A method of separating water from an aqueous emulsion using a minimum of energy includes heating the aqueous emulsion in a sump, conveying concentrated emulsion from the sump to a heat exchanger so as to pass therethrough back to the sump, circulating water vapor and non-condensable gases from the sump through a compressor to raise its temperature and passing the heated water vapor and non-condensable gases through the heat exchanger to condense and heat the concentrated emulsion therein and evaporate water therefrom, a thermostat filled with water and water vapor, together with first and second pressure switches respectively communicating with the sump and the external atmosphere and the heat exchanger and the external atmosphere, maintaining a temperature differential between 0.5.degree. and 3.degree. C. between the aqueous emulsion in the sump and the temperature of the compressed water vapor and noncondensable gases. A similar method can separate solvent from a solvent emulsion with a temperature differential of 1.degree. to 6.degree. C.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for treating and separating emulsified liquids. Thus, the invention relates to cleaning and separating of emulsified liquids, especially cooling/lubricating oil emulsions, degreasing water, oil-containing waste water, waste water from laundries, from food production, solvents and the like. The method involves vapor compression wherein emulsified liquids in a sump are heated to a temperature level just below the boiling point of the liquid to be distilled, and in which the vapors which are produced at a first side of a heat exchanger and in the sump are compressed in a compressor, whereby the temperature is increased, and which compressor leads the so-heated vapors into the second side of the heat exchanger in which they are cooled and condensed, and in which the heat released by the condensation is transferred to the emulsified liquid at the first side of the heat exchanger so that the liquid to be distilled is evaporated, and wherein the level for this temperature range is determined on the basis of the desired distillate. The separation of the specific substances and water or solvents is often required due to recycling of the water and/or for reducing the costs of transportation and destruction of waste water.
Industry uses various solvents, e.g., for degreasing and cleaning. In addition, the engineering industry uses cooling/lubrication oils mixed with water. These often enter into a heavy emulsification with the water, which means that the emulsified liquid is very difficult to separate. When the agent for degreasing, cleaning, cooling and lubricating has been used a number of times, it becomes saturated with dirt, heavy metals, moisture, and other impurities. Therefore, a concentration or a destruction of the agent in question is required.
Usually the concentration of solvents is performed by means of a simple boiling, followed by a subsequent cooling, typically by using water as cooling agent. This method is disadvantageous as it is energy consuming.
In recent years the concentration of cooling/lubricating oil emulsifications has been impeded because softeners are added to the cooling/lubricating agents, thus the oils emulsify heavily with water. Consequently, a subsequent concentration is very difficult.
Besides boiling, a chemical method for separating emulsified liquids is known. However, chemical separation is an expensive method requiring an exact adaption of a demulsifying agent, and usually it will only be economical at concentrations of polluting liquids in the main liquid lower than 1%.
Yet another method for concentration of solvents is known, viz. the so-called ultra filtration, in which the specific elements are separated by filtration. This process is also expensive, and moreover problems as to clogging of the specific filters arise, and consequently the method is subjected to uncertainty and requires a demand for frequent supervision.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,698,136 discloses a method corresponding to the above-described method wherein for continuous cleaning of water containing salt, hydrocarbons and Fe.sup.++, mechanical vapor compression is used. According to this patent, the liquid to be cleaned is initially subjected to a mechanical cleaning in the form of gravitation separation. This gravitational separation however, cannot separate stabilized emulsions. And if the liquid emerging from the mechanical cleaning step is a stabilized emulsion, the process described cannot provide an efficient cleaning and separation.
As mentioned above, the principle used is referred to as mechanical vapor compression, and it is disclosed in Danish Patent Nos. 68,529 and 78,060 filed by Mr. Rolf Andersen. It has been used for treating radioactive waste water, for producing drinking water out of sea water, as well as for concentrating brine, exclusively for use in very large complicated systems.
It is the object of the present invention to remedy the disadvantages associated with the known processes and to provide a method in which the separation is established by means of a boiling process and a subsequent cooling and in some cases by means of gravitational separation, and by subsequent cooling using a minimum of energy.


A capacitive touch switch system for use in an audio application includes a detecting circuit with a capacitive sensing device and a filtering circuit. The capacitive sensing device senses changes in capacitance. The filtering circuit filters external and/or internal interference that may affect the sensing of a capacitance change and/or the sound quality of an audio device. The capacitive touch switch system may be incorporated into a speaker and/or other components of the audio device. The capacitive touch switch system may control various audio parameters such as volume, bass, treble, balance, channel, and the like.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to switch circuits. More particularly, the present invention relates to capacitive touch switch circuits in audio devices.
2. Related Art
Capacitive touch switches are an alternative to mechanical switches for providing user control inputs to various devices, including high voltage home appliances and lighting fixtures. With a capacitive touch switch, a user merely touches a capacitive area on the device to initiate a switching action, rather than moving a mechanical switch. Capacitive touch switches usually improve the ease of use of a device by users, especially those users who may have limited rotational movement or limited motor skills.
A capacitive touch switch generally utilizes a capacitive electric circuit that is responsive to the dielectric properties of a human body. A capacitor may be formed by disposing two metal plates in parallel with each other and separated by a distance D. Each plate has an area A. Thus, the capacitance of the capacitor may be calculated by the equation:
                              C          =                      K                                                      8.85                ×                                  10                                      -                    14                                                                  A                            D                                      ,                            (                  Eq          .                                                    1                )            where K represents the dielectric constant of the material between the plates, A represents the plate area in square centimeters and D represents the distance between the plates in centimeters.
The capacitance of a capacitor increases when a material that does not conduct electricity is disposed between the parallel metal plates. The ratio of the capacitance before and after the material is placed between the two plates is the dielectric constant K of the material. The dielectric constant of a vacuum KV is about 1 while the dielectric constant of distilled water KW is about 80. Thus, objects containing water, such as the human body, would increase the capacitance of the capacitor.
Because of the human body's dielectric properties, a capacitive touch switch may be activated by the touch of a finger or other body part on or near a capacitive touch area. An electronic circuit may be configured to operate by monitoring the capacitance change in the capacitive touch area. Thus, placing a human finger on or near the capacitive touch area forms an electrical interface that produces a measurable capacitance change.
However, the measured change in capacitance may be adversely affected by the environmental factors of the application for the capacitive touch switch. Factors that may affect the measured capacitance change when a human finger is on or near the capacitive touch area include the type of floor the human is standing on and the type of shoes he or she is wearing. The measured capacitance change may increase with bare concrete floors and thin-soled shoes. The measured capacitance change may decrease with carpeting and with thick-soled shoes. Furthermore, nearby metal shelves, tables, light fixtures and electrical wires also may vary the measured capacitance change caused by the human body. There also may be increased electromagnetic interference when increased capacitance is introduced into a particular environment from other sources such as lighting, electronic devices and the like. In many environments, at home, the office, or elsewhere, fluorescent lighting is a source of light. The 120 Hz signals generated by fluorescent and similar lighting may cause electromagnetic interference that may affect the operation of capacitive touch switches and may degrade the sound quality from an audio device.
Some applications that operate at lower voltages may be more sensitive to these environmental variations, especially electromagnetic interference. In applications such as audio devices and other devices for reproducing signals of higher quality, these environmental factors may interfere, alter, and/or degrade the signal quality of the measured capacitance change. Audio devices are systems and components that reproduce and/or assist in the reproduction of sound from electrical signals. Audio devices include sound reproduction equipment such as amplifiers, tuners, receivers, speakers, and the like. Audio devices also include systems and components that incorporate sound reproduction equipment such as personal computers, audiovisual devices and the like.

Capacitive touch switch system for an audio device

Harman International Industries, Incorporated


A receptacle for an electrical connector assembly is provided and includes a housing having a contact retention portion for holding an electrical contact. The contact retention portion includes a connector face for engaging a plug assembly and a side proximate to the connector face. The receptacle also includes a guide post that is located adjacent to the side and extends along the side toward the connector face. The guide post includes a base and a tip. The guide post also has a curved contour and a planar side that extend from the base to the tip.

The invention relates generally to electrical connectors, and more particularly to a connector assembly with improved guidance and mounting features.
Electrical connector assemblies are used to connect electrical components within an electronic device or system and transmit electrical power or signals therebetween. Frequently, the electrical connector assemblies are mounted to a circuit board or another part of the device. Because the amount of available surface area on the circuit board or within the device is limited, the size of the connector assemblies should be minimized.
In one conventional system, the system is formed by connecting a receptacle to a plug assembly. The receptacle includes a rectangular housing that is shaped to hold a series of electrical contacts along a length of the housing. The electrical contacts are stacked or positioned collinear with respect to each other. A pair of guide posts are connected to opposite ends of the rectangular housing with the electrical contacts arranged therebetween. The guide posts have a substantially cylinder-like shape with a rounded tip. The plug assembly includes a cavity that is shaped to have circular openings for receiving the cylindrical guide posts. When the receptacle and the plug assembly are connected, the rounded tips of the guide posts contact an edge of the openings, which forces the receptacle and plug assembly into alignment. The guide post is then received by the corresponding opening. In this conventional configuration, cylindrical guide posts are spaced laterally apart from a central portion of the receptacle by a clearance area that is wide enough to receive a portion of the plug assembly surrounding the opening. However, because the guide posts are located along both sides of the receptacle the overall width of the receptacle (and thus the circuit board surface area) is dependent upon the size and spacing of the guide posts.
In another conventional system, similar to the one discussed above, supports are formed with the housing of the receptacle with each support having a hole extending into the support. The hole may hold a threaded fastener such as a screw for mounting to a circuit board. Alternatively, the receptacle may be formed with a latch member for gripping the circuit board. Heretofore, two different types of receptacle configurations were manufactured, one for use with threaded fasteners and one for use with a latch member. Also, neither type of receptacle offered a redundant mounting mechanism.
Thus, there remains a need for an electrical connector assembly that reduces the amount of surface area used and for connector assemblies that provide multiple options for mounting.


A blended yarn is provided having at least one component fiber type being made of stretch broken fibers, preferably of a stretch broken high performance fiber, along with multi-end yarns containing the blended yarn, composite yarns having at least one component being the blended yarn, and articles made from the blended, multi-end or composite yarn.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to new fiber blends combining at least one high performance fiber with one or more other fibers in an intimate blend, providing combinations of properties previously unachievable.
2. Discussion of the Background
There are many methods currently present for making fiber blends. However, due to difficulties in processing high performance fibers (such as aramid, glass, or extended chain polyethylene) alongside conventional thermoplastic fibers (such as polyester, nylon, etc), various approaches have been developed to arrive at yarns containing both the high performance fibers and non-high performance fibers. These include such methods as the preparation of composite yarns having a core, around which are wrapped one or more layers/sheaths of yarn. Examples of such composite yarns are provided, for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,777,789; 5,177,948; 5,628,172; 5,845,476; 6,351,932; 6,363,703 and 6,367,290.
Alternative processes used to manufacture these types of composite materials include weaving reinforcing fibers (carbon, aramide, or glass) in multifilament form alternately with multifilaments of thermoplastic matrix fibers. This manufacturing technique has numerous drawbacks, including: poor wettability, a large open-space ratio, and delamination of the reinforcing fibers.
Another technique consists of commingling the multifilaments of reinforcing fibers with the multifilaments of thermoplastic fibers. However, this technique is limited in the ability to use shorter staple length reinforcing fibers, without the need for cutting operations in the preparation of the cut reinforcing fibers. Because of this drawback, it is difficult to obtain the desired feel of the final product combined with the desired strength characteristics given by high performance fibers.
These techniques all have substantial drawbacks in several areas, not the least of which is the cost of making the yarn and difficulties in weaving or braiding.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,910,361 teaches an intimate mixture of reinforcing fibers and thermoplastic matrix fibers formed by a cracking process, wherein the fibers are arranged such that the filaments are all parallel, and must be held together by wrapping a filament of thermoplastic fiber around the assembled mixture of parallel fibers. While this produces a high modulus product, the difficulty involved in ensuring the parallel arrangement of the mixed fibers creates, among other things, added production costs.

High performance fiber blend and products made therefrom


An endoscope apparatus for endoscopic treatment is disclosed. The apparatus comprises an endoscopic insertion tube comprising an outer surface including an outer rail formed longitudinally thereon and extending along a portion of the insertion tube. The outer rail has a predetermined shape. The insertion tube comprises an inner channel formed therethrough. An endoscope apparatus for endoscopic treatment is disclosed. The apparatus comprises an endoscopic insertion tube without a working channel and an outer surface including at least one outer rail formed longitudinally thereon and extending along a portion of the insertion tube. The outer rail has a first predetermined shape. At least one medical device includes an outer wall having at least one mounting unit formed thereon along a portion of the length of the outer wall. The mounting unit has a second predetermined shape cooperable with the first predetermined shape. The second predetermined shape is formed to complement and slidably cooperate with the first predetermined shape of the outer rail for slidably attaching the medical device thereto.

The present invention relates to endoscopic apparatus having outer rail guide systems.
Endoscopic devices have been commonly used for various procedures, typically in the abdominal area. Endoscopy is the examination and inspection of the interior of body organs, joints or cavities through an endoscope. Endoscopy allows physicians to peer through the body's passageways. An endoscopic procedure may be used to diagnose various conditions by close examination of internal organ and body structures and may also guide therapy and repair, such as the removal of torn cartilage from the bearing surfaces of a joint. A biopsy, a procedure involving tissue sampling for pathologic testing, may also be performed under endoscopic guidance. For example, endoscopic procedures include the following known procedures: gastroscopy, sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy, esophago gastro duodenoscopy (EGD), endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), and bronchoscopy.
An endoscope typically includes at least one separate port or working channel. Such port(s) may be used to introduce endoscopic instruments such as catheters, forceps, scissors, brushes, snares or baskets for tissue excision, sampling, or other diagnostic and therapeutic work. The inner diameter of such working channels or ports may vary based on the instruments used during an endoscopic procedure, affecting the overall outer diameter size of the insertion tube of the endoscope. The differences in diameter typically affect the resulting size of the outer diameter of the endoscope. Moreover, as clinicians may use a number of various sized medical devices during an endoscopic procedure, they face challenges in maintaining wire guide position in certain anatomy, e.g., within the biliary tree, while executing an endoscopic procedure.
Thus, it is desirable to provide an improved endoscope apparatus that allows a clinician the ability to use various sizes of medical devices with one endoscope while maintaining longitudinal positioning within a patient's gastrointestinal anatomy.

Endoscopic apparatus having an outer rail


A time capsule for personal use comprising a hollow two-part cylinder of high strength, non-corrosive, non-biodegradable plastic; means to interlock said two parts of said cylinder in hermetically sealed relationship, said means including a resilient, compressible gasket member. Preferably said gasket member is hollow, having one end thereof terminating within said cylinder to allow evacuation of substantially all the air therefrom.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sealed containers and more particularly pertains to such containers which may be utilized as a personal time capsule, keeping the contents of such container intact for long periods of time.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of air-tight sealed containers is known in the prior art. More specifically, such containers heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of time capsules and have consisted basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements. U.S. Pat. No. 4,665,668 illustrates such a time capsule while additional air-tight closures are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,500,009; 4,042,143; and 5,060,817.
In several respects, the time capsule according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of keeping documents, tapes or the like in a preserved state for extremely long periods of time.


A method and apparatus provide unbalanced output drive capability, for example, to correct for output skews in subsequent output stages. In one aspect, a pre-driver or the like provides unbalanced output drive capability. The pre-driver is comprised of first and second data paths having a plurality of transistor output stages and a plurality of switches for controlling the conductivity of the plurality of output stages in response to the level of conductivity of a subsequent driver output stage. A method of correcting output skews in a subsequent amplification stage is also provided. In another aspect, a portion of a data path, a memory device, and a computer system all have a pre-driver with pre-driver output transistors responsive to signals indicative of the strength of output drive transistors.

The present invention is directed to memory devices generally and, more particularly, to voltage regulators and data paths used in such devices.
Solid state memory devices communicate with the outside world through input/output pads. Some pads may be connected to an address bus and are thus dedicated to receiving address information. Other pads may be connected to a command bus from which command signals are received while still other pads are connected to a data bus, on which data to be written into the memory is received or data read from the memory is output. In other types of devices, the pads may be connected to a single multiplexed bus which, at one point in time outputs address and command information and, at another point in time, outputs or receives data.
To enable pads to receive or send information, the information is transmitted in the form of ones and zeros. The "ones" and "zeros" are typically represented by two different voltage levels. For example, a voltage between two and five and one half volts may be considered to represent a high signal, or a "one", while a voltage level of between minus 0.3 volts and plus 0.8 volts may be considered to represent a low signal, or a "zero". The output pads must be capable of reliably producing voltages within the ranges designated as representing ones and zeroes in accordance with timing specifications set for the component.
Timing specifications are typically set by the consumers of the memory devices for particular applications. A timing specification would identify how long it may take for an output pad to change from a zero to a one, e.g. change from minus 0.3 volts to plus five volts, how abrupt the changes must be, etc. With access times for memory devices measured in nanoseconds, it is clear the design engineer is faced with quite a challenge to design electrical circuits which can change the voltage available at the output pads so quickly.
Output pads typically are serviced by a number of circuits such as circuits for buffering (holding) data, and drive circuits for driving the voltage on the pad to a voltage representative of data to be output. The drive circuit, in turn, is serviced by devices such as voltage generators and voltage regulators which provide the power needed by the output pad drivers. The voltage regulator is used to provide power, in the form of voltage for driving the gate of an output transistor ultimately servicing an output pad. Typically, voltage regulators supply that gate voltage (Vgate) to a number of drive transistors through a voltage bus.
When the gate voltage is heavily loaded, the Vgate level recovery may not be sufficiently quick. Prior art attempts at solving this problem apply a one-shot pulse to an enable Vgate line. However, because the path between Vgate and the enable Vgate line is through a p-channel transistor with its n-well biased to Vgate, there is a risk of forward biasing the drain of the p-channel to the n-well if the one-shot pulling the enable V-gate line towards system voltage (VDD) is not timed properly across all process and device conditions. Additionally, if the one-shot timing is too weak under particular process and device conditions, then Vgate will droop, and the enable Vgate lines will not recover sufficiently quickly.
Another problem is experienced in the prior art when the memory device, and hence the voltage regulator, must go into a nap or a standby mode. In such modes, the Vgate regulator needs to go to a low power mode very quickly. In some prior art configurations, that is accomplished by reducing the bias voltage supplied to an amplifier within the voltage regulator. However, simply reducing the bias voltage may not reduce the power consumption of the voltage regulator sufficiently quickly.
Another problem is encountered because output transistors typically have an RC time constant associated therewith as a result of their loading. The RC time constant prevents the output transistor from reducing its drive sufficiently quickly. In the prior art, a pass gate is used to disconnect the RC so that the output transistor can respond more quickly. However, that approach leaves one side of the RC load floating. Due to n-plus junctions, the floating side can move to a back bias voltage. Should that occur, when the RC is reconnected to the transistor, the transistor would be turned on hard.
Other problems associated with the data path relate to the output slew of data pad drivers. In the prior art, output slew rates are improved by segmenting the output transistors into two main portions and delaying the switching of one of the portions. The delay is controlled by a circuit that makes a determination as to the strength of the p- and n-channel transistors and generates a two-bit binary code. In addition to setting the delay based on the two-bit code, a NAND gate is used to receive the two-bit signal which, in turn, enables a p-channel transistor to further enable two other p-channel transistors in the output pre-driver so that they could strengthen the high side out of the pre-driver for both the normal and delayed paths. However, various changes over process and device conditions can cause the output's timing characteristic to be skewed. Because the prior art solution enables only the addition of p-channel transistors in one of the two-bit code cases, the degrees of freedom to compensate for various types of skew are limited.
Thus, the need exists for a voltage regulator and data path with improved performance characteristics.

Voltage regulator and data path for a memory device


Systems and methods are provided for synthesizing stereoscopic [that is, “3-D”] images from 2-D images, for example, 2-D video or 2-D still images. The method includes capturing a series of images exhibiting at least some relative movement to provide a first series of images; generating a second series of temporally modified images from the first series of images by varying the relative timing of at least some of the images of the first series of images; and displaying the first series of images with at least some of the second series of temporally modified images to produce a series of stereoscopic images. The stereoscopic images may then be viewed with appropriate stereoscopic devices, for example, 3-D glasses. Methods and systems for capturing the images whereby the stereoscopic appearance of the images is enhanced are also disclosed.

1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to stereoscopic (that is, "3-D") image generation. More particularly, the present invention relates to the creation of stereoscopic images from 2-dimensional images by manipulating the 2-dimensional images and displaying the manipulated images for viewing in 3-D.
2. Description of Related Art
Stereoscopic Imaging
Stereoscopic imaging (that is, 3-dimensional or "3-D" imaging) is a common procedure to enhance the viewing experience of motion pictures, television, and amusement park presentations, and the like, by producing a depth dimension to 2-dimensional video images. In addition to entertainment, stereoscopic imaging can also be used to enhance education, aid the surgeon or the fighter pilot, and generally provide a more enhanced means of relaying information and data.
Typically, the dimension of depth by humans, and other animals, is perceived when viewing a scene through our two eyes, which are typically laterally spaced apart from each other. It is generally understood that the brain processes the difference between what each eye sees and interprets the difference as depth. For example, objects which are closer to the observer will have a greater difference in the images seen with each eye than objects which are further away from the observer because of a greater angle discrepancy (that is, the "depth cues") of the close objects compared to the distant ones. In contrast, when viewing with a single eye, or when filming or recording images with a single camera, these visual differences and the 3-D experience are lost, and, when displayed, the video field appears flat.
According to the prevailing prior art, video which is intended to portray a third dimension ("3-D") during viewing or playback is typically recorded using two substantially identical cameras spaced some distance apart to simulate the "depth cues" normally interpreted by the human eye. More recently, much more labor intensive processes of isolating individual objects and/or subjects in video frames and applying "depth cues" to the isolated objects and/or subjects have been used to convert existing 2-dimensional ("2-D") video into 3-D video. For example, these processes typically require that individual images be isolated and the desired 3-D effect generated by extracting, typically, electronically, the desired elements from each image and manipulating, for example, moving elements forward or backward in the image, to produce the desired 3-D effect. When videos employing these depth cues are played back, some means of assuring that each of the viewer's eyes receives the image intended for that eye is used. However, such existing systems are recognizably cumbersome and the creating and displaying of 3-D images by such processes are labor intensive.
There have been many attempts of varying success and public acceptance at generating stereoscopic video. Numerous prior art systems and methods are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,131,342; 4,836,647; 5,282,029; 5,510,832; 5,745,164; 6,144,440; 7,030,902; 7,385,625; and RE 39,342; in published PCT applications WO9013848A1, WO9203021A1, and WO9211735A1, and in published EP application EP315019, among others. However, again, these and other prior art systems and methods are typically characterized by the complexity and labor intensity of other prior art systems and methods.
Accordingly, a need exists for providing systems and methods for providing stereoscopic imagery that, among other things, simplifies the process where it can be more accessible to video editors and like professionals.
The Pulfrich Effect
Aspects of the present invention are inspired by what is known in the art as "the Pulfrich Effect." As understood in the art, the Pulfrich Effect is a neuropsychological phenomenon in which lateral movement of a subject or object is interpreted by the human brain as a depth dimension. This phenomenon is typically associated with the difference in the timing of the presentation of images to human eyes. The Pulfrich Effect is often illustrated or displayed with the use of a dark lens over one eye that effectively delays the reception of the image by that eye compared to the unshielded eye. The brain interprets this delay in reception by the retina of each eye as a 3-D image. Illustrative demonstrations of this phenomenon are available, for example, on the Internet.
Recognizing the potential implications of this Pulfrich Effect upon the generation of stereoscopic images, the present inventor investigated and developed aspects of the present invention. Surprisingly, aspects of the present invention provide an effective means for generating stereoscopic images. Aspects of the present invention do not employ the Pulfrich Effect; aspects of the present were inspired by the Pulfrich effect to provide systems and methods for providing stereoscopic images.

Methods and systems for synthesizing stereoscopic images


A coating layer 5 made of a fluorine-containing polymer and having a thickness of 20 to 700 nm is formed on a surface of a nozzle forming member made of plastics which can be ablated by an excimer laser. Then, the nozzle forming member 1 is irradiated from its back by the excimer laser to generate high-density excited species in the irradiated portion. Using the force owing to the decomposition and scattering of the excited species, a nozzle 7 is formed and the coating layer 5 on the nozzle 7 is removed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of forming a nozzle for an ink-jet printer head which ejects ink droplets to write records.
2. Prior Art
An ink-jet printer head ejects ink in the form of ink droplets from a nozzle to write records on a recording medium. In the case where water base ink is used as the ink, when the periphery of an opening of the nozzle has insufficient water repellency, the ink is liable to stick to the surface of the opening, thereby suffering a problem in that the straightforwardness of ink droplets is impaired.
It is generally understood that, with respect to the water repellency of the periphery of a nozzle opening, a contact angle of 90 degree or more does not cause the straightforwardness of ink droplets to be impaired. Accordingly, the surface of a nozzle opening is usually coated by a water repellent agent.
As the method of forming such a coating layer, there have been proposed various methods such as the electrostatic spray coating method (Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication (Kokai) No. SHO 57-167765), the vacuum deposition method (Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication (Kokai) No. SHO 60-183161), the dipping method, the spray coating method, and the spin coating method, etc. All of these methods have a drawback that a water repellent agent may enter a nozzle to clog it or to impair the straightforwardness of ink droplets, thereby adversely affecting the printing quality.
As a method of providing the water repellency to a surface of a nozzle opening without causing the nozzle to be clogged, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication (Kokai) No. SHO 63-122560 discloses a method in which a flow path for ink is previously filled with a liquid or solid material and the coating process is then conducted, and Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication (Kokai) No. SHO 62-59047 discloses a method in which the coating process is conducted while ejecting air from a nozzle.
However, the former method has problems in that it is not easy to fill the flow path with a liquid or solid material and also that it is difficult to remove an excess of the filler material while keeping the flow path filled with the filler material. The latter method has a problem in that the periphery of the nozzle opening in which the water repellency must be exerted at the highest degree is affected by the air stream so as not to be sufficiently coated.
On the other hand, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication (Kokai) No. HEI 3-207657 proposes a method in which an excimer laser is used as a nozzle forming means. This publication discloses also that, at the same time when a nozzle is formed, a water repellent layer formed on the periphery surface of the nozzle opening is removed by an excimer laser. Teflon may be used as a water repellent agent which can be removed by an excimer laser, but has a drawback that, when wiped, it is easily peeled off from the surface of the nozzle. A silicone resin cannot be superposed on a resin which can be ablated by an excimer laser. A silicone resin can be strongly bonded to glass. When glass is used as the material of the nozzle forming member, however, there arise problems in that it is difficult to form a nozzle and that glass dissolves in a long-term use.

Method of forming a nozzle for an ink-jet printer head


An apparatus for monitoring and measuring analog signal levels, current and reflected power (SWR) in an electric utility substation environment. The apparatus includes selective measurement capabilities for at least five individual frequencies, respectively, and includes programmable event recording and remote alarms. The apparatus will provide data to support in-band spectral analysis of recorded events, and can be located at any point along an associated communication path. The apparatus is non-intrusive and will not affect any existing signals present on an associated communication path.

Electric Utilities use electronic communication systems in combination with Protection Relays to monitor transmission line conditions and provide control change commands when the transmission lines experience fault conditions. These fault conditions require immediate action to avert wide scale power outages and damage to expensive substation equipment. These Relays require a means to communicate these protection control states and command changes. Various communication paths are used to transmit and receive these critical commands. These communication methods include (but are not limited to) Power Line Carrier (PLC), Audio Tone, Analog and Digital Microwave, Fiber Optics and Spread Spectrum Radio. The physical location of the communication equipment is primarily within a relay house of a utility substation, and therefore is exposed to excessive environmental conditions including excessively high voltages, especially during fault conditions.
Two of the communication paths, Power Line Carrier (30 kHz to 500 kHz) and Audio Tone Systems (300 Hz to 4000 Hz) often multiplex many channels (frequencies) on a single path. While many newer transmitters and receivers now have some type monitoring of their own signals and some also the path in general, it is believed that no monitoring apparatus presently exists to independently monitor the communication path, or has the ability to monitor any selectable frequency.
Power Line Carrier Communications used for Power System Protection utilize the Electric Utility transmission line as the communication path. Various components are used to convert the transmission line into a viable path for Power Line Carrier (PLC) frequencies. If these components are not aligned properly, the misalignment can cause conditions that will adversely affect the signal. One method of determining proper system alignment is measuring the reflected power or Standing Wave Ratio (SWR). Power Line Carrier Systems are adjusted for minimal reflected power to assure maximum power transfer across the transmission line. Many things connected to the Transmission line affect the reflected power of the PLC system and conditions are constantly changing. Monitoring of reflected power (SWR) is an effective way to assure that the changing conditions of the transmission line do not adversely affect the original alignment of the PLC System and render it ineffective when needed. It is believed that present monitoring apparatus cannot externally monitor various frequency selective reflected power (SWR) measurements and assign alarm or status limits as programmed by the user.
The majority of monitoring devices presently manufactured for the Electric Utility substations now incorporates the ability to time stamp events that occur within the associated monitoring device that can be synchronized with satellite clocks. The time stamped events provide recorded event timelines that can be used to evaluate, locate, and remedy the defect on the communication path of the utility substations system. However, no substation hardened communication monitoring devices are believed to exist with the capability to monitor and retrieve such time stamped events locally or to a remote control site.
The present inventors recognize that Spectral Analysis of the Power Line Carrier path provides an opportunity for the Electric Utilities to evaluate the integrity of their control (or Trip) frequencies during the actual fault. During fault conditions, excessive noise conditions exist that can achieve the same levels of the control frequencies. In-band spectral analysis provides the user the ability to determine the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) during those conditions and provide valuable information for remedying mis-operations or loss of carrier signals.

Power communications monitor for power line carrier and audio tone communication systems


A read circuit includes: an integration circuit section configured to perform an integral operation and whose input is connected to an integration node; and a bias circuit connected between a connection node to which a variable resistive element is connected and the integration node. The bias circuit includes: an integration transistor whose source and drain are respectively connected to the connection node and the integration node; an operational amplifier whose output is connected to a gate of the integration transistor, to whose first input a bias voltage is supplied, and whose second input is connected to the source of the integration transistor; and at least one diode element that is connected between the gate and source of the integration transistor and clips a gate-source voltage of the integration transistor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a read circuit, a variable resistive element device, and an imaging device. In particular, the present invention relates to a reset operation of an integration circuit in a read circuit that uses the integration circuit for sensing a current flowing through a variable resistive element.
2. Description of Related Art
A technique for sensing a current flowing through a variable resistive element whose resistance is variable is one of techniques applied to various technical fields. One of applications of this technique is an imaging device using a thermoelectric conversion element such as a bolometer. The thermoelectric conversion element is an element in which a temperature variation associated with an incidence of infrared light appears as a variation in its resistance, and is sensitive to the incident infrared light. The imaging device is provided with the thermoelectric conversion elements that are one-dimensionally or two-dimensionally arranged. An infrared image can be obtained by applying a predetermined bias voltage to each thermoelectric conversion element of the imaging device and thereby sensing a current flowing through the each thermoelectric conversion element.
One of methods for sensing a current flowing through a variable resistive element is to integrate the current flowing through the variable resistive element with the use of an integration circuit to extract it as a voltage signal. Japanese patent No. 3821040 discloses an imaging device provided with a read circuit that senses a current flowing through a thermoelectric conversion element based on such a method.
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a configuration of the imaging device, particularly a configuration of a readout circuit 134, disclosed in Japanese patent No. 3821040. The imaging device has: a plurality of read circuits 134; switches 135; an output buffer 136; and three source followers 137 to 139 provided in series along a feedback loop of the output buffer 136. The switches 135 are used for selecting any of the plurality of read circuits 134. The output buffer 136 performs a voltage follower operation and outputs an output signal VOUT whose voltage level is the same as that of a voltage signal received from the selected read circuit 134.
The read circuit 134 performs an operation for sensing a current flowing through a thermoelectric conversion element 102. In FIG. 1, only one thermoelectric conversion element 102 is illustrated; however, it should be appreciated that a number of thermoelectric conversion elements 102 are actually arranged on a substrate, and the read circuit 134 senses a current flowing through the thermoelectric conversion element 102 selected by a pixel switch 101 and a horizontal switch 103.
The read circuit 134 includes a bias circuit 141, a bias cancel circuit 142, and an integration sample hold circuit 131. An output of the integration sample hold circuit 131 is connected to the switch 135 through two source followers 132 and 133.
The bias circuit 141 has a function of applying to the thermoelectric conversion element 102 the same bias voltage as a bias voltage VBOL applied to a bias voltage terminal 108. More specifically, the bias circuit 141 includes an integration transistor 104, an operational amplifier 105, a switch 106, and a bypass capacitor 107. As the integration transistor 104, an N-channel MOSFET is used. A gate of the integration transistor 104 is connected to an output of the operational amplifier 105, and the switch 106 and the bypass capacitor 107 are connected in parallel between the gate and a source of the integration transistor 104. An inverting input of the operational amplifier 105 is connected to the source of the integration transistor 104, and a non-inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier 105 is connected to the bias voltage terminal 108.
The operational amplifier 105 plays a role of compensating a gate-source voltage drop in the integration transistor 104. As is widely known, when an N-channel MOSFET is in the ON state, a voltage drop comparable to its threshold voltage appears between the gate and the source. The operational amplifier 105 compensates the voltage drop in the integration transistor 104, which enables application of the same bias voltage as the bias voltage VBOL to the thermoelectric conversion element 102.
The switch 106 is provided for preventing the operational amplifier 105 from oscillating when all the thermoelectric conversion elements 102 connected to the read circuits 134 are in non-selected state (for example, a period when all the horizontal switches 103 are turned OFF or when all the pixel switches 101 are turned OFF). The switch 106 is provided between the gate and the source of the integration transistor 104, and is turned ON during a period when the thermoelectric conversion elements 102 are in the non-selected state. In this case, the output of the operational amplifier 105 is connected to the inverting input thereof, and thus the operational amplifier 105 operates as a voltage follower. This prevents the operational amplifier 105 from oscillating.
The bypass capacitor 107 prevents the operational amplifier 105 from oscillating that may occur if a defect in a manufacturing process causes an open fault of the thermoelectric conversion element 102 and a bias current does not flow. If the bias current does not flow in the thermoelectric conversion element 102, that is, if a drain current does not flow in the integration transistor 104, a transconductance gm of the integration transistor 104 is reduced and a resistance component of a feedback loop of the operational amplifier 105 is increased. In this case, a phase delay at the feedback loop is increased and thus a phase margin of the operational amplifier 105 may not be ensured. The bypass capacitor 107 provided between the gate and the source of the integration transistor 104 plays a role of ensuring the phase margin.
The bias cancel circuit 142 is used for cancelling the drain current of the integration transistor 104, i.e., an offset component of a current flowing through the thermoelectric conversion element 102. To cancel the offset component is effective for effectively using a dynamic range of the integration sample hold circuit 131.
More specifically, the bias cancel circuit 142 includes a canceller resistor 109, a canceller horizontal switch 110, a canceller transistor 111, an operational amplifier 112, and a switch 113. As the canceller transistor 111, a P-channel MOSFET is used. The canceller resistor 109 and the canceller horizontal switch 110 are connected in series between a power supply line VCC to which a power supply voltage is supplied and a source of the canceller transistor 111. The switch 113 is connected between a gate and the source of the canceller transistor 111, and a drain of the canceller transistor 111 is connected to the drain of the integration transistor 104. The gate of the canceller transistor 111 is connected to an output of the operational amplifier 112. An inverting input of the operational amplifier 112 is connected to the source of the canceller transistor 111, and a non-inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier 112 is connected to a voltage terminal 114 to which a bias cancel voltage VCAN is supplied. A current flowing in the bias cancel circuit 142 is controlled in response to the bias cancel voltage VCAN. As in the case of the operational amplifier 105 of the bias circuit 141, the operational amplifier 112 is provided for the purpose of compensating a gate-source voltage drop in the canceller transistor 111.
As in the case of the switch 106 of the bias circuit 141, the switch 113 of the bias cancel circuit 142 is provided for preventing the operational amplifier 112 from oscillating when all the thermoelectric conversion elements 102 connected to the read circuits 134 are in non-selected state. When all of the thermoelectric conversion elements 102 connected to the read circuits 134 are in the non-selected state, a current in the bias circuit 141 is shut off, which will result in no path through which a current in the bias cancel circuit 142 can flow. For this reason, the canceller horizontal switch 110 is turned OFF in synchronization with the horizontal switch 103, and the current in the bias cancel circuit 142 is shut off. The switch 113 provided between the gate and the source of the canceller transistor 111 is turned ON during the period when all the thermoelectric conversion elements 102 are in the non-selected state. In this case, the output of the operational amplifier 112 is connected to the inverting input thereof, and thus the operational amplifier 112 operates as a voltage follower. This prevents the operational amplifier 112 from oscillating.
The integration sample hold circuit 131 includes an integration operational amplifier 116, two integration-hold capacitors 119 and 122, switches 118, 120, 121 and 123, a reset switch 125, source followers 128 and 129, and a selection switch 130. The integration sample hold circuit 131 is configured to use one of the integration-hold capacitors 119 and 122 as an integration capacitor and to use the other one as a hold capacitor that holds a voltage signal obtained by an integral operation. The selection switch 130 is used for selecting the integration-hold capacitors 119 and 122. If the integration-hold capacitor 119 is selected by the selection switch 130, a voltage signal OUTA held by the integration-hold capacitor 119 is output to the source follower 132 through the source follower 128. On the other hand, if the integration-hold capacitor 122 is selected, a voltage signal OUTB held by the integration-hold capacitor 122 is output to the source follower 132 through the source follower 129. A reset operation of the integration sample hold circuit 131 is performed by turning ON the reset switch 125 with the integration-hold capacitor used as the integration capacitor being electrically connected between an input and an output of the integration operational amplifier 116.
The reset operation of the integration sample hold circuit 131 is performed during the period when all of the thermoelectric conversion elements 102 are in the non-selected state. It should be noted here that the bias circuit 141 and the bias cancel circuit 142 both are in invalid states during the period when all the thermoelectric conversion elements 102 are in the non-selected state. For this reason, a switch 115 for separating the integration sample hold circuit 131 from the bias circuit 141 and bias cancel circuit 142 is provided in the read circuit 134 of FIG. 1 in order to surely perform the reset operation. The switch 115 is turned OFF during when the reset operation of the integration sample hold circuit 131 is performed.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2007-033177 discloses a similar configuration of a read circuit. Specifically, the document discloses a read circuit in which an integration circuit and a sample hold circuit are used instead of the integration sample hold circuit 131.
The inventor of the present application has recognized the following points. One problem of the read circuit 134 shown in FIG. 1 is that a gate voltage of the integration transistor 104 can excessively increase. If a high-temperature subject is imaged, an output of the integration operational amplifier 116 is saturated at an upper limit of an output dynamic range, and an imaginary short of the integration operational amplifier 116 is broken. If the imaginary short of the integration operational amplifier 116 is broken, a drain voltage of the integration transistor 104 is decreased and hence a drain-source voltage is decreased. Meanwhile, the integration transistor 104 and the operational amplifier 105 attempt to supply a current corresponding to the bias voltage VBOL to the thermoelectric conversion element 102, and therefore the gate voltage of the integration transistor 104 is increased. In the worst case, the gate voltage is raised to an upper limit of an output dynamic range of the operational amplifier 105. The gate voltage of the integration transistor 104 recovers to a normal operating voltage by the reset operation of the integration sample hold circuit 131; however, it takes some time to recover to the normal operating voltage. This can cause increase in a settling time of the reset operation of the integration sample hold circuit 131.
A similar problem can also arise in the bias cancel circuit 142. If a low-temperature subject is imaged, an output of the integration operational amplifier 116 is saturated at a lower limit of the output dynamic range, and the imaginary short of the integration operational amplifier 116 is broken. If the imaginary short of the integration operational amplifier 116 is broken, a drain voltage of the canceller transistor 111 is increased and hence a drain-source voltage is decreased. Meanwhile, the canceller transistor 111 and the operational amplifier 112 attempt to supply a current corresponding to the bias cancel voltage VCAN to the thermoelectric conversion element 102, and therefore a gate voltage of the canceller transistor 111 is decreased. In the worst case, the gate voltage is decreased to a lower limit of an output dynamic range of the operational amplifier 112. The gate voltage of the canceller transistor 111 recovers to a normal operating voltage by the reset operation of the integration sample hold circuit 131; however, it takes some time to recover to the normal operating voltage. This can cause increase in the settling time of the reset operation of the integration sample hold circuit 131.

Read circuit, variable resistive element device, and imaging device


A lithium electrochemical cell design incorporating a low molality electrolyte including LiI is disclosed. The resulting cell delivers excellent performance under a wide range of temperatures, conditions and drain rates.

The following application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/204,694 entitled "Low Temperature Li/FeS2 Battery" filed on Aug. 16, 2005 which is now abandoned.
This invention relates to a nonaqueous electrolyte for a primary electrochemical cell, such as a lithium/iron disulfide cell. More specifically, a lithium-iron disulfide cell with discharge capacity at temperatures between −40° C. and 21° C. and an electrolyte consisting essentially of a solute with concentrations of lithium iodide 0.3 to 0.5 molal dissolved in an all-ether solvent is contemplated.
Batteries are used to provide power to many portable electronic devices. In today's consumer-driven device market, standardized primary cell sizes (e.g., AA or AAA) and specific nominal voltages (typically 1.5 V) are preferred. Moreover, consumers frequently opt to use primary batteries for their low cost, convenience, reliability and sustained shelf life as compared to comparable, currently available rechargeable (i.e., secondary) batteries. Primary lithium batteries (those that contain metallic lithium or lithium alloy as the electrochemically active material of the negative electrode) are becoming increasingly popular as the battery of choice for new devices because of trends in those devices toward smaller size and higher power.
One type of lithium battery that is particularly useful for 1.5 V consumer devices is the lithium-iron disulfide (or LiFeS2) battery, having the IEC designations FR6 for AA size and FR03 for AAA size. LiFeS2 cells offer higher energy density, especially at high drain rates in comparison to alkaline, carbon zinc or other primary (i.e., non-rechargeable) battery systems. Such batteries use iron disulfide, FeS2 (also referred to as pyrite or iron pyrite, which the preferred mineral form of iron disulfide for battery applications), as the electrochemically active material of the positive electrode.
As a general rule, the electrolyte in any battery must be selected to provide sufficient electrolytic and electrical conductivity to meet the cell discharge requirements over the desired temperature range. As demonstrated by U.S. Pat. No. 4,129,691 to Broussely, increasing the solute (i.e., salt) concentration in a lithium battery electrolyte is expected to result in a corresponding increase in the conductivity and usefulness of that electrolyte (at least to a certain point), with higher conductivity presumed to be a desirable attribute. However, other limitations—such as the solubility of the solute in specific solvents, the formation of an appropriate passivating layer on lithium-based electrodes and/or the compatibility of the solvent with the electrochemically active or other materials in the cell—make the selection of an appropriate electrolyte system difficult. As a non-limiting example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,595 to Bakos describes how certain ethers are not miscible with solvents such as propylene carbonate. Additional electrolyte deficiencies and incompatibilities are well known and documented in this art, particularly as they relate to LiFeS2 cells and lithium's reactivity with many liquids, solvents and common polymeric sealing materials.
Ethers are often desirable as lithium battery electrolyte solvents because of their generally low viscosity, good wetting capability, good low temperature discharge performance and good high rate discharge performance, although their polarity is relatively low compared to some other common solvents. Ethers are particularly useful in cells with pyrite because the cells tend to be more stable as compared to higher voltage cathode materials in ethers, where degradation of the electrode surface or unwanted reactions with the solvent(s) might occur (e.g., polymerization). Among the ethers that have been used in LiFeS2 cells are 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME) and 1,3-dioxolane (DIOX), whether used together as taught by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,514,491 or 6,218,054 or European Patent 0 529 802 B1, all to Webber, or used in whole or in part as a blend of solvents as suggested by U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,316,868 to Gorkovenko (use of DIOX and 5-6 carbon 1,3-dialkoxyalkanes); U.S. Pat. No. 4,952,330 to Marple et al. (use of a set ratio of linear ethers, such as DME, cylic ethers, such as DIOX, and alkylene carbonates, such as propylene carbonate); U.S. Pat. No. 3,996,069 to Kronenberg (use of 3-methyl-2-oxazolidone and DIOX and/or DME); or U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/0026296A1 to Bowden (use of sulfolane and DME). Other solvents not specifically containing DIOX or DME may also be possible, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,227 to Webber (use of 3-methyl-2-oxazolidone with polyalkylyene glycol ethers such as diglyme). However, because of interactions among solvents, as well as the potential effects of solutes and/or electrode materials on those solvents, ideal electrolyte solvent blends and the resulting discharge performance of the cell are often difficult to predict without actually testing the proposed blend in a functioning electrochemical cell.
A wide variety of electrolyte solutes has been used for lithium-based cells, including lithium iodide (LiI), lithium trifluoromethanesulfonate (LiCF3SO3 or "lithium triflate"), lithium bistrifluoromethylsulfonyl imide (Li(CF3SO2)2N or "lithium imide"), lithium perchlorate (LiClO4), lithium hexafluoroarsenate (LiAsF6) and others. While electrolytes containing lithium triflate can provide fair cell electrical and discharge characteristics, such electrolytes have relatively low electrical conductivity, lithium triflate is relatively expensive. Lithium iodide (LiI) has been used as an alternative to lithium triflate to both reduce cost and improve cell electrical performance, as discussed in the previously identified U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,491 to Webber. One particular brand of AA—sized FR06 batteries sold by Energizer Holdings Inc.—currently includes a nonaqueous electrolyte with an approximate 0.75 molal concentration of LiI salt in a solvent mixture containing DIOX and DME.
Additives may be employed in the electrolyte to enhance certain aspects of a cell and/or its performance. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,691,083 to Bolster describes the use of a very low concentration of potassium salt additives to achieve a desired open circuit voltage in cells with a cathode material including FeS2, MnO2 or TiS2. U.S. Publication No. 2008/0026290 to Jiang discloses the use of an aluminum additive to slow the development of a passivation film on the surface of the lithium electrode. In each of these examples, the benefit of the additive(s) selected must be balanced against any deleterious reactions or effects (in terms of discharge performance, safety and longevity of the battery).
Finally, as mentioned above, it is believed higher concentrations of solute(s) normally improve the conductivity of the electrolyte, although it is understood that there is ultimately a limit to this effect based upon certain variables, such as the viscosity of the solution (i.e., conductivity improves with concentration until the concentration makes the resulting solution too viscous, at which point conductivity drops off dramatically). Additionally, certain systems (typically in rechargeable lithium-sulfur battery systems where non-chalcogenic polysulfides are the preferred cathode material) utilize a "catholyte" where portions of the electrode itself dissolve into the electrolyte solution to provide ionic conductivity, such that the concentration of salt is an indicator as to the state of charge in the battery. In such systems, minimal to non-existent concentrations of lithium ions may be provided to a fully charged cell without compromising performance as taught by U.S. Pat. No. 7,189,477 to Mikhaylik. Ultimately, LiFeS2 and other lithium electrochemical cells maintain an almost constant salt content in the electrolyte and do not exhibit this propensity to provide ions from the electrodes to the electrolyte. Therefore, catholyte systems have no relevance to LiFeS2 systems in this regard, and more generally illustrate the pitfalls associated with blindly applying teachings from a given electrochemical system to another, dissimilar system.


Novel tools and techniques are provided for implementing a virtualization congestion control framework. In one aspect, a method might include a hypervisor assigning application resources of a virtual machine (“VM”), which operates on a host computing system, with maximum allowable settings to each software application to be executed on the VM. The hypervisor or an orchestrator might determine a running mode of the host computing system, and might execute the software application(s) using running mode attributes of the determined running mode. The hypervisor or the orchestrator might monitor application resource utilization, and, based on a determination that application resource utilization has changed, might modify allocation of application resources to each of the software application(s). In some cases, the hypervisor or the orchestrator might monitor for mass congestion indicators, and, based on a determination that a mass congestion indicator is present, might modify the running mode of the host computing system.

In a virtual machine ("VM") environment or cloud virtualized environment, such as in a telecommunications service provider system, congestion issues might arise where one or more applications might request more and more hardware resources, without end and without any means for monitoring the actual hardware (or hardware resource) constraints on the host system. Without any checks on the resource allocation associated with the host system, the one or more applications might request more and more hardware resources until the host system finally and catastrophically crashes.
Currently, existing application level congestion control state machines and push back interrupts are hardware specific to vendor platforms. In other words, even though existing application congestion controllers and congestion control state machines might utilize the orchestrator(s) and/or hypervisor(s) to add resources, such elements do not have the functionality for receiving limitations from the cloud to perform push backs to bound and/or reduce the use of hardware resources, and thus cannot ensure that if the application is attacked or running over capacity the application will not crash the system.
In addition, even though different hardware from a single vendor might provide for load push back mechanisms and/or dedicated scan rates at the north, south, east, and west bound interfaces of an application congestion controller, by using a protocol with an intelligent device for "buffer monitoring," such congestion control systems are vendor-specific and do not allow for cross-application congestion control that is required in a global VM environment. Moreover, interfaces in existing VMs are not designed to provide congestion control state inputs. Further, existing congestion control systems are typically one-way controls, without sufficient feedback.
As a result, the system can be vulnerable to system hacks, mass call events, or both, where the applications exhaust and consume resources without any limitation or any push back or throttle down application message especially in a mixed application environment from the orchestrator that manages the overall resources of the VM environment. Without such throttling, and load shedding mechanisms, the overall inability can render the system too busy to process normal traffic, and can result in the crushing of services and may cause the entire system network to crash.
Further, given that applications are mostly stateless and VM sessions can tolerate some small delay, congestion is only monitored at the CPU, memory, and storage levels (not interface), and additional resources are added when an application nears exhausting its allocated resources. The problem with this approach is that turning all communications into the same area with millions of users creates a "mass call event" (e.g., a "September 11" scenario) where use demand can exceed the resources across a cloud environment and exhaust all resources to the level of unacceptable non-performance. Normally, the physical limitations of dedicated hardware act as the threshold for the system triggering a load shedding survival mode. Once utilization approaches the limits of the equipment, non-critical processes are shed via the application congestion engines. Once an application is placed inside of a VM environment those limits are unknown, and can actually be dynamic available or unavailable. Therefore, to retain the application survivability, those utilization limits need to be communicated from the VM orchestrator to the application when congestion and resource limits have been reached.
Hence, there is a need for more robust and scalable virtualization congestion solutions.

Virtualization congestion control framework for modifying execution of applications on virtual machine based on mass congestion indicator in host computing system


A vacuum chuck according to the present invention includes a base plate having an outer wall formed in a predetermined height around the base plate. In addition, at least one inner wall, having the same height as the outer wall, is formed on the base plate so as to divide the space surrounded by the outer wall into a plurality of compartments. A plurality of vacuum holes are provided in the respective compartments and connected to a vacuum source. By using the vacuum chuck according to the present invention, variously sized parts can be fixed to the vacuum chuck by making the compartments of the vacuum chuck in various sizes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vacuum chuck. In particular, the present invention relates to a vacuum chuck used in an exposure apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
During the fabrication of an LCD, an exposure process is performed for forming an electric circuit pattern on a flat glass panel used in the LCD. In general, the exposure process includes a first step in which a photoresist is coated onto the flat glass panel. The photoresist has a photosensitivity to light of a specific wavelength. The photoresist is then exposed to light after a reticle, on which an electric circuit pattern is formed, is placed on the coated, flat glass panel.
An exposure apparatus for an LCD, used in the above exposure process, comprises a reticle stage for loading a reticle on which a circuit pattern is formed. The apparatus also includes a movable plate stage for absorbing and fixing the flat glass panel. Lenses are then arranged between the reticle and movable plate stages in order to focus light received from an exposure light source. In addition, a device such as a blinder is installed in the flat glass panel for illuminating the light through the reticle.
In the above exposure apparatus, the plate stage has a vacuum chuck for holding the flat glass panel. The vacuum chuck keeps the flat glass panel level by holding it with a vacuum. In other words, the vacuum keeps the flat glass panel from moving even when the plate stage is moved.
FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art exposure apparatus. In the exposure apparatus 10 of FIG. 1, a plate stage 12 is arranged to be movable on a base 11. On the upper portion of the plate stage 12 is installed a vacuum chuck 13. The vacuum chuck 13, in turn, holds a flat glass panel 14 for an LCD onto its upper portion.
The operation of the vacuum chuck 13 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2a and b. width and length of the vacuum chuck 13 is represented in the drawings by m and n, respectively. On the upper surface of the vacuum chuck 13, a plurality of bearing portions 22 are formed. These bearing portions 22 project to a predetermined height from the upper surface of the vacuum chuck 13, and act to prevent the glass panel 14 from being deformed by its weight when it is placed on the vacuum chuck 13. A side wall 23, having the same height as that of the projecting bearing portion 22, is formed around the vacuum chuck 13. The vacuum chuck 13 also has a plurality of vacuum holes 21 which are connected to an external vacuum source (not shown).
When the flat glass panel 14 is put on the vacuum chuck 13 in FIG. 2a, a sealed space is formed between the upper surface of the vacuum chuck 13, the lower surface of the flat glass panel 14, and the side wall 23. Thus, a vacuum is formed when the air in the sealed space is sucked through the vacuum holes 21 by the vacuum source. The vacuum, therefore, will fix the flat glass panel 14 onto the vacuum chuck 13. The above vacuum is illustrated in FIG. 2b, and is formed in the space marked by reference numeral 24.
The prior art vacuum chuck described above, however, has some problems. The most basic of these is that the size of the flat glass panel 14, which may be fixed by the vacuum chuck 13, is limited. In other words, the width and the length of the flat glass panel 14 must be the same as the width m and length n of the vacuum chuck 13. If the flat glass panel 14 is larger or smaller than the vacuum chuck 13, a vacuum cannot be formed in the space 24, and, therefore, the glass panel 14 cannot be fixed to the vacuum chuck 13. Thus, if the size of the flat glass panel 14 is changed (i.e., due to a consumer request, a change in plans, etc.), then the entire stage must be re-designed. Furthermore, even if the vacuum chuck 13 is the only part which needs to be changed, productivity will decrease and expenses will increase since much time is spent re-setting the exposure apparatus 10.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vacuum chuck which can hold differently sized parts through the use of a vacuum. Another object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum chuck having a plurality of compartments in which a vacuum can be independently formed in each compartment. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a vacuum chuck which can automatically control which compartments will have a vacuum and which will not.


A balancing valve assembly of a cold and hot water mixing valve including a mixing valve casing having a bottom wall provided with a depression for receiving a balancing valve cover plate. Cold and hot water inlets are provided in the depression, and a balancing valve lower cavity is disposed above the cold and hot water inlets. A balancing valve upper cavity is provided below cold and hot water inlets on the balancing valve cover plate. A washer is disposed between the mixing valve casing and the balancing valve cover plate when coupled so that the balancing valve lower cavity of the casing and the balancing valve upper cavity of the balancing valve cover plate together form a leakage-free space in which a balancing valve body may be secured, thus achieving a structure that is simple and quick to assemble and remains secured alter assembly.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a balancing valve assembly of a cold and hot water mixing valve, and more particularly to an improved structure in which a cold and hot water control unit is connected to a water pressure balancing valve as an integral whole.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
A conventional water faucet achieves mixing of hot and cold water and flow regulation by utilizing a mixing valve. The mixing valve has two tightly overlapping ceramic disks in which the lower one is fixed while the upper one is movable on the lower disk by means of a control lever. The fixed disk is provided with two inlet openings respectively connected to two divided hot and cold water inlets and an outlet opening for conducting water to the mouth of the faucet. The movable disk is provided with a mixing space where hot and cold water can mix and may selectively connect any one or both of the inlet openings of the fixed disk to the outlet opening.
In use, the conventional mixing valve is directly connected to the water piping. Therefore, when supply of either hot water or cold water is unstable, the water coming out of the faucet will be suddenly cold and suddenly hot. In particular, if the supply of cold water is drastically reduced or even stopped and the supply of hot water is continued, the water coming out of the faucet will be very hot, which may scald the user seriously. In order to correct this defect, the hot and cold water pipes are firstly connected to a balancing valve before they are connected to the mixing valve so that when water pressure in the hot or cold water pipe suddenly changes, the balancing valve will automatically cut off both cold water and hot water supply to ensure safety.
With reference to FIGS. 12 and 13, a balancing valve device generally includes a valve seat 1' and a valve body 2'. The valve seat 1 is internally provided with a chamber 11' provided with cold and hot water inlets 12', 13' and outlets 14', 15'. As shown in FIG. 15, the valve body 2' generally includes a cylindrical sleeve 21' and a stop 22'. The stop 22' is precision-fitted inside the sleeve 21' such that it may freely slide. In addition, the sleeve 21' and the stop 22' are respectively and symmetrically provided with two water holes 211', 212', 221' and 222', with a partition 223' disposed between water holes 221' and 222'. The balancing valve 2' is installed in the chamber 11', and the partition 223' divides the chamber 11' into a cold water flow space and a hot water flow space so that water flowing in from the water inlets 12' and 13' past the water holes 211', 212', 221' and 222' and out through the water outlets 14' and 15'. During the passage of water through the balancing valve device, two end surfaces of the partition 223' of the stop 22' are respectively subjected to water pressure inside the cold and hot water flow spaces. Therefore, when water pressure in the hot or water pipe changes, the partition will be subjected to the action of the side with the greater water pressure so that the entire stop 22' displaces towards the side with the lesser water pressure, resulting in closure of the water holes 211', 212', 221' and 222' and stopping of the flow of hot and cold water (as shown in FIG. 14).
In the past, such balancing valve is independently and externally installed on the hot and cold water pipes before they connect to the water faucet. This is not only unsightly but also makes piping design and pipe laying difficult. Installation and operation thereof are also inconvenient. Although there are efforts to overcome these drawbacks by simplifying the structure, or combining the balancing valve with the mixing valve as shown in FIG. 15. The balancing valve is shown to be reduced and directly provided below the mixing valve to form a structure including a mixing valve casing 3', an upper bottom plate 4' and a lower bottom plate 5'. The casing 3' has installed therein, in sequence, a control lever device 31', a movable disk 32', and a fixed disk 33', a seal 41' fitted to a top side of the upper bottom plate 4' with its lugs 42' fastened to corresponding fastening holes 35' at the bottom side of the casing 3'. In addition, the upper bottom plate 4' is provided with through cold and hot water holes 43' and mixed water hole 44' respectively communicating with cold and hot water holes 331' and mixed water hole 332' of the fixed disk. Besides, a balancing valve upper chamber 45' is provided below the cold and hot water holes 43' of the upper bottom plate 4'. Furthermore, a seal 51' is fitted on a top side of the lower bottom plate 5' which is secured to the bottom side of the upper bottom plate 4' using screws 52'. In addition, the lower bottom plate 5' is likewise provided with through cold and hot water holes 53' and mixed water hole 54' respectively communicating with the cold and hot water holes 43' and mixed water hole 44' of the upper bottom plate. A balancing valve lower chamber 55' is provided above the cold and hot water holes 53' of the lower bottom plate 5' such that the lower chamber 55', together with the upper chamber 45', may sealingly enclose a balancing valve 2' therebetween. After assembly, water from the water pipes flow past the through holes 54' of the lower bottom plate into the communicating spaces divided by the balancing valve 2' and through the through holes 43' of the upper bottom plate to the water holes 331 of the fixed disk and into a mixing chamber 321 of the movable disk. When the mixing chamber 321' and the water holes 332' ofthe fixed disk are connected, the mixed water flows via the water holes 332' and through holes 44' and 54' into the faucet cavity and out through the faucet opening for use.
Although the above-described structure combining the balancing valve and the mixing valve has solved the problem of unsightliness and the difficulties in piping, installation and operation, it has other problems. For instance, as this structure is comprised of a number of components, the latter must have relatively high precision in order that tightness of the structure after assembly is ensured. And in order to ensure tightness, washers or seals have to be provided between the necessary components, which means difficult and inconvenient assembly. Besides, if any of the components is not properly aligned, it will affect the tightness of the structure. Additionally, since the components are connected by fastening means or screws, it is difficult to ensure that the connections are secure. If any of the connections is loosened, the tightness of the structure will be seriously affected as well. Improvement is therefore necessary.

Balancing valve assembly of a cold and hot water mixing valve


In a laser processing method and a laser processing apparatus which irradiate a processing target body with a laser beam pulse-oscillated from a laser beam source, a processing state is monitored by a photodetector, and the laser beam source is again subjected to oscillation control on the moment when erroneous laser irradiation is detected, thereby performing laser processing. Further, in a laser crystallization method and a laser crystallization apparatus using a pulseoscillated excimer laser, a homogenizing optical system, an optical element and a half mirror are arranged in an optical path, light from the half mirror is detected by a photodetector, and a light intensity insufficient irradiation position is again irradiated with a laser beam to perform crystallization when the detection value does not fall within a range of a predetermined specified value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a processing method using a pulsed laser beam, a processing apparatus using a pulsed laser beam which carries out this method, crystallization method using a pulsed laser beam, a laser crystallization apparatus which carries out this method, and a display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A machining technology using an excimer laser which is a pulsed laser beam has been extensively studied and developed for process applications such ablation (evaporation), heating or melting. In recent years, an ablation technology has been extensively reviewed with respect to soft organic matters such as plastic, or ceramic, quartz and others which are called machining hard materials in particular. Since an excimer laser has a high photon energy (equal to or above 5 eV) and thereby directly acts on coupling between molecules, high machining performance is realized.
The excimer laser processing technology has been extensively used for, e.g., activation using an excimer laser beam intended to activate a semiconductor implanted layer, quartz ablation (evaporation) for forming a fiber grating, machining of a nozzle in an inkjet printer or the like.
In usual laser processing, continuous machining is carried out. Even if a light intensity of laser irradiation is not normal, machining is continued, and a method of again machining (repairing) that part is used later. For example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-246484 discloses a processing method which again performs laser irradiation with respect to a non-normal machining point if a light intensity of laser beam irradiation is not normal.
Furthermore, in recent years, an excimer leaser annealing (in this case, laser processing is based on heating) technology which polycrystallizes an amorphous film in particular has been utilized, as a machining technology using a pulsed laser beam, in a technology of realizing high performance of a thin film transistor which is used in a drive element such as a liquid crystal display.
In order to realize high performance of the thin film transistor, a crystallized silicon thin film having a large grain diameter must be formed. It is known that, when a thin film transistor is formed in a crystal grain, a mobility of the transistor is improved ten times or more.
As a method of forming a crystal grain having a large grain diameter in an amorphous semiconductor thin film, there is a method described in "Journal of The Surface Science Society of Japan, Masakiyo Matsumura, Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 278-287, 2000".
In any application, microfabrication of micron order is required. If there is a failure of laser oscillation in one execution of laser irradiation due to any factor, there occurs a problem of a machining defect if nothing is fed back to a laser device. Specifically, when laser irradiation is not carried out or a light intensity of laser irradiation is lower than a set value, a region which is not machined well is generated, resulting in a reduction in a fair quality ratio (a yield ratio) of a final product.
Further, in crystallization based on laser annealing for other pulsed laser processing applications, if there is a part which has not been irradiated with a laser beam or a part in which an irradiation light intensity of a laser beam has not been enough, this part is not crystallized at all, or crystallization or activation becomes insufficient. Therefore, intended uniformity of characteristics or electrical characteristics cannot be obtained, which is a serious problem.
Furthermore, in a case where a laser processing method is used in a field using a laser processing method except the semiconductor field, e.g., machining of an ink discharge hole part of an inkjet head in an inkjet printer, if a laser beam is not applied to a given part or an irradiation light intensity of a laser beam is insufficient, a hole is not opened or hole machining becomes insufficient, and a yield ratio is likewise reduced in this field, resulting in a serious problem.
Usually, in the excimer laser, ultraviolet radiation has high machining properties and ultraviolet radiation demonstrates excellent absorption characteristics with respect to an amorphous semiconductor film in crystallization, and hence the excimer laser is suitable for crystallization. However, the excimer laser has instability in oscillation characteristics. As a result of actually executing a crystallization process by continuously and extensively applying a pulsed laser beam, the excimer laser device has the following drawbacks. Specifically, even though a trigger signal is externally input, no oscillation occurs, or a light intensity is extremely weak (e.g., not greater than ½ of a set value). In crystallization, even though a trigger signal for light emission control is input to the excimer laser device from the outside, a case of no oscillation is generated every 1000 pulses and the like. Alternatively, even though the same trigger signal is supplied, a light intensity is extremely weak, and it is not greater than a set value in some cases. That is because the excimer laser performs pulsed oscillation by a system based on high-voltage discharge in a gas. This is characteristics of a current element called "thyratron" used in the excimer laser, which is unavoidable at the present day. Although an excimer laser which does not use thyratron has been developed, a large load is imposed on a power supply circuit, thereby reducing reliability or increasing a cost.
This problem is realized as great irregularities of a machining conformation in a machining process, which is interference of mass production.
A "light-unemitting shot" described herein means a shot by which machining becomes incomplete, and includes both a "case where laser light is not generated at all" and a "case where a light intensity is low or a light emission time is short".
As a method of judging whether a shot of a leaser beam is a light-unemitting shot, it is general to adopt a method which places an optical component which partially divaricates light for laser beam intensity monitoring between a laser beam source and a processing target material in order to monitor divergent light such as described in Patent Reference 1. If it is determined that an intensity of the monitored divergent light is not normal, processing which returns to a non-normal processing point and again applies a laser beam can be considered. In the processing method in the above-described reference, however, there are the following two problems. That is, firstly, since a position at which a laser beam intensity is monitored is not a processing target material surface, there is a problem that an accurate laser beam intensity on the processing target material surface cannot be grasped. Secondly, moving an X-Y stage to return to an abnormal processing point and again applying a laser beam has no problem in case of rough processing of several-ten μm, but there is a limit in a mechanical accuracy in microfabrication which requires a positional accuracy of a processing point which is approximately 0.1 to 1.0 μm, and hence there is a problem that uniform processing is impossible (this problem can be solved by improving the mechanical accuracy).
In view of the above-described problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a laser processing method using a pulsed laser beam which again allows a light emitting operation on the scene even if a light-unemitting shot occurs in application of a pulsed laser beam by a laser beam source so that accurate machining is possible without a defect, and a laser processing apparatus using a pulsed laser beam.
Next, in case of forming a liquid crystal drive circuit which forms a large display screen of a liquid crystal display device in a crystallized region, there are the following problems. In a process of sequentially moving a pulsed laser beam to a predetermined irradiation position in a large display screen to thereafter apply the pulsed laser beam, when any problem exists in laser irradiation of one given shot (an abnormal shot), a serious problem occurs in crystallization of the irradiation position. For example, when laser irradiation is not performed or when a light intensity of laser irradiation is low, crystallization does not occur, or crystallization becomes insufficient. Therefore, when a transistor is formed in this region, transistor characteristics are considerably deteriorated, and a fair quality ratio (a yield ratio) of a final product is thereby lowered.
Further, besides the laser crystallization process, in activation of a semiconductor implanted layer based on laser annealing, when a laser beam is not applied or when an irradiation light intensity of a laser beam is low, this part is not activated at all, or activation becomes insufficient. Therefore, intended electrical characteristics cannot be obtained, which is a serious problem in quality management.
In view of the above-described problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a crystallization method which detects an abnormal shot and again performs shooting to thereby improve a reduction in a yield ratio of crystallization even if the abnormal shot occurs in irradiation of a laser beam for crystallization, a laser crystallization apparatus and a display device.

Crystallization apparatus using pulsed laser beam

Advanced LCD Technologies Development Center Co., Ltd.