gyro


It is intended to provide a coating fat composition for a food to be cooked and a process for producing a cooked food whereby a fried-like food can be obtained by a simple cooking procedure without frying in oil and thus problems accompanying the frying procedure such as worsening of the working environment and waste oil disposal can be solved. That is, the present invention provides a fat composition for coating a food to be cooked which comprises a fat and an agent for reducing the contact angle of the resulting fat composition to 0.7-times or less the contact angle of a fat having nearly the same slip melting point as the composition, wherein the contact angle is measured at an ambient temperature (in the case of the composition being liquid at ambient temperature) or at a temperature 10° C. higher than the slip melting point (in the case of the composition being semi-solid or solid at ambient temperature); and a process of producing a fried-like food which comprises coating the surface of a food with the fat composition for coating a food to be cooked and then subjecting the food to radiation heating or superheated steam heating.

Fried foods are typically produced by coating a food material with a batter liquid prepared by dissolving, dispersing or emulsifying flour, starch, fat, a stabilizer, and the like in water, rolling the coated food material in bread crumbs, and then frying it in a frying oil (at about/approx 170 to 180° C.).
Fried foods also include oven cooking-type fried foods, which are produced by pre-frying a food in an oil heated to a high temperature and then freezing it and are intended to be heated with an oven or the like before eating it. For oven cooking-type fried foods, JP-A 11-137199 discloses a production process of a fried food comprising covering the coating surface of a food fried in oil with a liquid oil in order to prevent a decrease in crispiness of the coating caused by the moisture absorption of the coating during frozen storage and the moisture transfer during heating in a microwave oven. In the production process, a food is once fried in oil at a high temperature and then the resulting fried food is covered with a liquid oil.
It is also suggested that a frying oil is permeated into a food material as it is or a food material that is previously seasoned, aged and frozen, or a fat powder or liquid shortening is strewn over the food material, and the resulting food material is heated with saturated steam and then steamed by spraying superheated steam to produce a non-fried processed food (JP-A 11-178513). However, a frying oil used in this method is not particularly limited and the final food thus obtained may be unevenly cooked or may have the dry surface, so that it may be inferior to a oil-fried food in taste. Furthermore, the baking method requires two steps of heating with saturated steam and steaming by spraying a food material with superheated steam. It is also suggested that a food material is rolled in bread crumbs coated with a solid fat in order to suppress the moisture adsorption and the food material then is cooked to prepare meuniere (JP-A 10-229840). However, the food thus obtained is not a fried-like food.
In addition, a fat composition for preparing fried foods is suggested which is a fat composition prepared by adding and dissolving 4.0% by weight or less of an emulsifying agent into a liquid fat, and wherein the interfacial tension between the fat composition and water at 80° C. is 7 mN/m or less 3 seconds after the interface formation (JP-A 2002-101819). This fat composition is directed to production of a fried food and said fried food is produced by adding and dissolving an emulsifying agent into a frying oil and then carrying out a step of frying in the frying oil.

Fat composition for coating food to be cooked and process for producing cooked food


A method selects an optimal route in a cooperative relay network including a set of nodes. For each node in a set of nodes of a cooperative relay network, dynamically varying channel state information is determined. A transmission policy based on the dynamically varying channel state information is selected, in which the transmission policy includes selected nodes forming an optimal route, a transmission mode for each selected node, and a transmission power for each selected node.

In cooperative relays networks, nodes cooperate with each other while transmitting packets. Cooperative networks can provide significant gains in overall throughput and energy efficiency. Using nodes with single antennas, cooperative communication exploits, in a distributed manner, an inherent spatial diversity in the network, which has different channels between different nodes. This minimizes the effects of fading, and at the same time reduces energy consumption of the network.
Cooperative strategies for relay networks with simple two-hop or three-hop topologies are described by R. Madan, N. B. Mehta, A. F. Molisch, and J. Zhang, "Energy efficient cooperative relaying over fading channels with simple relay selection," Globecom 2006.
However, many cooperative relay networks have tens or even hundreds of nodes. In such networks, the topology is arbitrary. The network includes numerous decode-and-forward (relay) nodes that are powered by batteries. Therefore, energy efficiency is of critical importance.
At the same time, despite the presence of fading, the outage probability on a route from a source node to a destination node must be kept below a specified level to ensure reliability.
A key problem in cooperative networks with many nodes is finding an optimum route. This problem is significantly different from the traditional routing problem for networks. In traditional, non-cooperative routing, a packet is transmitted serially from the source node to the destination node, via a sequence of relay nodes that form a single route. Each relay node communicates only with two other nodes, i.e., the previous node and the next nodes along the route. Traditional networks do not transfer a packet along two different routes to a destination.
In cooperative routing, a set of relay nodes can cooperate to forward a packet in parallel along multiple routes. This requires that nodes communicate with more than two nodes, either multiple previous nodes or multiple next nodes. Each transmission along a cooperative route can be a broadcast from one previous node to multiple next nodes, or a cooperative transmission from multiple previous nodes relay nodes to a single next node using beamforming. Beamforming controls the phase and power of transmitted signals from multiple nodes so that the signals are received coherently at the next nodes.
The general problem of determining cooperative routes in relay networks with arbitrary network topologies is computationally hard. It involves determining which nodes participate in a cooperative route, the cost of acquiring channel state information (CSI), and the respective transmission power costs as a function of CSI, with a goal of minimizing the total energy consumption in the network, while retaining a certain quality of service (outage probability). For quasi-static channels, this general problem is known be NP-hard.
The modes of collaboration depends critically on channel state information (CSI) that is available at the relay nodes. If the relay nodes do not have CSI for the channels on which the relays transmit, collaborative space-time coding can be used to increase the diversity order, and thus reduce sensitivity to fading.
It is also helpful to distinguish between operation in quasi-static and time-varying fast-fading channels. In the quasi-static case, the channels do not change over a relatively long time, and the optimum collaborative route stays optimum for many consecutive packets. Thus, the relative cost for obtaining and communicating the CSI is negligible. For fast-fading channels, on the other hand, the channel gain of the channels can change from one transmission interval to the next. Thus, the CSI may need to be refreshed for each transmitted packet. The significant cost for this process has to be added to the total energy cost. It is desired minimize the cost while finding an optimal route in a cooperative relay network.
For quasi-static channels, the problem of finding an optimal cooperative route, with broadcasting and beamforming nodes, is known to be NP-hard. However, conventional networks generally do not exploit the broadcast nature of the channel after the first transmission, and are provably suboptimal for topologies that have multiple relays available in intermediate hops. While those heuristics can be extended to fast fading channels, a significant amount of CSI is needed at a number of consecutive hops on a route. Obtaining such CSI can entail a significant energy cost and complexity.
Cooperative routing in a network with fast fading channels and using a limited class of routing schemes over a specific network topology is described by A. Wittneben, I. Hammerstroem, and M. Kuhn, "Joint cooperative diversity and scheduling in low mobility wireless networks," IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference (GLOBECOM), vol. 2, pp. 780-784, 2004. There, the cost of acquiring the CSI at the transmitting nodes is not considered. They assume relatively static channels, where the channel coherence time is much longer than the block transmission time. Their heuristics are not decentralized. In summary, they formulated the problem of finding the minimum energy cooperative route for a wireless network under idealized channel and receiver models. In practical applications, their assumptions are unreasonable because channels are anything but ideal.
It is desired to dynamically find optimal routes in a decentralized manner. It also is desired to consider large networks with cooperative routing exploiting various transmission modes.

Decentralized and dynamic route selection in cooperative relay networks

Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.


Apparatus and method used to reduce the movement between vertebrae or fractured bones. The implantable device can be deformed from its shape-set configuration for ease of deployment and return to a pre-set shape upon completion of deployment. The apparatus can serve to stabilize fractured bones or as a distraction device and support structure between vertebrae. Device may be made of a material with shape memory and superelastic properties which facilitate the method of implantation. The pre-set shape of the device may include dimensions/geometries which are similar to the natural curvature of the human spine or bone without the use of hinging or connection between multiple pieces. Once deployed, the device can serve to constrain the flow of bone growth material between the inside and outside of the device.

Fractured bones are among the most common orthopedic problem; about 6.8 million come to medical attention each year in the United States. Degenerative disc disease resulting in spine fusions has increased significantly and now represents approximately ½ million surgeries annually. The implantation of internal fixation or fusion devices can often be traumatic. If insufficient stabilization or incorrect anatomical alignment occurs, then revision surgery or on-going pain may be experienced by the patient.
There is a need for minimally invasive fracture fixation and spine fusion devices that can provide adequate stability through the use of screws and barbs, while maintaining a natural anatomical alignment during the healing process. If bone growth material is used, then the implant should limit the migration of this material from the fracture or fusion site.
Intramedullary nail devices using temperature effect to insert and fix a device in a bone are disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0241120 to Bledsoe and U.S. Pat. No. 7,695,471 to Cheung et al. The Bledsoe device allows coolant to pass through the implant and into the body via the fracture, which can potentially flush away osteoblast. Osteoblast is believed to promote or accelerate the healing process and by flushing it away there may be a detrimental impact to the healing process. Cheung et al includes bone fixation without using other fastening elements but does not provide a method for maintaining the device in a chilled martensitic phase during implantation.
Minimally invasive interbody spine fusion devices that are introduced in a relatively straight configuration and form a curved configuration within the disc space have been disclosed. One generalized patent to limit the movement of flowable material introduced into or between tissue layers of the human spine U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/666,227 Benvenue Medical, Inc. (Inventor, Laurent Schaller) The Schaller device prevents or substantially limits the movement of flowable material into vertebral material. However this device does not define any means for mechanical fixation.
In U.S. Pat. No. 8,206,423 Siegal et al has devised a device that utilizes hinges to allow deflection of each segment relative to adjacent segment, the device has a physical geometry which has an elongated element in the fully flexed state and a predefined curved configuration. However, this device defines an external method for delivery of osteogenic material.
Other attempts such as U.S. Pat. No. 8,162,942 focus on fixation barbs and other partial solutions, but have limited applicability and still fail to provide a truly minimally invasive approach, due to the device requiring installation through the joint surface which can result in long term degeneration of the joint surface. All previous attempts have failed to provide a complete solution, but have instead addressed only minimally invasive fixation, anatomical alignment, or the containment of bone growth material, and not all three. Solutions have been long sought but prior developments have not taught or suggested any solutions, and thus, solutions to these problems have long eluded those skilled in the art.

Memory material implant system and methods of use


The present invention relates to systems and methods for determining a content item relevance function. The method comprises collecting user preference data at a search provider for storage in a user preference data store and collecting expert-judgment data at the search provider for storage in an expert sample data store. A modeling module trains a base model through the use of the expert-judgment data and tunes the base model through the use of the user preference data to learn a set of one or more tuned models. A measure (B measure) is designed to evaluate the balanced performance of tuned model over expert judgment and user preference. The modeling module generates or selects the content item relevance function from the tuned models with B measure as the selection criterion.

Web search is becoming an increasingly important tool in the lives of millions of individual users to identify relevant content items from among the billions of content items that are accessible on the Internet. These content items are highly diversified in terms of content, format and quality and ranking content items from the web to find the most relevant content item in response to a given query from such a huge amount of diversified data is one of the basic challenges for search engines. Accordingly, machine learning of relevance functions has become a widespread solution to ranking content items where labeled training data is available. Labeled data comprises one or more query-content item pairs with an accompanying judgment as to the relevance of the pair.
When labeling web search results, a given user (who may be a relevance expert) provides a label in accordance with certain enumerated guidelines. These guidelines roughly measure an observed relevance between a query and a content item, e.g., a web page. Moreover, such labeling is usually performed by experts in assessing the relevance of a content item to a query. Such expert-judged training examples have a number of advantages. For example, the queries for judgment may be carefully selected for different purposed and the judged results can be thoroughly verified and tuned. Due to such properties, expert-judged training examples are often regarded as the "gold set" for use in training of a machine learned relevance function. It is very costly, however, for humans to manually label a large number of web search examples, which is required for effectively learning complicated models such as those for modeling web-based content item relevance. There are those that may also argue that the opinions of a few experts regarding relevance may not be representative enough for a highly diverse user population.
Recently, implicit relevance judgments have been derived from user clickthrough logs, which is an appealing source of training data for machine learning of content item relevance functions due to the low cost of obtaining such relevance examples. Expert-judged relevance and clickthrough data, however, have significant difference due to the data sources and the methods of gathering the data. Specifically, compared to expert-judged examples, user preference data (clickthrough data) can be more dynamic and therefore better represent the "epidemic" topics such as movies, fashion, recent events, user group biased searches, etc.
One unique feature of user preference data is so called "reigonality"—for a given query users from a given region may be more interested in a particular URL than users from other regions. This may result in a significant difference between user preference and expert judgment. Some distinct properties of user preference data versus expert judgment are summarized as follows:                Expert judged relevance samples are often small scale and costly to obtain, reflecting the relevance judgment of a small number of people who follow non-volatile judgment criteria. These relevance judgments are usually also labeled in accordance with an absolute ranking.        Implicit relevance samples (clickthrough data or user preference data) are inexpensive to obtain in large volumes and reflect the opinions of a large number of users over the search results they receive from a search engine. One drawback is that this data is often noisy and may possibly change as a function of time, but nonetheless captures most users' interest. Additionally, using such data only provides preferences in the form of a pair of content items (d1, d2), where content item d1 is more relevant to the query q than d2.
Due to the differing nature of these two types of data, it is possible that they are inconsistent modeling content item relevance functions. Thus, systems, methods and computer program products are needed to take advantage of and combine both expert-judged relevance samples and user preference data when training a model to determine a content item relevance function.


A specimen holder (10) is proposed in order to create a capability for preparing, in a cutting device, in particular a microtome or ultramicrotome, a specimen that is to examined in an AFM. The specimen holder (10) is embodied in several parts. It comprises an insert (12) in which the specimen is secured. Also provided is a receiving ring (14) in which the insert (12) can be received. The insert together with the receiving ring (14) is mounted, in particular thread-joined, on a base element (16). As a result of the mounting of the receiving ring (14) on the base element (16), the insert together with the specimen is fixed in its position.

A wide variety of capabilities are available, in principle, for the examination of specimens. Particularly popular in this context are, among others, transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM). One possibility for examining a specimen using an AFM is known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,516. Here the specimen is immobilized in a specimen holder and scanned by a scanning tip. The signals acquired via the scanning tip are electronically converted into an image of the surface of the specimen.
The surface of the specimen is often cut into in order to prepare the surface. Microtomes or ultramicrotomes, for example, can be used for this purpose. These methods, which are known originally from the production of thin sections for TEM examination, can also be successfully used here. It is not necessary, however, to produce thin sections in order to prepare the specimen for AFM examination. The emphasis here, instead, is on preparing the surface of the specimen by way of an exact cut so as to produce a smooth, flat surface. The reason is that specimens to be examined in an AFM must essentially meet two criteria. They must on the one hand have a flat surface which, on the other hand, must be arranged parallel to the surface of a piezoelement on which the sample is mounted. But when a flat surface is produced in a microtome or ultramicrotome and the specimen is removed from the microtome or ultramicrotome mount after cutting, it is practically impossible to arrange that surface once again parallel to the piezoelectric crystal of the AFM.
To circumvent these difficulties, a specimen holder that can be used in a cutting device such as a microtome or ultramicrotome has already been proposed in the article in "Journal of Microscopy" Vol. 195, Pt. 2, August 1999, pp. 161-163. The specimen holder has a central region in which the sample is secured. This central region is removed from the holder of the microtome or ultramicrotome after cutting, and has a flat surface. The central region of the specimen holder is then secured, together with the specimen, on the surface of a specimen stage close to the tip of an AFM. The tip scans the surface of the specimen by means of a piezoelement. Inside the cutting device, the specimen holder is secured with the aid of three screws that must be loosened again for removal of the central insert. In the context of cutting in a refrigeration chamber, which is necessary for many biological or plastic specimens, removal is difficult or impossible. The reason is that the specimen holder must be rotated to the positions of the individual screws. The insert must not fall out when the last screw is loosened, since otherwise the surface could be touched or destroyed. In addition, the insert can be damaged upon removal from a refrigerated chamber, or ambient atmospheric moisture can condense on the surface of the specimen. This, however, renders the sample element unusable for AFM examination.

Specimen holder having an insert for atomic force microscopy


A method for reel-type packaging flexible printed circuit boards (FPCs) is disclosed. Firstly, a flexible plate having a plurality of FPC patterns is cut out to form several bar-like materials, wherein each of the bar-like materials has a plurality of aligned FPCs thereon. Subsequently, the bar-like materials are wound onto a reel one by one to form a reel-type package so as to prevent the FPCs from crumpling, curving and deforming when suffering an external force.

A flexible printed circuit board is one of the most complicated and multi-functional products in printed circuit boards (PCBs). The flexible printed circuit board is widely applied in various electronic products, such as notebook computers, mobile phones, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), hard discs, printers, cameras, and automobiles, etc. because it has the characteristics of smaller size, less weight, flexibility, lower voltage and lower power consumption, and it is suitable for three-dimensional wiring distribution according to the size and shape of the inner space of the electronic product. For example, the flexible printed circuit board can directly adhere onto the glass substrate of the liquid crystal display through the COG mounting process to be electrically connected with the pixel electrodes and driving circuits.
In the current LCD related processes, the FPC suppliers usually transport and supply the flexible printed circuit boards using piece-type packaging. The suppliers generally first define tens of FPC patterns in a flexible plate and then cut out FPCs one piece by one piece through the cutting procedure. FIG. 1 shows a conventional flexible plate 12 having FPC patterns 10 before cut. As shown in FIG. 1, the FPC patterns 10 on the flexible plate 12 are arranged in pairs. Two pieces of adjacent FPCs are in one unit and the neighboring sides of these two pieces of FPCs are partially connected.
Referring to FIG. 2, which is a top view of a tray 14 carrying the FPCs in pairs, the flexible plate 12 is cut and the FPCs are cut down one pair by one pair. Afterwards, the suppliers deposit these FPCs 10 in pairs on the tray 14 so as to perform a transporting process. There are tens of matrixes of recesses on the top surface of the tray 14 for receiving these FPCs 10 in pairs. As shown in FIG. 2, the tray 14 has about 50 bar-like recesses in each of which two pieces of partially connected FPCs 10 are deposited.
Hence, the suppliers can transport the FPCs 10 by piece-type packaging to the LCD manufacturers through the carrying of the trays 14, and it is convenient for the related machinery to take the FPCs 10 directly from the tray 14. In a typical supplying mode, as shown in FIG. 3, about twenty trays 14 are stacked in a feeding division of a processing machine. Thereafter, referring to FIG. 4, a sucking device 16 of the processing machine can suck the FPCs 10 in pairs out of the tray 14, put them on a transporting arm 18 and precisely identify their locations.
Subsequently, the FPCs 10 in pairs are transported to the processing machine by the transporting arm 18. Then, the FPCs 10 are sucked up by a pre-press head 20 and sent into a process chamber. After the marks for locating the FPCs 10 are precisely identified, the FPCs 10 are adhesively pressed onto the surface of a glass substrate 22. As shown in FIG. 4, a color filter 24 and a large scale integration (LSI) chip 26 have been fabricated on the surface of the glass substrate 22 in advance.
However, there are many disadvantages in such piece-type FPCs packaging/supplying. First, after the suppliers cut out the FPCs 10 one pair by one pair using a puncher, it spends quite a lot of time and labor to regularly arrange these FPCs 10 one by one in the tray 14. Besides, when the tray 14 is pressed or knocked by an external force during transportation, it often leads the FPCs 10 in the tray 14 to scatter and make displacement, as shown in FIG. 5. That might result in crumples, curves and deformation of the FPCs. Once this situation occurs, it frequently requires to rearrange and inspect these FPCs 10.
Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3, the FPCs 10 are transported into the feeding division of the processing machine with the tray 14. However, the stack of the trays 14 has up to twenty three trays and the amounts of the FPCs supplied are only about 1150 pieces. For the current processing machine, it is necessary to re-supply after about two hours. Therefore, it brings burdens to on-line operators and greatly reduces the throughput of the entire process.

Reel-type package of flexible printed circuit boards and method for supplying thereof


A data processor has a memory 100 for storing instructions being connected to a microcomputer 10 having a function of fetching an instruction from an external memory 100 via an external bus 95, a plurality of peripheral input/output circuits 40 via 49 incorporated in the microcomputer 10, and each of the peripheral input/output circuits 40 via 49 being interconnected by an incorporated peripheral bus 90, a bus controller 30 in the microcomputer 10 having both a bus state counter 31 for the external bus and a bus state counter 32 for the incorporated peripheral bus and independently controlling an external bus cycle using the external bus 95 and an incorporated peripheral bus cycle using the incorporated peripheral bus 90.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data processor and, more particularly, to a data processor having a bus controller for controlling a plurality of buses independently each other.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a data processor having a central processing unit (CPU) and a plurality of peripheral input/output (I/O) circuits formed in one chip has been widely used in a microcomputer system. In this microcomputer system, a memory storing a string of instructions is provided outside the data processor as an external memory. The external memory and the internal peripheral I/O circuits are accessed by CPU to fetch instructions from the external memory and to read or write data from or into the I/O circuits. The peripheral I/O circuits serve as a pulse counter, a serial data receive/transmit circuit, and so on, and have respective registers each mapped at specific or unique addresses. The addresses of the external memory area and the the peripheral I/O circuits are discriminated on a memory map.
Referring now to FIG. 9, a microcomputer system according to the prior art includes a data processor or a microcomputer 12 and an external memory 100 which are interconnected through an external bus 95. The microcomputer 12 makes access to the external memory 100 by use of a group of external bus cycle control signals 96.
The microcomputer 12 comprises a CPU 20, a data path circuit 25, a bus controller 35, and peripheral I/O circuits 40-49. The CPU 20 outputs a set of request signals 93 to the bus controller 35 and receives a set of acknowledge signals 94 from the bus controller 35. The CPU 20 is further connected to the data path circuit 26 through an address bus 70, an data output bus 71, an instruction bus 72, and an data input bus 73. The CPU 20 outputs an address and write data to the data path circuit 25 and receives an instruction code and read data from the data path circuit 26.
The bus controller 35 has an internal bus state counter 36 and outputs a set of external bus control signals 92 to a set of terminals 66 and a set of internal peripheral bus control signals 91 to the peripheral circuits 40 through 49.
The data path circuit 26 is connected through buses 77 and 78 to a set of terminals 65 which are in turn coupled to the external bus 95. The data path circuit 26 is further connected to an internal or incorporated peripheral bus 90 through buses 80 and 81 to output an address and write data to the incorporated peripheral bus and receive read data. The peripheral circuits 40 through 49 are connected to the incorporated peripheral bus 90.
The data path circuit 26 is provided with an instruction queue 50 for storing several prefetched instructions, a prefetch pointer (PFP) 51 for storing prefetching addresses, latches 52 through 56 for latching address/data, and selectors 61 and 62. The latch 52 temporarily latches an address from the CPU 20. The selector 61 selects one of the output 74 of the latch 52, a prefetch address 75 of the prefetch pointer 51 and write data 71 from the CPU 20 outputs to the bus 71, and outputs the selected one to the bus 76 under the control of signals (not shown) from the bus controller 35.
An incrementer 60 outputs the address of the bus 76 incremented by 2 to the prefetch pointer 51. The prefetch pointer 51 memorizes the address from the incrementer 60 and outputs it to the selector 60 through the bus 75. The latch 53 memorizes the address and write data which are on the bus 76 and outputs them to the terminal group 65 through the bus 77. The latch 54 memorizes the read data which was input from the terminal group 65 through the bus 78, and outputs the read data to the instruction queue 50 and the selector 62 through the bus 79.
The instruction queue 50 memorizes the prefetched data on the bus 79 to a plurality of buffers and outputs the memorized data to the CPU 20 through the bus 72 as instruction data. The latch 55 memorizes the address and write data which are on the bus 76 and outputs them to the incorporated peripheral bus 90 through the bus 80. The selector 62 selects either the read data from the external memory on the bus 79 or the read data from the peripheral I/O on the bus 81 and outputs it to the latch 56 under the control of signals (not shown) from the bus controller 35. The latch 56 memorizes the read data from the selector 62 and outputs the read data to the CPU 20 through the bus 73.
Now, the operation of the bus controller 35 will be described.
The bus controller 35 starts the external bus cycle or the incorporated peripheral bus cycle in response to the request 93 from the CPU 20, such as a memory access request, a branch request, and a request to read a queue. The latches 52 through 56, the selectors 61 and 62, and the prefetch pointer 51 within the data path circuit 26 are controlled, and the acknowledge signal 94 is sent to the CPU 20 when the accessing operation is completed.
The bus controller 35 has an internal bus state counter 36, which counts the state of a bus.
Referring to FIG. 10(a) which shows how the external bus cycle and the incorporated peripheral bus cycle make a transition and FIG. 10(b) which shows the state of a service flag for discriminating bus cycles, T1 represents a state where an address is output, T2 represents a state where data is output or input, and T3 represents the end state of a bus cycle or a state where a bus cycle has not been started. These states make a transition in synchronization with the system clock in the microcomputer 12.
The bus controller 35 has service flags SBRSVF 110, FETSVF 111, MEMSVF 112, and IOMSVF 113 in correspondence with the bus state counter 36 to be used for identification of bus cycle types. The SBRSVF 110 goes to a 1 when a branch cycle is executed, and the FETSVF 111 goes to a 1 when a fetch cycle is executed. The MEMSVF 112 goes to a 1 when an external memory access cycle is executed. The IOMSVF 113 goes to a 1 when a peripheral I/O access cycle is executed. When no bus cycle is started, all service flags 100 through 113 go to a 0. The SBRSVF 110, the FETSVF 111, and the MEMSVF 112 represent the bus cycles on the external bus 95, while the IOMSVF 113 represents the bus cycle on the incorporated peripheral bus 90.
First, in a reset state the bus state goes to T3. Until the request 93 from the CPU 20 becomes active, the bus state remains T3. When the request 93 is made active, the bus state makes a T3-to-T1 transition. A T1-to-T2 transition is made unconditionally. If a wait request is made in the state of T2, then the bus state will remain T2. If no wait request is made, a T2-to-T3 transition will be made.
Next, if the request 93 from the CPU 20 becomes active, the bus controller 35 will start a bus cycle. In a case where another bus cycle has already been started, the start of a new bus cycle is made to wait until the bus cycle being started ends.
When a bus cycle is started in response to the memory request 93 from the CPU 20, the bus controller 35 discriminates the external memory access and the peripheral I/O access in accordance with the address. In the case of the external memory access, MEMSVF 112 is set to a 1, and in the case of the peripheral I/O access, IOMSVF 113 is set to a 1.
The bus controller 35 also sets SBRSVF 110 to a 1 when a bus cycle is started in response to the branch request 93 from the CPU 20.
Incidentally, even when there is no request 93 from the CPU 20, the bus controller 35 starts an instruction fetch cycle which fetches an instruction from the external memory 100, as long as the buffer of the instruction queue 50 is not filled up. In this case, FETSVF 111 is set to a 1.
The bus controller 35 discriminates bus cycles, based on the values of the service flags 110 through 113, and in accordance with the kind of a bus cycle, the bus controller 35 controls the latches 52 through 56, the selectors 61 and 62, and the prefetch pointer 51 within the data path circuit 26.
Referring to FIG. 11 which is a timing diagram when the M1 and M2 addresses of the peripheral I/O circuit are accessed and read while fetching an instruction from the N address of the external memory, in this example all bus cycles are not waited.
When an instruction fetch cycle 1 is started, FETSVF 111 representative of a fetch cycle is set to a 1. In the T1 state, the selector 61 selects the bus 75 having the prefetched address N thereon, and the latch 53 fetches the address N and then outputs it to the external bus 95. The prefetch pointer 51 memorizes, at the timing of the end of the T1 state, the address N+2 incremented by+2 by the incrementer 60. In this example, fetching of instructions is performed at units of 2 bytes.
In the T2 state, the latch 54 latches the data n, transferred from the external memory 100 to the external bus 95, and then the data n is fetched into the instruction queue 50. An instruction code, stored in the instruction queue 50, is fetched by the CPU 20 according to the internal instruction process.
The T3 state is the end state of the bus cycle.
Assume now that the CPU 20 made a peripheral I/O circuit accessing request at T1 of the instruction fetch cycle 1. Because the bus controller 35 has priority of an external memory access cycle and a peripheral I/O access cycle over an instruction fetch cycle, the next bus cycle goes to the peripheral I/O access cycle. The bus controller 35 waits for the end of the instruction fetch cycle 1 and then resets FETSVF 111 to a 0 and sets IOMSVF 113 to a 1. The bus controller 35 also switches the control of the data path circuit 26 to a control for a peripheral I/O access cycle.
In the T1 state of the peripheral I/O access cycle, the selector 61 selects the bus 74 which has an address M1 to be accessed. The latch 55 fetches the address M1 and then outputs it to the incorporated peripheral bus 90. At this time, the prefetch pointer 51 does not update an address.
In the T2 state, the data m1, transferred from the peripheral I/O circuit to the incorporated bus 90, is fetched into the latch 56 through the bus 81 by controlling the selector 62. The data m1 fetched in the latch 56 is read in by the CPU 20.
The T3 state is the end state of a bus cycle. In this state, the bus controller 35 outputs the acknowledge 94, which indicates to the CPU 20 that the peripheral I/O access cycle has ended.
Since the peripheral I/O access cycle has ended, the cycle goes to an instruction fetch cycle again. When the instruction fetch cycle 2 is started, IOMSVF 113 is reset to a 0 and FETSVF 111 is set to a 1. Thereafter, as with the instruction fetch cycle 1, data n2 is read from the N+2 address of the memory 100 and is fetched into the instruction queue 50.
Assume now that, during the instruction fetch cycle 2, the CPU 20 again made a request to access the peripheral I/O circuit. The bus controller 35 again resets FETSVF 111 to a 0 and sets IOMSVF 113 to a 1, thereby starting the peripheral I/O access cycle 2. The bus controller 35, as with the peripheral I/O access cycle 1, switches control and reads data, m2, from the M2 address of the peripheral I/O circuit.
In the conventional data processor described above, the incorporated bus state counter 36 of the bus controller 33 comprises a single bus state counter. Therefore, when the external bus cycle and the incorporated peripheral bus cycle are both started, they are to be executed one by one. That is, both of them cannot be executed at the same time.
Therefore, the start of the peripheral I/O access cycle is made to wait until the instruction fetch cycle being started ends. In addition, because of the start of the peripheral I/O access cycle, the instruction fetch cycle was interrupted.
In a build-in data processor, particularly, in a case where a microcomputer is used of the Reduced Instruction Set Computer (hereinafter referred to a RISC) type where a load/store instruction is a basic instruction, sometimes the memory access instruction occupies, for example, 50% of all instructions and also 25% is occupied by the memory access with respect to the peripheral I/O circuit. In such a case, when an instruction of 1/4, that is, 25% of all instructions is executed, the duty rate of the bus is reduced because both the external bus cycle and the incorporated peripheral bus cycle cannot be executed at the same time, resulting in a reduction in the processing ability of the system.

Data processor having bus controller for controlling a plurality of buses independently of each other


Provided are a composition for a semiconductor process, which comprises a first component comprising an inorganic acid or an organic acid; and a second component comprising a silicon compound represented by Formula 1, and a semiconductor process, which comprises selectively cleaning and/or removing an organic substance or an inorganic substance using the composition.

Semiconductors are fabricated by forming a pattern by various processes on a wafer made of silicon (Si), gallium arsenide (GaAs), or the like as a base material. Such a process for fabricating a semiconductor is comprised of multiple steps in which various organic or inorganic materials are used. Specifically, the semiconductor process comprises such steps as a wafer production process, an oxidation process, an exposure process, an etching process, an ion implantation process, a deposition process, a polishing process, and a cleaning process.
Specifically, in the wafer production process, silicon that exists in the form of silica or silicate is processed into polycrystalline silicon and then processed into monocrystalline silicon by a physical refining method. Such monocrystalline silicon is grown to produce a cylinder-shaped ingot, which is thinly cut and polished to produce a disk-shaped wafer.
In the oxidation process, the wafer is oxidized to form a silicon oxide film on the surface thereof. The oxide film formed on the surface of a wafer serves as a protective film in the diffusion process, protects and stabilizes the surface, and ensures the electrical insulation of the surface.
In the exposure process, a circuit pattern is formed on the surface of a wafer by using a mask having an image of a circuit. A photoresist is thinly coated on the surface of a wafer to form a photoresist film, and light is irradiated using an exposure apparatus to form a circuit on the wafer. The photoresist film may serve as a protective film in the etching process, the ion implantation process, and the like. The exposure process may be carried out using an electron beam or an X-ray other than light.
In the etching process, the surface of a wafer on which the photoresist film pattern has been formed is selectively removed. The etching process is divided into a wet process and a dry process. In the wet process, an etching solution is used for the etching. In the dry process, plasma, sputter, ion beam, or the like is used for the etching.
In the ion implantation process, dopant ions are implanted into a wafer to make it a semiconductor. A wafer does not conduct electricity in a pure state. When ions are implanted through the ion implantation process, then it allows electricity to flow.
In the deposition process, a material having electrical characteristics is deposited on a wafer. As the deposition method, such a method as chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or physical vapor deposition (PVD) may be used.
In the polishing process, a rough surface of a wafer is polished to form a mirror-surface planarized region. The polishing process is carried out using a chemical and/or mechanical method, which may be referred to as a CMP (chemical mechanical polishing) process. In the CMP process, both the chemical action and the physical action are simultaneously applied to polish the wafer surface.
The cleaning process refers to any process for removing impurities of a wafer. The cleaning process removes unnecessary organic or inorganic substances from the wafer surface, thereby facilitating the subsequent processes.
These various semiconductor processes can be designed in an appropriate order as needed to produce high-quality semiconductors with various functions. In addition, various compositions are used in such semiconductor processes. Since the process efficiency and final physical properties of a wafer vary depending on such a composition, it is one of the important tasks to design a composition suitable for each purpose.

Composition for semiconductor process and semiconductor process


A color filter and a black matrix thereof are provided. The black matrix disposed on the substrate comprises a frame that defines a pixel area for accommodating color filter inks when performing the ink-jet process, and a spacer disposed in each of the pixels for preventing inks from overflowing to adjacent pixel areas and improving the flatness of the formed color filter layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color filter for use in a liquid crystal display (LCD). In particular, the present invention relates to the formation of a color filter using a novel black matrix design thereof that can improve the light filtering performance of the pixel.
2. Descriptions of the Related Art
LCDs have replaced conventional displays and have become mainstream products due to their low power consumption, light weight, low radiation and portability. In general, a LCD comprises main components including the backlight module, the liquid crystal panel, and the color filter. Among these main components, the color filter is a key component to filter the backlight source into red, green, and blue through every arranged pixel.
In a conventional manufacturing of color filters, a black matrix comprising a plurality of frame structures in correspondence to a plurality of pixel areas is first formed on a substrate to accommodate the color filter layers that prevent light leakage and undesired color mixing between adjacent pixels. The black matrix generally consisting of photosensitive materials is photolithographically formed and cured by baking or ultraviolet light exposure to strengthen these bank-like frames.
FIG. 1 is a schematic side view partially illustrating the color filter 10 on a single pixel, and showing the conventional ink-jet printing (IJP) process. Specifically, after a plurality of frames 13 are formed on the substrate 11, ink 21 can be jetted into each frame 13 to form a color filter layer 15 with a specific color. After that, a baking process is followed to take on its final shape. When the light passes through the color filter layer 10, the specific color will be shown in each pixel. The combination of all pixels can be well arranged to provide chromatic variety for the use of LCD.
However, there exist some difficulties in the ink-jet color filter manufacturing process. For example, when ink 21 is jetted to the substrate 11 through a nozzle 20 with a high speed, the ink 21 probably flows over the frame 13, leading to a color mixing problem.
Furthermore, due to the surface tension of jetted ink in a frame 13, the formed color filter layer 15 becomes uneven that the surface contour is higher at the pixel center and even higher than the frame 13. This color filter is thus no longer flat after the baking process that will influence the step coverage of the subsequent deposition or coating processes. As shown by the dashed lines in FIG. 2, specifically, the higher surface tension at the center of a pixel 15 causes not only the uneven issue, but also the insufficient filling in four corners of the pixel resulting to light leakage. The display quality is therefore degraded, especially at the corners along the minor sides in the rectangular frame structure.
Therefore, a novel design of a color filter and a black matrix thereof is proposed to improve above-mentioned issues for the ink-jet color filter applications.


Apparatuses for restricting fluid flow through a conduit comprise a seat sleeve disposed in a housing, the housing being disposed in a tubular member. The seat sleeve comprises a seat and one or more ports in fluid communication with a seat sleeve bore. One or more seat bypass fluid flow channels are disposed in the housing and are initially placed in fluid communication with at least one of the seat sleeve ports. Landing a plug element on the seat blocks fluid flow through the seat, but fluid flow is permitted to flow through the seat bypass fluid flow channels, through the seat sleeve ports, and into the seat sleeve bore. Movement of the seat sleeve downward closes the seat sleeve ports. Thus, a plug element can restrict fluid flowing through an area of the apparatus that is larger than the plug element.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention is directed to plug member seats for use in oil and gas wells and, in particular, to plug member seats having a seat sleeve that allows a plug element landing on the seat of the seat sleeve to block an area of fluid flow thorough the seat sleeve that is greater than the plug element landed on the seat sleeve.
2. Description of Art
Ball seats are generally known in the art. For example, typical ball seats have a bore or passageway that is restricted by a seat. The ball or drop plug is disposed on the seat, preventing or restricting fluid from flowing through the bore of the ball seat and, thus, isolating the tubing or conduit section in which the ball seat is disposed. As the fluid pressure above the ball or drop plug builds up, the conduit can be pressurized for tubing testing, actuating a tool connected to the ball seat such as setting a packer, or stimulating a wellbore. Ball seats are also used in cased hole completions, liner hangers, flow diverters, frac systems, and flow control equipment and systems.
Although the terms "ball seat" and "ball" may be used herein, it is to be understood that a drop plug or other shaped plugging device or element may be used with the "ball seats" disclosed and discussed herein. For simplicity it is to be understood that the term "ball" includes and encompasses all shapes and sizes of plugs, balls, or drop plugs unless the specific shape or design of the "ball" is expressly discussed.


A hydrodynamic oil film system is disclosed for developing a lubricant film between a flywheel and an associated stationary bearing during press machine operation. Hydrostatic bearing pads formed in the inner bearing surface of the stationary bearing are used to receive pressurized fluid. A hydrodynamic effect is produced during rotation of the flywheel enabling fluid transmitted into the hydrostatic bearing pads to be provided within the clearance between the flywheel and the stationary bearing. In another aspect, an oil film is produced between the keyed sections of the stationary bearing and an adjacent bearing support block to which the stationary bearing is interengaged for anti-rotational purposes, thereby preventing pounding out of the material from the key surfaces.

1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention generally relates to fluid bearings for supporting a rotary device, and, more particularly, to providing fluid support for a flywheel in a press machine and to developing fluid lubrication for an anti-rotationalkey.
2. Description of the Related Art.
Mechanical presses such as straight side presses and gap frame presses for stamping and drawing are provided with a frame structure having a crown and bed and a slide member supported within the frame for reciprocating motion relative to the bed. A crankshaft is provided to translate rotational motion generated by the press machine into reciprocal mechanical activity that is transmitted to the slide through a connecting arm. An upper die is mounted to the slide. The lower die is mounted to a bolster, which in turn is connected to the bed. Mechanical presses of this construction are widely used for blanking and drawing operations and vary substantially in size and available tonnage depending upon their intended use.
The primary source for stored mechanical energy and rotational actuation is the flywheel assembly, which in standard construction is located between the main drive motor and clutch. The flywheel and its associated bearing are mounted on either the driveshaft, crankshaft, or the press frame by use of a quill. The main drive motor replenishes the flywheel with rotational energy as the same becomes depleted from the flywheel during press stamping operations when the clutch couples the flywheel to the press driven parts and causes energy to be drawn away and transferred to other areas of the machine. In particular, during engagement of the clutch, the flywheel drops in speed as the press driven parts are thereby powered to reach press running speed. The flywheel rotates in unison with the clutch during operative engagement, whereas the flywheel bearings have no relative rotation except in configurations where a quill is used, in which case relative rotation is present.
The installation of flywheel assemblies into conventional machines such as mechanical presses makes use of anti-friction roller or ball bearings to mount the flywheel to its support. Bearings of this type feature low lubrication requirements, low viscous drag, and a statistically predictable lifetime. However, the bearings are susceptible to vibration and shock, which may cause brinelling, false brinelling, fretting corrosion, and consequential damage to the bearing races, hub bores and shaft.
Anti-rotational keys provide one form of mechanical coupling used in constructing and assembling the components of a press machine. This type of coupling between adjacent mechanical parts, for example, might employ a key element projecting from one part that is mated into a corresponding channel of another part defining a key receiving area. The registration of respective key elements inhibits relative rotation between the associated mechanical parts. However, due to the clearance that exists between the mated key elements, there will be unavoidable metal-to-metal contact. occurring during press operation that will continuously wear away material from both elements, which may eventually lead to unacceptable part displacements.

Stationary oil film bearing for a flywheel on a mechanical press


A method of manufacturing a MOS transistor capable of suppressing a short channel effect by suppressing boron (B) ion diffusion in the MOS transistor. The method includes steps of: forming an impurity diffusion suppressing layer in an active region of a semiconductor substrate; forming an impurity layer containing boron ions in a lower portion of the impurity diffusion suppressing layer; and thermally treating on the substrate, wherein the impurity diffusion suppressing layer suppresses diffusion of the boron ions during the thermal treatment step.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, and more particularly, to a method of manufacturing a MOS transistor.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Recently, technologies for MOS devices have been rapidly developed, so that small-sized high-performance MOS devices can be obtained. In order to achieve the small-sized high-performance MOS devices, technologies relating to thicknesses of gate oxide layers, source/drain regions, and channel region must be improved.
As the MOS transistors are highly integrated, a short channel effect (SCE) occurs. In order to suppress the short channel effect, the thickness of the gate oxide layer needs to be small. In addition, the source/drain regions need to be formed with a shallow junction to reduce a charge sharing effect.
In addition, in order to suppress the short channel effect of the MOS transistor, a lightly doped drain region and a halo region may be provided in a vicinity of the channel region. Preferably, impurity ions implanted to adjust threshold voltages are distributed on or near a surface of the channel region.
On the other hand, boron (B) or BF ions are used to adjust the threshold voltage in n-channel MOS transistors and form the LDD region in p-channel MOS transistors.
However, B ions have a tendency to be widely diffused as subsequent processes such as thermal treatment are carried out. As a result, in the p-channel MOS transistor, B ions may be sufficiently diffused to reach an EOR (end of range) of the channel region, so that a parasitic capacitance between the gate and the drain may increase. On the other hand, in the n-channel MOS transistor, B ions may be sufficiently diffused into a lower portion of the substrate to reach a lower portion of the channel region, so that it is difficult to suppress the short channel effect.


In order to open a valve member during the breakage of a temperature control element and to prevent the couterflow of fluid from an outlet side to an inlet side even when pressure at the outlet side becomes higher than that at the inlet side, there is provided a thermally-actuated steam trap comprising: a valve casing having an inlet, a valve chest and an outlet, a valve seat member having a discharge passage between the valve chest and the outlet, a temperature control element disposed in the valve chest and including a cover member, a first diaphragm, a second diaphramg and a valve member and containing expansible medium, and a through hole formed respectively on the second diagragm and the valve member attached thereto, through which a face of the first diaphragm being not in contact with the expansible medium communicates with the discharge passage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a steam trap to automatically discharge condensate generated in various kinds of steam using equipment and steam pipe lines; and more particularly, to a thermally-actuated steam trap adapted to discharge the condensate below a desired temperature out of a system by using a temperature control element including medium which is heated and cooled by steam and condensate, and expanded and contracted in accordance with the temperature thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The basic construction of a thermally-actuated steam trap has been well-known, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese examined patent publication No. 60-46318. As understood from this publication, the thermally-actuated steam trap comprises a temperature control element obtained by filling expansible medium in an inner space formed by securing the outer peripheral edges of a disk-like wall member and a diaphragm to each other, a valve chest communicating with an inlet in which the temperature control element is provided, a valve member connected to the diaphragm, provided in the valve chest and driven by employing the expansion and contraction of the expansible medium and a valve seat member having a discharge passage through which the valve chest communicates with an outlet, on and from which the valve member is seated and separated.
When the steam of high temperature enters the valve chest, the expansible medium expands, so that the valve member is seated on the valve seat member to thereby close the discharge passage. Accordingly, the discharge of the steam is prevented. When the condensate of low temperature enters, the expansible medium is contracted and the valve member is separated from the valve seat member to thereby open the discharge passage. Thus, the condensate is discharged out of a system.
However, in the thermally-actuated steam trap of such a type, in the case where the temperature control element is broken and the expansible medium flows out, the valve member is seated on the valve seat member due to the fluid pressure of the inlet side to thereby close the discharge passage. When the valve member closes the passage upon the breakage of the temperature control element, such problems may arise that the condensate cannot be discharged; and therefore, the operating efficiency of steam using equipment is deteriorated, defective articles are produced or water hammer phenomenon is caused, which results in broken equipment or pipelines.


Asphalt surfacing compositions and methods involving asphalt millings, water, and an amount of a polyvinyl alcohol sufficient to bind the millings such that a load-bearing asphalt paving surface is formed upon application of the composition to a material are provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns surfacing compositions, and, more particularly, improved surfacing compositions for paving asphalt roadways, paths, and other areas.
2. Description of the Related Art
When roads are rehabilitated, typically material is milled and removed and replaced by newly made asphalt material. Thus, so-called "hot mix" is brought to the construction site and placed on the milled area. One disadvantage with this process is that it is time consuming because it requires two operations. In one operation, the road is milled up, and the material is removed. Then, in the second operation, the "hot mix" asphalt is transported to the site and placed on the milled pavement. Another disadvantage with such a process is that the milled material is often not reused. Still other disadvantages include that hot asphalt can be difficult and messy to work with and worker's health and safety are of major importance, in that the addition of hot asphalt adds significantly more volatile organic compounds (VOC's).
Some attempts have been made to recycle the bituminous material that makes up the road and use them in rehabilitation operations. However, these processes are believed to have consistency problems that result in undesired performance. Moreover, environmental concerns have caused legislation to be enacted that prohibits the use of petroleum additives to recycled bituminous materials in some areas. And most recently, the cost escalation of petroleum products has made a tremendous impact on resurfacing and surface maintenance of existing asphalt roadways.


A method and system is described to provide data to an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) System. The method may comprise accessing an image communicated from a voice-communication device and communicating the image to an optical character recognition (OCR) module. Thereafter, data extracted from the image by the OCR module may be accessed and communicated for use in one or more IVR processes. The extracted data may be communicated to the device and confirmation that the extracted data corresponds to data in the image may be monitored. For example, the method may discover capabilities of the device to identify different communication options to communicate the image from the device. The options may be communicated to the device for presentation to a user. Upon receiving an indication of an option selected by the user, the IVR system may be configured to allow receipt of the image via the user selected option.

Providing alphanumeric input to interactive voice response (IVR) systems tends to be difficult. For example, entering a vehicle's VIN number or even the name of a person using T9 text input in the middle of a telephone call is a challenging experience. Therefore, alphanumeric input is typically provided to an IVR system using speech that is recognized by Adaptive Speech Recognition. However, speech input is not secure for use in public places where there is a chance of being overheard, and speech recognition does also not work well in a noisy environment.
Financial IVR applications require users to enter information such as credit card and bank account numbers, a mother's maiden name, passwords, etc. Some of this secure information might be provided using speech input that renders the IVR application useless when the caller is in a public place (e.g., on a crowded train) where there is a chance of being over-heard. For example, if a person speaks out his credit card number over a phone in a train, then there is a chance that a fellow passenger with a good memory might memorize that number. DTMF input can be used to provide numerical data such as a credit card number securely, but having to enter a long string of digits and correcting for input errors is not a user friendly experience. The problem is especially pronounced for users with a physical handicap.

Method and apparatus to provide data to an interactive voice response (IVR) system


A system for identifying the location of a vehicle is provided. The system includes a sensor, a receiver, a processor, and a database. The sensor is configured to determine the status of a component and transmit a component ID signal and a component status signal to a controller for monitoring status of the vehicle. The receiver is located external to the vehicle and configured to collect the signals from the sensor. The processor is in communication with the receiver and adapted to correlate the component ID signal and the location of the receiver. The database is in communication with the processor and configured to store the component ID and the receiver location.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a system for tracking a vehicle. More specifically, the invention relates to a system for tracking a vehicle using vehicle component ID signals.
2. Description of Related Art
Systems for tracking vehicles are commercially available today. One use for tracking systems includes locating stolen vehicles. These systems are typically expensive aftermarket products where a transmitter is attached to the vehicle. In the event the vehicle is stolen, a remote unit is used to activate the transmitter. The remote unit is then used to determine the location of the vehicle. Another use for vehicle tracking systems includes businesses with a fleet of cars for rental or transportation services. Knowing the location of each vehicle can significantly improve logistical planning and provide statistical metrics regarding vehicle operation and route choice.
Also related to the development of vehicles, sensing the status of vehicle components and subsystems is important for controlling and maintaining the performance of the vehicle. For example, if a vehicle has under-inflated tires, performance and handling of the vehicle may degrade. Recent developments in the automobile industry indicate that the government may mandate low tire pressure warning systems on all automobiles. One solution for monitoring tire pressure includes sensing the tire pressure internal to the tire and transmitting the pressure to a vehicle controller. The data from each transmitter can include a unique ID for each wheel providing the operator with the identity of the tire containing inadequate pressure.
In view of the above, it is apparent that there exists a need for an improved vehicle tracking system and systems for monitoring the status of vehicle components.


A package is formed from a carton and containers extending through a bottom panel of the carton. First and second struts and a brace in the carton interior provide support for the containers accommodated within the carton.

Cartons for engaging and securing upper portions of containers are known. The containers are typically inserted through apertures in a bottom panel of the carton and secured by engaging radially protruding parts of the containers. One such carton is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,223,892 to Bakx. Conventional cartons, however, may not securely retain the containers, or may fail to satisfy other requirements recognized in the art.


The invention relates to methods and compositions for identifying and selecting maize plants with enhanced resistance to Fusarium ear mold. Maize plants generated by the methods of the invention are also a feature of the invention.

Fusarium ear mold (also referred to as Fusarium ear rot) is a devastating disease of maize caused by species of the Gibberella fuijkuroi complex, namely F. verticillioides, F. proliferatum, and/or F. subglutinans. It is predominantly found in the southeastern United States, southern Europe, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and South Africa, and affects both grain yield and quality. Fusarium ear mold can also result in contamination by several mycotoxins, including fumonisins (FUM), moniliformin (MON), and/or beauvericin, which appear to cause a number of human and animal diseases. Fumonisins, e.g., are linked to several animal toxicoses including leukoencephalomalacia (Marasas et al. (1988) Onderstepoort J. Vet. Res. 55:197-204; Wilson et al. (1990) American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians: Abstracts 33rd Annual Meeting, Denver, Colo., Madison, Wis., USA) and porcine pulmonary edema (Colvin et al. (1992) Mycopathologia 117:79-82). Fumonisins are also suspected carcinogens (Geary et al. (1971) Coord. Chem. Rev. 7:81; Gelderblom et al. (1991) Carcinogenesis 12:1247-1251; Gelderblom et al. (1992) Carcinogenesis 13:433-437) and have been linked to birth defects in humans (Missmer et al. (2006) Environ Health perspect 114:237-41).
The use of phenotypic selection to introgress Fusarium ear mold resistance into susceptible lines is time consuming and difficult, and since Fusarium ear mold is sensitive to environmental conditions, selection for resistance from year to year based solely on phenotype has proven unreliable. In addition, specialized disease screening sites can be costly to operate, and plants must be grown to maturity in order to classify the level of resistance or susceptibility.
Selection through the use of molecular markers associated with Fusarium ear mold resistance, however, has the advantage of permitting at least some selection based solely on the genetic composition of the progeny. Moreover, resistance to Fusarium ear mold can be determined very early on in the plant life cycle, even as early as the seed stage. The increased rate of selection that can be obtained through the use of molecular markers associated with the Fusarium ear mold resistance trait means that plant breeding for Fusarium ear mold resistance can occur more rapidly, thereby generating commercially acceptable resistant plants in a relatively short amount of time. Thus, it is desirable to provide compositions and methods for identifying and selecting maize plants with enhanced resistance to Fusarium ear mold.
Some instances of genetic resistance to Fusarium ear mold have been reported (Perez-Brito et al. (2001) Agrociencia 35:181-196; Ali et al. (2005) Genome 48:521-533; Robertson-Hoyt et al. (2006) Crop Sci. 46:1734-1743; Zhang et al. (2005) J Appl Genet 47:9-15; Robertson-Hoyt et al. (2007) Phytopathology 97:311-317; Ding et al. (2008) Mol Breeding 22:395-403).

Genetic loci on maize chromosomes 3 and 4 that are associated with fusarium ear mold resistance


The present invention relates to a method of producing a variant lipid acyltransferase enzyme by selecting a parent enzyme which is a lipid acyltransferase enzyme having the amino acid sequence motif GDSX, modifying one or more amino acids to produce a variant lipid acyltransferase, testing the variant lipid acyltransferase for activity on a galactolipid substrate, a phospholipid substrate and/or a triglyceride substrate, selecting a variant enzyme with an enhanced activity towards galactolipids compared with the parent enzyme, and/or preparing a quantity of the variant enzyme. In some embodiments, the variant lipid acyltransferase enzyme may include the amino acid sequence motif GDSX, wherein X is one or more of the following amino acid residues L, A, V, I, F, Y, X, Q, T N, M or S, and wherein the variant enzyme has one or more amino acid modifications compared with a parent sequence.

Lipid:cholesterol acyltransferase enzymes have been known for some time (see for example Buckley—Biochemistry 1983, 22, 5490-5493). In particular, glycerophospholipid:cholesterol acyl transferases (GCATs) have been found, which like the plant and/or mammalian lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferases (LCATs), will catalyse fatty acid transfer between phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol.
Upton and Buckley (TIBS 20, May 1995, p 178-179) and Brumlik and Buckley (J. of Bacteriology April 1996, p 2060-2064) teach a lipase/acyltransferase from Aeromonas hydrophila which has the ability to carry out acyl transfer to alcohol receptors in aqueous media.
A putative substrate binding domain and active site of the A. hydrophila acyltransferase have been identified (see for example Thornton et al 1988 Biochem. et Biophys. Acta. 959, 153-159 and Hilton & Buckley 1991 J. Biol. Chem. 266, 997-1000) for this enzyme.
Buckley et al (J. Bacteriol 1996, 178(7) 2060-4) taught that Ser16, Asp116 and His291 are essential amino acids which must be retained for enzyme activity to be maintained.
Robertson et al (J. Biol. Chem. 1994, 269, 2146-50) taught some specific mutations, namely Y226F, Y230F, Y30F, F13S, S18G, S18V, of the A. hydrophila acyltransferase, none of which are encompassed by the present invention.


Methods and apparatuses are disclosed for transmitter circuits. One example apparatus includes a pre-driver circuit configured to provide a transition control signal responsive to received data, and a main driver circuit configured to drive an output node responsive to the transition control signal. The apparatus also includes a feedback circuit configured to provide a feedback control signal responsive to a voltage of the output node reaching or exceeding a predefined threshold, and an equalizer driver circuit configured to assist the main driver circuit in driving the output node responsive to signals from at least one of the pre-driver circuit and the feedback circuit.

When data is transmitted through a channel, such as a metal wire or a through-silicon-via (TSV), the channel may distort the data as it passes through the channel. For example, the channel may filter out high frequency components of a digital data signal, thereby reducing the "sharpness" of transitions, increasing inter-symbol interference, decreasing the time the data of the signal is valid, and so forth.
Various techniques exist to compensate for the distortion caused by the channel, either before the data is transmitted on the transmitter side of the channel, or after it is received on the receiver side of the channel. As one example, an equalizer circuit may be used on the transmitter side to "pre-emphasize" data transitions in a digital data signal before it is transmitted through the channel. Such equalization typically aims to boost the voltage and/or current provided to the channel in order to compensate for high frequency losses of the channel. However, many such equalization circuits need dedicated control circuitry, including for example an edge detector, in order to be able to effectively pre-emphasize the data transitions.

Methods and apparatuses including transmitter circuits


The present invention relates to a multi density fiber seat back for furniture seating systems. The multi density fiber seat back comprises an inner core of a firmer fiber batt and outer fiber batts which are relatively soft. One of the outer softer fiber batts is positioned against the front of the seat back frame and the other outer fiber batt is toward the seating area of the furniture seating system. The outer softer fiber back proximate the seating area imparts a oft plush feel to the touch. The firmer fiber batt core provides back support to one seated on the furniture and ease in raising oneself up from a seated position, as well are providing vertical stability to the multi density fiber back. The outer softer fiber batt proximate the front of the seat back frame provides a sense of reclining as it is compressed.

Traditional cushion seat backs for furniture generally comprise loose fiberfill, nonwoven fiber batts, and foams, among other materials, for achieving a range of comfort, loft and durability. The material traditionally used in furniture back cushions in which a soft plush feel is desired, is blown loose fiberfill. While loose fiberfill provides a soft plush feel, the fibers are not bonded together and thus have a tendency to settle toward the bottom of the cushion seat back. Baffles can be constructed in the seat back in which the loose fiberfill is blown in an effort to minimize the settling effect; however, the undesirable settling effect cannot totally be eliminated.
Nonwoven fiber batts are also used as cushions in furniture backs. The fiber batts are constructed of synthetic or natural fibers. The fibers are inherently lightweight and therefore relatively easy to ship, store and manipulate during fabrication. Synthetic fibers are generally not moisture absorbent and as a result, products made from synthetic fibers can be maintained in a hygienic condition. When subjected to open flame, many of the synthetic fibers tend to melt and drip rather than burn. While some synthetic fibers may give off toxic fumes, the escape of such fumes can be avoided or minimized by encapsulating the batt in a fire retardant or relatively air impermeable casing. Traditional fiber batts maintain their comfort characteristics over time and have desired comfort and height characteristics.
Foam materials have also been used in the construction of furniture seat backs. While foam imparts cushioning and resilience to the seat back, it is characteristically firm and thus suitable for applications where stronger back support is desirable to one using the furniture.


An electronic bait station utilising the disruption of an electromagnetic field to detect the movement of insects or small animals within the station. The bait station consists of a housing, with at least one cavity having an electromagnetic radiation element generating an electromagnetic field in the cavity, and an electromagnetic receiving element detecting the electromagnetic field. Movement of an insect or small animal in the cavity causes a change in the electromagnetic field, which is detected.

The destructive nature of pests, in particular termites, which ingest the wood of structures and other materials, is well known. The detection of the presence of termites and pests is vital in controlling and abating pest infestation in an area.
There are numerous conventional devices which detect the presence of termites or pests. One such device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,555,672 wherein a termite detection and control system is provided by a subterranean bait station. The bait station comprises removable cartridges having partitions containing bait material to attract termites. Once termite presence is detected, the bait in one of the cartridges is replaced with bait induced with pesticide.
Another apparatus is described in Australian Patent 708025. A cellulose monitoring device is housed in a durable station housing which is periodically observed to detect activity of isopteran insects. The insects are eliminated using a toxicant-containing matrix enclosed in the durable station housing.
A further termite bait apparatus is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,596. The apparatus has two compartments, a non toxic and a toxic compartment. A passage, initially blocked by a plug which the termites can eat through, connects the two compartments. Termites placed in the non toxic compartment feed on non-toxic food. An exit from the non-toxic compartment leads to the shelter of a target termite colony. The target termite colony then slowly enters the non-toxic compartment and eventually the toxic compartment.
Yet another bait station is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,195,934. A termite bait station uses a cellulose bait impregnated with a slow acting toxicant to control and eliminate termites.
The above systems and methods detect the presence of termites and pests in an area and eradicate them using toxicant-bait. However, these systems require constant visual monitoring of the bait stations to ascertain the presence of pests and termites. Often, termite colonies and pests are well established before they are detected.
The above systems are limited to the detection of insects and generally are not extendible to small animals such as mice and rodents.

Abstract: The preferred bait station comprises an outer cavity and a coaxial inner cavity, each with an electromagnetic field. This arrangement allows the direction of movement of insects and small animals to be determined and minimises the occurrence of spurious signals.


An implement has at least a first plow share in front, provided with an anti-rollback mechanism, and at least a second plow share in the rear, with another anti-rollback mechanism. The plow shares are interconnected by alternate approaching and distancing mechanisms. A telematic control unit based on a computer system that is assisted by a global positioning system, autonomously guides movement of the implement. A steering system formed by an oscillating support can rotate in a plane perpendicular to the advancement direction of the implement and lifts one of the plow shares in relation to the ground and moves it laterally. A power supply system using renewable energy or internal or external combustion engines is mounted on the implement.

Today, different tillage implements, such as turning plows, chisels, disc plows, cultivators or subsoiling farm implements are used to till the land. These implements are attached behind a tractor that draws them, supplying the necessary power to lift and break up the soil, and perform other operations on the land.
These working means present several problems, the main one being that operations cannot be automated because the tractor must be driven and handled by a person. Moreover, the need to use a tractor increases investment costs, and tractor maintenance, including the necessary fuel consumption, is considerable.
Currently, these diesel-engine tractors do not represent an ideal solution from an ecological and environmental point of view, as they release large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, use fossil fuel with limited resources, and their handling requires the ongoing attention of a driver or operator, which increases the final cost of the cultivated products.
Tractors achieve their adherence from the interaction of the tire with the land and as a result of the tractor's weight; this technique requires the use of water-filled tires, counterweights and heavy tractors. This has a compaction effect on farmlands with the consequent loss of fertility. Having to move the tractor's tonnage, which requires an energy consumption that is lost with the tire grip and which is not useful in moving the land, is an inefficiency.
An ideal solution to at least partially solve the problems of current tractors would be the development of tractors operated by solar energy or directly with electricity; however, developments made in these types of solar or electric power are not applicable to existing tractors, which are of large dimensions, weight and power, since it would be necessary to use a disproportionate number of photovoltaic panels to recharge the batteries and, in the case of electrical power, in addition to having a very restricted range, recharging the vehicle's battery would require the installation of power points in crop fields, which is impractical due to both the cost of the installation and the huge amount of time required to recharge the batteries.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,199,000 document describes a self-propelled tractor comprising a telematics central unit comprising a global positioning system (GPS), sensors for the reception of a number of input parameters, a camera for capturing images of the surroundings and a control unit associated to the GPS and to the input sensors which, based on the information provided by both, determines the farm work to be performed and exchanges this information with a data storage unit. Since this tractor has supporting wheels, it causes a compaction of the soil during its movement and the consequent loss of fertility; and fails to satisfactorily resolve the abovementioned problems regarding the consumption of energy used on just the displacement of the tractor.
Different implements intended to be attached to a tow tractor by different means are also known. For example, document GB 1174622 describes an attachment system for implements employed on a tractor to the structure thereof and highlights the importance that these tools can describe not only a vertical movement but also a lateral movement. This implement requires coupling to a tractor, so it does not resolve either the problems mentioned above concerning soil compaction caused by the tractor wheels, and the inevitable consumption of energy targeted exclusively at engine movement.

Autonomous self-actuated tillage implement