An ash melting furnace for heating and melting ashes by a burner. The furnace body is formed with a preheating chamber and a melting chamber. Of the bottom wall of the melting chamber (12), the portion closer to the charging port is convex in transverse cross section, while the portion closer to the discharging port is concave in transverse cross section.

The bottom wall of the furnace body in this known type of ash melting furnace is inclined downwardly from the incineration ash charging side to the molten slag discharging side. And the melting chamber having a heating burner installed therein is positioned on the discharging side of the furnace body, while a preheating chamber is disposed on the charging side of the furnace body for drying and heating the incineration ashes charged into the furnace body, by the combustion exhaust gases produced in the melting chamber. Further, installed on the charging side of the furnace body are an ash charging hopper and an ash push-out device.
The bottom wall of the furnace body is straight, i.e., planar in transverse cross section.
Therefore, in the preheating chamber, the incineration ashes charged into the furnace body from the ash charging hopper by the push-out device are dried and heated by the combustion exhaust gases flowing from the melting chamber while the incineration ashes are moving to the discharging side on the inclined bottom wall of the furnace body. The thus preheated incineration ashes move into the melting chamber, where they are heated and melted by the burner installed in the melting chamber whereupon the molten ashes flow down on the bottom wall until they fall down into the cooling tank through a molten slag discharging port formed in the discharging side In the cooling tank, they are cooled and solidified.
However, since the transverse sectional shape of the bottom wall of the furnace body is straight, i.e., planar throughout the width and since transverse uniform heating by the burner is difficult, the ashes in the central region are melted quickly but the ashes on the opposite sides thereof are melted slowly.
Therefore, on the bottom wall, the rate at which the molten slag flows down varies in different regions and the slate of the discharged molten slag is not uniform. Further, since the upper surface of the bottom wall is inclined straight toward the discharging side, the residence time of ashes is short. Therefore, there is a problem that ashes tend to be discharged before they are melted and another problem is that the molten slag spreads on the entire surface of the bottom wall tending to lower the temperature of the molten slag, causing the latter to solidify more easily to block the discharging port.


A technique is disclosed for general IC structures to modify the layout of electrically unisolated metal lines before patterning same so that the spacing between the metal lines is substantially standardized prior to performing deposition of an intermetal dielectric layer. Upon such standardization of metal line spacing, the intermetal dielectric will be planarized in a single process step of deposition. Circuit layout design modifications can be made by adding electrically isolated dummy metal line features in areas of the layout having open spaces between parallel metal lines, and adding metal line spacers to existing metal lines to reduce the spacing between the metal lines and dummy metal features. As the nonstandard spacing between metal lines becomes standardized, an intermetal dielectric deposition results in a planarized surface of the intermetal dielectric. Consequently, many conventional process steps for planarizing the intermetal dielectric can be skipped or simplified.

1. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates to design layout for metal lines of an integrated circuit, an ASIC/SRAM or DRAM structure, and more particularly relates to deposition of an intermetal dielectric oxide layer over metal lines so as to leave a fully planarized surface of the intermetal dielectric layer through standardization of spacing between metal features situated on a substrate.
2. The Relevant Technology
Conventionally designed metal line layouts of integrated circuits (IC) structures necessitate that, after metal etching, large spaces will be left between nearest parallel electrically isolated metal lines. These spacings are random in size and have a great variety of dimensions. When an intermetal dielectric layer, such as an oxide, is deposited over the metal lines having random spacing therebetween, the top surface of the intermetal dielectric (IDL) will have an altitude of the thickness of the metal features (T.sub.met) plus the thickness of the intermetal dielectric layer (T.sub.idl) In those areas where there are no metal features but only open space, the altitude of the top surface of the intermetal dielectric layer will be T.sub.idl.
FIG. 1 depicts a conventional integrated circuit structure having a metal line layout thereon. In FIG. 1, a substrate 10 has an intermetal dielectric layer 12 situated thereon. Intermetal dielectric layer 12 is also situated upon a series of metal lines 14. Metal lines 14 are placed upon substrate 10 by a process known as metal patterning. After contact formation, a thin layer of conducting metal is deposited by conventional techniques over the substrate. Unwanted portions of the metal film are removed by photomasking and etch procedure or by lift-off. A heat treatment step may be performed to flow material into contacts, or to alloy the remaining metal film, which are called metal lines, so as to ensure good electrical contact between the metal film and the underlying contact areas.
After the forgoing metal patterning process, or variations thereof, each metal line 14 has a thickness T.sub.met 16 and has a width.gtoreq.W.sub.met 18. The thickness of intermetal dielectric layer 12 is T.sub.idl 20. The altitude of the top surface of the intermetal dielectric layer 12 is seen as T.sub.met +T.sub.idl, seen at 22.
FIG. 1 shows intermetal dielectric layer 12 as being nonplanarized and having both large and small trenches in IDL 12. Where spacing between two metal features is small, a narrow or fused trench 24 results. Trench 24 has a narrow width and a high height thereto. If the trench is filled with IDL the final structure has a height of T.sub.met +T.sub.idl. Where the spacing between metal features is wide, a nonplanar structure with heights of T.sub.idl and T.sub.idl +T.sub.met results, as in 26. FIG. 1 also shows that the surface of IDL 12 is constant in large areas where no metal features exist, such as the right-hand side of FIG. 1 showing the top surface of IDL 12 to have an altitude of T.sub.idl, as seen at 20.
After a conventional metal line layout, altitude differences exist in the top surface of the intermetal dielectric layer deposited thereover. The processing that tries to minimize or eliminate the different altitudes of the top surface of the IDL in the different areas of the metal line design layout is called planarization. Conventional planarization requires a complicated series of process steps, which increases cost, and reduces yield in manufacturing.
When the altitude of the top surface of an IDL or metal film varies, it is more difficult to print small features using photolithography because the photolithography equipment has a limited depth of focus. Areas of different altitude of the top surface of the IDL will print differently in size and resolution of features during the photolithography. Metal stringers can remain after dry chemistry metal etching along the slopes of the nonplanar surface so as to cause an electrical short between adjacent metal lines. Additionally, transitions between areas of different altitude of the layer below a metal film 14 will result in poor step coverage at trenches 24 of the metal layer 14 in these areas, as seen in FIG. 2.
Conventional planarization often requires a relatively thick IDL layer 12 to guarantee an uninterrupted IDL film over a metal pattern 14 for electrical isolation. This thick IDL layer 12 can complicate the formation of the next vias due to high aspect ratios, as is seen at 13 in FIG. 3 for a second metal layer MET-2. Conversely, a low aspect ratio at 13, as seen in FIG. 4, is easier for metal layer MET-2 to fill.
A random distribution of metal pattern may lead to an unbalanced distribution of areas with metal features and without metal features which can cause nonuniformities in the etching process.
Accordingly, it would be an advance in the art to planarize the IDL with as few process steps as possible, so as to be beneficial in the photolithography metal deposition and etching process steps that follow the deposition of the IDL.

Intermetal dielectric planarization by metal features layout modification


An exposure apparatus for exposing a substrate with an exposure light beam passing through a mask comprises a movable stage for moving the substrate, a stage chamber for accommodating the movable stage, a transport system for transporting the substrate into the stage chamber, and a first alignment system for performing positional adjustment for the substrate with respect to the movable stage in the stage chamber. The position of an exposure objective delivered from the transport system into the stage chamber can be subjected to positional adjustment by using the first alignment system. The stage chamber and the movable stage can be assembled to a frame of the exposure apparatus in accordance with the module system. The exposure apparatus includes a second alignment system for performing positional adjustment for the substrate installed on the movable stage at an exposure position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exposure method and an exposure apparatus to be used when a mask pattern is transferred onto a substrate in the lithography step for producing devices including, for example, semiconductor elements, liquid crystal display elements, plasma display elements, and thin film magnetic heads. The present invention also relates to techniques in relation to the above.
2. Description of the Related Art
High exposure accuracy is required for the exposure apparatus of the full field exposure type (stepper type) or the scanning exposure type (for example, the step-and-scan system) to be used in order to produce semiconductor elements or the like. Therefore, the exposure apparatus adopts arrangements which make it possible to perform highly accurate positioning or highly accurate scanning for the reticle stage system for positioning the reticle as a mask and for the wafer stage system for two-dimensionally moving the wafer as a substrate respectively. The reticle stage system and the wafer stage system have been hitherto assembled successively and directly on a predetermined frame mechanism.
In order to further enhance the resolution, the recent exposure apparatus uses the exposure light beam of the ArF excimer laser (wavelength: 193 nm) having the wavelength shorter than that of the KrF excimer laser (wavelength: 248 nm). Further, it has been investigated to use, for example, the F2 laser beam (wavelength: 157 nm) having the shorter wavelength. However, the vacuum ultraviolet light (VUV light) as described above, which has the wavelength of not more than about 200 nm, has a high absorptance for ordinary air (especially oxygen). Therefore, when the vacuum ultraviolet light is used as the exposure light beam, it is necessary to adopt the following procedure. That is, respective stage systems are tightly enclosed in stage chambers (sub-chambers) respectively, and the gas such as nitrogen gas or helium gas, which has a high transmittance with respect to the vacuum ultraviolet light, is supplied into the stage chambers. Alternatively, the optical path of the exposure light beam at the inside of the stage chambers is substantially in vacuum. Such a procedure is also adopted in the same manner as described above for the space between adjacent lenses which are arranged at the inside of the projection optical system. Accordingly, it is necessary to adopt the following procedure for the exposure apparatus which uses the vacuum ultraviolet light as the exposure light beam. That is, the projection optical system is installed to the frame mechanism, and the respective stage systems are successively assembled. After that, the corresponding stage chambers are installed so as to surround the respective stage systems while maintaining the air-tightness.
The exposure apparatus, which uses, for example, the vacuum ultraviolet light as the exposure light beam as described above, is assembled by installing the stage chambers for maintaining the air-tightness after successively assembling the projection optical system and the respective stage systems with respect to the frame mechanism. However, the method, in which the respective stage systems, the stage chambers, and other components are successively assembled with respect to the single flame mechanism as described above, requires a considerable period of time to assemble and adjust the apparatus. Further, a long period of time is required, for example, to adjust the relative positions between the respective stage systems and the projection optical system. Therefore, an inconvenience arises such that the production cost of the exposure apparatus is increased. Further, the method, in which the respective stage systems, the respective stage chambers, and other components are successively assembled as described above, involves the following inconvenience as well. That is, the adjusting process is also complicated when the maintenance is performed for the exposure apparatus. As a result, the time and the cost required for the maintenance are increased.
Further, when it is intended to easily assemble and adjust the exposure apparatus with the arrangement in which the gas having a high transmittance with respect to the exposure light beam is supplied, for example, to the inside of the respective stage chambers, the following fear occurs. That is, the amount of leak of the gas having the high transmittance is increased, the concentration of the gas is decreased on the optical path of the exposure light beam, and the intensity of the exposure light beam is lowered on the substrate to be exposed therewith. When the gas having the high transmittance is an expensive gas such as helium gas, it is necessary to utilize the gas as effectively as possible in order to suppress the running cost.
Further, for example, when the helium gas is supplied to the optical path of the exposure light beam, the following fear also arises, because the refractive index differs relatively greatly between the helium gas and the atmospheric air (air). That is, if the contamination ratio of the atmospheric air changes on the optical path of the exposure light beam, the measurement accuracy of the laser interferometer for measuring the position of the stage system is lowered. Therefore, even when the assembling and the adjustment for the exposure apparatus are made easy, sufficient air-tightness is required for the optical path of the exposure light beam.
On the other hand, when the assembling and the adjustment for the exposure apparatus are made easy, it is also desirable that the respective stage systems and other components are miniaturized to be as small as possible in order to decrease the installation area (foot print) of the exposure apparatus.
Taking the foregoing problems into consideration, a first object of the present invention is to provide an exposure technique in which stage systems and other components are easily assembled and adjusted.
A second object of the present invention is to provide an exposure technique in which stage systems and other components are easily assembled and adjusted, and a gas, which transmits an exposure light beam, is supplied to at least a part of an optical path of the exposure light beam, wherein the gas is effectively utilized to make it possible to maintain a high concentration of the gas (maintain high air-tightness) on the optical path.
A third object of the present invention is to provide an exposure technique in which stage systems and other components are easily assembled and adjusted, the stage systems and other components can be miniaturized, and positions of movable sections and other components can be correctly measured.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing devices which makes it possible to produce a variety of devices at the low cost or at the high throughput by using such an exposure technique.

Exposure method, exposure apparatus, and method for producing device


System for measuring a parameter within a closed surrounding, which system includes an apparatus containing a sensor for sensing the parameter and for delivering a sensor signal related to the parameter; an electronic circuit for processing the sensor signal into a measurement value; a transponder, connected to the electronic circuit, which transponder after reception of an external activation signal activates the electronic circuit and the sensor and thereafter transmits the measurement value supplied by the measuring circuit, the system including furthermore a scanning unit for generating and transmitting the activation signal and for receiving the transmitted measurement value whereby the apparatus furthermore contains a housing in which the sensor, the electronic circuit and the transponder are installed, the housing having normalised connecting part for connecting the housing to the closed surrounding and for enabling the sensor to sense the parameter, the housing being otherwise hermetically closed such that the transponder is able to transmit and receive signals in the above described manner.

The invention relates to a system for measuring a parameter within a closed surrounding, which system comprises and apparatus containing:    a sensor for sensing said parameter and for delivering a sensor signal related to said parameter,    an electronic circuit for processing said sensor signal into a measurement value,    a transponder, connected to said electronic circuit, which transponder after reception of an external activation signal activates the electronic circuit and the sensor and thereafter transmits the measurement value supplied by the measuring circuit,    a scanning unit for generating and transmitting said activation signal and for receiving said transmitted measurement value, and    a housing in which the sensor, the electronic circuit and the transponder are installed.
A system of this type is known from EP-0,563,713. This prior art system is especially destined to measure a parameter in a closed environment such as the pressure inside the tube. The actual measuring system is contained in a closed package obtained by molding all the various components into a suitable encapsulating material. The housing does not have any connecting means at the outside because all communication with the circuit inside the housing is done through the antenna. The housing can be made very small and can be mounted very easily within a tire or vehicle to measure the pressure inside or mounted within a moving section of a vehicle shock absorber to sense accelerations experienced by the shock absorber as the vehicle to which the shock absorber is mounted travels over a rough road.
A further prior art system is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,298,894. This prior art system is especially destined to measure a parameter of the fluid in a buried conduit. A part of the conduit is removed and replaced by a housing comprising the sensor and eventually electronics for amplifying the parameter dependent signal delivered by said sensor. This housing is located into a metal subsurface pit enclosure which is closed by a metal pit lid. A transponder is installed into a further housing which is integrated into the pit lid such that the antenna of the transponder is located outside the metal lid to ensure proper functioning thereof.
Other apparatuses for various parameter are for instance embodied as pressure transmitter for measuring pressure, temperature transmitters for measuring temperature, flow meters for measuring flow in gasses or fluids, pH meters for measuring the acidity of gasses or fluids, conductivity meters, viscosity meters etc. In these known apparatuses the electronic circuit supplies a signal to two external connecting terminals. After installation of the apparatus at the location where the measurements have to be carried out these connecting terminals are through cables connected with for instance a display which may form part of a monitoring panel or with a processor for the processing for the measuring signals. The cables could have a significant length. In this manner a number of parameters derived from different locations within a plant, such as temperature, pressure, conductivity, flow, pH etc., can be monitored remotely and preferably at a central location within a plant where each parameter is measured by a separate device.
In many cases it is not necessary to remotely measure and/or monitor a parameter continuously. In many cases it is sufficient to monitor the respective parameter with certain intervals whether or not on a regular basis. In that kind of applications in general one will not use an apparatus comprising a sensor and an electronic circuit but one will use an independently functioning manometer, temperature meter, flowmeter etc. These independently functioning instruments do not have a cable connection to a central post and are therefore often relatively cheap if there are bought. When performing monitoring operations with these independently working measurement instruments in general the measured value during a monitoring operation will be written down or registered in another way and thereafter the collected stored measurement values will be processed any further, for instance by inputting them to a computer. This procedure is rather cumbersome and the invention has now has the object to indicate in which way the writing down of measurement values can be eliminated and the further processing of the measurement values can be automated or at least significantly simplified. A further object of the invention is to provide meters which use transponder technology and can easily replace existing meters which do not use transponder technology.

System for measuring a parameter within a closed environment


An image retrieval method which includes producing multiscale vectors associated with points in a set of database images, indexing the database vectors to produce a database vector index, producing query multiscale vectors associated with points in a query image, and matching the query vectors with the indexed database vectors to identify a database image which is similar to the query image. Each of the database multiscale vectors and the query multiscale vectors includes multiple single scale vectors associated with corresponding spatial scales. The method can include applying a single scale image processing procedure at each of the spatial scales to produce single scale vectors and combining single scale vectors each associate with a given point in an image to form a multiscale vector associated with that point. The single scale image processing procedure can include evaluating multiple smoothed spatial derivatives of image intensity at a point in an image and transforming the spatial derivatives to produce a single scale vector which is insensitive to rotation of the image about the point.

The advent of large multi-media collections and digital libraries has led to a need for good search tools to index and retrieve information from them. For text available in machine readable form a number of good search tools are available. However, there are as yet no adequate tools to index and retrieve images. A traditional approach to searching and indexing images uses manual textual annotations, but this approach is slow, labor intensive and expensive. In addition, textual annotations cannot encode all the information available in an image. There is thus a need for retrieving images using their content directly.
A person using an image retrieval system may seek to find semantic information. For example, a person may be looking for a picture of a leopard from a certain viewpoint. Or alternatively, the user may require a picture of Abraham Lincoln. Identifying semantic information in images required for these types of queries is difficult. For example, automatic indexing for semantic retrieval typically includes, among other steps, automatic segmentation of an image into objects, which in itself is difficult.
Other approaches to image retrieval have tried to characterize the appearance of an object using a transformation of the intensity at points in an image. In one approach, an image is treated as a fixed-length vector of its pixel values. A reduced-dimension vector is then computed by projecting the vector of an image onto eigenvectors corresponding to the largest eigenvalues (principal component dimensions) computed from vectors of a set of database images. A reduced-dimension vector is computed for a query image and for each of the database images. Database images with similar (for example, close in Euclidean distance) vectors to that of the query image are returned. For this approach to be successful, all the images should be normalized to reduce variation in geometry and intensity, as well as be consistently segmented. In addition, the eigenvectors must in general be computed separately for different types of images, for example, eigenvectors computed for images of faces may not be useful for retrieving images of automobiles.

Image retrieval by syntactic characterization of appearance


In a pixel unit, W, R, G, and B pixels are arranged in rows and columns. The pixel unit output W, R, G, and B signals obtained by photoelectrically converting light incident on the W, R, G, and B pixels. An edge detection unit determines a specific area having a W pixel provided with a white filter as a central pixel in the pixel unit, divides the specific area into blocks including the central pixel, and detects edge information as to whether there is an edge of an image in each of the blocks. A block select unit selects a block with no edge from the edge information. A ratio calculating unit calculates the ratio coefficients of the R, G, and B signals from the selected block. An RGB signal generator generates new R, G, and B signals from the W signal of the central pixel using the ratio coefficients.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a solid-state image pickup device, such as a charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensor or a CMOS image sensor. For example, this invention is used in an image-sensor-equipped cellular phone, a digital still camera, or a video camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wide variety of arrangements of color filters used in image sensors, ranging from complementary color filers to primary-color Bayer arrangements, have been proposed together with a method of processing the signals. With the further microfabrication of pixels in recent years, image sensors with pixels of the order of 2 μm have been put to practical use and the development of 1.75- and 1.4-μm pixels is now in progress. In microscopic pixels of the order of 2 μm or less, since the quantity of incident light decreases significantly, deterioration by noise is liable to take place. In this connection, as a method of increasing the sensitivity of microscopic pixels, an image sensor using a white (W) color filter has been proposed (e.g., refer to Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 8-23542, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2003-318375, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2004-304706, or Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2005-295381).
However, since a W signal obtained from a highly sensitive W pixel is used as a Y signal (luminance signal)=W signal, there is a problem with color reproducibility. Normally, the color reproducibility of the RGB signals produced from the YUV signals becomes worse unless the Y signal is generated in this ratio: Y=0.59G+0.3R+0.11B. Furthermore, in the above patent documents, an effective signal process using W pixels has not been carried out.


Spool valve for fluid systems, the valve having a slidable spool in a bore in a valve block having three ports spaced aially along the bore for control of fluid flow, the spool having three spaced O-ring seals to correspond with the ports and having a reduced diameter portion between two of the O-ring seals, and a pressure-equalizing conduit connecting one end of the spool with the outlet port of the valve. Small lands of substantially equal diameter to the spool adjacent the reduced diameter portion before the two O-ring seals provides restricted or throttled fluid flow prior to increased fluid flow via reduced diameter portion.

Power transmission systems using gas or liquids under pressure to operate valves, levers, etc. need precisely operating valves to control the pressurized fluid. A typical example is the clutch operation mechanism of a highway truck. The foot pedal is depressed by the driver when disengaging the clutch in order to shift gears, and in modern trucks this operation is usually accomplished by providing a booster or power assisting mechanism to provide the substantial force necessary to operate the clutch while requiring only a small part of that force to come from the driver's foot. The booster or power assisting mechanisms usually employ high pressure air or oil controller by flowing through throttling valves that open and close so as to prevent any sudden surges or cut-offs of the high pressure fluid. Such valves are useful in almost any type of fluid operated equipment. In the prior art it is known generally to employ spool valves for this service, as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,511,276; 3,542,075; and 3,554,235. The present invention relates to an improved spool valve of the same general type as these.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved spool valve for use with high pressure fluids. It is another object of this invention to provide an improved spool valve that provides good throttling capabilities. It is still another object of this invention to provide an improved spool valve with surge dampening characteristics. Still other objects will become apparent from the more detailed description which follows.


The method of rolling a wide flange beam results in an improved accuracy of the web thickness and the flange thickness in a universal rolling mill. Rolling a wide flange beam in a universal rolling mill having horizontal rolls and vertical rolls, switching over the positional control gain for each of drives for the horizontal rolls and drives for the vertical rolls by means of measured values of rolling load on the horizontal rolls and the vertical rolls during rolling, or filtering a control amount of the horizontal roll position calculated from a rolling load acting on the horizontal rolls and a control amount of the vertical roll position calculated from a rolling load acting on the vertical rolls to achieve different responses of horizontal roll rolling and vertical roll rolling, results in reducing mutual interference between horizontal roll rolling and vertical roll rolling caused through the rolling material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of rolling a wide flange beam by the use of a universal rolling mill comprising horizontal rolls and vertical rolls. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of rolling, in a universal rolling mill, a wide flange beam excellent in accuracy of a web thickness and a flange thickness by causing a drive of the screw-down for the horizontal rolls and a drive of the screw-down for the vertical rolls to operate independently of each other by means of measured values of rolling load acting on the horizontal rolls and the vertical rolls during rolling, even with an unknown rigidity of the material to be rolled.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has conventionally been well known a technique of controlling the thickness of a flat sheet by causing a change in the rolling roll gap during rolling. As is described in the "Theory and Practices of Plate and Sheet Rolling" edited by the Iron and Steel Institute of Japan, p. 229-231, a basic technique of measuring a rolling load with a load cell or the like, and causing a change in the roll gap in accordance with the following formula, thereby controlling the sheet thickness is known as the gauge meter AGC (Automatic Gauge Control): EQU .DELTA.S=-.alpha..DELTA.F/K.sub.m ( 1)
where, .DELTA.S is an amount of change in the roll gap, .DELTA.F is a change in load from a lock-on load, K.sub.m is a mill rigidity, and .alpha. is a correction coefficient known as a tuning rate.
Operation of the roll gap is performed by the use of an electrically driven screw-down motor or a hydraulic cylinder, and it is more often the common practice to use a hydraulic cylinder because of a better response and benefits in mechanical structure.
By the use of the foregoing gauge meter AGC, a variation in flat sheet thickness .DELTA.h can be calculated by the following formula: ##EQU1## Since the load .DELTA.F varies also with a variation in thickness, it can be expressed by the following formula: EQU .DELTA.F=Q.DELTA.h+.DELTA.F.sub.dis ( 3)
where, Q is rigidity (plasticity constant) of the flat sheet, and .DELTA.F.sub.dis is a load disturbance caused by a variation in thickness on the entry side or a change in rolling temperature. From the foregoing formulae (2) and (3), the variation in flat sheet thickness .DELTA.h can be expressed eventually by the following formula: EQU .DELTA.h={(1-.alpha.)/(K.sub.m +(1-.alpha.)Q}.DELTA.F.sub.dis ( 4)
where, it is known that the tuning rate .alpha., generally taking a value near 1, an error, if any, in flat sheet thickness .DELTA.h can be minimized even upon occurrence of a load disturbance .DELTA.F.sub.dis.
While the formulae (1) to (4) have shown stationary properties of gauge meter AGC, a transient response depends upon dynamic properties of the drive.
Now, the features of the gauge meter AGC will be briefly described below. As is described in the aforesaid reference, the gauge meter AGC has transient dynamic properties varying with rigidity (plasticity constant) of the material. However because the tuning rate generally takes a value near 1, the stationary properties do not depend upon rigidity Q or deformation property of the material, as shown in the formula (4). This control is achievable by only knowing the easily predictable mill rigidity K.sub.m even when rigidity Q of the material difficult to predict in general is unknown, as indicated by the formula (1). This is a feature of the gauge meter AGC.
The difficulty in predicting a material rigidity is caused by plastic deformation of the material. Because plastic deformation largely depends upon material quality and temperature, it is difficult to predict this phenomenon. Since a mill complies with elastic deformation, on the other hand, prediction of deformation thereof is easy.
The foregoing gauge meter AGC is widely applied to flat rolling mills. Because of the difficulty in mechanical structure, however, there are available only a few cases of application of the gauge meter AGC to a universal rolling mill for rolling a wide flange beam having a web portion 12 and flange portions 14 as shown in FIG. 6. However, in accordance with the same technique as that of a flat rolling mill, it suffices to conduct rolling as follows: EQU .DELTA.S.sub.h =-.alpha..DELTA.F.sub.w /K.sub.mh ( 5) EQU .DELTA.S.sub.v =-.alpha..DELTA.F.sub.f /K.sub.mv ( 6)
where, h is a horizontal roll, v is a vertical roll, .DELTA.F.sub.w is a rolling load of the web portion 12 and .DELTA.F.sub.f is a rolling load of the flange portion 14.
It is estimated, as in the case of flat rolling, that this control permits reduction of errors in web and flange thickness.
As described above, application of the gauge meter AGC to a universal rolling mill can easily be conceived. An important difference from flat rolling is however that the web portion 12 and the flange portions 14 in a wide flange beam 10 are connected, and rolling of the web portion 12 and the flange portions 14 mutually exerts an effect. For example, when the vertical roll gap is tightened to reduce the thickness of the flange portions 14, the load acting on the horizontal rolls is known to be reduced. Therefore, independent application of the gauge meter AGC to vertical roll rolling and horizontal roll rolling as described above would result in a serious mutual influence of the web portion and the flange portions, hence causing interference between the vertical rolls and the horizontal rolls and leading to undesirable vibration.
FIG. 5 illustrates a structure of a universal rolling mill 20 in a case where roll screw-down is performed by means of a hydraulic cylinder. In FIG. 5, horizontal rolls 22 reduce from above and below the web portion 12 of a wide flange beam, and vertical rolls 24 reduce from right and left the flange portions 14 of the side flange beam.
The horizontal rolls 22 are provided, for example, with hydraulic cylinders 26 and 28 for the upper horizontal roll for screwing down at right and left ends of the upper horizontal roll shaft, and hydraulic cylinders 30 and 32 for the lower horizontal roll are provided for a similar purpose for the lower horizontal roll 22. The vertical rolls 24 are similarly provided, for example, with hydraulic cylinders 34 and 36 for the left vertical roll for screwing down the left vertical roll from front and back thereof, and hydraulic cylinders 38 and 40 for the right vertical roll for screwing down similarly the right vertical roll from front and back thereof. These hydraulic cylinders are arranged above and below, and at right and left because the entire universal mill must form a point-symmetry for rolling a wide flange beam.
In order to apply the gauge meter AGC, it is necessary to measure the load during rolling. A load cell is provided for each drive for this purpose. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the right and left hydraulic cylinders 26 and 28 for the upper horizontal roll are provided with load cells 42 and 44 for the upper horizontal roll, respectively, and the right and left hydraulic cylinders 30 and 32 for the lower horizontal roll are provided with load cells 46 and 48 for the lower horizontal roll, respectively. The front and rear hydraulic cylinders 34 and 36 for the left vertical roll are provided with load cells 50 and 52 for the left vertical roll, respectively, and the front and rear hydraulic cylinders 38 and 40 for the right vertical roll are provided with load cells 54 and 56 for the right vertical roll, respectively.
FIG. 7 illustrates a common control configuration of the gauge meter AGC based on hydraulic cylinder screw-down popularly applied in flat plate, cold or hot rolling. In FIG. 7, 60 is a load cell, showing a load F provided as an output. The portion enclosed by dotted lines represents a controller or arithmetic unit 68. The portion within the dotted lines shows a computing logic in the arithmetic unit. The arrows represent the flow of signals, and the symbol on the arrow, the value of signal. The symbol +/- on or to the left of the arrow means addition/subtraction of the value of signal. The squares within the dotted lines means that an input signal from the left is multiplied by a parameter shown by a signal in the square and a resultant signal is issued as an output. A servo valve 62 is adjusted by means of a final output signal from the arithmetic unit 68 to move a cylinder 64 through a hydraulic piping 66. A cylinder positional signal S.sub.FBK is fed back to the arithmetic unit 68. Among the signals within the dotted lines, .DELTA.F represents a deviation from the lock-on load F.sub.o, K.sub.m is a mill constant, .alpha. is a tuning rate, .DELTA.S is an AGC control amount, S.sub.o is a (hydraulic) cylinder positioning value before biting, S.sub.FBK is a measured value of cylinder position, and G is a cylinder position control gain. The positioning time must be adjusted so that the cylinder positioning time before biting does not become excessively longer, since the positioning time depends upon this control gain G. The control gain G is therefore usually adjusted so as to ensure execution of cylinder position setting at the highest possible speed, while observing a response of the hydraulic cylinder 64 and the like.
FIG. 8 illustrates a case of independent application of the flat rolling gauge meter AGC shown in FIG. 7 to horizontal rolling and vertical rolling on a universal mill 20. The upper portion relative to a one-point chain line corresponds to horizontal rolling, and the lower portion, to vertical rolling. In this thickness controller, the gauge meter AGC apparatus 70 based on screw-down by the hydraulic cylinder of the horizontal roll and the gauge meter AGC apparatus 72 based on screw-down by the hydraulic cylinder of the vertical roll are independent of each other. In FIG. 8, F.sub.h is a load acting on the horizontal roll 22, .DELTA.F.sub.h is a deviation from the horizontal roll lock-on load F.sub.h0, K.sub.hm is a mill constant in the vertical direction of the universal mill 20, .alpha. is a tuning rate, .DELTA.S.sub.h is a horizontal roll AGC control amount, S.sub.h0 is a set value of the horizontal roll cylinder position before biting, and G.sub.hi (i=1 to 4) is a positional control gain for each cylinder. Similarly, variables such as F.sub.v, .DELTA.F.sub.v, F.sub.v0, .DELTA.S.sub.v and G.sub.vi (i=1 to 4) are defined also for the vertical roll 24. K.sub.vm is a mill constant in the transverse direction of the universal mill 20. Usually, the cylinder positional control gains G.sub.hi and G.sub.vi must be adjusted so as to ensure rapid positional setting before biting.
FIG. 9 illustrates the result of control in a case of application of the controller shown in FIG. 8. As is clear from FIG. 9, as a result of mutual influence of the web and the flanges of a wide flange beam occurring during rolling, a behavior suggesting vibration appears immediately upon start of control, resulting in a large thickness deviation.
To solve this problem, there is proposed a method of eliminating interference taking account of the mutual influence when controlling the flange portions and the web portion, as described in the "Non-Interference Thickness Control of Large-Scale Rolling Mill, Iron and Steel-Making Research, No. 317 (1985), p. 48-58" and Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 63-66608. More specifically, by the use of a linearized rolling load model describing the mutual influence of the web portion and the flange portions during rolling, the proposed method comprises the steps of operating drives so as to prevent mutual interference, thereby eliminating the interference phenomenon.
In such a method of control for eliminating interference between the horizontal rolls and the vertical rolls by means of a rolling load model, it is necessary to provide a model strictly describing the rolling phenomenon, and the following problems have been posed.
(1) In the wide flange beam rolling presenting a three-dimensional deformation property, it is very difficult to prepare a model strictly describing the rolling phenomenon because of the difficulty in applying the well-known rolling theory.
(2) In general, a plastic deformation phenomenon is a non-linear model, and it is difficult to completely eliminate interference because of this non-linearity.
(3) A driving equipment generally exhibits a high-order response, and it is difficult to ensure elimination of interference with the high-order response also in view.
Even with an unknown rigidity of the material difficult to predict in general, a feature of the flat rolling gauge meter AGC is to permit achievement thereof by knowing only the mill rigidity. However, simple application of the flat rolling gauge meter AGC to a universal mill causes the problem as described above.

Rolling method of wide flange beam in universal rolling mill


A DC power system receives AC electrical power and DC electrical power from separate first and second sources simultaneously. The DC power system delivers DC electrical power to an output for use by a load requiring DC power. The DC power system includes a converter to convert AC electrical power to DC electrical power and a power sharing control device to control and distribute the DC electrical power to an output. The first source of DC electrical power includes a storage battery, which provides standby DC electrical power to the DC power system. It also includes a power sharing device, which maintains the storage battery fully charged for use at peak loads, when the DC output electrical power is insufficient to meet the DC load. The second source of DC electrical power is a cogenerator such as a fuel cell, a thermo photovoltaic generator or an internal combustion engine and an alternator for generating and delivering DC electrical power to the power sharing device, while producing and delivering waste heat for use of an external load requiring this heat.

The present invention relates to improved cogeneration systems.
Cogeneration systems are capable of producing useful electrical and thermal energy output from a variety of fuel sources. By utilizing both types energy outputs, such systems characteristically achieve higher fuel efficiency. Currently small cogeneration systems are not cost effective because they tend to be capital intensive relative to the energy saving achieved. Their poor economy is a result of conventional system practice that attempts to size these units for peak capacity requirements, resulting in poor capacity factor relative to the load served. In summary, they would prove more cost effective if they could be sized for average electric and thermal power needs.


This description provides tools and techniques for automatically extracting data from semi-structured documents. A computer-readable storage medium may contain computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to receive a request for data representing an inferred structure of an input document. For the request, the computer may determine whether a repository containing mined information includes the requested data. If the repository contains the requested data, the computer may return the data representing the inferred structure of the input document in response to the request.

Increasingly, technical information is being stored and transmitted in electronic formats, rather than in "hard" or paper form. Typically, electronic documents containing this technical information may be generated from databases, and captured electronically in these documents for dissemination to various users. While these databases may provide structured storage for this technical information, once this technical information resides in the electronic documents, any underlying structure is typically lost. While it is possible for end users of the electronic documents to attempt to obtain structure information from the owners of the underlying database, this approach may be problematic if these document owners are uncooperative, or if the underlying databases are otherwise unavailable.

Automatically extracting data from semi-structured documents


A driving member, a linear driving device using the driving member, a camera device and an electronic device are provided. The driving member (10) includes a deformable thin plate (16) having a flexible thin plate (12) capable of expanding and contracting itself under the applied voltage and an elastic thin plate (14) having at least one side thereof rigidly fixed to the flexible thin plate (12) and a driving shaft (30) having its one axial end rigidly fixed to the deformable thin plate (16) and being capable of undergoing displacements that are operatively associated with the deformation of the deformable thin plate (16), wherein the driving shaft (30) has the lateral side portion (32) of the one axial end thereof rigidly fixed to the corresponding inner side portion of a through hole formed on the deformable thin plate (16).

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a driving member for use with a linear driving device that is employed in the camera or digital camera usually mounted on an electronic device such as the mobile phone and the like. The present invention also relates to a linear driving device, a camera device and an electronic device, each of which uses the driving member of the present invention.
Description of Relevant Art
In the conventional relevant art, the small-size camera device or the like employs the linear driving device (the lens driving device) that is designed for use in driving the lens mounted on the camera device. There are various types of the driving member that have been used with the linear driving device (the lens driving device).
As one example of the driving member, there has been a zooming or focusing type of the driving member that drives the lens support having the lens mounted thereon to be moved in the linear manner by vibrating the driving shaft in the axial direction thereof.
In this conventional type of driving member, structurally and constructionally, its driving shaft is usually coupled with a vibration producing source and the lens support is frictionally coupled with the driving shaft. The vibration producing source may produce vibrations that are supplied to the driving shaft to cause the driving shaft to reciprocate in the axial direction thereof and with different speeds depending on whether the driving shaft is moved forwardly or backwardly. In this way, the driving shaft and the lens support will be placed under the different friction conditions while the driving shaft is reciprocating under the supplied vibrations. Then, this will cause the lens support to move.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses the structure of the driving member 100 in which the driving shaft 108 is coupled with a deformable thin plate 106 as shown in FIG. 6. The deformable thin plate 106 includes a piezoelectric base plate 102 and an elastic base plate 104 having one side or both sides thereof attached to the piezoelectric base plate 102. In the disclosed structure shown in FIG. 6, the piezoelectric base plate 102 is attached to the bottom side of the elastic base plate 104. The driving shaft 108 has its axial one end rigidly fixed to the deformable thin plate 106. In the disclosed structure shown in FIG. 6, the driving shaft has its axial bottom end rigidly fixed to the upper lateral side portion of an elastic base plate 104 forming the deformable thin plate 106.
The piezoelectric base plate 102 has its thickness that may expand or contract itself and also has its surface that may contract or expand itself, when the voltage is applied across the piezoelectric base plate 102. The elastic base plate 104 will not undergo such deformations, however. When the voltage is then applied across the piezoelectric base plate 102, the deformable thin plate 106 will be bent upwardly or downwardly just like the bimetal or will be restored to its original shape as shown in FIG. 6. The driving shaft 108, whose movement is operatively associated with the displacement that is caused by the deformable thin plate 106, will be vibrated upwardly and downwardly as shown in FIG. 6.
The elastic base plate 104 and the piezoelectric base plate 102 have the diameter of several mm or the square of several mm as they are viewed in plane from the axial direction of the driving shaft 108. The driving shaft 108 has the diameter of about one mm. The vibrations mentioned above have the amplitude of one μm to several μm and the frequency of several ten kHz.
Although it is not specifically described in Patent Document 1, it is the practice in the prior art that the axial end of the driving shaft 108 is rigidly fixed to the deformable thin plate 106 by means of any appropriate adhesive agent. In the prior art, it is the practice that the adhesive agent is applied between the surface of the deformable thin plate 106 on the side on which the driving shaft 108 is rigidly fixed to the deformable thin plate 106 and the driving shaft 108 as well as on the peripheral areas around them to ensure they can be fixed with stability.
Patent Document 1: Japanese patent No. 2007-516688 publication

Driving member, linear driving device, camera device, and electronic device


A clocked comparator circuit comprises an input stage and a sample-and-hold circuit and an amplifier-latch circuit coupled to the output of the input stage. The sample-and-hold circuit provides an accurate offset-voltage compensation and the amplifier-latch circuit provides a high operating speed by means of a switchable current source (S6, T11). Switches are provided so that the amplifier-latch circuit constitutes a differential load having a high positive impedance during a first state of a clock signal, a low positive impedance during a next state of the clock signal, and a negative impedance during a following state of the clock signal.

This invention relates to a comparator circuit for converting a voltage difference appearing between a first and a second input terminal of the comparator circuit during a first state of a clock signal into a voltage difference appearing between a first and a second output terminal during a second state of the clock signal. The comparator circuit comprises an input differential amplifier having a non-inverting input and an inverting input and having an inverting output and a non-inverting output, which outputs are coupled respectively to the first and the second output terminal of the comparator circuit. First switching means apply the voltage difference appearing between the first and the second input terminal during the first state of the clock signal to the non-inverting input and the inverting input respectively. A first and a second capacitor are coupled respectively between the inverting output and a first node and between the non-inverting output and a second node.
Such a comparator circuit can be used inter alia in an analog to digital converter.
A comparator circuit of this type is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,052. In a first state of the clock signal a differential amplifier and a comparator determine whether an input signal is larger or smaller than a certain reference signal. In a second state of the clock signal a decision is made whether an output signal of the differential amplifier is to be transferred to a latch circuit. A resolution realised by an analog to digital converter depends, inter alia, on the accuracy with which the comparators used in the converter can discriminate between the input signal and the reference signal. The accuracy is limited, inter alia by an offset voltage appearing between the inputs of the differential amplifier. One possibility of improving the accuracy of the comparators is to reduce the offset voltage of the differential amplifier. In the known comparator circuit an offset reduction is achieved in that in the first state of the clock signal a voltage difference amplified by the differential amplifier and appearing between the input terminals of the comparator circuit plus the equally amplified offset voltage is stored in capacitors arranged between a reference voltage and the outputs of the differential amplifier. Subsequently, in the second state of the clock signal the inputs of the differential amplifier are interconnected, so that only the offset voltage of the differential amplifier is amplified, the capacitors being connected between the outputs of the differential amplifier and the output terminals of the comparator circuit respectively. Addition of the charge of the capacitors results in a voltage difference across the output terminals which is independent of the offset voltage of the differential amplifier. This voltage difference controls the latch circuit, which latch circuit consequently indicates at its output terminal which of the two outputs of the differential amplifier carries the higher voltage. In these circuits it is essential that the voltage difference to be detected and appearing on the capacitors is maintained in order to preserve the information about this voltage difference during the transition from the first state of the clock signal to the second state of the clock signal. In the known comparator circuit the capacitors are charged in the first state of the clock signal and are isolated from their charging path in the second state of the clock signal. This isolation from the charging path is effected by means of MOS transistors, which usually results in differences of the injected channel charge owing to the spread in area and threshold voltage of the MOS transistors. These differences constitute the limiting factor in the design of comparator circuits.

Clocked comparator with offset-voltage compensation


A method of determining actual properties of layered media. An incident beam of light is directed towards the layered media, such that the incident beam of light is reflected from the layered media as a reflected beam of light. The actual properties of the reflected beam of light are measured, and properties of the layered media are estimated. A mathematical model of the layered media based on a modal function expansion is solved with the estimated properties of the layered media to yield theoretical properties of the reflected beam of light. The eigenvalues of the modal functions are computed recursively by recasting the eigenvalue equation in the following form:βni+1=F(βni)where βni=the eigenvalue of the ith recursion and F is a function such that βn=F(βn) is mathematically identical to the eigenvalue equation.

As the term is used herein, "integrated circuit" includes devices such as those formed on monolithic semiconducting substrates, such as those formed of group IV materials like silicon or germanium, or group III-V compounds like gallium arsenide, or mixtures of such materials. The term includes all types of devices formed, such as memory and logic, and all designs of such devices, such as MOS and bipolar. The term also comprehends applications such as flat panel displays, solar cells, and charge coupled devices.
Integrated circuits are formed of many layers of different materials, which layers are patterned so as to form desired structures that interact with one another according to predetermined designs. Thus, it is of vital importance that many of these layers be formed to very exacting tolerances, such as in their shape, thickness, and composition. If the various structures so formed during the integrated circuit fabrication process are not precisely formed, then the integrated circuit tends to not function in the intended manner, and may not function at all.
Because the layers of which integrated circuits are formed are so thin and patterned to be so small, they cannot be inspected without the aid of instrumentation. The precision of the instrumentation used is, therefore, vital to the successful production of integrated circuits. Thus, any improvement that can be made in the accuracy of such instrumentation is a boon to the integrated circuit fabrication industry. In addition, any improvement in the speed at which such instrumentation can take its readings is also of benefit to the industry, as such speed enhancements tend to reduce the production bottlenecks at inspection steps, or alternately allow for the inspection of a greater number of integrated circuits at such inspection steps.
Spectral ellipsometers and dual beam spectrophotometers are typically used to measure properties such as thickness and refractive index of individual layers within a multilayered film stack. Such instruments work by directing one or more beams of light toward the surface of the film stack, and then sensing the properties of the light as it is variously reflected off of the different surfaces of the individual layers within the film stack. By adjusting the properties of the incident beam of light, and detecting the associated changes in the reflected beam of light, the properties of the film stack, such as the materials of which the various layers are formed and the thicknesses to which they are formed, can be determined. Such methods typically involve solving Maxwell's equations, which provide a model for such systems.
This film measurement process can be broken down into two basic steps, being 1) the measurement of the properties of the reflected light beam, and 2) the mathematical fitting of reflectance property values from Maxwell's equations, which are solved or estimated, to the measured results attained in step 1. Step 2 typically consists of the iterated steps of computing one or more theoretical value by plugging estimates of the film stack parameters, such as thickness and refractive index, into the model film stack equations, comparing the theoretical values obtained to the actual measured property values of the reflected beam of light, and if the theoretical values and the measured values do not agree to within a desired tolerance, then adjusting the estimated film stack parameters and recomputing the theoretical values.
This process is performed again and again, each time making some adjustment to the estimated film stack parameters that are fed into the model, until the theoretical values computed by the model agree with the actual measured values within the desired precision limits. When this agreement is attained, then there is some confidence that the estimated film stack parameters that were used to produce the theoretical values are very nearly the same as the actual film stack parameters.
For film stacks containing non-isotropic, inhomogeneous layers, such as layers containing metal patterns or gratings, the theoretical values are commonly generated by mathematical models based on either the rigorous coupled wave analysis or modal method.
In general, the modal method formulation has the potential to be more accurate than the rigorous coupled wave analysis formulation, because exact analytical expressions for the modes are used rather than spectral approximations for these modes. Other disadvantages of the rigorous coupled wave analysis method are 1) reduced measurement throughput caused by intensive matrix eigenvalue/eigenvector computation, and 2) empirically poor accuracy in the long wavelength regime. However, while there are some benefits to using a modal method, it is only used in very rare instances because it is notoriously difficult to determine the eigenvalues that mathematically characterize the modes.
What is needed, therefore, is a spectral film stack measurement based on a modal method with an improved eigenvalue computation scheme that tends to reduce, at least in part, problems such as those described above.

Modal method modeling of binary gratings with improved eigenvalue computation


A reduction gear unit incorporatable in an image forming apparatus includes planetary gear mechanisms each including a sun gear, an outer gear, planetary gears arranged between the outer gear and the sun gear at equal intervals and meshing with the sun gear and the outer gear, and a carrier rotatable coaxially with the sun gear and the outer gear to rotatably support the planetary gears. An extreme upstream mechanism in the drive transmission direction includes an input element connected to a drive source. An extreme downstream mechanism includes an output element connected to a member outputting the drive force to a rotary member. Any mechanism other than the extreme downstream mechanism includes an output element connected to an input element of an adjacent mechanism located downstream of any other mechanism. The sun gear of the extreme downstream mechanism has a larger pitch diameter than any other mechanisms.

In an image forming apparatus including an image carrying member, such as a photoconductor, image formation is performed with processes such as charging, exposure, development, and transfer performed on the image carrying member as the image carrying member rotates. In such an image forming apparatus, a drive source, such as a motor, is provided to drive the image carrying member to rotate. In general, the number of rotations of the drive source exceeds the number of rotations required for the rotation of the image carrying member. Therefore, reduction gear units have been used that transmit the drive force of the drive source to the image carrying member while reducing the rotation speed of the drive source with the use of a planetary gear speed reduction mechanism.
The planetary gear speed reduction mechanism includes a sun gear, an outer gear arranged coaxially with the sun gear, a plurality of planetary gears meshing with the sun gear and the outer gear, and a planetary carrier rotatably supporting the planetary gears and rotatably supported coaxially with the sun gear and the outer gear. The planetary gear speed reduction mechanism has three elements, i.e., the rotation of the sun gear, the revolution of the planetary gears (i.e., rotation of the planetary carrier), and the rotation of the outer gear, one of which is connected to a fixed member, another one of which is connected to an input member, and the remaining one of which is connected to an output member. It is possible to obtain different speed reduction ratios or set the rotation direction of the output shaft opposite to the rotation direction of the input shaft, depending on the combination of the three elements and the fixed, input, and output members.
In recent years, in image forming apparatuses in particular, polymerized toner has been used in many cases to improve image quality. As a consequence, the load applied to the image carrying member by a cleaning blade and so forth has been increasing. To counteract that effect, it is therefore conceivable to increase the output torque by increasing the speed reduction ratio with the use of a compound planetary gear reduction gear unit including a plurality of stages of planetary gear speed reduction mechanisms having the above-described configuration. It is common, in the compound planetary gear reduction gear unit, to use standardized outer gears, planetary gears, and sun gears at the respective stages to reduce costs.
The compound planetary gear reduction gear unit is, however, subjected to load torque of the load imposed by the cleaning blade and so forth on the rotary image carrying member. The thus-applied load torque is greatest at the planetary gear speed reduction mechanism at the extreme downstream stage in the drive transmission direction (hereinafter referred to as the final stage). As a result, the force generated by the load torque is greatest at the meshing portions of the gears in the planetary gear speed reduction mechanism at the final stage. In particular, the force generated by the load torque is greatest at the meshing portions of the sun gear at the rotation center and the planetary gears.
More specifically, where F represents the force generated by the load torque and applied to the meshing portions of the sun gear and the planetary gears, N represents the load torque, and r represents the pitch diameter of the sun gear, the equation F=N/(r/2) holds. Meanwhile, the outer gear is larger in pitch diameter than the sun gear. Therefore, the force generated by the load toque and applied to the meshing portions of the outer gear and the planetary gears is lower than the force applied to the meshing portions of the sun gear and the planetary gears. The force generated by the load torque is thus greater at the meshing portions of the sun gear and the planetary gears in the planetary gear speed reduction mechanism at the final stage. As a result, the sun gear and the planetary gears tend to wear out prematurely.

Reduction gear unit and image forming apparatus incorporating same


A communication interface unit of a facsimile and a transformer for preventing a power source noise. The communication interface unit includes the transformer between a line unit and a MODEM for electrically separating the circuit boards of the line unit and the MODEM for preventing the power source noise causing data transmission error from flowing into the line unit. Also, a method for bonding the ferrite core and the housing in order to prevent damage to the transformer caused by an external force and minimizing generation of capacitance component by bonding. The bonding method can be more effectively implemented when an integrated circuit type data access arrangement circuit is used for accessing the PSTN. The present invention can prevent distortion of data generated by power source noise such as EFT and also prevent the ferrite core slipping off from the housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transformer as a data transferring unit arranged between a main unit and a line unit in a facsimile in order to prevent power source noise generated at a power supplier to flow into the line unit and preventing noise entering from a public switched telephone network to the line unit, and a communication interface unit of a facsimile using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A facsimile is a device for transmitting a document to other facsimile connected through a public switched telephone network (PSTN). The facsimile scans the document to generate image data of the document and transfers the image data to other facsimile. Also, the facsimile receives the image data from other facsimile and prints the image data on a plain paper.
Generally, the facsimile is connected to the PSTN and transmits the image data by telephoning the other facsimile.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional facsimile.
By referring to FIG. 1, the conventional facsimile 100 includes a main unit 110, a first condenser C1 131, a second condenser C2 133 and a line unit 150.
The main unit 110 controls general operations of the facsimile 100 for scanning a document to generate image data and processing the image data to be transmitted to other facsimile (not shown). The main unit 100 includes a central processing unit 111, a MODEM 113 and a line interface 115.
The central processing unit 111 generates image data by scanning the document and transfers the image data to the line unit 150 through the MODEM 113 and the line interface 115.
The line unit 150 is directly connected to the PSTN where the facsimile is connected. The line unit 150 transmits the image data by telephoning to other facsimile and receives the image data from other facsimile by accepting an incoming call from the other facsimile.
The line unit 150 includes a data access arrangement (DAA) block (not shown). The DAA block receives digital data of the image data from the main unit 110 and converts the received digital data to analog data. Also, the DAA block transmits the analog data to other facsimile by telephoning the other facsimile. Recently, an integrated circuit is commonly used as the DAA block. Hereinafter, the DAA block is called a silicon DAA.
Meanwhile, a reference electric potential of the main unit 110 and a reference electric potential of the line unit 150 should be different. Therefore, the main unit 110 and the line unit 150 are implemented to have separated circuit boards or to separate a ground from the circuit board. By using separated circuit boards or separating the ground from the circuit board, it protects the facsimile 100 and a user of the facsimile 100 from a high voltage noise flowing into the main unit 110 when the high voltage noise enters from the PSTN to the line unit 150.
Therefore, the main unit 110 and the line unit 150 are designed to be separated and they are connected by the first condenser C1 131 and the second condenser C2 133. Also, the first condenser C1 131 and the second condenser C2 133 eliminate low frequency noise transferred from the line unit 150.
However, when a noise such as an electrical fast transient EFT is applied to an electric power supplied to the main unit 110, the noise is transferred to the line unit 150 through the first condenser C1 131 and the second condenser C2 133. Thus, the image data may be distorted by the noise. The distortion of image data becomes more serious when the silicon DAA is used.

Facsimile communication interface unit capable of preventing data error caused by noise by using a transformer and the transformer thereof


When input electric signals Ei (i=1, 2, . . . , n) with frequencies fi (i=1, 2, . . . , n), respectively, are applied to an input interdigital transducer, elastic waves are excited in a piezoelectric substrate. Leaky components of the elastic waves are radiated into a material in the form of longitudinal waves, which are reflected at a bottom boundary-surface of the material. One of reflected longitudinal waves are detected at an output interdigital transducer as a delayed output signal with one of the frequencies fi. When the delayed output signal is applied to at least one interdigital transducer for radiation, an elastic wave is excited in the piezoelectric substrate. A leaky component of the elastic wave is radiated into the material in the form of a longitudinal wave, which is reflected at the bottom boundary-surface and re-reflected at a top boundary-surface of the material, and thus a continuous reflection occurs.

The present invention relates to a device for radiating an ultrasound into a material by means of using an assembly composed of a piezoelectric substrate, input- and output interdigital transducers for delay-line oscillation, and another at least one interdigital transducer for ultrasound radiation into a material.
Popularly, a thickness mode piezoelectric transducer, of which operation frequency is dependent on the thickness of a piezoelectric substrate, is used for emitting an acoustic wave. However, such a conventional type of transducer has a difficulty in oblique incidence of the ultrasound into a liquid.
When the piezoelectric substrate is in contact with a liquid, an interdigital transducer (IDT) on the piezoelectric substrate is useful. By use of the IDT on the piezoelectric substrate, sufficiently thicker compared with the wavelength of a surface acoustic wave (SAW) thereon, the SAW propagates in the form of a leaky wave that is mode-converted to a longitudinal wave into the liquid. In this way, the IDT operates at a liquid-solid boundary as a leaky-wave transducer for bulk wave radiation into the liquid. However, the leaky SAW traveling on a sufficiently thick substrate compared with the wavelength has only one mode without velocity dispersion. Thus, a conventional transducer such as the IDT for the leaky SAW has a problem of a limited ultrasound-radiation angle.
An ultrasound-signal radiating device (U.S. Pat. No. 6,317,389) and a device for ultrasound radiation into a material (U.S. Pat. No. 6,360,611) were provided in order to enable a multi-modes operation at a high frequency. These conventional devices, suitable for radiating an ultrasound into a material, for example, a cellular tissue, are excellent in adjusting of radiation angle and sweeping of ultrasound beam. However, these conventional devices have a difficulty in radiation of ultrasound beam reaching the bottom of a material with a high efficiency. In addition, these conventional devices have a difficulty in continuous driving at a suitable frequency while moving itself on a surface of a material, of which the depth changes.

Ultrasound radiation device into a material


A holding device for liquids comprises a container open at one end and formed of a light-tight wall which is sealed at an opposite end, and an outer housing open at one end and formed of a gas-tight wall. The container is inserted coaxially in the outer housing, with a substantial portion of the outer surface of the container wall contacting the inner surface of the housing wall without play whereby the container is held in the outer housing by a press fit. The outer surface of the container wall defines at least one continuous groove extending from the sealed ends of the container and outer housing walls to the open container and outer housing walls.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a holding device for liquids, which comprises a container having a longitudinal axis and formed of a liquid-tight wall sealed at one end of the container and the container being open at an opposite end thereof, and an outer housing having a longitudinal axis and formed of a gas-tight wall sealed at one end thereof and the outer housing being open at an opposite end thereof. The container is inserted coaxially in the outer housing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A transport system for the dispatch of biological samples has become known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,096,062, in which a first container can be inserted in another container and the latter is positioned in the longitudinal direction in the sealed bottom region by means of projecting ribs. Further positioning as well as sealing closure take place by means of a sealing cap in the region of the open ends of the two containers. Between the outer surface of the first container and the inner surface of the second container is arranged a gap which extends all around and over the whole length of the first container. Further, the first container is made of a gas-permeable material and the second container of a gas-tight material. The disadvantage with this embodiment is that between the two containers and in the bottom region thereof are arranged large gaps for containing ambient air.
From U.S. Pat. No.4,830,217 is known a blood holding device in which a glass container is surrounded by a plastic container at least over part of its longitudinal extent. The glass container in its sealed end region is positioned within the plastic container by means of symmetrically arranged ribs. The glass container in the region of its open end projects beyond the end edge of the outer plastic containers In the region of the end edge of the plastic container is arranged an additional positioning element which holds the glass container both in the longitudinal direction and radially thereto in relation to the plastic container. Between the two containers is arranged a free space extending all around. The open end of the inner glass container is sealed with a sealing plug.
Further, a holding device, in particular for blood samples--according to EP-Al 0 512 612--which consists of a holding container, is already known. This holding container is wrapped with a protective layer which is attached to the holding container. The protective layer is a laminate and transparent, so that the contents of the holding container are visible to an observer from the outside. Identification information may also be printed or indicated on this protective layer. The protective layer prevents the penetration of gas or water vapor, both in the direction of the holding container and from the holding container to the outside. The application of this protective layer which is formed by a film, for example, requires an additional operation usually after evacuation and sealing of the blood sample tube, and needs exact additional quality control to ensure that on the one hand seamless sheathing of the holding container is achieved and on the other hand snug fitting of the file against the outer surface of the holding container takes place in order to obtain gas-tightness and water vapor-tightness.

Holding device with a cylindrical container and blood sampling tube with such a holding device

C.A. Greiner & Sohne Gesellschaft m.b.H.


Provided is a process for producing a structured surface possessing a high level of hydrophilicity, wherein the process involves: coating a surface with a mixture to produce the structured surface, wherein the mixture includes: particles (a) having a number average particle diameter of from 0.1 μm to 10 μm; and particles (b) having a number average particle diameter of from 5 nm to 0.5 μm and a 20° C. surface energy of greater than or equal to 80 mN/in, and wherein the mixture exhibits a bimodal particle diameter distribution of particles (a) and particles (b). The mixture may optionally include an aqueous liquor, an emulsifier, a binder, an adhesion promoter, a thickener, and/or a pigment. Also provided is a structured surface produced by the process. A non-limiting example of the structured surface produced by the process is a structured textile surface.

It is generally desirable to modify surfaces such that they have little tendency if any to become soiled. Such surfaces look esthetic for a prolonged period, remain free of bacterial or fungal growth and, if or when they are cleaned, are particularly easy to clean.
State of the art methods for producing surfaces possessing a low tendency to become soiled frequently utilize the Lotus Effect®, for example WO 96/04123 and EP-B 1 171 529. To endow a surface with a Lotus Effect, one may for example provide surfaces in the manner of the lotus plant with a microrough surface, for example with elevations and depressions in such dimensions that the elevations are from 5 to 200 μm spaced apart and from 5 to 100 μm high and the elevations at least consist of, for example, hydrophobic polymers and are not detachable by water or water with detergents. Thus endowed surfaces are observed to have a large contact angle with water, for example 157°, see for Example 9 of U.S. Pat. No. 3,354,022. Soil particles have low adhesion to thus endowed surfaces and are easily removed by rinsing off with water.
However, textile surfaces endowed with Lotus Effect are disadvantageous in that they are not pervious to perspiration. Yet perspiration perviousness is desirable in many cases for garments in particular.
It is also desirable that diapers retain urine and do not occasion urine drop formation. This holds for example for diapers produced by use of polypropylene and of superabsorbents.
Another method for endowing surfaces to be soil repellent consists in rendering them very hydrophilic. Water then forms a film and easily detaches soil particles, see for example WO 03/66710.
WO 01/83662 discloses that certain particles from 5 to 500 nm in size can be used to treat textiles in order that they may be soil repellent for a certain period, generally up to 4 washing or cleaning cycles (last paragraph on page 2). Such short finish lives are undesirable in some applications, however.
DE-A 101 16 200 discloses that surfaces can be coated with very finely divided inorganic particles, surface modifiers and if appropriate a surfactant and that the surfaces subsequently possess antimisting properties. Such coatings, however, do not survive a wash cycle without being impaired.

Method for the production of structured surfaces


According to one embodiment, a request is received to replicate a plurality of ranges of a source file from a source storage system to a target storage system, where the request specifies a first range of the source file and a second range of the source file. A first replication stream and a second replication stream of a replication session are established with the target storage system. First data of the first range and the second data of the second range from the source file are directly read from the source file, without creating separate files for storing the first data and the second data. The first data and second data are transmitted to the target storage system via the first stream and the second stream respectively in parallel.

On storage systems, a file replication occurs over a single connection such that the total time taken to replicate a file is constrained by the replication protocol efficiency over the single connection, and size of a file plays a big role in time taken. Even if the system and network configuration can support multiple concurrent connections, a single file replication between two storage systems still occurs over a single connection.
This problem was previously addressed at the backup software level, in which a conventional storage system exploits the available concurrency by slicing a large to-be-replicated file (e.g., source file, F1) into multiple smaller files (e.g., F1.0, F1.1, F1.2, and F1.3) on a source storage system, as shown in FIG. 1. These slices are replicated in parallel to a target storage system. The slices are then stitched back together to form a target file (e.g., F1) at the target storage system. The mechanism works well and improves replication performance for large files based on the level of parallelism used. However, it falls short of taking advantage of virtual synthetic replication (VSR) for virtual synthetic (VS) datasets.
The VS files are synthesized from the existing base files, and this synthesis information is captured and recorded with the VS file. When the source storage system slices this VS file into smaller files, these smaller files have lost the synthesis information from the original VS file, and replication cannot take advantage of the VSR optimization.

Multi-streaming with synthetic replication


A method is disclosed whereby water is used to transfer labels onto containers in automatic high-speed labeling machines thereby leaving no glue residue on a container's surface, and making them amenable for recycling. The method further provides for adjustment of water's surface tension if necessary by surfactants to cause wettability of a variety of surfaces undergoing labeling, but said label is permanently attached to the container by friction, rather than by glue, after evaporation of the water.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention generally relates to automatic high-speed labeling machines and a method they may utilize to transfer labels onto containers without depositing a glue residue on the containers.
More particularly, the present invention pertains to a method or process for transferring labels to containers by utilizing the surface tension of water, rather than by glue as is customarily done, and thereby eliminating any glue residue on the surface of said container.
Even more specifically, the present invention concerns a method for applying a thin uniform coating of water, with or without a surfactant, onto the surface of containers in high-speed labeling machines so that tangential contact between a leading edge of each pre-cut label on a label transport means will cause said label to transfer to the surface of said container by surface tension of water alone and thereby cause said label to be lifted from said transport means, wrapped around said container and subsequently glued to itself rather than to the container, but being held thereon by friction after evaporation of the water.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
It has been estimated that Americans generate more than one billion pounds of plastic waste annually. More than 870 million pounds are from plastic soft drink containers and, although these bottles are recyclable, 80 percent are estimated to be buried in landfills.
Virtually all plastic soda bottles and bottles for many other products such as mouthwash, liquor, cooking oil, juice, etc., are made from polyethylene terephthalate or PET. The typical clear plastic PET bottles also has a cap made from aluminum or polyethylene and in many cases a label is connected to the PET bottle with ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) or other hot-melt glues. Therein lies the problem for recyclers.
In common recycling processes the whole plastic bottle is ground, sent through a stream of air to separate dirt and fine particles, washed vigorously and then separated into several streams of useful products including PET granules, polyethylene granules and aluminum chips, shredded paper and other contaminants such as glue. Recovered PET granules can be resold for moulding new, clear plastic bottles provided there are no contaminates present, such as glue which can discolor the appearance and limit its use for other applications where appearance does not matter.
Because glue residue on plastic containers represents one of the greatest obstacles to rapid recycling, there is a demonstrative need for a method adaptable to conventional labeling operations which produces a container surface free of glue residue.
In this regard, several inventions in the prior art have addressed this problem and a few have also employed water in an adhesive process, but none have utilized the surface tension of water in labeling operations.
For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,574,020 (1986), Fosnaught discloses an apparatus and method for wrapping a plastic label around a container without leaving a glue residue thereon. His method employs a solvent, such as methylene chloride, which when applied to a leading edge of a polymer backing on a film label produces an instant but temporary tacky liquid, but only momentarily while in tangential contact with a container, thereby providing the adhesive necessary to lift said label from a transport means onto a container and thereby further allowing said container to literally wrap the label around itself. Since the film labels of Fosnaught's invention contain a layer of foam polystyrene, the trailing edge, being of sufficient length to overlap the leading edge, is also treated with the solvent in order to bond the label unto itself.
Although Fosnaught's patent also speaks of a liquid recovery system for the solvent, it does not address containment nor recovery of solvent vapors, which by necessity of his invention must evaporate. Thus, it can be easily seen that in a high-speed labeling operation, say 400 containers per minute, a substantial amount of volatile solvent will be released into the atmosphere, and perhaps even into the containers themselves, thereby posing very serious environmental and health concerns, especially with methylene chloride.
By contrast, the present invention employs water either by itself or in conjunction with very slight traces of surfactant, such as ammonia, to wet the entire surface area of a container prior to contacting a leading edge of a label so that the surface tension of water alone is sufficient to lift and remove said label from an ordinary transport means and wrap it around the container. Glue still needs to be applied to a label's trailing edge which overlaps it leading edge for a permanent adhesive bond: however the water simply evaporates. Therefore, it may be easily seen that one major advantage of the present method is that it can be adapted to a variety of present labeling machines by simple substitution of a water application means, such as a water wheel, in place of a primary glue application means while maintaining any secondary gluing means for a label's trailing edge.
There are also a few other methods in the prior art that employ water as an intermediary step in bonding processes which should be further distinguished from the present invention.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,869,329 (1975), Schweltzer, Jr. and Schupak disclose a method of sealing nylon film using boiling water or steam to bond together surfaces of very thin nylon film without the application of pressure, wherein the surfaces of said film are exposed to the water as the only adhering solvent. Although temperature is known to affect surface tension, the present invention does not require elevated temperatures of water to cause a label transfer onto common containers because such transfer is easily accomplished at room temperature wherein most labeling operations occur, however the present method may also require employment of elevated temperatures of water in labeling operations where wettability need be enhanced between unusual materials. Moreover, the Schweltzer invention should be further distinguished as providing a bonding together of like surfaces, while the present invention is particularly applicable to unlike surfaces, such as polyethylene film labels to polyester containers, or, for that matter, paper onto glass.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,454 (1986), Sayovitz, et. al., describes a method of ultrasonically bonding non-woven webs by employing water to form web laminates, such as plastic polymeric webs for tents and the like. His patent is mentioned because of its spray application of a generally uniform coating of water prior to contacting component layers for bonding, while further recognizing that other liquids, such as alcohols or mixtures of alcohol and water may very well need be used depending on the nature of materials being laminated.
The same principle may be true in labeling operations, and because of the diverse nature of materials that undergo labeling, surface tension of water may very well need to be slightly adjusted to enhance wettability in some situations. Therefore, such surface tension enhancement by surfactants and temperature elevation may be employed in labeling machines generally used by those skilled in the art to label a variety of containers and, accordingly, should be considered within the scope and spirit of our method.
For example, it has long been known that the ability of a liquid to wet a solid surface depends largely on the surface tension of the liquid which is often defined as the force acting in the surface of a liquid tending to minimize to area of the surface produced by internal forces within the liquid. Most liquids have surface tensions of 20-40 dynes/cm, but water has the exceptionally high value of 72.75 dynes/cm at 20 degrees centigrade due to its molecular polarity or internal cohesive forces which also affects its wettability on various surfaces.
Because wettability of a surface is also a reason for label transfer to a surface of a container, it is important to understand that the wetting or non-wetting ability of a liquid depends on the chemical composition of the surface and is often shown and expressed by a contact angle between a solid surface and a droplet of liquid, as measured through the droplet, where the liquid is said to wet a solid if the contact angle lies between 0 and 90 degrees and not wet the solid when the contact angle lies between 90 and 180 degrees. In other words, the more a liquid spreads out on a surface the more it is said to wet that surface. This phenomenon is easily seen in the waterproofing of surfaces which would otherwise be pervious to water but by proper application of a surface film causes water droplets to form beads with a contact angle of more than 90 degrees.
When a surfactant, such as a detergent, is added into a liquid the surface tension of the liquid is generally lowered thereby increasing its wettability, and since surfactants are mainly composed of molecules containing both a polar (hydrophilic) and non-polar (hydrophobic) group, the result is orientation of the greater concentration of surfactant in the interface phase rather than in the bulk of the liquid. Moreover, surfactants are commonly classified as anionic, cationic and non-ionic. In anionic surfactants, such as detergents, the hydrophilic group is a polar negatively charged ion like carboxylate, sulfate or phosphate. In cationic surfactants the hydrophilic group is most often quaternary nitrogen and in non-ionic surfactants attraction between one end of the molecule and the polar liquid is caused by hydrogen bonding such as with alcohols.
The foregoing discussion is relevant to the mechanics of label transfer to a container utilizing water in automatic high-speed labeling machines because not all containers not labels are made from the same solid materials. For example, PET containers are polyesters which contain polar groups while their popular film labels are plastic polyethyenes which contain non-polar groups. Therefore, the surface tension of water utilized to transfer a label onto a container may very well need to be adjusted by a surfactant so that wettability by the water is sufficient enough to wet both surfaces, but yet at the same time maintain the maximum internal cohesive forces of the liquid so that it will not pull apart during high-speed labeling operations.
The utilization of water is particularly well suited for labeling cylindrical containers in so-called "straight-through" labeling machines, but of course may also be easily adopted by other types of those machines where there is a need to eliminate glue residues on a container's surface. An example follows.
In our recent U.S. Pat. No. 5,082,520 (1992) entitled "Automatic High-Speed Labeling Machine Employing Various Linear and Rotational Speeds of The Container," we disclosed a labeling machine which propels containers linearly and upright but while also causing them to rapidly rotate counterclockwise around their vertical axes by a set of parallel upper and lower bottle spinning belts traveling clockwise but in slightly slower partial parallel cooperation with a container drive belt to place the container in brief tangential contact with a label transport wheel. It is this type of a machine that is particularly well suited by only slight modification for the practice of our method because the machine is of the type which employs a container drive belt to laterally contact and propel said containers both lineraly and rotationally past a label transfer means for label transfer. Thus, these machines are easily modified by installation of a water application means preferably in combination with a container drive belt so that a uniform film of water coating is applied to each container prior to contacting a label. Furthermore, machines of this type can be also easily adjusted for proper placement of glue on a trailing, rather than a leading edge, of a label.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a method of utilizing water to transfer labels onto containers in automatic high-speed labeling machines, thereby eliminating glue residues on the containers.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus whereby a thin film of water, either by itself or containing surfactants, uniformly covers the surface of a container to produce the requisite surface tension which is necessary to transfer a label onto a container in a manner that a label's trailing edge, containing glue, will overlap its leading edge thereby being adhesively bonded to itself rather than onto said container, after which the water naturally evaporates to leave virtually no residue.
There objects are achieved by the present invention.

Method of utilizing surface tension of water to transfer labels onto containers in automatic high-speed labeling machines