Multimetallic anionic clays (MACs) are prepared using economical raw materials or reactants and a procedure for obtaining a series of multimetallic mixed oxides derived from the thermal decomposition of the MACs which comprises: (1) dissolving water-soluble bimetallic and/or trimetallic sources in water, (2) dispersing and homogenizing separate water-insoluble divalent and/or trivalent metal precursors with a high-speed stirrer in order to obtain small and reactive particles; depending on the nature of the water-insoluble divalent and/or trivalent metal precursors, this process can be adjusted to a desired pH, (3) adding the suspension obtained in (2) to solution (1) with the reaction medium still dispersed to facilitate solid particle's reduction/dissociation, and (4) afterwards the slurry is aged for several hours and finally dried. This process enables raw materials or reactants to be easily handled, and eliminates unit operations involving product washing and/or purification steps.

Anionic clays possess a crystalline structure consisting of positively charged layers constituting of specific combinations of metallic hydroxides amongst which anions and water molecules are found. These compounds can be represented by the following general formula:[Mn+1−xMq+x(OH)2]Ap−x/p.mH2O where:Mn+ represents a metallic cation,Mq+ represents a metallic cation with upper positive charge (q>n),Ap− represents any anion.
It has been found in nature that many minerals are isomorphs, characterized by having different stoichiometries, with more than one anion or more than two cations, or with small quantities of cations in the brucite-like interlaminar region. Such crystalline structures include pyroaurite, sjogrenite, hydrotalcite, stichtite, reevesite, eardleyite, manasseite, barbertonite, takovite, desautelsite, and hydrocalumite, among others. The chemical formulas of synthetic anionic clay forms include: [Mg6Fe2(OH)16]CO3.4H2O, [Mg6Al2(OH)16]CO3.4H2O, [Mg6Cr2(OH)16]CO3.4H2O, [Ni6Fe2(OH)16]CO3.4H2O, [Ni6Al2(OH)16]CO3.4H2O, [Fe4Fe2(OH)12]CO3.mH2O, [Ca2Al(OH)6][(OH)0.75(CO3)0.125.2.5H2O6]OH.6H2O, [Ca2Al(OH)6]OH.3H2O, [Ca2Al(OH)6]OH.2H2O, [Ca2Al(OH)6]OH, [Ca2Al(OH)6]Cl.2H2O, [Ca2Al(OH)6 ]0.5CO3.2.5H2O, [Ca2Al(OH)6 ]0.5SO4.3H2O, [Ca2Fe(OH)6]0.5SO4.3H2O, [(Ni,Zn)6Al2(OH)16]CO3. 4H2O, [Mg6(Ni,Fe)2(OH)16](OH)2.2H2O, [Mg6Al2(OH)16](OH)2.4H2O, [(Mg3Zn3)Al2(OH)16]CO3.4H2O, [Mg6Al2(OH)16]SO4.m H2O, [Mg6Al2(OH)16](NO3)2. mH2O, [Zn6Al2(OH)16]CO3.mH2O, [Cu6Al2(OH)16]CO3.mH2O, [Cu6Al2(OH)16]SO4. mH2O, [Mn6Al2(OH)16]CO3.mH2O.
In order to understand the structure of these compounds, it is necessary to take the structure of brucite Mg(OH)2 as a reference, where Mg2+ is found octahedrally coordinated to six hydroxyl groups, which, upon sharing their edges, form infinite layers. These layers pile up one on top of the other and are held together by hydrogen bridges. For example, when the Mg2+ is replaced by Al3+, the presence of the aluminum atoms produces positive charges in the structure which are compensated for with interlaminar anions together with water molecules. The most common anions are carbonates, but they can be NO3−, OH−, Cl−, Br−, I−, SO42−, SiO32, CrO42−, BO32−, MnO4−, HGaO32−, HVO42−, ClO3−, ClO4−, IO3−, S2O32−, WO42−, [Fe(CN)6]3−, [Fe(CN)6]4−, (PMo12O40)3−, (PW12O40)3−, V10O266−, Mo7O246−, etc.
Specialists in this field will realize that the anionic clays are commonly referred to as, "Mixed metal hydroxides." This expression is derived from the fact that, as was noted earlier, the positively charged layers of the metallic hydroxides can contain two or more different metallic cations in different oxidation states, such as, Mg2+, Ni2+, Zn2+, Al3+, Fe3+, Cr3+, etc.
Additionally, and given that the X-ray diffraction patterns of many of the anionic clays are similar to the natural mineral known as hydrotalcite, [Mg6Al2(OH)16](CO3).4H2O, they are commonly called, "Hydrotalcite-like compounds." This term has been amply used in the scientific article and patent literature for many years. In fact, the terms, "Anionic clays," "Mixed metal hydroxides," "Hydrotalcite-like compounds," and "Double layered hydroxides," are closely related to each other and are used indistinctly. For the sake of simplicity, the term, "Hydrotalcite-like," is defined and used in a manner consistent with the literature, given that hydrotalcite, strictly speaking, has been the most studied anionic clay in the last decade.
It is known that anionic clays decompose in a predictable manner, and when they are heated without exceeding certain temperatures the materials resulting from the decomposition can be rehydrated, and optionally re-supplied with various anions different from the one that was originally found in the interlaminar region and from those that were removed during heating, thus reproducing the original anionic clay or a very similar one. The decomposition products of such heating are frequently referred to as "collapsed" or "meta-stable" anionic clays. However, if these collapsed or meta-stable materials are heated to temperatures above 800° C., the decomposition products of said anionic clays will not be able to be rehydrated and/or reconstituted to their original structure. Such anionic clay thermal decomposition process has been studied in detail in the academic and patent literature, for example, Miyata in "Physico-Chemical Properties of Synthetic Hydrotalcites in Relation to Composition", Clays and Clay Minerals, Vol. 28, 50-56 (1980).
One of the main problems to resolve when multimetallic anionic clays are prepared is proving that the cations really have incorporated themselves into the laminar structure. What's more, depending on the chemical nature of the cation, its velocity and precipitation pH may be different from that of the other cations. If the precipitation velocities amongst them are very different, a phase segregation will be obtained; that is, the cations will not be able to be incorporated in a uniform manner into the sheets of the anionic clay. For this reason, it is difficult to obtain multimetallic anionic clays whose crystallographic phases show themselves to be pure in an ample interval of cation compositions.
The preparation of synthetic anionic clays began with the pioneering works of Feitknecht and Gerber (1942) [Feitnecht, W., Über die Bildung von Doppelhydroxyden zwischen zwei-und dreiwertigen Metallen. Helv Chim. Acta (1942), 25, 555-569 and Gerber M., Zur Kenntnis der Doppelhydroxyde und basische Doppelsalze. III Über Magnesium-Aluminiumdoppelhydroxyde. Helv Chim. Acta (1942) 25, 131-137]. Their research group was the first to synthesize hydrotalcite via coprecipitation of a solution containing both the metallic cations, MgCl2 and AlCl3, with NaOH. Since then, similar syntheses have been described in the literature, all of them based on the precipitation of Mg and Al salts, followed by exhaustive washes to eliminate the remaining excess ions. Later on, new preparation methods were proposed, hydrothermal treatment among them, which was described by G. Mascolo and O. Marino, (1980) [Mascolo G., Marino O., A new synthesis and characterization of magnesium-aluminum hydroxides, Miner. Magazine 1980, 43, 619-621]. This consists in heating a magnesium oxide and alumina gel suspension in a closed container for 7 days. Nevertheless, the final product contained brucite phases, gibbsite, and in some cases boehmite, depending on the heating temperature and on the initial suspension's Mg/Al ratio.
Currently, a large number of patents exist regarding the preparation and use of anionic clays; those that stand out are described below:
In GB Patent No. 1,086,779 (1967) granted to Merck & Co. Inc., the preparation of magnesium aluminum hydroxycarbonates is described, where said hydroxycarbonates are prepared by the contact of a magnesium carbonate slurry, magnesium bicarbonate, or a mixture of these, with a soluble aluminum salt that can be aluminum sulfate, aluminum chloride, or aluminum nitrate, in the absence of sodium ions. The final sample is filtered and washed. It is proposed that these compounds be used as antacids.
With this same purpose for use, Kyowa Chemical Industry, in GB Patent No. 1,185,920 (1970), describes a process for the preparation of hydrotalcite, which encompasses the formation of a mixture at a pH of at least 8 from an aluminum component with a magnesium component, both of which are dissolved in an aqueous environment in the presence of carbonate ions in an Al2O3:MgO ratio of 1:6. The mixture may age between 0-150° C., and the carbonate to aluminum atom ratio should be at least 1/9. The final sample is filtered and washed.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,447,417 (1984) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,560,545 (1985), by Robert G. W. Spickett, granted to Anphar S. A., the preparation of the bimetallic anionic clay (BAC): Mg6Al2(OH)14(CO3)24H2O is described. The process for preparing this magnesium-aluminum basic carbonate encompasses heating a mixture of aluminum hydroxide and magnesium hydroxide in an aqueous environment that contains ammonia or a soluble nitrogenated organic base; whether it be a mono, di, or trialkylamine that contains more than 4 carbon atoms in the alkylamine radical(s), or pyridine or piperidine, the quantity of ammonia or of the organic base should be at least 6 moles per mole of Al2O3 present, at a temperature between 70-100° C. at atmospheric pressure. A carbon dioxide current is passed through the reaction mixture. The resulting mixture is put to reflux from 1 to 12 hours while the CO2 stream passes through the mixture at a speed high enough to produce the AB.
Klaus Schanz, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,539,195 (1985), granted to Giulini Chemie GmbH, lays claim to the preparation of a crystalline aluminum-magnesium basic carbonate with the formula Al2Mg6(OH)12(CO3)3xH2O (x≧4) and its use as an antacid. The preparation process for this material includes mixing basic magnesium carbonate and at least one compound selected from the magnesium hydroxide and active magnesium oxide in an active aluminum hydroxide aqueous suspension where the magnesium oxide provided by the basic magnesium carbonate is found between 44-70% in weight of the total magnesium oxide, thus obtaining the aluminum-magnesium basic carbonate at temperatures of 50-100° C. as a final product.
Misra Chanakya, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,156 (1987), granted to Alcoa, describes the use of hydrotalcite as an anion adsorbent in which anywhere between 20-80% in weight may be the hydrotalcite, and between 80-20% in weight may be an activated alumina; said composition can be activated by heating between 500-600° C. The synthesis is carried out by the reaction of activated magnesia with an aqueous alkaline solution that contains aluminate, carbonate, and hydroxyl ions at a temperature between 80-100° C. The aqueous alkaline solution contains the aluminate, carbonate, and hydroxyl ions understood as NaOH, Na2CO3, and Al2O3.
John Kosin, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,533 (1989), granted to J.M Huber Corporation, describes the production of synthetic bimetallic anionic clays that contain phosphates, formula xMgO.Al2O3.yPO4.zH2O, which possess improved characteristics such as flame retardants. The procedure for preparing these synthetic BACs consists in an aqueous system that includes an Mg source, an Al source, and a carbonate source, which react with phosphoric acid to generate the final product. The magnesium sources can be: MgO, Mg(OH)2, MgCO3, and other water soluble Mg salts. The magnesium hydroxide is the preferred reagent in 40-60% of solids. The aluminum must be present in an adequate aluminum salt: the preferred reagents are sodium aluminate as an aqueous solution or solid trihydrated aluminum. Of the reagents that contain carbonates, the following are preferred: alkaline metal carbonates or bicarbonates, CO2, alkaline metal earth bicarbonates, and mixtures of the aforementioned. Notwithstanding all of this, the preferred reagent is Na2CO3. These reagents are mixed in a closed reactor; the mix is heated at 150-200° C. for 1-3 hours, then filtered, washed, and dried.
Misra Chanakya, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,904,457 (1990), granted to Alcoa, describes a method for producing high yields of hydrotalcite that includes the activated magnesia reaction with an aqueous solution that contains aluminate, carbonate, and hydroxyl ions. The method includes a first step in which the carbonate or magnesium hydroxide is heated between 450-850° C. to form an activated magnesia or magnesium oxide. The method is appropriate for producing synthetic hydrotalcites from the Bayer liquid.
Alain A. Schutz, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,191 (1990), granted to Aristech Chemical Corporation, lays claim to a method for preparing a catalyst based on basic mixed oxides whose preparation consists of dispersing a pseudoboehmite in a water soluble acid (which may be acetic or nitric), and subsequently adding MgO o Mg(OH)2 with an Mg/Al ratio in the gel of 1:1 up to 10:1. The mixture is stirred until the MgO disappears; the product is dried and calcined between 300-500° C. for 1-24 hours.
Donald Grubbs, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,457 (1994), granted to Alcoa, describes a method for producing an intercalated hydrotalcite without the need to form the hydrotalcite in the first place and then having to activate it later before substituting the anions in the hydrotalcite's structure. The invention includes reacting activated magnesia with an aqueous solution of aluminate, carbonate, and hydroxyl ions, as well as the anions that will form the BACs. It is preferable that the aluminate be a sodium aluminate and that the aqueous solution be free from carbonates. The anions that are selected should, preferably, belong to the bromide, chloride, sulfate, borate group, or combinations of these. Furthermore, this method provides a solid with high purity and a large yield.
Alain Schutz, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,329 (1995), granted to Aristech Chemical Corp., lays claim to the synthesis of a hydrotalcite-like material that has a "laminar" morphology and a width/thickness ratio of 50:1-5000:1. This material is represented by the following formula: (Mg1−xAlx)(OH)2xA−mH2O, where A− is a monocarboxylic anion in form RCOO−, and R is CnH2n+1 with n=0-5; x is a number between 0.2 and 0.4; and m is a number between 0 and 4. In this process, a mixture of divalent metal cations, mainly made up of magnesium, and trivalent metal cations, mainly made up of aluminum, are reacted with monocarboxylic anions that have anywhere from 1-6 carbon atoms in a ratio of 1:1-10:1 in an aqueous slurry at 40° C. and at a pH of 7-12. The ratio of the monocarboxylic anion/trivalent metal cation is from (0.1-1.2):1. Thereafter, the slurry is dried obtaining a hydrotalcite-like material with laminar morphology and a width/thickness ratio of 50-5000. The Mg sources may be MgO or Mg(OH)2. Another of this invention's innovations is that the Mg and the Al can be substituted up to 50% in mole for divalent cations selected from the Ni, Cu, Zn, Co, and Mn group, and for trivalent cations selected from the Fe and Cr group, respectively.
Martin Edward, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,361 (1996), granted to Alcoa, presents a method for preparing a synthetic meixnerite obtained by the combination of magnesium oxide and alumina powder, preferably an alumina with a specific area≧100 m2/g in a carbonate-free environment. The MgO and the alumina are combined in water, heating the mixture between 50-180° C. The solid is separated producing a meixnerite compound. One of the key stages during the synthesis process is to maintain the solution in an inert atmosphere in order to avoid the incorporation of other anions such as carbonates and nitrates, mainly.
The meixnerite synthesis is also claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,810 (1997), granted to Alcoa. The method consists of calcining a hydrotalcite between 500-900° C., cooling it, and hydrating it in a CO2 free atmosphere. When the meixnerite is produced this way, it generates a solid with a specific area≧290 m2/g.
In a series of patents: U.S. Pat. No. 6,171,991 (2001), U.S. Pat. No. 6,376,405 (2002), U.S. Pat. No. 6,440,887 (2002), U.S. Pat. No. 6,440,888 (2002), U.S. Pat. No. 6,444,188 (2002), U.S. Pat. No. 2003/0049189, U.S. Pat. No. 6,652,828 (2003), U.S. Pat. No. 6,593,265 (2004), U.S. Pat. No. 6,710,004 (2004), U.S. Pat. No. 6,800,578 (2004), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,815,389 (2004) granted to Akzo Nobel N.V., Dennis Stamires and collaborators describe a process for producing anionic clays using economical raw materials by means of a synthesis process adequate for being carried out in a continuous manner. The authors indicate that, due to the nature of the precursors, there is no need to carry out washes or to filter. Likewise, according to the authors, it is possible to obtain an ample variety of M2+/M3+ ratios through the procedure described in these patents. The processes consist mainly of: a) Putting a magnesium source (generally MgO, Mg(OH)2, MgCO3 or their mixtures) in contact with an aluminum source (trihydrated aluminum, gibbsite, bayerite, norstrandite, boehmite, Al(NO3)3.9H2O or their mixtures in an aqueous medium; b) submitting them to a treatment at room pressure and temperature or at elevated pressure and temperatures; c) adjusting the pH with an acid or base and aging the mixture at temperatures between 85-240° C. from 5 minutes to 5 days. In the same manner, the authors indicate that during the process of preparing the anionic clays an anionic exchange can take place with pillared anions, mainly with V10O286−, Mo7O246, tungstates, phosphates, borates, vanadates, and/or their mixtures.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,440,888 (2002), Stamires describes a process for preparing bimetallic anionic clays (BACs) where the divalent cation can by anything except magnesium. The examples encompass the preparation of BACs: ZnAl, CuAl, and FeAl with molar ratios of M2+/M3+˜2. The reaction times vary from 1-18 h, with temperatures between 50-250° C. The aluminum sources are calcined alumina and gibbsite.
Simultaneously, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,444,188 (2002), U.S. Pat. No. 2003/0049189, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,652,828, Stamires lays claim to the process for obtaining bimetallic anionic clays where the trivalent cation is anything but aluminum. The examples include the preparation of BACs: MgGa, MgCr, and MgFe through the contact of MgO with gallium oxide, gallium nitrate, chromium nitrate, or ferric nitrate maintaining an M2+/M3+=2.3 ratio. The slurry is adjusted to pH=10 with NH3OH. The mixture can be treated from 50-250° C. for 1-18 hours.
William Jones, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,541,409 (2003), granted to Akzo Novel NV, claims an anionic clay production process using a boehmite without peptization. The process involves the reaction of slurry that contains a boehmite without peptization and a magnesium source. In addition, according to the invention there is no need to wash the product.
The anionic clay preparation is carried out through the contact of MgO with the following aluminas: Catapal or Versal V-250 or Condea P200, continuing to stir the slurry for 4-48 hours at 0-185° C.
In the last decades, anionic clays have found multiple applications in fields such as: medicine, support or catalyst for different organic reactions, adsorbents to eliminate or reduce the sulfur oxides (SOx) and/or nitrogen (NOx) in gas streams, flame retardant, etc.
Standing out amongst the applications as a catalyst are W. T. Reichle's pioneering works, protected by U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,026 (1984) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,476,324 (1984) assigned to Union Carbide Co., in which the use of mixed oxide obtained from the calcination of the binary anionic clay MgAl in the conversion of the acetone into mesityl oxide and isophorone, as well as the aldol condensation of other compounds containing carbonyl groups, is described.
In this same sense, the patents by A. A. Schutz, U.S. Pat. No. 5,055,620 (1991) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,202,496 (1993) granted to Aristech Chemical Co., protect the preparation and use of basic mixed oxides with Mg/Al: 1 to 10 ratios, as effective catalysts in the condensation of acetone into isophorone, and other reactions catalyzed by bases such as olefin isomerization and the aldol condensation of aldehydes.
Holmgrem et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,254,743 (1993) assigned to UOP, describes the use of solid bases resulting from the calcination of laminar double hydroxides as effective catalysts in aldol condensations of aldehyde and ketone, in particular from the conversion in liquid phase of the n-butyraldehyde into 2-ethyl-2-hexenal with a high yield and good selectivity.
Engel et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,350,879 (1994) assigned to UOP, proposes the use of solid solutions resulting from MgAl anionic clay calcination resultants as a basic catalyst in the transesterification of alkyl acetates and their respective alcohols, with an excellent yield and high selectivity.
Given the importance of the heterogeneous basic catalysts in fine chemistry, the easy control of their physicochemical properties, which depend on the metallic cations incorporated into the network, their amount, and the nature of the interlaminar anions, obtaining multimetallic anionic clays through a simple and economically viable method is of great importance. The scientific and patent references repeatedly include the use of acid and/or basic substances, organic or inorganic, in order to adjust the pH of the solutions, which includes NaOH, NaHCO3, Na2CO3, KOH, K2CO3, NH4OH, (NH4)2CO3, or any alkaline compound. Nevertheless, the use of alkaline metal hydroxides or carbonates requires that the final solid be submitted to a series of exhaustive washes with the goal of eliminating these ions.

Process for preparing multimetallic anionic clays and products thereof


A method and system for controlling a heating device mounted on e.g. a satellite receiver antenna is disclosed. The method includes the steps of determining whether the signal strength is degrading, determining whether a temperature is below a threshold temperature, and operating a heating device on the antenna only if the signal is degrading and the temperature is below the threshold. The system includes a temperature sensor that samples a relevant temperature, a device that measures a signal strength of a signal received by the antenna, logic in communication with the temperature sensor and the measuring device for determining whether both the signal strength is degrading and the sample temperature is below a threshold temperature, and a control or switch device for operating a corrective device, such as a heater. The system and method herein automatically turns on an antenna heating device or other device to melt snow or frost accumulated on the receiver antenna upon detecting a loss of signal strength and a sufficiently low temperature.

The present invention relates generally to digital satellite communication systems, and more particularly to a method and system for removing snow, ice and frost from the satellite receiver dish antenna upon detection that the received signal is degrading under conditions conducive to snow, ice or frost accumulation.
Generally, in modern digital satellite communication systems, a ground-based transmitter transmits a forward-error-coded uplink signal to a satellite positioned in a geosynchronous orbit. The satellite in turn relays the signal back to a ground-based receiver antenna in a separate location. Direct broadcast satellite ("DBS") systems allow households to receive television, audio, data, and video directly from the DBS satellite. Each household subscribing to the system receives the broadcast signals through a receiver unit and a satellite dish receiver antenna.
In the typical DBS system, the satellite receiver antenna includes an e.g. 18-inch parabolic dish and a low noise block (LNB), and the receiver unit may include an integrated receiver decoder module (IRD). The receiver antenna is typically mounted outside the house, and cables are provided to link the LNB to the indoor IRD and associated equipment (e.g. video display).
Several factors can degrade received DBS signals. For example, the satellite receiver antenna can accumulate snow, ice or other debris unseen by the user. This accumulation can degrade the received signal strength enough to interrupt IRD operation. This may be a particular problem in colder climates where seasonal snow, ice or frost accumulations can degrade the performance of an antenna reflector and/or an LNB, particularly in the Ku band or other high frequency bands utilized by many present DBS and terrestrial systems. Furthermore, due to the significant amount of forward error correction used, the DBS picture quality may not suffer any noticeable decrease although signal strength is continuously degrading. When signal strength falls below a certain minimum, the signal can be completely lost without warning.
Therefore, there is a need for an inexpensive and simple method and system for automatically detecting a degraded signal and clearing snow, ice or frost from a home receiving antenna. There is a particular need for such a system which can better determine when a corrective response for snow, ice or frost accumulation is appropriate, by discriminating between signal reductions caused by these events as opposed to other possible environmental causes such as rain fade.

Method and apparatus for de-icing a satellite dish antenna


A high voltage, high power multi-level drive structure includes a plurality of neutral-point-piloted (NPP) converter cells stacked together. At least one clamping diode is connected to one or many NPP converter cells to provide a neutral-point-pilot-clamped (NPPC) converter structure. Flying capacitors connected to the NPPC converter structure yield a neutral-point-clamped-flying-capacitor converter cell structure.

The subject matter of this disclosure relates generally to high voltage, high power multi-level drive structures, with many input and output phases, and more particularly to a multi-level drive structure that combines the architectures of classical multi-level neutral-point-clamped (NPC) and multi-level neutral-point-piloted (NPP) converter topologies.
A multiplicity of multi-level drive structures have been proposed. One known multi-level drive structure is the classical three-level neutral-point-clamped converter 10 such as shown in FIG. 1. Another known multi-level drive structure is the three-level neutral-point-piloted converter 20 such as shown in FIG. 2. Although known NPC and NPP converter structures have proven to be advantageous in numerous applications, these known converter structures leave room for improvements in both operational efficiency and waveform quality.
Yet, another known multi-level drive structure 30 is illustrated in FIG. 3. Although the multi-level converter 30 structure shown in FIG. 3 offers improvements over the NPC and NPP converter structures, it still leaves room for improvements in operational efficiency as well as reliability.
Still another known multi-level drive structure is depicted in FIG. 4 that illustrates a five-level neutral-point-piloted converter structure 40. The converter structure 40 shown in FIG. 4 employs flying capacitors 42, 44 to provide a flying capacitor (FC) based multi-level converter. Such converter topologies have proven to be advantageous in certain high voltage, high power drive applications, but continue to leave room for improvements in operational efficiency.
FIGS. 5-8 illustrates further classical converter topologies known in the art including a cascaded bridge converter structure 50, a modular multi-level converter structure 60, and active neutral point converter structure 70 and a hybrid converter structure 80. Similar to known NPC and NPP converter structures, these classical converter structures continue to leave room for improvements in operational efficiency and/or waveform quality and/or reliability.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need to provide a high voltage, high power multi-level drive topology that provides further improvements in operational efficiency and/or waveform quality and/or reliability beyond that afforded by known multi-level converter structures.

High voltage high power multi-level drive structure


A paint can system including a paint can, a lid and a sealing ring having a sealing ridge that is insertable into the lid ridge receiving channel of the rim assembly of the paint can. The sealing ring includes a brush wiping flange that has an outer flange edge that defines an opening through which the paint brush can be loaded with paint when the sealing flange is installed. The sealing ring is adapted such that the lid of the paint can is seatable, in an upside down orientation, onto the sealing ring to cover the opening through the sealing ring to seal the paint can.

Paint often accumulates in the lid ridge receiving channel of the rim assembly of opened paint cans. This paint accumulation can cause a mess when the lid is reseated. It would be a benefit, therefore, to have a paint can system that included a sealing ring having a sealing ridge that was insertable into the lid ridge receiving channel of the paint can rim assembly after the lid is removed to fill the lid ridge receiving channel and thereby prevent paint from accumulating in the lid ridge receiving channel. Because it is desirable to adjust the paint loading of a paint brush by scraping the side of the paint brush against an edge, it would be a further benefit to have a paint can system that included a sealing ring as describe that further included a brush wiping flange that had an outer flange edge that defined an opening through which the paint brush could be loaded when the sealing flange was installed. Because it may be desirable in some instances to seal the paint can for a short period of time, such as a lunch or coffee break, it would be a further benefit if the lid of the paint can could be seated, in an upside down orientation, onto the sealing ring to cover the opening through the sealing ring to seal the paint can.


An energy receiver including a power receiver coil configured to wirelessly receive power transmitted from a power transmitter; a detection section configured to detect a foreign object; and a power storage section configured to supply power to the detection section during detection of the foreign object.

In recent years, a non-contact power transmission system supplying power by wireless, that is, without contact is actively developed. A magnetic field resonance method attracts attention as a method realizing non-contact power transmission. The magnetic field resonance method uses magnetic field coupling between a transmission-side coil and a reception-side coil to perform power transmission. The magnetic field resonance method has characteristics that magnetic fluxes shared between a power feed source and a power feed destination is reduced by actively using resonance phenomenon.
In a well-known electromagnetic induction method, the coupling degree of the power transmission side and the power reception side is distinctly high, and power feeding with high efficiency is possible. However, since a coupling factor need to be maintained high, power transmission efficiency between a power transmission side coil and a power reception side coil (hereinafter, referred to as "efficiency between coils") is largely deteriorated when a distance between the power transmission side and the power reception side is increased or when positional deviation occurs. On the other hand, the magnetic field resonance method has characteristics that the efficiency between coils is not deteriorated, even if a coupling factor is small, if a quality factor is high. In other words, there is an advantage that an axial alignment between the power transmission side coil and the power reception side coil is not necessary and degree of freedom in position and distance between coils is high. The quality factor is an index indicating relationship between retention and loss of energy in a circuit having the power transmission side coil or the power reception side coil (indicating intensity of resonance of a resonance circuit).
One of the most important factors in the non-contact power transmission system is measures against heat generation of a foreign metal. When power feeding is performed without contact, if a metal exists between the power transmission side and the power reception side, an eddy current occurs and thus the metal may generate heat, irrespective of the electromagnetic induction method or the magnetic field resonance method. To suppress the heat generation, various methods of detecting a foreign metal are proposed. For example, a method using an optical sensor or a temperature sensor is known. However, a detection method using a sensor is high in cost when feeding range is wide like the magnetic field resonance method. In addition, for example, if the used sensor is a temperature sensor, output results of the temperature sensor depend on heat conductivity therearound so that devices on the transmission side and the reception side are limited in design.
Accordingly, a method of observing change in parameters (a current, a voltage, and the like) when a foreign metal exists between the power transmission side and the power reception side and determining presence of a foreign metal is proposed. In such a method, its cost is allowed to be suppressed without design limitation. For example, in Patent Literature 1, a method of detecting a foreign metal with use of modulation degree of parameters at communication between the power transmission side and the power reception side is proposed. In Patent Literature 2, a method of detecting a foreign metal with use of eddy current loss (detection of foreign substance by DC-DC efficiency) is proposed.

Energy receiver, detection method, power transmission system, detection device, and energy transmitter


A solid state image sensor architecture that utilizes drain structures at one or more locations on a shift register, as set by the design, allowing the user to select which charge packets are needed to represent the image and draining the remaining packets. Since the used packets are drained, there is no need to provide clock cycles to output charge packets that are not used while in the low resolution mode. Clocking can be stopped after the needed number of cycles without leaving charge packets in the shift register without the possibility of corrupting subsequent image information by charge packets that have not been removed. Additionally, the reduction in clock cycles decreases the time required to process the current information, and allows the system to operate at higher speeds.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to image sensors, and more particularly, to image sensors that allow varying degrees of resolution.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional Charge Coupled Device (CCD) image sensors are comprised of an image sensing array and a transfer readout region. Typically these devices may have a shift register which comprises the readout region for each array of photodetectors. In the case of linear image sensors, there is typically one or two shift registers for a linear array of photodetectors, and typically one CCD "cell" for each photo detector. Each CCD cell may contain several electrodes to perform the shifting function.
CCD image sensors operate in the manner described below. Incident light photons penetrate into silicon based photodetectors resulting in the generation of electron-hole pairs. The electrons that are generated, at a rate proportional to the local light intensity, are collected either at the photo site or in an adjacent storage region. The electrons are then transferred through a transfer region into a CCD shift register in a parallel fashion (all charge packets are simultaneously transferred to their respective shift register "cell", thereby maintaining spatial integrity of the information). The individual charge packets are then shifted serially to an output device at one end of the shift register by means of shift register clock signals. It is therefore imperative that the shift register clocks contain enough cycles to completely read out all charge packets. If the clocks have an insufficient number of cycles to completely read out all the charge packets, then some packets of information will remain in the shift register at the last location to which they were shifted. This remaining charge will subsequently be added to the charge from the next line of image information, thereby corrupting the spatial information of the image.
In some applications high speed and lower resolution may be preferred to a higher resolution approach. It may then be desirable to use the same sensor in both higher and lower resolution applications by using only a portion of the image area for the lower resolution applications. However, as mentioned above, all the pixel information within CCD devices must be shifted out of the devices. Therefore, in lower resolution applications, once the required pixels are read out of the device, the rest of the charge packets must still be clocked out and discarded. This increases the time required to process the information from an image and presents a problem in systems that must operate at high speeds and can not afford the added time.
Solid state image sensors, particularly charge coupled device (CCD) imagers, disclosed by prior art are similar to the type illustrated in FIG. 1a and 1b. The imager is comprised of an array of photosites, a transfer region, one or more CCD shift registers, and an output amplifier. This type of imager operates by absorbing incident light photons and generating electrons at the photo site at a rate equivalent to the local light intensity. These electrons are then transferred through the transfer region into the shift register in a parallel manner. The shift register is then clocked to transport the individual charge packets, in a serial manner, to the output section. It is therefore evident for the single shift register case of FIG. 1a that the register must be clocked more than `m` times, or charge packets will be left behind in the register. Similarly, for the dual register case of FIG. 1b, M/2 cycles must be completed to read out all of the signal charge. This type of architecture therefore forces the user to allow enough time to completely read out the entire register.
FIG. 2 is an illustration of a prior art device having adjustable resolution features. In this architecture, the antiblooming features of the device are used to implement a variable resolution scheme. The antiblooming drain is located adjacent to the photodetectors and is used to drain charges from the CCD cells not used in creating an image. The charges from these unwanted cells are routed through to the antiblooming drain according to the selection features implemented by the user. The features of this prior art device are such that horizontal registers contain an isolation gate to achieve the variable levels of resolution. When the isolation gate is biased such that the channel potential is lower than the adjacent gate in the register, the charge packets to the right of the isolation gate will be read out via amplifiers, but the packets to the left of the isolation gate will be drained back through the antiblooming structure of the device, labeled Vsink. This architecture has the drawbacks that it is complex to build and requires many precise clock signals to control all the associated gates. The device of FIG. 2 requires a control signal that can be switched between a D.C. level, and the horizontal clock. The D.C. signal is required for the lower resolution mode and a horizontal clock signal is required for higher resolution mode. Furthermore, the device of FIG. 2 requires dual transfer electrodes, an antiblooming gate and a drain for each pixel. This increases the cell size, complexity and reduces the device yield.
It should be evident from the foregoing discussion that there remains a need within the prior art for variable resolution devices that do not leave extraneous charges within the device and that will provide higher speeds at lower resolution than is currently available with existing prior art devices. The present invention addresses the shortcomings of the prior art in providing such a device.

Solid state image sensor with selectable resolution


For use in combination with a demodulator (23) for demodulating a received signal susceptible to fading into a demodulated signal, an adaptive equalizer comprises a fading detecting circuit (51) for detecting the received signal to produce a detection signal representative of a magnitude of the fading. Into a processed signal and supplied with the detection signal, an equalizer multiplier (53) processes an equalized signal produced in an equalizer section (25, 26 and 27) which is for carrying out a predetermined equalization operation. In accordance with the processed signal, an automatic gain control circuit (52) modifies the demodulated signal into a modified signal on which the predetermined equalization operation is carried out.

This invention relates to an adaptive equalizer which is used in combination with a demodulator.
Into a demodulated signal, the demodulator demodulates a received signal which may be susceptible to fading while transmitted to the demodulator through a radio channel. The demodulated signal may be a baseband signal having a binary level or a multilevel.
A conventional adaptive equalizer is supplied with the demodulated signal and comprises a modifying circuit, an equalizer section, an expanding circuit, and a control circuit which will presently be described.
The modifying circuit is for carrying out a compression operation on the demodulated signal in accordance with a compression ratio and produces a modified signal representative of a result of the compression operation. The equalizer section is for carrying out an equalization operation on the modified signal in accordance with controllable tap gains and produces an equalized signal representative of a result of the equalization operation. The expanding circuit is for carrying out an expansion operation on the equalized signal in accordance with an expansion ratio and produces an expanded signal representative of a result of the expansion operation. The control circuit is for controlling each of the compression and the expansion ratios in accordance with the controllable tap gains.
The fading has a magnitude which varies dependent on conditions of the radio channel. When the magnitude of the fading becomes greater than a predetermined value, the control circuit makes each of the compression and the expansion ratios change stepwise. In this connection, a time lag is inevitably between a time instant when the compression ratio is changed and another time instant when the expansion ratio is changed. This results in malfunction of the equalization operation in the equalizer section. This is because the equalizer section does not exactly carry out the equalization operation during a particular time interval which is determined due to the time lag.
In addition, each of the compression and the expansion ratios is determined in accordance with the controllable tap gains. In this connection, each of the compression and the expansion ratios is given an incoherent value when the malfunction is caused in the equalizer section to make the controllable tap gains become abnormal. When at least one of the compression and the expansion ratios is given the incoherent value, the equalizer section is put in an abnormal condition in which the equalization operation is not exactly carried out. However, it is extremely difficult to recover the equalizer section from the abnormal condition to a normal condition in which the equalization operation is exactly carried out.

Adaptive equalizer which carries out an equalization operation with reference to a magnitude of fading


A substrate on which a pattern is formed by a discharged functional liquid, includes a coating region coated with the functional liquid, and banks formed to enclose the coating region, wherein a difference between a contact angle of the functional liquid with respect to the coating region and a contact angle of the functional liquid with respect to the bank is above 40°.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a substrate for thin film patterning, a device, a method of manufacturing a device, a method of manufacturing an active matrix substrate, and an electro-optical apparatus and electronic apparatus.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Applications No. 2003-131600, filed May 9, 2003, No. 2003-131601, filed May 9, 2003, and No. 2004-115371, filed Apr. 9, 2004, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, as a method of manufacturing a fine wiring pattern such as a semiconductor integrated circuit, a photolithography method has been widely used. On the other hand, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H11-274671 or in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2000-216330, methods of using a droplet discharge method have been disclosed. In the technique disclosed in these publications, a functional liquid containing a pattern forming material is discharged from a droplet discharge head onto a substrate so that the material is arranged (coated) on the pattern forming surface to form a wiring pattern. This technique is considered to be very effective since it can correspond to manufacture of small quantities and large varieties.
Incidentally, densification of circuits for configuring devices has recently been advancing, and for example, for the wiring pattern there has been a demand for these to be miniaturized and made thinner.
However, in the case where an attempt is made to form such fine wiring patterns by the aforementioned droplet discharge method, it is particularly difficult to make the width of the wiring sufficiently accurate. Therefore, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H09-203803 or in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H09-230129, a technique of providing banks being partitioning members, on the substrate and performing surface treatment so as to make the top of the banks repellent and the other portions attraction, has been described.
By using this technique, even if it is a thin line, the width of the wiring pattern may be defined by the width between the banks. Moreover, even if the discharged droplet is partially placed on the banks, it is repelled by the repellent banks and flows into the attraction section being a ditch between the banks.
On the other hand, the banks are formed using the photolithography method, which may increase the cost. Therefore, a method has been proposed where, on a attraction section of a substrate previously formed with a pattern of repellent sections and attraction sections, a liquid material (functional liquid) is selectively discharged by the droplet discharge method. In this case, a liquid material dispersed with conductive particles easily stays on the attraction section. Therefore, it becomes possible to form the wiring pattern without forming banks but still maintaining the position accuracy.
However, the conventional techniques have the following problems.
In the case where the difference in the wettability (affinity) with respect to the droplet between the repellent sections and the attraction section is small, there is a possibility in that, although the droplet placed on the banks is repelled, it may not become wet to spread out into the ditch.
Moreover, in the case where the diameter of droplet is larger than the diameter of the ditch, there is concern that the droplet may remain as is, landed on the ditch.
On the other hand, even if a substrate patterned with the repellent sections and the attraction section is used, in the case where the difference in the wettability (affinity) with respect to the droplet between the repellent sections and the attraction section is small, there is a possibility that, although the droplet placed on the repellent sections is repelled, it may not become wet to spread out into the attraction section.
The present invention takes the above problems into consideration with the object of providing a substrate for thin film patterning, a device, a method of manufacturing a device, a method of manufacturing an active matrix substrate, and an electro-optical apparatus and electronic apparatus, in which a landed droplet can reliably get wet to spread out into a ditch so as to form a thin line.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a substrate for thin film patterning, a device, a method of manufacturing a device, a method of manufacturing an active matrix substrate, and an electro-optical apparatus and electronic apparatus, in which a landed droplet can reliably get wet to spread out into the attraction section so as to form a thin line, even if a substrate patterned with the repellent sections and the attraction section is used.

Substrate, device, method of manufacturing device, method of manufacturing active matrix substrate, electro-optical apparatus and electronic apparatus


A bow making apparatus (10) for receiving and maintaining the disposition of bow fabricating material during the making of a decorative bow. The bow making apparatus (10) includes a base member (12) defining an upper work surface (14) for supporting bow fabricating material (28) during the bow making operation. The apparatus (10) also includes first, second and third retainer members (22, 24, 25) extending upwardly from the upper work surface (14) of the base member (12) for releasably receiving and maintaining the position of gathered sections of bow fabricating material (28).

Decorative bow making has long been recognized as an art, and substantial skill is generally required to manually tie well proportioned decorative bows. Of course, automation of the bow making industry has given rise to complex machinery for producing decorative bows, but such machinery is expensive and takes originality, creativity and, indeed, enjoyment, out of the bow making process. Attempts have been made to devise bow making devices that are inexpensive, but they too tend to limit the bow maker's creativity by dictating the resulting bow configuration. Examples of such devices are disclosed in the following U.S. Patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor(s) Issue Date ______________________________________ 696,361 E. S. Chase Mar 25, 1902 1,010,155 W. E. Lange Nov 28,1911 1,598,310 T. A. Quinlan Aug 3l,1926 2,077,370 R. K. Reynolds Apr 13, 1937 2,105,436 G. Flatto Jan 11, 1938 2,542,222 A. F. Welch Feb 20, 1951 2,569,943 J. W. Mitchell Oct. 2, 1951 2,666,249 R. R. Ruiz, et al. Jan 19, 1954 2,763,080 A. F. Welch Sep 18, 1956 3,223,440 W. Rosenzweig Dec 14, 1965 3,428,227 J. W. Cavoli Feb 18, 1969 3,462,049 R. P. Smith Aug. 19, 1969 3,501,070 W. M. Shattuck Mar 17, 1970 3,816,888 J. B. Rather, Jr. Jun 18, 1974 4,454,968 J. J. St Lawrence Jun 19, 1984 4,629,100 B. Owens Dec 16, 1986 4,714,182 D. Hecht Dec. 22, 1987 ______________________________________
Other devices have been produced for measuring filaments for subsequent use, such as in tassels and pompons. Typical of the art are those devices disclosed in the following U.S. Patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor(s) Issue Date ______________________________________ 3,377,674 R. F. Brassaw, et al. Apr 16, 1968 3,854,179 J. Montoya Dec 17, 1974 4,337,578 E. L. Seals Jul 6, 1982 ______________________________________
Typical bows are disclosed in the following U.S. Patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor(s) Issue Date ______________________________________ 5,100,706 L. Zaweski Mar 31, 1992 5,215,791 E. A. Davignon Jun 1, 1993 ______________________________________
Of all of the prior art references cited, none teaches a device for fabricating a decorative bow wherein the device serves to retain the gathered portion of the bow such that the loops of the bow may be independently measured and freely maintained. Further, none of the prior art devices provides a means for independently retaining a plurality of bows.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a bow making apparatus for receiving and maintaining the disposition of bow fabricating material during the making of a decorative bow.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a bow making apparatus which assists in the tying of a decorative bow, but does not stifle originality or creativity in the bow making operation.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a bow making apparatus which is simple to use and inexpensive.


Organoamino-polysiloxanes, which have at least three silicon atoms, oxygen atoms, as well as an organoamino group, and methods for making the organoamino-polysiloxanes are disclosed. Methods for depositing silicon and oxygen containing films using the organoamino-polysiloxanes are also disclosed.

The disclosure relates to organosilicon compounds which can be used to deposit silicon and oxygen containing films (e.g., silicon oxide, silicon oxycarbonitride, silicon oxycarbide, carbon-doped silicon oxide, among other silicon and oxygen containing films), methods for using the compounds for depositing silicon oxide containing films as well as films obtained from the compounds and methods.
Described herein are novel organoamino-polysiloxane compounds and compositions and methods comprising same to deposit a silicon-containing film such as, without limitation, silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, silicon oxycarbonitride, and carbon-doped silicon oxide via a thermal atomic layer deposition (ALD) or plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) process, or a combination thereof. More specifically, described herein is a composition and method for formation of a stoichiometric or a non-stoichiometric silicon-containing film or material at one or more deposition temperatures of about 600° C. or less including, for example, from about 25° C. to about 300° C.
Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) and Plasma Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition (PEALD) are processes used to deposit, for example, silicon oxide conformal films at low temperature (<500° C.). In both ALD and PEALD processes, the precursor and reactive gas (such as oxygen or ozone) are separately pulsed in a certain number of cycles to form a monolayer of silicon oxide at each cycle. However, silicon oxide deposited at low temperatures using these processes may contain levels of impurities such as, without limitation, carbon (C) or hydrogen (H), which may be detrimental in certain semiconductor applications. To remedy this, one possible solution is to increase the deposition temperature to 500° C. or greater. However, at these higher temperatures, conventional precursors employed by semi-conductor industries tend to self-react, thermally decompose, and deposit in a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) mode rather than an ALD mode. The CVD mode deposition has reduced conformality compared to ALD deposition, especially for high aspect ratio structures which are needed in many semiconductor applications. In addition, the CVD mode deposition has less control of film or material thickness than the ALD mode deposition.
Organoaminosilane and chlorosilane precursors are known in the art that can be used to deposit silicon-containing films via Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) and Plasma Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition (PEALD) processes at a relatively low-temperature (<300° C.) and with relatively high Growth Per Cycle (GPC, >1.5 Å/cycle).
Examples of known precursors and methods are disclosed in the following publications, patents, and patent applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,084,076 describes the use of a halogen- or NCO-substituted disiloxane precursor to deposit a silicon oxide film using in a base-catalyzed ALD process.
U.S. Pub. No. 2015/0087139 describes the use of amino-functionalized carbosilanes to deposit silicon containing films via thermal ALD or PEALD processes.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,337,018 describes the use of organoaminodisilanes to deposit silicon containing films via thermal ALD or PEALD processes.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,940,648, 9,005,719, and 8,912,353 describe the use of organoaminosilanes to deposit silicon containing films via thermal ALD or PEALD processes.
U.S. Pub. No. 2015/0275355 describes the use of mono- and bis(organoamino)alkylsilanes to deposit silicon containing films via thermal ALD or PEALD processes.
U.S. Pub. No. 2015/0376211 describes the use of mono(organoamino)-, halido-, and pseudohalido-substituted trisilylamines to deposit silicon containing films via thermal ALD or PEALD processes.
Pub. No. WO 2015/0105337 and U.S. Pat. No. 9,245,740 describe the use of alkylated trisilylamines to deposit silicon containing films via thermal ALD or PEALD processes.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,084,076 describes the use of a halogen- or NCO-substituted disiloxane precursor to deposit a silicon oxide film using in a base-catalyzed ALD process.
The disclosure of the previously identified patents and patent applications is hereby incorporated by reference.
There is a need in this art for precursors and methods for depositing silicon and oxygen containing films at high growth per cycle (GPC) in order to maximize throughput in a semiconductor manufacturing facility. Although certain precursors are capable of deposition at >1.5 Å/cycle GPC, these precursors have disadvantages such as low-quality film (elemental contamination, low-density, poor electrical properties, high wet etch rate), high process temperatures, requires a catalyst, are expensive, produce low conformality films, among other disadvantages.

Organoamino-polysiloxanes for deposition of silicon-containing films


A thrust bearing for a turbocharger includes a main body portion which defines a central bore for receipt of a thrust collar, an oil reservoir in the shape of a blind, oblong slot disposed in the main body portion and an oil passageway connecting the oil reservoir with the central bore. As oil is drained from the turbocharger by a siphoning action as the engine oil level drops, oil which is stored in the oil reservoir will remain and after the engine has completely stopped this stored oil is available to drain into the interface between the thrust collar and central bore of the thrust bearing in order to provide lubricating oil to this interface upon restart of the engine. Oil is also provided by the reservoir to the turbine and compressor journal bearings where it is held in small clearances on the inner and outer surfaces of the journal bearings.

The present invention relates in general to turbocharger designs and lubrication of the turbocharger thrust and journal bearings. More specifically the present invention relates to a modification of the thrust bearing to incorporate an oil reservoir in order to provide initial lubrication during engine start up, especially cold weather starting.
Turbocharger bearings are subject to excessive wear during initial engine start up. This is due to the lack of lubricating fluid at the point of contact between the stationary and rotating components of the bearing system prior to full lubrication pressure being built up in the engine after start up. An aggravating factor for the turbocharger bearing system is the fact that the oil is typically siphoned away from the turbocharger as soon as the engine is shut down. Since the turbocharger may continue to coast down in speed for a period of time approaching approximately 30 seconds, the bearings are left in an extremely dry condition for the next engine start up.
Available data, reports and failure analysis indicate that thrust or journal bearing failures may comprise as much as 50% of turbocharger warranty failures. Much of this damage is due to the delay in oil delivery to the turbocharger after high speed engine starts at cold ambient conditions.
In recent years increasingly stringent engine design requirements have meant higher and higher rotary speeds for the typical diesel engine turbocharger. Even at engine idle conditions, these high rotor speeds combine with increased aerodynamic thrust loads to create much higher rates of wear in the bearing system during the few seconds after an engine start before the turbocharger receives lubricating oil. The combination of smaller turbine casings, higher rotary speeds and higher aerodynamic loads at idle has aggravated this failure mode.
In a typical turbocharger installation, the turbocharger is mounted at a relatively high position on the engine so that it can receive exhaust gases directly from the exhaust manifold and supply compressed air directly to the intake manifold or aftercooler. The oil supply however, typically arrives at the turbocharger bearing housing from a location farther down in the engine block where pressurized oil is present. Due to these relative points of attachment, a siphoning action occurs immediately after the engine is stopped and this siphoning action drains oil from the turbocharger oil supply line back into the engine.
While the engine is running, the oil pump supplies oil to all components of the engine and all oil passages are filled with oil. Immediately following engine shutdown therefore, oil is present at some high level within the engine. As the oil drains down within the engine it soon drops below the level of the turbocharger oil supply rifle. At this point a suction is created by the difference in oil head between the level in the turbocharger and the continually falling oil level in the engine. Air is drawn into the turbocharger oil line at the journal bearings and thrust bearing lubrication points. Air continues to flow into the oil supply system of the turbocharger until the siphon is broken by the accumulated air trapped in the oil supply line. This has been measured to be a period of time similar to that required for the turbocharger to coast to a stop following engine shutdown. Because of the siphoning action virtually no oil is allowed into the thrust system after engine shutdown, even though the turbocharger continues to spin for approximately 30 seconds afterwards
Because of the continued spinning of the turbocharger without additional oil flow to replenish the bearing system, most of the oil present in the bearing system is pumped out, leaving the bearings exposed to damage during the next engine start up.
The present invention solves this thrust bearing lubrication problem by creating an oil reservoir in the thrust bearing which drains oil into the journal bearings and thrust bearing. Oil is retained by capillary action within the bearings and is available for the next engine startup, even if the engine is not started for several days.


A digital camera, which includes: an image playback module; and a music playback module, wherein a plurality of images are played back accompanied by music, an image playback time for the plurality of images substantially coincides with a music playback time for the music, and the image playback time is defined based on a number of the images and a playback time for each of the images, when sequentially playing back the plurality of images.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital camera. More particularly, the present invention relates to a digital camera capable of playing back both music and images.
2. Description of the Related Art
As digital cameras have become widely used in modern times, functions of digital cameras have correspondingly improved. As one of various functions of digital cameras, the function of record and playback music is proposed.
If a digital camera sequentially plays back several images, the digital camera may provide a slide show of the images. Moreover, if the digital camera also plays back music along with the images, the digital camera may provide a more attractive slide show in the effect of the acoustics provided by the music playback. One example is to play back music as background music while sequentially playing back scenery pictures.
However, ordinal digital cameras cannot simultaneously play back music, which is separately prepared, along with the playback of images. Even if a digital camera could play back music as background music along with the playback of pictures that a user wants to see, the time needed for playing back pictures selected by the user and the time needed for playing back music selected by the user are usually different. If the time for playing back pictures is longer than that of music, the playback of music ends first and only the pictures are continually played back. On the other hand, if the time for playing back music is longer than that of pictures, only the music is played back without the pictures being played back. Therefore, a user cannot get expected acoustic effects by merely selecting pictures and music.

Digital camera with a music playback function


A method of using at least two insulative layers to form the isolation collar of a trench device, and the device formed therefrom. The first layer is preferably an oxide (e.g., silicon dioxide 116) formed on the trench substrate sidewalls, and is formed through a TEOS, LOCOS, or combined TEOS/LOCOS process. Preferably, both the TEOS process and the LOCOS process are used to form the first layer. The second layer is preferably a silicon nitride layer (114) formed on the oxide layer. The multiple layers function as an isolation collar stack for the trench. The dopant penetration barrier properties of the second layer permit the dielectric collar stack to be used as a self aligned mask for subsequent buried plate (120) doping.

The present invention relates generally to an integrated circuit (xe2x80x9cICxe2x80x9d) and method of forming thereof, and more particularly to an integrated circuit vertical trench device and method of forming thereof.
The semiconductor industry is continuously trying to decrease the size of the semiconductor devices located on integrated circuits. Miniaturization is generally needed to accommodate the increasing density of circuits necessary for today""s semiconductor products. For example, it is not uncommon for there to be millions of semiconductor devices on a single semiconductor product.
Typically, the focus of miniaturization has been placed on the two-dimensional horizontal plane of a semiconductor device, and devices have approached sizes down to tenths of microns and less. There is some limit, however, as to how far a horizontally oriented semiconductor device can be shrunk, and as devices are made even smaller, it is generally becoming increasingly difficult to further miniaturize a device""s horizontal dimensions. In addition, the decreasing horizontal dimensions of semiconductor devices generally tend to create problems in the operational characteristics of the semiconductor devices.
One such semiconductor product widely used in electronic systems for storing data is a semiconductor memory, and one common type of semiconductor memory is a dynamic random access memory (xe2x80x9cDRAMxe2x80x9d). A DRAM may include millions or billions of individual DRAM cells, each cell storing one bit of data. A DRAM memory cell typically includes an access field-effect transistor (xe2x80x9cFETxe2x80x9d) and a storage capacitor. The access FET allows the transfer of data charges to and from the storage capacitor during reading and writing operations. In addition, the data charges on the storage capacitor are periodically refreshed during a refresh operation.
Semiconductor memory density is typically limited by a minimum lithographic feature size that is imposed by lithographic processes used during fabrication. There is a continuing need in the art to provide even higher density memories in order to further increase data storage capacity and reduce manufacturing costs.
One way of increasing the data storage capacity of semiconductor memories is to reduce the amount of integrated circuit horizontal planar area consumed by each memory cell. For horizontally oriented devices, this may be done by decreasing the size of the access FET or the storage capacitor, or both. This approach has limits, however, due to minimum producible structure size in a given fabrication technology, and the problems associated with devices with small dimensions, such as hot carriers, punch through, and excess leakage.
Another way of providing planar area reduction is the use of a three-dimensional arrangement of the access FET and the storage capacitor. One such arrangement is a planar FET next to a deep trench capacitor. A trench typically has a depth of 5-8 um and an oval top-down-view shape. The trench capacitor has plates which are located vertically along the walls of the trench instead of being parallel to the surface of the integrated circuit substrate. This permits a large capacitance per planar unit area of substrate, while at the same time allowing the device to be of a manageable size for purposes of operation. Alternatively, a vertical transistor with a vertically oriented gate may be fabricated in the trench.
In the prior art, a collar oxide is typically formed on an upper portion of the trench sidewalls, for example, down to about 1.5 microns into the trench. The collar oxide generally provides isolation for the trench devices and prevents the formation of parasitic elements, such as a vertical parasitic transistor in the upper region of the trench. The collar oxide is typically a layer of silicon dioxide with a thickness of about 200-500 angstroms.
There are generally several problems, however, with prior art approaches to fabricating the collar oxide in a vertical DRAM cell. For example, a collar oxide may be formed using a Local Oxidation of Silicon (xe2x80x9cLOCOSxe2x80x9d) process. With the LOCOS process, a masking step is used to define the length (that is, depth into the trench) of the LOCOS collar. The mask, which may be silicon nitride, is a trench fill layer that has been etched back, or recessed, to the appropriate depth in the trench. A thermal oxide is then grown on the trench sidewalls above the mask. One problem with this approach is that silicon from the trench sidewalls is consumed during the oxidation process, in general requiring a tighter or smaller mask opening for the prior trench etch. Growing an oxide of sufficient thickness may cause mechanical stress as the oxide expands and consumes substrate material. High temperatures are also generally required to grow the oxide.
Another problem with the LOCOS process is that the oxidation rate is generally strongly crystal plane dependent. Because the substrate sidewalls of the trench comprise different crystal planes, the oxide thickness can vary substantially around the trench, causing leakage and other device reliability problems.
After the trench mask is removed, the buried plate of the trench capacitor is typically formed by doping the substrate surrounding the lower portion of the trench. A deposition-free doping technique such as gasphase doping, however, is difficult to use because the dopant (e.g., arsenic) tends to penetrate the LOCOS collar oxide. An alternative is to use a deposited doping layer, such as arsenic silicate glass (xe2x80x9cASGxe2x80x9d). This approach, however, generally requires another recess step after the buried plate doping step in order to remove the deposited layer from the collar oxide.
As another example, the collar oxide may be formed using a deposition method, such as tetraethyloxysilane decomposition process (xe2x80x9cTEOS processxe2x80x9d). In this case, no silicon from the trench sidewalls is consumed because the oxide is deposited instead of being grown. A difficulty with this approach is that the buried plate dopant process, whether deposited or deposition-free, has the same dopant penetration problem as the LOCOS process. That is, the buried plate dopant process is not a self-aligned process.
These problems are generally solved or circumvented, and technical advantages are generally achieved, by a preferred embodiment of the invention in which at least two insulative layers are used for the isolation collar of a trench device. The first layer is preferably an oxide formed on the trench substrate sidewalls, and is formed through a TEOS, LOCOS, or combined TEOS/LOCOS process. Preferably, both the TEOS process and the LOCOS process are used to form the first layer. The second layer is preferably a silicon nitride layer formed on the oxide layer. The multiple layers function as the isolation collar for the trench, and generally avoid the problems associated with prior art methods of using a single oxidation process alone.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method of forming an isolation collar in a deep trench on a semiconductor substrate comprises forming a conformal oxide layer on an interior surface of the trench; filling a lower portion of the trench with a mask layer, thereby masking a lower sidewall and bottom of the oxide layer and leaving an upper sidewall of the oxide layer unmasked; forming a conformal insulation layer on the oxide layer upper sidewall and on an upper surface of the mask layer; anisotropically etching the insulation layer to remove horizontal sections of the insulation layer, thereby leaving an upper sidewall of the insulation layer in the trench adjacent the oxide layer upper sidewall; removing the mask layer from the trench to expose the lower sidewall and bottom of the oxide layer; and removing the lower sidewall and bottom of the oxide layer from the trench to expose the substrate surface in the lower portion of the trench.
In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method of forming a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) integrated circuit comprises forming a deep trench in a semiconductor substrate; forming a multiple layer isolation collar in the trench; forming a trench capacitor in a lower portion of the trench; and forming a vertical trench transistor in an upper portion of the trench. Forming the isolation collar comprises forming an oxide layer on an upper sidewall of the trench; and forming an insulation layer on the oxide layer.
In accordance with yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) integrated circuit (IC) comprises a deep trench located in a semiconductor substrate, the trench having an upper portion and a lower portion; a trench capacitor in the lower portion of the trench; and a multiple layer isolation collar in the upper portion of the trench. The isolation collar comprises an oxide layer on an upper sidewall of the trench; and an insulation layer on the oxide layer.
An advantage of a preferred embodiment of the present invention is that a reliable DRAM memory cell may be formed with a trench capacitor (with either a planar or vertical transistor), thus using devices of manageable size yet occupying minimal horizontal planar area.
Another advantage of a preferred embodiment of the present invention is that the isolation collar stack combines the advantages of the TEOS process and LOCOS process, while avoiding the problems associated with each process when used alone. For example, if a LOCOS process is used, it is only used to provide a portion of the isolation collar. Therefore the thickness of the oxide formed from the LOCOS process itself is less than the thickness of the LOCOS oxide of the prior art, and the effect of crystal plane dependent growth is minimized.
Another advantage of a preferred embodiment of the present invention is that it enables a self aligned process to be used for buried plate doping. Penetration of the dopant into the isolation collar is minimized, and an extra recess step is not needed.
Another advantage of a preferred embodiment of the present invention is that little or no silicon from the trench sidewalls is consumed in forming the isolation collar, thus imparting little mechanical stress on the structure. In addition, the tighter trench mask associated with a prior art LOCOS process is not required.
Another advantage of a preferred embodiment of the present invention is that a nitride mask for high temperature LOCOS oxidation is not needed.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures or processes for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Integrated circuit trench device with a dielectric collar stack, and method of forming thereof


To calibrate the VGA of a read head, test signals from a DAC are input to the VGA and the output of the VGA is observed, with the gain of the VGA being adjusted as appropriate. So that the DAC need not be made with tight tolerances, a DC signal can be fed into the DAC prior to VGA calibration, and an auxiliary ADC is used to receive the output of the DAC and to determine, for a given DC input, what the signal produced by the DAC actually is. In this way, during subsequent VGA calibration the test signal from the DAC is known not by virtue of the DAC having a tight manufacturing tolerance but by virtue of the actual measurements of its outputs for given register inputs.

A read channel circuit in a magnetic disk drive device includes components for processing the analog read signal generated by the read/write head of the device. This processing provides automatic gain control (AGC) amplification, filtering, and equalization, as well as analog-to-digital conversion.
A hard drive can read data by detecting a voltage peak that is sensed when a magnetic flux reversal on a magnetic disk passes underneath the read/write head. More recently, a partial response maximum likelihood (PRML) algorithm has been introduced to interpret the magnetic signals sensed by the read/write heads. PRML disk drives read the analog waveforms generated by the magnetic flux reversals stored on the disk. Rather than look for peak values to indicate flux reversals, PRML digitally samples the analog waveform (the "partial response" portion of the algorithm) and applies signal processing to determine the bit pattern represented by the waveform (the "maximum likelihood" portion of the algorithm).
In any case, a normalized readback signal amplitude is often required for proper data detection. To this end, a variable gain amplifier (VGA) may be used in the analog signal path for scaling the readback signal. Because of material and manufacturing variations, each head has a different characteristic signal output level than other heads.
First, the VGA is calibrated using a square wave generator such as a digital to analog converter (DAC). Once the VGA is calibrated, a test signal from the read head is sent. The resulting VGA gain code is recorded. From this process, the input signal from the read head can be characterized for future use in actual data read operations.
It can readily be recognized that it is important to know the input signal to the VGA during calibration, and one way to do this is to input known test signals. However, this requires a very accurate test signal source. As recognized herein, it is desirable to undertake the above read head signal characterization process without requiring tight tolerances of the test signal source.

System and method for providing head amplitude characterization

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


To make it possible to utilize both surfaces of a wafer, a wafer (1) is provided with a through hole (2) between upper and lower surfaces, an insulating layer (14) is formed in an inner surface of the through hole (2), rewiring circuits (3, 4) are formed on both the upper and lower surfaces, the rewiring circuits (3, 4) are connected by a plating (9) applied on the insulating layer (14) within the through hole (2), thermal stress relaxing posts (5, 6) are formed on the rewiring circuits (3, 4) by a conductive material such as a solder bumps (7, 8) are formed on the thermal stress relaxing posts (5, 6), and the solder bump (7) or (8) is connected to a wiring circuit (12) of a printed wiring substrate (11).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of mounting a wafer on a printed wiring substrate.
2. Description of Background Art
A conventional method of mounting a wafer such as an IC or the like on a printed wiring substrate is structured as shown in FIG. 7. The structure is made such that a wiring circuit 101 is formed on a top surface of a printed wiring substrate 100, and a wafer 102 is provided with electrodes 103 and 103 on a top surface or a side surface thereof. Further, the wafer 102 is first mounted on the printed wiring substrate 100 as shown in FIG. 7(1), the electrodes 103 and 103 of the wafer 102 next connected to the wiring circuit 101 of the printed wiring substrate 100 by wires 104 and 104 as shown in FIG. 7(2), and the portion of the wires 104 and 104 are finally sealed 105 by a resin as shown in FIG. 7(3).
However, in the case of the conventional method mentioned above, only one side surface of the wafer can be used.
Further, as a different mounting method from that mentioned above, as shown in FIG. 8, there is a mounting method by forming a rewiring circuit 107 on one surface of a wafer 106, forming a solder bump 108 in the rewiring circuit, and bonding the solder bump 108 to the wiring circuit 101 of the printed wiring substrate 100. In this case, a thermal stress relaxing post is omitted in the drawing.
In the case of the mounting method mentioned above, as is different from the mounting method first mentioned, piled plural wafers can be mounted. In other words, it is possible to use both upper and lower surfaces. Accordingly, in the case of the mounting method mentioned above, the structure is made such that a printed wiring sheet 109 as shown in FIG. 9 is adhered to a top surface of the wafer 106 in a lowest stage which is directly bonded to the printed wiring substrate 100, a solder bump 112 formed in a rewiring circuit 111 in a wafer 110 in an upper stage side is bonded thereto, and the printed wiring sheet 109 and the wiring circuit 101 of the printed wiring substrate 100 are connected by a wire 113.
However, in accordance with the mounting method mentioned above, it is necessary to prepare the printed wiring sheet 109 in addition to the wafer, and extra labor and time are required. Further, when adhering the printed wiring sheet 109 to the wafer, it is necessary to align positions of both the elements, so that workability is deteriorated. Further, labor for connecting by the wire 113 one by one is required.

Method of mounting wafer on printed wiring substrate


A fountain apparatus for use with a flowable food media includes a recipient for receiving the food media therein, a recipient and an output port. The recipient is heatable within a predetermined temperature range for maintaining the food media within the temperature range. The output port connects to the recipient downstream of an aperture extending through a wall thereof and has a passageway extending there through for receiving the food media from the aperture. The passageway defines an inlet opening that is in fluid communication with the recipient via the aperture and an outlet opening that has an opening mechanism to selectively control the opening thereof. A heating member is thermally connected to the output port for warming up the same to maintain the food media therein within the temperature range.

It is well known in the art to have various types of fountains accommodating fluids. More specifically, fountains for eatable viscous fluids such as chocolate have been commercialized since approximately 1995. Cleaning such apparatuses after use has however been very unpractical especially considering the weight of the equipment. Since for example the chocolate left on the machine hardens or cures relatively quickly once a heating element is stopped, warm and soapy water will usually be necessary for removing all the residual hardened fluid left in the recipient of the fountain and on different accompanying pieces of the equipment. The weight and size of the apparatus makes it difficult to lean it on the side to remove the dirty water from the recipient, put it back upward for rinsing, etc. It would be extremely inconvenient also to dismantle the apparatus for immersion of each part in a water basin for example, especially considering the motorized components, etc.
Another drawback of a chocolate fountain is that a continuous curtain-like of chocolate usually falls from the tiers. This, which can be appropriate when a fruit on a fork is for example brought underneath the chocolate-curtain, would leave unpleasant marks on the side of a fruit cup, sundae cup or ice-cream cone, and even on the fingers of a user, when the container would be brought underneath the same chocolate-curtain to offer a chocolate topping.
Drains as opposed to distributors, for various apparatuses in the food industry or others, even in chocolate mass production equipment or conches, are already well known but not specifically in chocolate fountains. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,739,711 issued to Nieblach on Jun. 19, 1973, an apparatus for the production of toffee-soft-caramel and similar masses provides an outlet at the lowermost position to empty the vessel. The outlet however is not specifically heated even if said outlet is in close proximity to a heat conduit. Furthermore, the oulet does not specifically need to be warm since hot water or the like could be dispensed there through for the cleaning operation. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,628,803 issued to Bonora et al. on Dec. 16, 1986 shows an autoclave for cocoa liquor with a discharge port. U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,212 issued to Chauvreau on Sep. 6, 1992 discloses a reaction vessel with an outlet connection, again not specifically heated. U.S. Pat. No. 5,372,274 issued to Freedland on Dec. 13, 1994 shows a container for food product with a possibility of heating the walls combined to non-heated drain ports and a receptacle tray. U.S. Pat. No. 5,450,786 issued to Müntener on Sep. 19, 1995 presents a conching device with discharge openings. U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,835 issued to Pitcher on Mar. 11, 1997 shows another apparatus with a non-heated outlet. Also, the container outlet of the mixing and degassing device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,363 issued to Gmeiner on Nov. 10, 1998 is not heated as well. U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,631 issued to Müntener on Apr. 11, 2000 has a vessel with also a non-heated pipe connection as an outflow.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,560,284 issued to Weidman et al. on Oct. 1, 1996 is one of many examples of beverage brewing apparatus for coffee and the like including a warming element, a pipe portion and a faucet, but wherein the pipe portion is not specifically heated. Furthermore, the apparatus is not designed for dispensing flowable food like melted chocolate. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0129921 filed on Jan. 9, 2002 by Small et al. discloses an apparatus for dispensing chocolate using a piston or plunger system. Alternatively, a flexible bladder is used.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved output port for a flowable food fountain.

Chocolate fountain apparatus with output port


It is possible to set a free zone and use a greater number of pawls in a reclining device having a plurality of pawls even if an angular range where a certain pawl is out of mesh with a ratchet and an angular range where pawls adjacent to that pawl are in mesh with the ratchet overlap with each other in a plan view, by bringing the other pawls out of mesh through an operation of bringing one specific pawl out of mesh. An unlock plate holds at least one pawl in retreat from the ratchet while a stationary disc holding the pawls and a movable disc having the ratchet form a relative rotational angle within a predetermined range. By holding the other pawls out of mesh through retreat of the pawl from the ratchet, an angular range for the operation of bringing one of the pawls Out of mesh with the ratchet by means of the unlock plate, and an angular range for the operation where the adjacent pawls are brought into mesh with the ratchet are so set as to overlap with each other in a plan view.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a reclining device, and more particularly to the setting of a free zone of a seat back.
2. Description of Related Art
A reclining device of a certain type is constructed as follows. First of all, a pawl having outer teeth on the side of a leading end thereof is brought into mesh with inner teeth of a ratchet on the side of an inner periphery thereof, so that a seat back is locked with respect to a seat cushion. Then, the seat back is unlocked with respect to the seat cushion by bringing the pawl out of mesh with the ratchet, so that the seat back can be tilted.
A reclining device of this type makes it possible to enhance locking strength of the seat back with respect to the seat cushion by enhancing meshing strength between the pawl and the ratchet. Therefore, as proposed, e.g., by Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-125821, there is a reclining device employing a plurality of pawls to enhance meshing strength between the pawls and a ratchet. The reclining device of this type necessitates a range where the pawls are out of mesh while the ratchet is within a predetermined angular range, i.e., a free zone. The reclining device proposed by the aforementioned publication adopts a means of forming a free zone by introducing an unlatching ring.
In the reclining device of this type, the meshing strength between the pawls and the ratchet can be enhanced in proportion to an increase in the number of pawls to be employed. However, if the number of pawls is increased, a convex portion for setting a free zone cannot be formed on the unlatching ring for bringing the pawls out of mesh. This is because the convex portion for setting a free zone of a certain one of the pawls is located at a position where the pawls adjacent thereto are to be brought into mesh. This problem becomes all the more serious as the number of pawls increases or as the angular range of the free zone widens.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A terminal connection locking apparatus for a vacuum circuit breaker a trapping latch movably engaged to a driving cam, a crossbar connected to a lower portion of the trapping latch, change levers connected to a central lower surface portion and each side lower surface portion of the crossbar, springs elastically connected to the side change levers, a control lever disposed to a side portion of the contact control screw and externally exposed from the vacuum circuit breaker, a restoring link extended inwardly from the control lever, an interlock lever downwardly connected to an inner end portion of the restoring link, a spring elastically connected to the interlock lever, an engagement link connected to a side portion of control lever and horizontally spaced from the central change lever coupled to the crossbar, and a shielding plate for being rotatably connected to an end portion of the engagement link and covering/discovering the contact control screw. The apparatus facilitates a terminal connection locking operation and obtains an safety with regard to the operation for preventing the disconnection of the circuit breaker.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vacuum circuit breaker, and more particularly to an improved terminal connection locking apparatus for a vacuum circuit breaker capable of facilitating a terminal connection locking operation and obtaining a safety with regard to the manipulation for preventing a terminal disconnection of the circuit breaker when it is in a conductive state.
2. Description of the Background Art
In general, a vacuum circuit breaker incorporates an apparatus for connecting or disconnecting a power source to an electrical load in a high voltage distributing power line through which there flows a high voltage current in thousands of volts and hundreds of amperes. In order to effectively shield an arc which occurs during a switching operation, the vacuum circuit breaker is provided with a vacuum chamber having a switching mechanism therein.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the general vacuum circuit breaker is generally composed of switching mechanism 10, switching actuator 20 for actuating the switching mechanism 10, and an auxiliary device (not shown).
With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the switching mechanism 10, the switching actuator 20 and the auxiliary device (not shown) will be described in further detail.
The switching mechanism 10 is directed to connect or disconnect an electrical connection of the power source and electrical load and disposed in the vacuum chamber 11.
A movable contactor (not shown) of the switching mechanism 10 is operable in connection with the switching actuator 20 of the vacuum circuit breaker, and when the vacuum circuit breaker is in a turn-on state, the movable contactor (not shown) remains in contact with a fixed contactor (not shown) of the switching mechanism 10.
Also, when the circuit breaker is in a turn-off state, the movable contactor (not shown) is separated from the fixed contactor by an appropriate breaking distance at an appropriate speed.
The switching actuator 20 which denotes an entire operational apparatus provided in a front part of the switching actuator 20 serves as an mechanical mechanism for carrying out a turn-on/off contact operation of the switching mechanism 10.
The auxiliary device for allowing the circuit breaker to become in normal operation, includes: a control apparatus (not shown) provided together with the switching actuator 20, receiving an externally generated electrical signal and controlling the on/off operation of the circuit breaker; a terminal connection device for enabling a moving on/off operation of the circuit breaker; and an interlock device for protecting the terminal connection device.
The thusly constituted conventional terminal connection locking apparatus will now be explained.
As shown in FIG. 5, the switching mechanism 10 moves from driving position to test position in a moving-off operation, and from test position to driving position in a moving-on operation.
The test position denotes a location wherein it is possible to turn on/off the vacuum circuit breaker in a case in which the input and output terminals 12a, 12b are separated from power source and load terminals 13a, 13b, that is, when current does not flow in the circuit breaker. The driving position indicates a location wherein the current does flow when the circuit breaker is turned on and the current does not flow when the circuit breaker is turned off in a case in which the input and output terminals 12a, 12b are in contact with the power source and load terminals 13a, 13b.
As further shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a cam shaft 30 is disposed in the switching actuator 20 and a stopper 31 is engaged to an end portion of the cam shaft 30.
A lower end portion of a support rod 33 is fixed to a base plate 40 of the switching actuator 20, and a higher end portion of the support rod 33 is extended outside the vacuum circuit breaker to form a handle 32.
The handle 32 of the support rod 33 is covered with a handle cover 34.
Also, to a lower side portion of the support rod 33 there is coupled an L-type hook 35. A shielding plate 37 engaged to a fixed plate 36 is connected to another lower side portion of the support rod 33.
The shielding plate 37 is provided to move up and down by manipulating the handle 32 to open or close a contact control screw 38.
The stopper 31 rotates forwardly or backwardly in accordance with a turn-on/off operation of the circuit breaker, and the stopper 31 is mounted on or deviated from an upper portion of the L-type hook 35, thereby controlling an upward movement of the L-type hook 35.
Reference numeral 50 denotes wheels for moving the circuit breaker.
The operation of the thusly constituted conventional terminal connection locking apparatus for a vacuum circuit breaker will now be described.
Initially, the control apparatus (not shown) allows the circuit breaker to be turned on and the cam shaft 30 to rotate in an anti-clockwise direction in accordance with an electrical signal, and accordingly the stopper 31 engaged to the cam shaft 30 rotates in an anti-clockwise direction in order for the stopper to be in contact with the upper portion of the L-type hook 35.
Here, when the handle 32 is upwardly pulled, the L-type hook 35 engaged to the support rod 33 is hooked on the stopper 31, whereby the support rod 33 is not allowed to further move to an upward direction.
Subsequently, the shielding plate 37 connected to the support rod 33 is also not allowed to upwardly move, and the contact control screw 38 becomes inoperable, thereby preventing the terminal separation of the circuit breaker.
Meanwhile, when the circuit breaker is turned off by the control apparatus, the cam shaft 30 is rotated in a clockwise direction, and also the stopper 31 engaged to the cam shaft 30 is also rotated in the clockwise direction, whereby the stopper 31 is deviated from the upper portion of the L-type hook 35. Here, when the handle 32 is upwardly pulled, the L-type hook 35 connected to the support rod 33 is not hooked on the stopper 31, whereby the support rod 33 becomes upwardly movable.
Accordingly, the shielding plate 37 connected to the support rod 33 is also moved to an upward direction, thereby exposing the contact control screw 38.
Then, the exposed contact control screw 38 guides the circuit breaker to move off by use of a control handle (not shown) which is to be inserted into the contact control screw 38.
However, when the circuit breaker remains in a turn-on state, the control handle (not shown) is placed on the contact control screw 38 of the circuit breaker. Also, when the circuit breaker is located in the driving position, if the circuit breaker remains turned on, an electrical shock may incurred to the manipulator.
Therefore, there is strongly required a terminal connection locking apparatus which does not allow the control handle (not shown) to be covered onto the contact control screw 38 when the circuit breaker remains turned on.
However, the conventional terminal connection locking apparatus for a vacuum circuit breaker according to the present invention is provided with a spaced distance between the handle and the contact control screw, thereby generating difficulties in working, manipulation, and safe operation.

Terminal connection locking apparatus for vacuum circuit breaker