The present invention discloses a method for manufacturing slippery-proof foam materials having protruded threads, which comprises the steps of foaming Thermoplastic Elastomer (TPE) or EVA pellets into a foam material plate, attaching a high heat resisting mesh cloth onto the surface of the plate, heating the plate by a heating device to soften the material to an extent of being suitable for a plastic formation, rolling and pressing the plate by a rolling mold or a piece of mold having an even surface and a plurality of tiny grooves thereon, so that the section of the plate receiving a larger rolling and pressing force moves towards the section receiving a smaller rolling and pressing force, and then passes through the meshes of the high heat resisting mesh cloth under the condition of being held up by the high heat resisting mesh cloth to form evenly protruded threads on the surface thereof after being cooled immediately.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing foam materials, more particular to a method for manufacturing a whole roll of continuous slippery-proof foam material plate or a sheet of foam having a strong structure and a plurality of protruded threads by using a foam material plates
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, rubber foam materials have good elasticity and damping property, therefore they are usually used for manufacturing floors, cushions, or bushings and commonly used in our daily life for absorbing vibrations, insulating sounds, and resisting slippery, etc. However, the strength of foam material plates manufactured by rubber foam materials is weak and unable to stand a large shear stress. Therefore, the foam material plates are generally made in a square shape or a rectangular shape to prevent the rolled foam material plates from breaking caused by the pulling during the rolling and transportation processes.
Further, since the surface of the foam material plates are made flat and unable to have a significant slippery-proof effect, therefore some manufacturers use special molds and thermal formation method to manufacture square or rectangular foam material plates to solve the foregoing problem. A plurality of protruded threads is formed on the surface of these foam material plates to improve the friction on the surface of these foam material plates. However, such arrangement complicates the manufacturing procedure greatly and also increases the labor hours and related costs, but it still cannot overcome the shortcomings of the foam material plates being not able to be produced with sufficient strength in a mass production. Therefore, the scope of application of these foam materials is restricted.
Some foam material plate manufacturing procedures and manufacturers specially attach a fixed layer of mesh cloth onto the foam material plates to effectively improve the strength of the foam material plates and overcome the shortcomings of the foam material plates being not able to be produced with sufficient strength in a mass production. However, such arrangement greatly reduces the damping property and slippery-proof effect provided by the foam material plates and loses their features since the mesh cloth isolates other objects from the direct contact with the foam material plate.

Method for manufacturing slippery-proof foam materials having protruded threads


A method and a system can include receiving travel direction information representing a planned driving maneuver of the motor vehicle, detecting at least one road user in a path region of the planned driving maneuver based on an evaluation of at least the travel direction information, determining a lamp operation data set for operating at least one lamp of the motor vehicle based on the evaluation of at least the travel direction information when a road user is detected in the path region, and operating the lamp in accordance with the lamp operation data set.

Self-driving motor vehicles (sometimes also called autonomous land vehicles) are motor vehicles which can drive, steer and park without the influence of a human driver (highly automated driving or autonomous driving). The term robot car is also used in cases where no manual control by a driver is necessary. The driver's seat can remain unoccupied; it is possible that no steering wheel, brake or accelerator pedals are present.
With the aid of various sensors, self-driving motor vehicles can acquire their environment and determine their position and those of other road users from the information obtained, drive to a destination by communicating with a navigation software, and avoid collisions on the way there.
Such self-driving motor vehicles must be able to communicate with their surroundings, in particular with other road users such as, for example, pedestrians. A lighting system for a self-driving motor vehicle is, for example, known from WO 2018/021063 A1, wherein light parameters are changed upon the detection of a road user in order in that way to inform the pedestrian that he has been detected by the self-driving motor vehicle.
No information is, however, made available as to the direction in which the self-driving motor vehicle will continue its travel.

Method for the operation of a self-driving motor vehicle


A method and apparatus thickens lime mud with a disc filter in such a way that the precoat layer on the filter surfaces of the disc filter can be cleaned. Beneath the scrapers for scraping a dry layer of lime sludge from the precoat layers on the disc filter wires surfaces one or more high pressure nozzles, and optionally a low pressure nozzle, are provided for directing jets of liquid at the precoat layer and wire surface. One high pressure nozzle may remove the precoat layer while another cleans the wire surface, and the nozzles may be reciprocated (with respect to the shaft for rotating the disc filters in a trough). The high pressure jets provide liquid at a pressure of about 30-100 bar, while the low pressure jet pressure is between 2-30 bar and may be utilized continuously, or arrested when the high pressure jets are operable.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for thickening lime mud by means of a disc filter. The invention also relates to a method of cleaning the filter sectors of a disc filter. The method and apparatus according to the invention are especially suitable for continuously renewing the precoat layer and/or washing the wire surfaces.
Prior to the lime reburning kiln, the lime mud having a dry solids content of about 25% is thickened usually to a dry solids content of about 70-85% by means of a drum vacuum filter. A so-called precoat filtering layer is formed on the surface of the filter drum by lime mud, the thickness of which is 10-20 mm. The lime mud thickened on the precoat is removed therefrom by means of a scraper, subsequent to which the lime mud falls on a conveyor belt, which then feeds the lime mud to a lime reburning kiln.
The surface layer of the precoat gets clogged while the filtering proceeds and must be removed from time to time. The technique normally used is to move the automatic scraper gradually inwards following a predetermined program, thus removing the clogged surface layer. After the scraper has moved in several steps closer to the drum the rest of the precoat is removed and a new precoat is formed.
All the movements of the scraper described above and the removal of the whole precoat from the surface of the drum cause disturbances in the operation of the lime mud reburning kiln. Every time the clogged surface layer of the precoat has been removed by means of the scraper the filtering is more efficient and the lime mud volume is larger for a moment Further, also the dry solids content of the lime mud is higher after the precoat has been scraped which results in and calls for changes in the operation of the lime mud reburning kiln. When the whole precoat is renewed at the same time, the supply of the mud into the kiln is stopped altogether for a moment, which naturally causes a break in the operation of the kiln. Typically, the precoat is renewed once a shift, or correspondingly three times in 24 hours. In the long run, the wire is also so badly clogged that it must be washed either with acid or with a high-pressure washer. This operation also causes a long disturbance or interrupts the production of the lime mud reburning kiln.
The arrangement disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,149,448 reduces the disadvantages and problems of the known techniques described above by removing a strip at a time from the filtering layer by means of a liquid jet reciprocating continuously in the longitudinal direction of the drum. This has been effected by installing one nozzle or several nozzles under the scraper, continuously reciprocating in the longitudinal direction of the drum. The high-pressure nozzles, for example two in number, have been provided under the scraper so that the purpose of one of the nozzles is to break the precoat layer and to drop it to the filter vat after which the second nozzle is used to wash the filter cloth clean. The pressure of the water sprayed from the washing nozzles is approx. 50-100 bar which gives a very good cleaning result. The nozzle disperses the jets so that the precoat is removed and the wire washed from a strip of approx. 10-50 mm in width at a time.
According to the arrangement of the above US patent, the washing nozzles have been installed in a rack designed for this purpose for moving the nozzles sideways. The nozzles are moved continuously to and fro in the longitudinal direction of the drum thus continuously renewing the precoat and cleaning the filter cloth. The advantages provided by this kind of continuous high-pressure water scraping are:
the dry-solids content of the lime mud from the lime mud filter to the lime mud reburning kiln is continuously uniform which allows smooth running of the kiln; PA1 change of the precoat is not needed as the precoat is renewed continuously a strip at a time; thus disturbances in the operation of the kiln due to a change of the precoat are avoided; PA1 it is not necessary to interrupt the filtering operation for a wash of the wire. PA1 the size of the needed apparatus is smaller than that of a drum filter having the same filtering capacity; PA1 maintaining the rated filtering capacity in severe process conditions due to a fast change of clogged precoat (the filtering surface of the sector is short, 0.6-1 m, whereby the jet cleans the surface in a short time compared to a drum filter, the length of the filtering surface of which is 5-12 m.) The result is that the disc filter can be rated for a higher surface load than a drum filter, which reduces the size of the filter; PA1 no massive, traversing mixer is needed in the filter vat; PA1 apparatuses having a high filtering capacity can easily be constructed; PA1 almost the whole of the filtering capacity range of drum filters can be covered with discs of a single size in diameter, which results in savings brought about by serial/modular construction in manufacturing, lighter blocks, thereby easier to handle, no massive large pools and no large drums demanding high construction accuracy (e.g. diameter 5 m, length 12 m); PA1 transport sizes are essentially reduced; PA1 the small size of the sectors enables a metal wire to be used; PA1 heavy equipment is not needed for moving the nozzles, because the maximal traversing distance of the nozzles is only about 1 meter, compared to distances of over 10 meters in drum filters; PA1 easier construction techniques than with drum filters, and PA1 exploitation of module technique in manufacture and rating for the mill. It is easy to rate the apparatus for different uses, as both the discs and the vats surrounding them are series-produced components, any number of which can be connected sequentially.
According to the invention, the lime mud filtering by means of a disc filter is effected almost correspondingly: The lime mud is pumped via a feed duct or ducts into a dividing duct, wherein the lime mud is kept in a homogenous state by mixing means. From the dividing duct the lime mud is evenly distributed to the trough-like vats of the filtering means, i.e. the disc filters. In the vats, the lime mud is retained homogenous by mixing means located on the periphery of the filter discs In other words, the lime mud is prevented from thickening on the bottom of the vat with the above-mentioned mixing means.
Most usually, the filter discs rotate in atmospheric pressure, whereby the pressure difference needed for the filtering is formed by means of a suitable vacuum source, such as drop leg, vacuum pump or a centrifugal pump, inside the discs formed by sectors. Nevertheless, it is also possible to pressurize the whole filter, whereby the discs would be surrounded by elevated pressure The partial vacuum, or more generally, the pressure difference causes a solid lime mud layer to begin to form on the wire-coated surfaces of the sectors. Scrapers have been arranged at a pre-determined distance from the surface of the wire on both sides of each of the filter discs so as to scrape the thickened lime mud layer from the precoat layer when the thickened layer has increased sufficiently in thickness. The lime mud to be removed falls onto a belt conveyor located below the filter discs, the conveyor then further transporting the lime mud to, e.g. a lime mud reburning kiln.
The filtrate removed from the lime mud by means of partial vacuum into the inside of the filter discs is directed via a flow channel to the hollow main shaft and further to a filtrate tank. From the filtrate tank the filtrate is further pumped into the process.
As is known, the surface layer of the precoat becomes clogged while the filtering proceeds, and must be removed from time to time. The technique used most usually is to move the scrapers closer to the filter surface, whereby they cut the clogged surface layer of the precoat off. This, nevertheless, causes trouble in the lime reburning kiln, as the amount of lime mud to be transported to the kiln increases suddenly, and, additionally, the dry solids content of the lime mud changes dramatically.
When the situation is such that the whole of the precoat layer is clogged, it must be removed completely. According to known technique, this is effected either by blowing air under the wire surface, i.e. inside the sector, or by washing the wire surface with water. These operations, like the partial removal of the precoat, cause problems in the operation of the lime reburning kiln. Namely, if the precoat is completely removed by blowing, the production of lime mud is interrupted temporarily, and the operation of the lime reburning kiln is disturbed. On the other hand, this necessitates the temporary feeding into the kiln of a larger, more dirty and damp portion of lime mud, which causes the end temperature of the kiln to decrease, which causes an increase in the energy consumption of the kiln.
If the precoat is removed by washing, the production is interrupted similarly, but because of its high water content the water-washed precoat cannot be transported to the lime reburning kiln, whereby the feed to the kiln is interrupted for a longer period than by removing the precoat by-blowing. Additionally, washing the precoat dilutes the thickness of the lime mud in the tank, which necessitates a separate, larger lime mud tank to eliminate the changes in thickness. In any case, the removal of precoat by washing with water decreases the capacity of the filter.
The international patent application PCT/FI94/00134, the disclosure of which is included herein in its entirety, deals with solutions to similar problems in drum filters. The above-mentioned publication explains in detail, how the precoat layer is needed especially in the filtering of lime mud, onto which the actual lime mud is thickened. Further, the PCT-application deals with various ways to prevent clogging of the precoat layer.
A way of cleaning the filtering drum by utilizing at least one jet of liquid so that at least one low-pressure jet of liquid moving longitudinally across the drum is used to loosen a strip of the thickened lime mud before the lime mud cake is removed from on top of the precoat by means of a scraper is disclosed as the invention in the above-mentioned patent application. Further, the jet is used to remove a portion of the precoat layer. According to said invention, a high-pressure jet of liquid is advantageously used to remove a strip of the whole thickness of the precoat layer while the surface of the strip of the filter drum is cleaned by means of another high-pressure jet of liquid before the lime mud cake is removed from on top of the precoat by means of a scraper.
The present invention relates to utilizing the technique disclosed in the above-mentioned publication in connection with a disc filter. As with drum filters, the jets in disc filters can also be located either under the scrapers or on the same side of the disc as the nozzles for washing the dried lime mud.
As advantages of using a disc filter for filtering lime mud the following factors, among others, can be mentioned:
The disc filter according to the invention can also be used for filtering green liquor. Because the filtering is advantageously effected by means of partial vacuum, the green liquor is cooled down, wherefore no separate green liquor cooler is needed prior to slaker-classifier. The fast method of changing the precoat also facilitates uninterrupted operation, which further optimizes the prerequisites for filtering the green liquor, a task usually very difficult to effect. A further advantage is also the small size of the equipment.
The above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art equipment are eliminated and the above listed advantages are achieved by means of the method and apparatus according to the invention, the characterizing features of which are disclosed in the appended claims.

Method and apparatus for thickening lime mud with a disc filter


A rotation release apparatus is provided for use in a wellbore tool to selectively couple a first wellbore tool member to a second wellbore tool member until the wellbore tool is lowered to a selected depth within the wellbore. The rotation release apparatus includes a coupling member secured to the first wellbore tool member, and a latch member secured to the second wellbore member. A cam member is secured to the coupling member to release the latch member from the coupling member when the wellbore tool is rotated about a longitudinal axis. The rotation release latching apparatus may be operated to couple the latch member to the coupling member by axial movement of the wellbore tool along a longitudinal axis.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in generally to release latches for use in wellbore tools which are selectively releasable within a wellbore, and in particular to liner hangers having slip gripping mechanisms which are lowered inside of a casing string in which a plurality of slip elements are selectively releasable to engage at least one cone element and urged into gripping engagement with the casing string to suspend a liner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art release latches have been utilized to selectively couple a first wellbore tool member to a second wellbore tool member when a wellbore tool is disposed within a borehole. For example, prior art release latches have been used in liner hangers having slip gripping mechanisms which are used in oil and gas completion operations to secure liners within casing strings in wellbores. Slip gripping mechanisms typically include two members, a cone assembly and a slip assembly. The cone assembly and slip assembly are selectively coupled together until a liner and a liner hanger are lowered into a wellbore to a selected depth at which the slip gripping mechanism is operated to grippingly engage the casing to suspend the liner.
A liner hanger is run, or lowered, into a wellbore secured to a liner which is suspended by a workstring, which may be a portion of the liner itself if the liner is to extend to the surface of the wellbore.
While lowering the liner and liner hanger into the wellbore, typically a prior art release latch is utilized to selectively couple the slip assembly so it will not engage the cone assembly until the liner hanger is lowered to the selected depth. The liner hanger slip gripping mechanism is set by uncoupling the slip assembly, and then urging it to engage a cone assembly which forces longitudinally extending slip elements radially outward into gripping engagement with the casing.
One example of a prior art release latch may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,563, entitled "Slip Gripping Mechanism With Automatic Segment Alignment", issued Jun. 14, 1988 to Hughes Tool Company, Houston, Tex., as assignee from inventor John L. Baugh. U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,563 shows a prior art liner hanger which includes a slip gripping mechanism having a cone assembly and a slip assembly, with a prior art release latch used for selectively uncoupling the slip assembly for setting of the slip gripping mechanism.
Prior art release latches have several problems that arise when running a mechanically actuated liner hanger to secure a liner within a casing string during oil and gas completion operations. A mechanically actuated liner hanger typically includes a slip gripping mechanism that is set to grippingly engage the casing string and support the liner. With a mechanically actuated liner hanger, the slip gripping mechanism is set by mechanically manipulating the workstring. The slip gripping mechanism usually includes a cone assembly and a slip assembly. The cone assembly and the slip assembly are run into the wellbore with the cone assembly secured to the liner, and the slip assembly coupled to the liner. To set the liner hanger slip gripping mechanism, a prior art release latch is operated to release the slip assembly so that it is uncoupled from the liner for engagement with the cone assembly and the casing.
To operate the prior art release latch to uncouple the slip assembly from the liner, the workstring and liner are mechanically manipulated by both rotating the workstring about a longitudinal axis of the workstring, and axially moving the workstring to move the liner hanger axially upwards and downwards along a longitudinal axis of the wellbore. Typically, rotation of the workstring and liner is accomplished by securing the workstring within a rotary table on a rig floor by use of surface slips.
A problem with prior art release latches arises since it is difficult to axially move the workstring either upwards or downwards along a longitudinal axis of the wellbore while maintaining securement of the workstring within the rotary table. Therefore, it is difficult to both rotate and axially move the workstring at the same time making it difficult to operate the prior art release latch to selectively uncouple the slip assembly.
Another problem arises when liner hangers are set at deep wellbore depths. These deep wellbore depths usually call for a liner and liner hanger to be run on a long workstring which may stretch when pulled upwards due to elasticity of the tubular members making up the workstring. Often this stretch phenomena is compounded by completion operations in deviated or horizontal wellbores. This causes problems in both being able to provide sufficient axial displacement downhole to the prior art release latch to uncouple the slip assembly while rotating the workstring, and being able to determine when sufficient axial displacement has been transmitted downhole to the prior art release latch to uncouple the slip assembly for engagement with the cone assembly and casing.
Yet another problem arises if wellbore debris becomes lodged within a prior art release latch. Oil and gas wellbores frequently have debris suspended within drilling fluids. This debris may become lodged within the release latch and prevent operation of the release latch, preventing uncoupling of the slip assembly for engagement with a cone assembly and casing.

Rotation release latch for a wellbore tool


A system and method for generating separations between jobs in a batch of scanned pages are provided. The method includes, for each of a set of jobs, capturing an image of a representative page of the job. Thereafter, the method includes scanning the set of jobs as a batch to generate a set of scanned pages. The captured images are compared with scanned pages in the set of scanned pages to identify, for at least one captured image, a respective scanned page which matches the captured image. At least one separator is generated for separating the set of scanned pages based on a location of the matching scanned page(s).

The exemplary embodiment relates to document processing. It finds particular application in connection with a system and method for preparing batches of hardcopy documents for scanning, which facilitates separation of the documents, once scanned.
Mailrooms of large organizations, such as corporations, government entities, and the like, receive large quantities of mail which has to be opened and the documents removed and then scanned before further processing. Document preparation is one of the most labor-intensive and therefore expensive steps in most digital mailrooms. To improve throughput, documents may be scanned in batches. Typically, as mail is opened, a preparation operator inserts a slip sheet between each hardcopy document, or each group of documents from the same envelope or folder, prior to scanning, so that scanning can be performed efficiently in large batches. Later in the workflow, these slip sheets are automatically detected and the documents separated. The slip sheets may be printed with barcodes. The cost of printing the slip sheets, and the time involved in inserting them in the document stack, adds considerably to the cost of document processing.
The exemplary embodiment provides a system and method for document processing which avoids the need for slip sheets.

Document separation by document sequence reconstruction based on information capture


A method for brazing together two parts at least one of which comprises a titanium aluminide material is described wherein a metallic layer of foil or powder is inserted between the parts in laminar contact with respective confronting surfaces thereof to be joined, the metallic layer comprising a metal which forms with titanium a eutectic composition having a characteristic fusion temperature lower than the fusion temperature of the metal, and the metallic layer and confronting surfaces of the parts are heated to a temperature of about the characteristic fusion temperature of the eutectic composition.

The present invention relates generally to methods and systems for brazing materials, and more particularly to an improved brazing system for titanium aluminide.
Titanium aluminide is an intermetallic compound of relatively recent development having good high temperature (to about 2000.degree. F.) properties and is a candidate for high temperature applications such as in turbine rotors and blades and other jet engine parts. Because of its high strength to weight ratio, titanium aluminide in either of its phases (alpha Ti.sub.3 Al or gamma TiAl) or in alloy system(s) with other metal(s) may be used to fabricate parts having substantially lighter weight than parts fabricated from nickel base superalloys. Although titanium aluminide is brittle at room temperature and is considered generally hard to fabricate, recent advances in powder metallurgy and rapid solidification technology have allowed expanded use of titanium aluminide materials in the fabrication of quality parts. Most applications of titanium aluminide material, however, require that it be welded, brazed or otherwise joined to a similar material or to other high temperature materials such as Hastelloy X sheet or honeycomb, Inconel-718, titanium alloys, or Incology-907. Existing brazing methods and materials have proved unsatisfactory in many respects for providing reliable joints for titanium aluminide materials and therefore a need exists for a reliable method for brazing this material.
The invention describes a method for brazing titanium aluminide using a filler material which does not melt at a desired brazing temperature when not in contact with the titanium aluminide base material but when placed in contact with the titanium aluminide material activates the surface thereof to form with titanium a eutectic composition which melts at the desired brazing temperature.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a brazing system for titanium aluminide.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a method for brazing titanium aluminide.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent as the detailed description of representative embodiments proceeds.

Activated brazing system for joining titanium aluminide

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force


An electrical connector (1) comprising: an insulative housing (2), multiple pairs (3) of conductive signal contacts (4, 5) distributed along an insulative divider (7) within the housing (2) and adapted to be connected to respective pairs of signal wires (27), at least one conductive power contact (6) having a pair of contact fingers (9) on opposite sides of the divider, (7), the contact fingers (9) having a surface area sufficiently broad to radiate heat resulting from electrical power dissipation.

An electrical connector, known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,760,335, comprises, an insulating housing and conductive signal contacts. The contacts are grouped in pairs, with an insulative divider of the housing separating one contact of the pair from the other contact of the pair. Multiple pairs of the contacts are distributed along the insulative divider. The pairs of contacts are especially suitable for connection to twisted pair wires used in the communications industry for data and voice transmission. Each pair of the twisted pair wires are connected to one pair of the contacts. The signal contacts, known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,760,335, are suitable for transmitting electrical signals of relatively low power, but are of inadequate mass and surface area to dissipate heat from electrical power transmission. The usual practice has been to route electrical power over an electrical cable that is separate from the twisted pair wires, and connecting the cable with an electrical connector that is separate from the connector connected to the signal wires. A single electrical connector for both signal contacts and at least one power contact would eliminate a need for separate connectors.
Another version of the connector, a single connector for both signal contacts and at least one power contact is suitable for connection to a circuit board.

Electrical connector for power and signal contacts


An image data acquisition system for acquiring visible spectrum image data used in the inspection of circuit boards. The system comprises a rigid structure having upper and lower banks of cameras and telecentric lenses mounted in axial pairs at a substantially right angle to the circuit boards which are transported on the conveyor below. The cameras have overlapping fields of view which form a directionally contiguous band or two-dimensional web of sensor coverage. A beam splitter and mirror arrangement is mounted to the structure under the upper and lower banks such that light striking the mirror is reflected into the lower bank of cameras while light striking the beam splitter is partially reflected toward the mirror and partially transmitted through the body of the beam splitter into the upper bank of cameras.

The acquisition of visual-spectrum image data for machine vision inspection of printed circuit boards conventionally has been performed by "moving camera" systems which employ typically a single video camera mounted on a movable staging structure. Such systems are programmed to step the video camera over the circuit board progressively in a serpentine fashion along an x-y coordinate system. The moving camera is stopped and snapped synchronously with strobe light flashes to acquire overlapping images of the entire circuit board at predetermined points along the serpentine coordinate path.
Unfortunately, single moving camera systems prove disadvantageous in the high-volume production of small electronic circuit boards such as those used for automotive engine, message display, transmission and brake controllers due to the unacceptably long cycle times that result from having to continuously move and stop the video camera over the printed circuit board.
Designers of machine vision image data acquisition systems have attempted to reduce the long cycle times of moving camera systems by mounting multiple cameras on a fixed staging structure. Early multiple fixed-camera systems, such as those manufactured by IRI (International Robamation Intelligence) of Carlsbad, Calif., mounted video cameras in four horizontally opposing banks on a large fixed staging structure that required a heavy frame for support. The heavy frame occupied a large footprint on the manufacturing facility floor which contributed to the expense of these systems. The video camera lenses employed had long object distances (approximately 22") and were directed at mirror assemblies oriented 45 degrees to both the cameras and the printed circuit boards. The printed circuit boards were advanced synchronously on the conveyor under the mirror assemblies with snaps of the video cameras. This mirror design disadvantageously inverted the images of the area of interest acquired on the printed circuit board requiring image processing programs to mathematically flip the image back to its actual orientation in space. In addition, the opposing camera and lens configuration made alignment and calibration of the video cameras complex.
Although an increase in cycle time and throughput was achieved in early multiple fixed camera designs, the system resolution was limited to camera arrays having at least 2 mil pixels (0.002 inches per pixel) due to the mounting constraints of the video cameras which had relatively large body sizes. In addition, lenses with long object distances were required to minimize distortion and perspective errors. Complex software, if available, was required to improve inspection performance.
Thus, image data acquisition systems employing multiple fixed cameras with large body or housing dimensions mounted horizontally relative to the conveyor have proven impractical in applications involving relatively small printed circuit boards that are densely populated with small SMD components. Such applications require high system resolution (1 mil per pixel), fast cycle times, and a small system footprint to fit into existing automated manufacturing lines.
Therefore, to reduce cycle time and increase throughput, and to improve data image acquisition quality, a multiple camera image data acquisition system is desired with higher system resolution and cycle times but small physical packaging dimensions.

Machine vision image data acquisition system


A tire wear state estimation system includes a tire that supports a vehicle. A sensor unit is mounted on the tire and includes a footprint centerline length measurement sensor, a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, and electronic memory capacity for storing identification information for the tire. A processor is in electronic communication with the sensor unit and receives the measured centerline length, the measured pressure, the measured temperature and the identification information. A tire construction database stores tire construction data and is in electronic communication with the processor. The identification information is correlated to the tire construction data. An analysis module is stored on the processor and receives the measured centerline length, the measure pressure, the measured temperature, the identification information, and the tire construction data as inputs. The analysis module includes a prediction model that generates an estimated wear state for the tire from the inputs.

Tire wear plays an important role in vehicle factors such as safety, reliability, and performance. Tread wear, which refers to the loss of material from the tread of the tire, directly affects such vehicle factors. As a result, it is desirable to monitor and/or measure the amount of tread wear experienced by a tire, which is indicated as the tire wear state. It is to be understood that for the purpose of convenience, the terms "tread wear" and "tire wear" may be used interchangeably.
One approach to the monitoring and/or measurement of tread wear has been through the use of wear sensors disposed in the tire tread, which has been referred to as a direct method or approach. The direct approach to measuring tire wear from tire-mounted sensors has multiple challenges. Placing the sensors in an uncured or "green" tire to then be cured at high temperatures may cause damage to the wear sensors. In addition, sensor durability can prove to be an issue in meeting the millions of cycles requirement for tires. Moreover, wear sensors in a direct measurement approach must be small enough not to cause any uniformity problems as the tire rotates at high speeds. Finally, wear sensors can be expensive and add significantly to the cost of the tire.
Due to such challenges, alternative approaches have been developed, which involve prediction of tread wear over the life of the tire, including indirect estimations of the tire wear state. These alternative approaches have experienced certain disadvantages in the prior art due to a lack of optimum prediction techniques, which reduces the accuracy and/or reliability of the tread wear predictions. For example, many such techniques involve data or information that is not easily obtained, such as non-standard vehicle system signals, or data that is not accurate under all driving conditions.
In addition, certain prior art techniques of indirectly estimating tire wear involve obtaining data from the vehicle controller area network, which is referred to in the art as the vehicle CAN bus. It may be undesirably difficult to access or utilize the vehicle CAN bus in an economical and reliable manner.
As a result, there is a need in the art for a system and method that accurately and reliably estimates tire wear state using easily obtained and accurate parameters, and which can operate independently of the vehicle CAN bus.

Tire wear state estimation system and method employing footprint length


A method of generating dynamically altering images which are capable of simulating fluid effects in real-time on a static scene. The method includes the steps of loading a plurality of graphical components, and repeatedly applying each of these graphical components to a texture map in a sequence of toroidally incremented locations at a predetermined repetition rate to create a texture map overlay for each of a plurality of scene frames. Each of these toroidally incremented locations are determined by a non-linear combination of a linear offset vector and the location of the last graphical component that has been applied. Then, each of the plurality of scene frames are transmitted to a visual projection device at a predetermined frame rate in order to display the dynamically altering images.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer generated images, and particularing to a method of dynamically applying texture to achieve the appearance of natural motion in a static scene.
2. Description of Related Art
There are a variety of applications in which it would be desirable to provide motion in a static scene of a video or computer graphic image. For example, the ability to introduce realistic smoke plumes or fire effects to an image would be useful in fields which are diverse as entertainment, military, commercial and scientific industries. Nevertheless, prior attempts to introduce fluid or other dynamic effects to an image required the use of animation or linearly moving texture to simulate motion in a static scene. In this regard, it is well known that animation techniques are very memory intensive. Additionally, linear motion texture effects provide an unnatural image, as fluid effects have decidedly non-linear qualities.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a method of providing a high degree of realism through fluid effect illusions which does not require substantial texture memory or rely on linear movements.

Texture method for producing fluid effects in a real-time simulation


A method of arranging microspheres with liquid, a microsphere arranging device, and a semiconductor device are provided. The method comprising the steps of placing the semiconductor device with a large number of pads with holes, on a loading table with a variable tilt angle, and pouring microspheres together with conductive liquid held in a holding container onto the semiconductor device. The microspheres are storably placed in the holes on the pads of the semiconductor device. The non-stored microspheres and conductive liquid are accumulated in a receiving tank, and the conductive liquid including the accumulated microspheres are transferred to the holding container by a pump.

Japanese patent application laid-open No. 5-129374 discloses a method of making an electrode bump such that a microsphere is mounted on a bump forming member. After mounting the microsphere, the microsphere is fused. In this method, microspheres are adsorbed into holes that are provided in the same arrangement as that of the bump forming member, and then they are transferred onto the semiconductor chip or circuit board. Examples of bump forming members are semiconductor chips (semiconductor devices) and circuit boards and solder balls are examples of a microspheres.
An adsorption head is provided that has adsorption holes for microspheres in the same arrangement as that of the bump forming member. The adsorption head is moved to the bump forming member while holding the microspheres in the adsorption holes. Then, by releasing the microspheres, the microspheres are transferred to the bump forming member.
In this case, it is necessary to adsorb the microspheres onto the adsorption head in the correct proportion. However, since the microspheres are laid at random, it is difficult to adsorb them at predetermined positions when a vacuum is used to adsorb the microspheres. Therefore, a microsphere arrangement pallet is prepared such that microspheres are disposed in advance in the same arrangement as that of electrode bumps. By vacuuming the microspheres on the pallet, they can be adsorbed in correct proportion to the adsorption head.
However, it is difficult to stably arrange microspheres on the microsphere arrangement pallet in atmosphere. Due to static electricity or moisture, the microspheres may be adhered to each other or be adsorbed upon the surface of arrangement pallet.
Japanese patent application laid-open No. 11-8272 discloses a method that an arrangement pallet is soaked in conductive liquid and then microspheres are dropped on the arrangement pallet, secured in respective arrangement holes, thereby removing the influence of static electricity or moisture.
In the above in-solution arrangement method, where micro-metal balls (microspheres) are arranged in conductive liquid, a stable arrangement operation can be conducted because of removing the influence of static electricity or moisture. However, since it uses ethanol, which is highly volatile, it is necessary to supplement evaporated portion so as to stabilize the operation. Thus, a large amount of ethanol is needed. Further, in transferring the arrangement pallet to the next step, it is difficult to remove the pallet from the conductive liquid. Thus, it is difficult to automate the taking-out step.
Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2001-210942 discloses a method where another closed vessel is prepared, other than a closed vessel that used when the arrangement operation is conducted, while soaking the arrangement pallet. The vessels are then connected through a flexible tube. The conductive liquid and micro-metal balls are transferred between the vessels using the gravity difference of the vessels.
In this method, the evaporation of conductive liquid can be prevented by using the closed vessel, and the usability of employed material can be improved by using repeatedly the conductive liquid and micro-metal balls. Furthermore, the operation can be facilitated such that, after completing the arrangement operation on the arrangement pallet, the conductive liquid and micro-metal balls in the arrangement pallet soaking vessel are evacuated while being transferred to the other vessel, and then the arrangement pallet is taken out from the one closed vessel.
Subsequently, the microspheres are secured in the arrangement holes and then adsorbed by the adsorption head of a vacuum apparatus. The adsorption head has a plane with air holes provided therein corresponding to the arrangement holes. The adsorption is conducted such that the adsorption head is in contact with the arrangement-holes forming surface of arrangement pallet, and then the microspheres are adsorbed to the air holes under vacuum. After adsorption, the microspheres on the adsorption head are aligned with the pad position of semiconductor wafer, and then by cutting off the vacuum the microspheres are dropped on the pads to mount them there.
However, in the conventional method of mounting the microspheres on the bump forming member of semiconductor device by using the arrangement pallet, there are some problems described below.
Since the process needs to be conducted such that the microspheres are accommodated in the holes (arrangement holes) in the arrangement pallet and then transferred onto the pads of semiconductor device, the number of steps in the bump electrode forming process must be increased. The manufacturing cost will also be increased. Further, the entire composition of bump electrode forming process is quite complicated.
Further, in recovering the conductive liquid and excess microspheres to reuse them, the microsphere may be deformed, crushed or defaced due to hitting the corner of vessel or being trapped in the gaps of vessel. In this case, the microsphere may not be accommodated in the arrangement hole or may not be adsorbed by the adsorption head even when accommodated. Thus, the microsphere cannot be transferred to the semiconductor device. Furthermore, although the conductive liquid and microspheres can be recovered by tilting or reversing the vessel, a small amount of them may be left in the vessel. Thus, they are wasted to some degree.
Further, in adsorbing the microsphere into the adsorption head, the surface of adsorption head needs to be in close contact with the arrangement holes forming surface of the arrangement pallet. Therefore, high processing accuracy is needed to flatten both surfaces. Further, if the step of adsorbing the microsphere to the adsorption head is conducted in atmosphere, the neighboring microspheres attract each other, thereby failing to be adsorbed. As a result, the manufacturing cost in the bump electrode forming process is increased.
Still further, in order to enhance the operating efficiency, a process of accommodating microspheres in another arrangement pallet needs to be conducted during the adsorption. Therefore, multiple arrangement pallets are needed and the operating cost is increased.
The invention is devised in view of the above problems, and it is intended to provide a method of arranging a microsphere by means of liquid, microsphere arranging apparatus and semiconductor device such that the manufacturing cost in the bump electrode forming process can be reduced, the entire composition of the process can be simplified, and the conductive liquid and microspheres can be recycled without being wasted.

Method of arranging microspheres with liquid, microsphere arranging device, and semiconductor device


A tool control system includes actuators to move the tool, a controller to permit either manual or automatic tool operation, and an output configured to display information pertaining to a position of the tool. In addition, the tool can be moved in either an independent or linked mode, the latter such that during tool operation, both sides of the tool can move substantially in unison with one another, or during system setup, detectors used to ensure coordination with of the tool to a known benchmark can move substantially in unison with one another. The controller can display either single or multiple numbers related to the tool position, and can accept either single or multiple user inputs to move the tool by a user-determined or system-determined amount.

The present invention relates generally to a simplified machine control device, and more particularly to a device that reduces the complexity of the user interface for controlling blade position in earth-grading machinery.
In construction and related earth-moving job sites, an on-site elevation positioning or guidance system can be used in conjunction with earth-grading machinery, such as bulldozers and earthmovers, to provide information about, or control blade lift (also known as grade or elevation) and tilt (also known as slope or side-to-side angle) of, the blade relative to the ground being graded in order to cut and fill earth in accordance with a predetermined grading plan. In "indicate-only" systems, guidance information is provided, whereas in automated systems, the information derived from the differences between the current and desired blade positions can additionally be used to drive the blade to a preferred position. Detectors mounted at locations (typically two) across the blade sense a remotely-generated signal from the system's transmitter, which may generate a horizontally-swept beam (such as a laser) to provide a reference plane. The sensed signals are compared against a predetermined reference to determine if the blade needs to be raised or lowered. Differences between the sensed signals and the reference are used to control the movement of hydraulic valves (or related actuators) coupled to the blade, where the valves are responsive to either user input commands (in manual operation) or to control signals (in automatic operation). An elevation positioning or guidance system that employs equipment for display and control of blade lift and tilt is known as a dual elevation machine control system.
In an independent mode of dual elevation blade control, each side of the blade (or, as typically the case in a bulldozer, one side and the center of the blade) can be autonomously moved, through either of the aforementioned manual or automatic methods. Positions associated with each side are displayed on a screen for viewing by the operator. While the independent mode of control of a single blade (or the control of two blades in the case of a tandem-blade device) of the dual elevation machine control system gives the operator significant flexibility, such as enhanced levels of blade adjustability and concomitant earth grading ability, it also introduces additional complexity into the control system, necessitating additional operator oversight. This is undesirable, requiring the operator to concentrate on monitoring two blade values on the display screen, and inputting two offset values into the controller, thereby necessitating additional input, time and distraction from other operational tasks, even in the majority of operating situations where only a single blade position is being varied.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a mode of operation of a guidance system that maintains the desired blade slope, regardless of elevation changes. There further exists a need for a mode of operation of a guidance system that provides the necessary blade adjustment information, but does so in a way that the amount of data presented to the operator is reduced, thereby simplifying the operator's task.

Linked mode for a multi-axis machine control

Caterpillar Trimble Control Technologies LLC


A shape value of a pattern having a pivotal characteristic is measured (step S1), an exposure energy variation is detected from the measured value, a first data base is accessed using a result of the measurement of the shape value (Step S2), an exposure energy is calculated (Step S3), a shape value of an isolated pattern is measured (Step S4), a second data base is accessed using a result of the measurement (Step S5), and a focal variation is determined using the calculated proper exposure energy (Step S6).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an instrument for measuring a focal variation in pattern exposure in a lithographic process involved in manufacture of semiconductor device or display devices such as liquid crystal display, and also to a method of fabricating a semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
With recent advancement in the degree of integration of semiconductor devices, patterns formed by lithography are becoming increasingly finer. The finer the patterns become, the smaller the required dimensional uniformities become. One major cause of impairing the dimensional uniformity is represented by focus error (focal variation) of a light exposure apparatus. Any focal variation may result in dimensional variation in the resultant pattern, and this is more distinct for an isolated pattern having only a small depth of focus, causing a considerable reduction in the pattern width. It is generally believed that fabrication of semiconductor devices of 90-nm generation needs focus management of as precise as ±50 nm or around.
An exemplary procedure for the focus management in a conventional light exposure apparatus is as follows. First, sample wafers are fabricated under various set values of the focus typically in the routine inspection, pattern width of the isolated pattern or the like is measured typically using a CD-SEM, and an optimum focus value is determined by preparing focus-CD curve. The obtained result is stored in the light exposure apparatus as an offset value, so as to enable the focus management.
Other proposals of specific examples of the in-line focus monitoring technique are as follows. Patent Document 1 proposes a method of measuring focal variation in which relations between angle of inclination of the resist pattern edge and focus position are obtained, and taper angle of the resist pattern is then calculated to thereby measure the focal variation. Patent Document 2 proposes a method of measuring a focus value based on variations in measured length in the longitudinal direction and thickness of a resist pattern using a specialized mark.
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 10-154647.
[Patent Document 2]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-133569.
The focus management according to the conventional technique, however, needs a considerable length of time for the dimensional measurement of the pattern, and this makes it impossible to complete the management within a single day or a shorter time unit, and it is much less possible to monitor the focal variation within a time unit of several hours or still shorter time period. It is also generally believed that the focus management using a product wafer is not practical, because the general product processing does not change the focus within a single wafer or in a single product lot.
Another problem of the in-line focus monitoring technique proposed at present resides in that the detectable focal variation cannot satisfy a necessary level of precision, and that the measurement using the CD-SEM cannot improve reproducibility or accuracy in the measurement. This consequently makes it unpractical to carry out a precise focus monitoring.
The present invention is completed in order to solve the aforementioned problems, and an object thereof is to provide a simple and precise method for measuring focal variation, and is to finally provide a method of measuring a focal point capable of fabricating a semiconductor device in a stable manner through feed-back of information on the measured focal variation to the next product lot, and through feed-forward to the next process; an instrument used therefor; and a method of fabricating a semiconductor device.

Method of measuring focal point, instrument used therefor, and method of fabricating semiconductor device


Provided is a tuning circuit of a Gm (transconductance)-C (capacitance) filter. The tuning circuit tunes a transconductance using direct current incorporating variations of a capacitance, instead of a clock signal, in a Gm tuning mode, while using the clock signal in a capacitance tuning mode. As such, it is possible to prevent deterioration of a received signal caused by the clock signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tuning circuit of a Gm (transconductance)-C (capacitance) filter, and more particularly, to a digital tuning circuit of a Gm-C filter for tuning a transconductance using direct current (DC) incorporating variations of a capacitance, instead of using a clock signal, in a Gm tuning mode, while using the clock signal in a capacitance tuning mode.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, cut-off frequencies of integrated circuit filters are varied by processes and temperature variations. In order to correct the cut-off frequencies, there is required a tuning circuit for performing adaptive correction for compensating for the temperature variations. For example, for a Gm-C filter, there is a need for keeping a constant ratio of the transconductance to the capacitance. Similarly, for an active RC, there is a need for keeping a constant ratio of the resistance to the capacitance.
In addition, the Gm-C filter also requires a tuning circuit for performing the adaptive correction for compensating for the temperature variations. Herebelow, such a tuning circuit of the Gm-C filter will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a typical tuning circuit of a Gm-C filter.
Referring to FIG. 1, the typical tuning circuit of the Gm-C filter includes a voltage controlled oscillator 10, a phase detector 20 and a low pass filter 30. The voltage controlled oscillator 10 includes a Gm cell to generate a predetermined frequency. The phase detector 20 detects phase difference between an oscillation frequency output from the voltage controlled oscillator 10 and a reference frequency. The low pass filter 30 passes only low frequency components of the phase difference signal received from the phase detector 20 to remove noise before outputting the resultant phase difference signal to the voltage controlled oscillator 10.
Here, the voltage controlled oscillator 10 corrects the transconductance according to the phase difference signal received from the low pass filter 30.
As described above, the typical tuning circuit of the Gm-C filter shown in FIG. 1 is a PLL type circuit utilizing the voltage controlled oscillator. That is, the typical tuning circuit of the Gm-C filter compares the oscillation frequency generated by the voltage controlled oscillator and the reference frequency to keep a constant ratio of the transconductance to the capacitance.
The voltage controlled oscillator may be a ring type voltage controlled oscillator, a voltage controlled oscillator using a negative transconductance, or the like.
However, in such a typical tuning circuit of the Gm-C filter as shown in FIG. 1, the voltage controlled oscillator often operates in a large signal until the signal is restricted. Therefore, it may have characteristics different from those of filters operating in a small signal. In addition, the transconductance generated using the voltage controlled oscillator may be different from that generated using a filter. These may become more severe with environmental variations.
Furthermore, because such a correction circuit utilizes a clock signal as a reference signal to correct the frequency characteristics, signals may be affected by the clock signal.


A method of fabricating a semiconductor device includes forming an ion implanted region on a semiconductor substrate in a cell/core region. The semiconductor substrate is selectively etched to form a recess. The recess exposes a boundary of the ion implanted region. The ion implanted region exposed at the bottom of the recess is removed to form an under-cut space in the semiconductor substrate. An insulating film is formed to form a substrate having a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structure in the cell/core region. The insulating film fills the under-cut space and the recess.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a semiconductor device having a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structure and a method for fabricating the same.
Currently, new efforts have been made to overcome the limits of a memory cell structure containing storage capacitors, which takes up a large area of the memory device. For example, a floating body cell (FBC) structure, which eliminates the capacitor. The FBC structure utilizes a floating body effect phenomenon where a threshold voltage is changed when charges are accumulated in a channel bottom of the transistor.
Generally, in a conventional DRAM utilizing a cell transistor and storage capacitor, a complicated process is required to obtain the DRAM. In addition, a high thermal treatment process is performed to improve a characteristic of the transistor. However, the FBC technology does not require the complicated process. Also, the FBC technology facilitates a manufacture of an embedded DRAM including a LOGIC circuit without a capacitor. As a result, various applications are formed with the FBC technology.
However, because the FBC technology requires using a substrate having a floating body, it uses a SOI substrate unlike a conventional DRAM. Based on a 300 mm wafer, the SOI substrate is more expansive than a bulk silicon substrate by three or more times. As a result, the SOI substrate causes an increase in the manufacturing cost of DRAMs.
When the SOI substrate is used in the manufacture of DRAMs, a peripheral circuit has to be formed over the SOI substrate. However, a model parameter of the transistor used in the peripheral circuit can not be used directly in a DRAM technology using the bulk silicon substrate. As a result, the peripheral circuit has been developed under a new SOI circumstance, which results in an increase of a developing period.

Semiconductor device and method of fabricating the same


Disclosed is a Natural Light Interferometer. The interferometer measures the amplitude and phase distribution of a coherent or incoherent electromagnetic signal, including natural light. In principle, the amplitude and phase distribution of any signal of any wavelength, incoherent or coherent, may be measured using this technique. The corresponding image may be reconstructed as well. The interferometer exploits Fourier transform heterodyne techniques but extends this technology to incoherent signals. The interferometer generates the analyzing signal by exploiting nanotechnology-based signal generation stimulated by the original signal. The Natural Light Interferometer applications include surveillance and reconnaissance; metrology; space-based free-flying, tethered or rigid interferometer arrays; and ground-based sparse interferometer arrays. There is also disclosed a homodyne embodiment of the Natural Light Interferometer that exploits quadrature phase techniques.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an interferometer that measures the amphat of a coherent or incoherent EM signal, including natural light. In principle, the amphat of any signal of any wavelength, incoherent or coherent, may be measured using this technique. In this way, the amphat of the signal may be stored and analyzed. The corresponding image may be reconstructed as well.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,875,030 describes a Method and Apparatus for Coherent Electromagnetic Field Imaging Through Fourier Transform Heterodyne. From the abstract: Apparatus and method for imaging objects through the inverse transformation of a set of Fourier coefficients measured by a detector. The Fourier coefficients are generated by heterodyning the electromagnetic field reflected from an object, with a reference electromagnetic field that has had the transverse phase modulated with a Fourier basis set. Doppler imaging of objects is accomplished through temporal frequency filtering of the Fourier coefficients at a plurality of heterodyne intermediate frequencies.
Fourier Transform Heterodyne (FTH) technology operates on coherent or quasi-coherent light only. As a coherent technique, it utilizes a laser or local oscillator as the second, coherent beam. Incoherent signals, including natural light signals, cannot be analyzed by FTH technology.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,271,418 B2 describes a Semiconductor Apparatus for White Light Generation and Amplification. From the abstract: The present invention is a semiconductor apparatus for white light generation and amplification, where, under different current bias, white light can be generated steadily and evenly by folding up multi-wavelength quantum wells and by side-injecting a current. And, the white light can be excited out electronically without mingling with a fluorescent powder so that the cost for sealing is reduced. Because the light is directly excited out by electricity to prevent from energy loss during fluorescence transformation, the light generation efficiency of the present invention is far greater than that of the traditional phosphorus mingled with light-emitting diode of white light. Besides, concerning the characteristics of the white light, the spectrum of the white light can be achieved by adjusting the structure and/or the number of the quantum wells while preventing from being limited by the atomic emission lines of the fluorescent powder.
The patent in the preceding paragraph does not include using the generated EM signal as a homodyne analyzing signal of an interferometer using quadrature phase analysis.
The publication, Energy-transfer pumping of semiconductor nanocrystals using an epitaxial quantum well, Achermann, M., et al, Nature, Vol 429, pg 642, describes light generation that is shifted from the stimulating radiation. From the abstract: As a result of quantum-confinement effects, the emission colour of semiconductor nanocrystals can be modified dramatically by simply changing their size1,2. Such spectral tunability, together with large photoluminescence quantum yields and high photostability, make nanocrystals attractive for use in a variety of light-emitting technologies—for example, displays, fluorescence tagging3, solid-state lighting and lasers4. An important limitation for such applications, however, is the difficulty of achieving electrical pumping, largely due to the presence of an insulating organic capping layer on the nanocrystals. Here, we describe an approach for indirect injection of electron-hole pairs (the electron-hole radiative recombination gives rise to light emission) into nanocrystals by non-contact, non-radiative energy transfer from a proximal quantum well that can in principle be pumped either electrically or optically. Our theoretical and experimental results indicate that this transfer is fast enough to compete with electron-hole recombination in the quantum well, and results in greater than 50 percent energy transfer efficiencies in the tested structures. Furthermore, the measured energy-transfer rates are sufficiently large to provide pumping in the stimulated emission regime, indicating the feasibility of nanocrystal-based optical amplifiers and lasers based on this approach.
The publication in the preceding paragraph does not include using the wavelength-shifted, generated EM signal as the analyzing signal of an interferometer.
The publication, Hybrid silicon evanescent wave laser fabricated with a silicon waveguide and III-V offset quantum wells, Hyundai, P., et al, OPTICS EXPRESS, Vol. 13, No. 23, discusses evanescent wave stimulation of quantum wells. From the abstract: A novel laser that utilizes a silicon waveguide bonded to AlGaInAs quantum wells is demonstrated. This wafer scale fabrication approach allows the optical waveguide to be defined by CMOS-compatible silicon processing while optical gain is provided by III-V materials. The AlGaInAs quantum well structure is bonded to the silicon wafer using low temperature oxygen plasma-assisted wafer bonding. The optically pumped 1538 nm laser has a pulsed threshold of 30 mW and an output power of 1.4 mW.
The publication in the preceding paragraph does not include using the radiation from the quantum wells as an analyzing signal of an interferometer.


A vehicle behavior detector obtains detection information from autonomous sensors to detect a change in vehicle behavior. The detection information is calibrated based on position, bearing, and vehicle speed information obtained from a GPS receiver. For example, the vehicle behavior detector calibrates detection information obtained from the vehicle speed sensor and the angular speed sensor with a Kalman filter process. It is difficult to use only the autonomous sensors to calibrate characteristics changes due to individual sensor differences, environmental changes, and aged deterioration. With using GPS information for calibration, the vehicle behavior detector can accurately detect the vehicle behavior. The accuracy is improved for detection information itself to be output from the vehicle behavior detector to external apparatuses. Using this calibrated detection information, the external apparatuses can perform processes appropriately.

Conventionally, a specific autonomous sensor is mounted on various in-vehicle devices, especially on vehicle controllers for sensing vehicle's behavior information. As an example, a car navigation apparatus uses a dead reckoning navigation method. This method detects vehicle's position, bearing, speed, and the like using outputs from a relative bearing sensor such as a gyroscope, a steering sensor, a wheel sensor, etc. and a distance sensor such as a vehicle speed sensor, a wheel speed sensor, etc. The relative bearing sensor detects vehicle's bearing variations. The distance sensor detects vehicle's speeds (distances). These autonomous sensors make it difficult to calibrate characteristics changes due to individual sensor differences, environmental changes, and aged deterioration. The autonomous sensor has been thereby used merely as an ambiguous information input unit dependent on characteristics of the sensor itself. For example, the car navigation apparatus, one of in-vehicle devices, causes an error because outputs (position, bearing, speed, etc.), from the dead reckoning navigation, contain a sensor error. Since, in particular, positions and bearings are integrally obtained, errors increase gradually.
If a navigation apparatus has a GPS-based calibration function, the GPS is used to calibrate autonomous sensors. Accordingly, it is possible to calibrate characteristics changes in various autonomous sensors and accurately calculate various vehicle behaviors.
On the other hand, information from the GPS is used for vehicle controllers other than the car navigation apparatus. For example, the GPS provides the vehicle's absolute position. This position determines a traveling environment. Based on this traveling environment, vehicle's traveling state is controlled. That is to say, there is provided one or more pieces of various information about the traveling environment such as which road the vehicle is traveling, which latitude, longitude, and height correspond to the traveling location, and how the road is conditioned ahead. This information can be used to reflect the traveling environment on control of driving and traveling states in control systems for vehicle's wheels, traveling, and engine (e.g., see patent document 1). It is also known that the GPS information is used to learn neutral positions for sensors such as steering sensors and yaw-rate sensors that obtain measured values by assuming the vehicle's straight movement to be a neutral position. Such sensor uses GPS-generated vehicle's positions and map database to calculate a curve radius R for a route where the vehicle is traveling. Based on the curve radius R, the sensor determines whether the traveling route is straight or curved. Based on the determination result, the sensor learns the neutral position (e.g., see patent document 2).
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-H6-324138
[Patent Document 2]
JP-A-2000-214180
However, the car navigation apparatus is disposed in a dashboard together with the other many devices and structures. Generally, the car navigation apparatus is mounted slantwise against the vehicle's horizontal direction. That is to say, attaching importance to the layout necessitates relaxing the installation requirements. Consequently, the car navigation apparatus cannot provide its original accuracy.
On the other hand, the use of GPS is limited for vehicle controllers other than the above-mentioned car navigation apparatus. Based on the GPS-generated vehicle's absolute value, a user simply references the map data for understanding the current route situations. Accordingly, the above-mentioned situations basically remain unsolved. That is to say, the autonomous sensors make it difficult to calibrate characteristics changes due to individual sensor differences, environmental changes, and aged deterioration. The autonomous sensor has been used merely as an ambiguous information input unit dependent on characteristics of the sensor itself.

Vehicle behavior detector, in-vehicle processing system, detection information calibrator, and in-vehicle processor


Disclosed herein is a plasma display panel and a method of fabricating the same. The plasma display panel comprises a front glass substrate and a rear glass substrate. An electrode structure disposed between the front and rear glass substrates is prepared in such a way that a non-photosensitive black dielectric layer and a non-photosensitive or photosensitive electrode layer, formed on the front glass substrate, are subjected to heat treatment. The black dielectric layer is blackened at a lower surface by the heat treatment. Current flows between an upper electrode and a transparent electrode and it is possible to assure sufficiently low visibility even though costly metal particles are not used as conductive material on the front substrate of the plasma display panel. It is possible to use various types of black pigments thanks to non-photosensitivity, thus it is possible to fabricate a low-priced plasma display panel due to a reduced material cost.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to a plasma display panel and a method of fabricating the same and, more particularly, to a plasma display panel in which an electrode layer is formed on a non-photosensitive black insulating layer and electrode materials capable of being integrated by being simultaneously sintered are employed.
2. Description of the Related Art
A plasma display panel (PDP) is one of the flat panel displays and a display which competes with LCDs or projection TVs and recently has rapidly increased its market share.
For example, an AC-type PDP comprises a glass substrate in which a transparent electrode (holding electrode) and a bus electrode are covered with a dielectric layer and which is called a front substrate, and another glass substrate which has a cell structure comprised of an address electrode, a dielectric layer, a partition, and fluorescent material and which is called a rear substrate. The substrates are disposed to face each other so that their electrodes are crossed each other.
Voltage is applied between the electrodes of both substrates to cause electric discharge in a cell, and ultraviolet rays generated at this time excite the fluorescent material in the cell, thereby realizing light emission. Due to the structure of the panel, an image which is formed by combining luminous red, green, and blue (RGB) cells is visible from behind a surface of the front substrate, on which the electrodes are formed. Therefore, in order to improve the quality of the image, a method of forming a black electrode between the transparent electrode and the bus electrode has been suggested as a method of avoiding visibility of a rear surface of the bus electrode of the front substrate, which corresponds to a display surface.
A method of forming a black electrode layer using a black pigment which consists mostly of conductive metal and metal oxides, or another method in which a black electrode layer and a white electrode layer are sequentially formed and sintered at a high temperature on a glass substrate so as to reduce visibility of the electrode through a rear surface have been extensively known in the fabrication of the plasma display. However, these are problematic in that, since precious metal, such as Ag, or metal oxides, such as RuO2, are used in the black electrode layer, the material cost is high.
With respect to a method of forming the black electrode, Japanese Patent Laid-Open publication No. Hei. 10-255670 uses ruthenium oxide, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 9-55167, and Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 2002-25451 and 2002-56774 employ metal powder and a black pigment as conductive particles. However, all of the above-mentioned technologies use costly metal powder as conductive material so as to enable a black layer to function as an electrode.
Use of a photosensitive black layer material employing only metal oxide has been studied to overcome the above problems. However, this is problematic in that very limited types of metal oxides are applied to the black pigment because of a significant gradual change in viscosity due to reaction with photosensitive organics.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-220551 discloses a photosensitive black composition containing no conductive material. However, this has a limit in that a black pigment to be used must be subjected to surface treatment because of a significant increase in viscosity of the composition due to reaction with components of the photosensitive composition.

Plasma display panel having an electrode structure including blackened dielectric layer and method of fabricating same


An apparatus that offers a simple method for using tools on a workbench without permanently mounting or positioning all of them at one time. The apparatus consists of a two individual interlocking components. There is a rectangular shaped metal base plate milled on the top, which allows for easy mounting of most bench tools to the base plate. A tool mounting plate is attached, one per tool, to the bottom of the tool in a predetermined manner enabling the user to change tools when needed without losing time changing the mounting plate. The tool mounting plate is designed with overhanging side edges that interlock with the base plate onto which it slides. The base plate is designed so that the protruding outer edges permit the tool mount to slide onto and into the base plate for secure positioning of the two plates together. The base plate is bolted to the worktable. A cam lock arrangement is used to hold the mounting plates securely in place until ready for removal.

People that work with bench tools often find that the work bench gets so cluttered with tools that there is very little room on the bench to perform other tasks on the bench. This happens when, for example, a bench vice, grinder, drill press and other needed tools are mounted on a workbench. Mounting these items often leaves multiple holes in the bench that can interfere with other work.
Thus, it would be advantageous if there were an apparatus or a means for enabling the worker to use the a variety of tools on his workbench in a secure and space saving manner.


A treatment planning system for generating a plan for treatment by radiation with charged particles beams applied by pencil beam scanning onto a target tissue comprising tumoral cells is provided. The treatment planning system performs a dose definition stage defining the doses to be deposited within the peripheral surface, a beam definition stage defining positions and dimensions of the beamlets of the PBS during the at least one high rate fraction, the beams definition stage including a dose rate definition stage comprising at least one high rate fraction, and a beamlets scanning sequence stage defining a scanning sequence of irradiation of the beamlets. The beamlets scanning sequence stage optimizes a time sequence of beamlets emission such that at the end of a fraction j, a dose is deposited onto at least a predefined fraction of each specific volume at a mean deposition rate superior or equal to a predefined value.

Radiation therapy with particles or waves, such as electron beams, protons beams, heavy ions beams, x-rays, γ-rays, and the like, has become a tool for treating patients with tumours.
Pencil beam scanning (PBS) is a technique consisting of steering a beam of charged particles towards a target comprising tumoral cells. PBS reduces unnecessary radiation exposure to surrounding non-cancerous cells by shaping the area being treated to mirror the tumour geometry. Beside the geometry of the target, PBS allows local tuning of the intensity of a beamlets depending on the position of the irradiated cells within the target.
Pencil beam scanning can treat a tumour with a single beam composed of various beamlets or with multiple beams of different orientations each composed of various beamlets, sometimes called intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT).
Since both tumoral cells and healthy cells are damaged by such radiations, a major challenge in cancer treatment is to define a plan ensuring that the tumoral cells are effectively destroyed or killed, while sparing as much as possible the healthy cells, in particular those adjacent to the tumoral cells. A first step of a treatment plan is the capture of images of the tumoral region by CT-scan. Based on these images, an oncologist identifies the right targets and determines the locations and doses to be deposited to kill the tumoral cells. Such plan must satisfy multiple, often competing, parameters, and is therefore quite complex. For this reason, treatment planning systems are generally computer generated.
A first criterion a treatment plan may fulfil is to ensure that, at the end of the treatment, a total target dose (DmtT) greater than or equal to a minimum target dose (DmtT0) has been delivered to the tumoral cells forming the target effective for destroying/killing the tumoral cells.
A second criterion may be to minimize the degradation of the healthy cells adjacent to the tumoral cells. No matter how accurate the dose deposition, even by PBS, in a volume comprising tumoral cells, a radiation beam reaching the volume comprising the tumoral cells may cross healthy cells and deliver thereto a dose also to healthy cells surrounding or included in that volume. Different radiations deposit their energies in different patterns. For example, X-rays deposit most of their energy near the level of the skin, and the deposited energy decreases with depth. Healthy tissues located upstream of a target volume of tumoral cells therefore receive a higher dose than the tumoral cells of target volume. By contrast, as shown in FIGS. 1(a)&1(c), charged particle beams, in particular protons deposit most of their energy close to the end of their beam path, forming a so-called Bragg peak. By superposing a number of beamlets with their respective Bragg peaks staggered in depth, a sum of individual Bragg Peaks (SOBP) can be defined spanning a whole depth of the volume of tumoral cells or of a fraction of that volume. The healthy cells located upstream of the volume of tumoral cells crossed by a proton beam therefore receive a lower dose than the tumoral cells in the volume. Consequently, proton therapy is well suited for depositing high doses in deep seated tumours.
To minimize the degradation of the healthy cells adjacent to the tumoral cells, the total dose (DhTi) received by a healthy cell may not exceed a maximum allowable dose. As the maximum allowable dose a healthy cell can safely receive in one session may be substantially lower than the minimum target dose (DmtT0) required to destroy the tumoral cells, the total target dose (DmtT) may be delivered to the tumoral cells in one or more fractions (or sessions).
A treatment plan may therefore include the delivery of a predefined total target dose (DmtT) of radiation to all the tumoral cells in N sessions or fractions j, with N≥1, each fraction j delivering a target fraction dose (Dmtj) to a volume of tumoral cells. If N=1, the whole of the predefined total target dose is delivered in a single session. If N>1, the predefined total target dose is delivered in several fractions, possibly to different volumes of tumoral cells, such that at the end of the Nth session, all the tumoral cells have received a cumulated target dose equal to the predefined total target dose (DmtT) required for killing tumoral cells. The number N of fractions depends on the nature of the healthy tissues which determines the maximum fraction dose they can safely receive in a fraction. It also depends on the type of radiation used and on the positions of the healthy cells relative to the tumoral cells, as these parameters at least partially determine the dose deposited on healthy cells crossed by a radiation beam aiming at depositing a target fraction dose (Dmtj) onto a volume containing tumoral cells.
It has been observed that the tumoral cells have a longer recovery time to recover from the damages suffered after an irradiation fraction than healthy cells. This allows a treatment plan to span over several fractions distributed over a period of several days and weeks. By ensuring that the healthy cells receive fraction doses low enough to preserve them, the tumoral cells receive a total target dose cumulated over the N fractions at least equal to the minimum target dose (DmtT), and a recovery time between two successive fractions is sufficient to allow substantial recovery of the healthy cells, but not of the tumoral cells, the treatment plan can ensure that at the end of the treatment, all the tumoral cells have been destroyed, while sparing most healthy cells.
Maximum fraction dose and maximum total dose acceptable to the healthy cells can be defined relative to a Normal Tissue Complication Probability (NTCP) which defines the probability of a given tissue of developing complications upon exposure to a given radiation. Values of boundary doses of radiation yielding a given value of the NTCP for a selection of organs are available in the literature. For example, Kehwar, J. Cancer Res. Ther., September 2005, 1(3), 168, lists in Table 3, on p. 171, a number of doses yielding a 50% NTCP of developing five years after the treatment symptoms as defined in the last column for a number of organs. The volumes 1/3-3/3 in Table 3 indicate the portion of the total volume of the corresponding organ being irradiated. Alternatively, a medical practitioner can have other sources for determining boundary doses, such as personal experience, or referring to other experimental data.
Historically, treatment plans by radiation therapy included the delivery of radiation doses to the treated cells at a conventional dose deposition rate (CDR) lower than 1 Gy/s. With rare exceptions, current radiation therapy facilities deliver dose-rates around 0.1 Gy/s and most clinical protocols involve delivery at regular intervals of N target fraction doses (Dmtj) of 2 to 15 Gy cumulated to reach the total target dose (DmtT) which often exceeds the tolerance limit of normal tissues located in the radiation field, thus damaging them together with the tumoral cells. Recently and as illustrated in FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b), it has been observed that a same dose (D) had different effects on healthy cells but not on tumoral cells when deposited at conventional dose deposition rates (CDR) or at ultra-high dose deposition rate (HDR). HDR can be one or more orders of magnitude larger than conventional dose deposition rates (CDR) usually applied. Deposition of a dose at ultra-high dose deposition rates (HDR) is also referred to as FLASH-radiotherapy (FLASH-RT). It has been observed experimentally on animals and on various organs, that ultra-high rate dose deposition at HDR can significantly spare healthy tissues in comparison with conventional deposition of a same dose at CDR and, at the same time, tumoral cells respond the same or even better to HDR deposition than to CDR deposition. For example, FLASH-RT reportedly elicits in mice a dramatic decrease of the incidence of lung fibrosis, of memory loss subsequent to brain irradiation, and of necrosis of the small intestine while keeping the anti-tumour efficiency unchanged. Such specific normal tissue sparing has been confirmed in large animals and a patient with cutaneous lymphoma has already been treated with FLASH-RT.
As illustrated in FIGS. 3(b) and 3(c), a single beamlet propagating along a beam direction (z) radially deposits doses approximately according to a Gaussian distribution curve, normal to the beam direction (z). In FIG. 3(b), Gaussian deposition curves are illustrated along a direction (x) normal to the beam direction (z). FIG. 3(c) illustrates with shade codes the dose distribution deposited radially by a beamlet. As can be seen in FIGS. 3(b) and 3(c), the beam axes of two adjacent proton beamlets in PBS are distributed according to a spot positions pattern (x, y) and are generally separated from one another by a distance comprised between 1.2 and 2.5 times s, for instance 1.3 to 1.5, wherein s2 is the variance of the Gaussian dose distribution in the spots on the surface plane (Pk) normal to the beam direction (z). It follows that a beamlet (B1) deposits a dose onto an area of the plane (Pk) which impinges over the zone of dose deposition by a second beamlet (B2) adjacent to the first beamlet (B1), yielding the wavy distribution curve illustrated in FIG. 3(b) (two lumps only are illustrated, but this shape becomes more complex with additional adjacent beamlets propagating along the beam direction (z) at a different y-position from the first and second beamlets (B1, B2). Such overlap is essential to ensure a uniform dose deposition of a whole area on the plane (Pk). This has, however, an unexpected effect on the FLASH effect, illustrated in FIG. 3(a). The amplitude of the wavy distribution curve depends inter alia on the distance between two adjacent spots and on the number of spots delivering a dose at a given location.
FIG. 3(a) illustrates the doses deposited as a function of time at a given point on a plane (Pk). It can be seen that at a time (t) of approximately 400 ms a first dose (Di) was deposited by a first beamlet at ultra-high dose rate (DRi) of over 1200 Gy/s, well within FLASH-RT effect. The same point, however received doses (D1, D2, Di+1, Dk) which "leaked" from adjacent beamlets at times of about 280 ms, 500 ms, and 600 ms at different dose rates (DR1, DR2, DRk). Although the doses of each beamlet were deposited at an ultra-high dose rate greater than 1 Gy/s, the overall irradiation time (Dt) of said point is such that a mean dose deposition rate, DRa=S Dj/Dt can be lower than 1 Gy/s, thus losing the FLASH-RT effect. There is a danger in case the cumulated dose (S Dj) (of approximately 22 Gy according to the dotted line in FIG. 3(a)) is adequate when the FLASH-RT effect is present, but not at CDR. Since all individual doses were deposited at ultra-high dose deposition rate (HDR), the clinician may be of the impression that FLASH-RT effect was present thus sparing the healthy tissues. This impression, however, may be wrong in case the total dose was deposited over a period of time (Dt) such that at the mean deposition rate DRa<1 Gy/s, the cumulated dose was deposited at CDR instead of HDR, thus exceeding the dose admitted by the required NTCP at CDR.
The present disclosure solves the problem of ensuring that a target treated by PBS of charged particles is effectively irradiated at HDR where required taking account of any overlapping dose deposition distribution of all beamlets leaking over a given spot to be treated. These and other advantages will be described in more detail.

Charged particle treatment planning system with PBS beamlets sequence optimized for high dose deposition rate