A method for manufacturing a turbine engine component comprises the steps of forming a first half of an airfoil portion of the turbine engine component and forming a plurality of microcircuits having at least one passageway on an exposed internal wall of the first half of the airfoil portion. The method further comprises forming a second half of the airfoil portion of said turbine engine component, and forming at least one additional cooling microcircuit having at least one passageway on an exposed internal wall of the second half of the airfoil portion. Thereafter, the first half is placed in an abutting relationship with the second half after the cooling microcircuits have been formed and inspected. The first half and the second half are joined together to form the airfoil portion.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing turbine engine components having an airfoil portion with a plurality of cooling microcircuits and a turbine engine component formed thereby.
(2) Prior Art
Turbine engine components, such as high pressure turbine blade airfoils, encounter harsh environments and are subject to extremely hot gases from other components such as burners. The airfoil portions of these components experience a varying thermal load. As a result, the airfoil portions need to be cooled locally. The mechanisms for cooling the airfoil portions vary from design to design but there is a certain optimum arrangement that minimizes cooling flow.
Today, cooling microcircuits in the airfoil portions of turbine engine components may be formed using refractory metal cores in a double wall design. The refractory metal core material has an elevated melting temperature, making it desirable for processing during investment casting before being leached-out and forming internal microcircuit passageways within a wall of the cast component. While this technique is effective to form very desirable cooling microcircuits, it is difficult to inspect the microcircuits thus formed because the cooling microcircuits are formed within the walls of the airfoil portion.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Manufacturable and inspectable microcircuit cooling for blades


In a single-atom microlaser, a pair of opposed reflectors define a high-finesse or "high-Q" optical cavity therebetween. A source delivers a stream of multiple-energy-level atoms or particles into the cavity. Each individual atom in the stream is excited by a pump from a lower energy level to an upper energy level before injection into the cavity. The cavity resonance frequency is substantially matched to the frequency of a photon emitted by each atom as it enters the cavity. The photon is emitted due to a transition in energy between the upper level and lower level of each atom. In this manner, upon entry of a sequence of individual atoms into the cavity for example, the average number of photons resonating in the cavity exceeds one and the average number of atoms in the cavity is less than one. The photons are sustained in the high-Q cavity for a long enough time period such that the photon field interacts with the next atom in the stream. A beam of coherent light in the optical frequency spectrum is emitted from the cavity.

An interesting problem in quantum optics is the interaction between a single atom and a single quantized mode of an electromagnetic field. This problem has an exact solution if irreversible processes which give rise to damping, such as atomic spontaneous emission and decay of the field mode, are negligible. If they are negligible, the atom and the field mode exchange energy in a manner characteristic with that of coupled oscillators. The rate of energy exchange, determined by the atom-field coupling strength, can be appreciable even for a vacuum field. This coupling has been observed in the line shape splitting for a weakly-excited absorbing atom.
Atom-cavity interaction is often referred to as cavity quantum electrodynamics (hereinafter "cavity QED"). The single-atom maser or micromaser, one system for studying cavity QED was developed in 1985, and various aspects of cavity QED such as quantum collapse and revival and nonclassical atom statistics have been studied.
In a single-atom micromaser, a beam of excited atoms is injected into a high-Q microwave resonator. The stream of atoms is injected at a controlled flux rate so that not more than one atom is present inside the cavity at any time. A photon released into the cavity by each atom resonates in the cavity for a long enough time period to interact with subsequent atoms in the stream. The coupling between the single atom and the photon field strengthens as the field builds up, and can eventually become steady-state. Single-atom masers operate in the microwave regime. The photons released by the interaction are of low energy and momentum and therefore are difficult to detect and monitor. The resonators are made with walls composed of low temperature superconductive material and are thus difficult to maintain and expensive to fabricate.


Disclosed is a refrigerator oil composition for use with carbon dioxide refrigerant, characterized in that the composition dissolves in an amount of at least 0.1% by mass in a supercritical carbon dioxide at a temperature of 100° C. under a pressure of 15 Mpa.

In general, in a compression refrigeration cycle for refrigerators; e.g., a compression refrigerator having a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator, a fluid mixture of a refrigerant and a lubricating oil is circulated in a closed system. Hitherto, in such a compression refrigerator, chlorofluorocarbon such as dichlorodifluoromethane (R-12) or chlorodifluoromethane (R-22) is employed as a refrigerant, and a variety of lubricating oils have been produced and employed in combination with such a refrigerant. Thus, when the aforementioned chlorofluoro compounds that have heretofore been employed as refrigerant are released in air, the ozonosphere in the stratosphere may be depleted, resulting in environmental pollution. Therefore, recently, use of the Flon compound is more and more rigorously controlled throughout the world. Under such circumstances, hydrofluorocarbons and fluorocarbons such as 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (R-134a) have become of interest as new refrigerants. Although these hydrofluorocarbons and similar compounds are less destructive to the ozonosphere, they have a long life in the atmosphere, possibly resulting in global warming. Therefore, in recent years, there has been investigated use of naturally occurring refrigerant that does not raise the aforementioned problems.
Carbon dioxide is an excellent candidate, since it is harmless to the environment and is safe to human beings. In addition, carbon dioxide has advantages such as easy availability at any place and considerably low cost without necessity for recovery. By virtue of being harmless to the global environment, being free of flammability, and having low toxicity, naturally occurring carbon dioxide coolant has attracted attention in recent years. Possible applications of carbon dioxide refrigerants include electric air conditioners for automobile use, heating apparatuses for use in cold areas, and hot-water supplying systems.
Among these applications, hot-water supplying apparatus will be further described in terms of further enhancement of energy conservation and efficiency, which is demanded in relation to global environmental issues. One advantage of carbon dioxide is that, when carbon dioxide is employed in a heat-pump hot-water supplier, running cost of the supplier is reduced to about ⅕ and coefficient of performance (COP) is enhanced to 3.0 or higher, as compared with gas-system hot-water suppliers generally employed as domestic hot-water suppliers. In contrast, when the aforementioned HFC coolant is employed in heat-pump hot-water suppliers, the maximum temperature of water supplied by the suppliers is limited to about 60° C., because of thermal properties of the coolant. In this case, a compressor of considerably higher output must be further employed. However, when carbon dioxide is employed as a coolant, hot water at about 90° C. can be supplied by virtue of the thermal properties of carbon dioxide. Thus, employment of carbon dioxide is advantageous.
Meanwhile, refrigerator oil is used in a closed-type electric compressor and plays roles including lubrication, sealing, cooling, etc. of sliding parts. However, use of carbon dioxide as a refrigerant often raises the problem that a system employing carbon dioxide therein requires higher discharge pressure and has a higher temperature, as compared with the case where R-134a or the like is employed. As a result, the refrigerator oil in the system is exposed to carbon dioxide under supercritical conditions. Therefore, if a conventionally used lubricating oil is employed for lubrication, unexpected problems arise. For example, the lubricating oil becomes less stable, failing to ensure long-term stable use, and lubrication performance such as wear resistance becomes poor.
Conventionally, synthetic oils having miscibility with refrigerant (e.g., polyalkylene glycol and polyol ester) are generally employed refrigerator oils for use in a refrigeration cycle employing carbon dioxide or a compressor.
Specifically, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) Nos. 10-46169 and 2001-153476 disclose a lubricating oil composition for refrigerators, which composition comprises at least one species selected from polyalkylene glycol and polyvinyl ether and which composition has a kinematic viscosity of at least 5 mm2/s at 100° C., a refrigerating cycle employing the oil composition, and a compressor employing the oil composition. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) Nos. 2000-273477 and 2001-19987 disclose a refrigerator oil composition employing polyester-polyol.
However, some polyalkylene glycols have poor insulating performance attributed to the molecular structure thereof. Since refrigerating oils employed in a closed-type electric compressor are required to serve as electrically insulating oil, when such a polyalkylene glycol species is employed, a short circuit may occur between hermetic terminals provided so as to supply external electric power to a motor of the compressor. Furthermore, high dielectric constant and dielectric tangent result in large leakage current, which may cause accidents by an electric shock.
Polyester-polyol, having excessively high miscibility with carbon dioxide refrigerant, considerably lowers viscosity when it is in a compressor and forms a solution with carbon dioxide, impairing sealing performance on the high-pressure side. In this case, compressing efficiency lowers, and flow of the refrigerating oil into the refrigeration cycle increases, possibly causing a drop in heat exchanging efficiency.
Under such circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator oil composition for carbon dioxide refrigerant, of which composition is employed in a refrigerating system operated in a supercritical state of carbon dioxide refrigerant and, particularly, to provide such a composition which can enhance heat-exchange efficiency during passage of supercritical carbon dioxide through a heat exchanger as well as which has excellent durability and lubrication performance.

Refrigerator oil composition for carbon dioxide coolant

Abstract: The invention provides a refrigerator oil composition for carbon dioxide refrigerant which composition is employed in a refrigerating system operated in a supercritical state of carbon dioxide refrigerant and, particularly, such a composition which can enhance heat-exchange efficiency during passage of supercritical carbon dioxide through a heat exchanger as well as which has excellent durability and lubrication performance.


A gearshift controller for an automatic transmission comprises an input shaft torque estimating portion for estimating the input shaft torque, a torque dividing ratio setting portion for setting the torque dividing ratio for each friction member of each gear range, and a desired torque calculating portion for calculating the desired torque of each friction member on the basis of the input shaft torque and the torque dividing ratio, and a desired hydraulic fluid calculating portion for calculating the desired hydraulic fluid pressure for each friction member on the basis of the desired torque of the each friction member, and a hydraulic fluid controlling portion for providing the desired hydraulic fluid pressure to each friction member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements to a gear shift controller for an automatic transmission, such as improved control of hydraulic fluid when the gear shift is executed.
2. Description of the Related Art
One way clutches have been used in automatic transmissions in order to avoid the complexity during a gear ratio change of disengaging one friction element and simultaneously engaging another friction element. Depending on whether the gear ratio change is an upshift or downshift, the one way clutch either releases or overruns during the period when the oncoming friction element is pressurized and engaged to complete the new driving connection among the components of the gear sets that produce the new gear ratio. If the one way clutch can be eliminated from an automatic transmission, its cost, weight, and size can also be eliminated.
A Japanese Patent Application First Publication No. Heisei 4-188572, published on Jun. 23, 1992, exemplifies a previously proposed gearshift controller for an automatic transmission in which the gear shift (clutch to clutch gear shift) can be actuated by a combination of an oncoming friction element and an offgoing friction element instead of a one way clutch.
In this Japanese Patent Application, the amount of hydraulic fluid pressure provided to these friction elements is provided on the basis of the speed of the input shaft of the automatic transmission. However, in the previously proposed gearshift controller for an automatic transmission, since the amount of hydraulic fluid pressure provided to these friction elements is provided on the basis of the input shaft speed, the hydraulic fluid pressure to the oncoming element and the offgoing element may be provided too early or too late due to a variation in input torque. When the change from the oncoming to the offgoing element occurs relatively late, the engine speed rises too high. When the change from the oncoming to the offgoing element occurs relatively early, engine speed reduction or torque reduction (commonly known as interlock) occurs.

Gearshift pressure controller using torque ratio of oncoming/offgoing elements and input torque


Natural numbers are assigned to represent DNA and mRNA nucleotide bases (n-numbers 0, 1, 2, 3), base pairing numbers in RNA (p-numbers 0, 1, 2, 3), and amino acids in protein (z-numbers with seventeen prime numbers and odd numbers 1, 25, 45; all smaller than 64). These numbers reflect intrinsic properties of the nucleotide bases, their triplet-base codon combinatorics and chemical bonding properties (hydrogen bonds, hydrophobicity, codon positions, and molecular sizes). Gene and protein sequences may be represented, characterized and interpreted by their specific n-sums and z-sums. Base dimers/oligomers and dipeptides/oligopeptides are found to correspond to their sums, as verified by using statistical and other methods. Utility rules are devised for applications in base dimers distribution, RNA base pairing, oligomer repeats and the encoded oligopeptide repeats. Conserved base pairs in four stems of a given mitochondrial tRNA correlate well with the z-number in the encoded hydrophobic amino acid. Conserved protein segments are mostly prime peptides (oligopeptides with prime number z-sums) except those with strict repeats (collagen Gly-3 repeats, leucine zipper Leu-7 repeats, etc.). This representational scheme is also capable of inferring protein folding and cross linking. Sequence alphabets (nucleotide bases and amino acids) in existing and future data banks can be converted to such numbers to facilitate computation and characterization.

In 1967, Woese classified methods of interpreting the genetic (or amino acid) code in mechanistic and stochastic models. In his mechanistic model Woese attempted a molecular geometrical fit between codons and their coded amino acids. One of the first attempts at such a code was the "diamond" code proposed by Gamow in 1954. As recently as 1981, when the actions of tRNA and rRNA in the synthesis of protein were already well-known, the geometrical method still attracted attention, as typified by the work of Hendry et al. (1981) who drew a structural analogy between codons and amino acids. However, the lack of any direct contact between DNA or mRNA with protein molecules rendered "lock and key" models impotent as predictors of coding mechanisms.
Gamow's attempt is an admirable one, because, although his "diamond" geometry was discredited by later observation, he did offer a combinatorial schema motivated by the few numbers available at that time, i.e., four nucleotide bases, 64 triplet-base codons with only 20 amino acids. Unfortunately his combinatorics and geometry could not be separated from each other, and the combinatorial part suffered the same fate as his proposed geometric model.

Gene and protein representation, characterization and interpretation process


A method and computer-implemented system for optimizing a product. Based on the “voice of the customer”, aspects of the product that are critical to the customer satisfaction, and target values, therefore, are identified. Aspects are characterized in terms of their contributing factors. Each contributing factor is characterized in a transfer function in terms of control and noise factors impacting the contributing factors. Contributing factors are optimized during product design by shifting nominal design values for control factors with respect to the transfer function such that target contributing factors are attained with minimum variability due to existing noises and variability in control. Where target values cannot be obtained through design optimization, conventional methods of manufacturing optimization are implemented. The extent to which the target values are attained and maintained over the life of the product are assessed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to six-sigma (6σ) optimization models and, more particularly, to a six-sigma model which incorporates the voice of the customer and product design into the overall optimization process.
2. Background Art
In the context of manufacturing optimization, sigma (σ) is a statistical unit of measure that reflects a level of manufacturing capability. Table 1 contains an exponential scale for quantifying manufacturing capability based on a conventional 6σ philosophy.
TABLE 1DEFECTS PER MILLIONσOPPORTUNITIES (DPMO)% SUCCESS63.499.99966523399.97746,21099.38366,80793.322308,53769.2
Notably, a slight increase in sigma level results in an exponential reduction in the number of defects per million manufacturing opportunities. In accord with traditional notions of 6σ manufacturing capability, a manufacturer does not attain a "best-in-class" (BIC) status until a 6σ capability level (i.e., <3.4 DPMO) is attained.
In many cases, a manufacturer's ability to transcend the 5σ level of success is hampered by the fact that 70-80% of product defects are a direct or indirect result of designed-in quality problems (i.e., problems that cannot be resolved by an increase in manufacturing capabilities alone). Accordingly, to attain a 6σ level of success, the optimization methodology should include elements of product design. Most models for 6σ optimization, however, do not incorporate the necessary design aspect of optimization. Conventional 6σ models involve the steps of measuring existing manufacturing capabilities, analyzing mechanical opportunities for decreasing variability associated with the existing manufacturing process, improving the capabilities of the manufacturing process by adopting the most cost-effective improvement opportunities, and controlling the manufacturing process to minimize variability.
Furthermore, although a few 6σ models have attempted to incorporate product design into product optimization, these models seek to enhance the robustness of product design without incorporating a detailed analysis of the voice of the customer. Although existing 6σ design optimization models including design optimization may improve product robustness, they do not analytically focus on opportunities for increasing product robustness which are most critical to customer satisfaction. Put another way, conventional 6σ design optimization models arbitrarily increase product robustness where possible without quantitatively and qualitatively weighing whether doing so will ultimately increase customer satisfaction beyond a negligible level.

Method and system for product optimization


A vertical alignment type liquid crystal display, which has a liquid crystal layer whose retardation value is about 600 nm or more, can solve the viewing angle problems associated with the wider viewing angle. The liquid crystal display can include a vertical alignment liquid crystal cell, and first and second polarizing plates cross-Nicol disposed on respective sides of the liquid crystal cell. The liquid crystal cell has a liquid crystal layer with a retardation of about 600 nm or more. A biaxial plate is provided between the liquid crystal cell and the first polarizing plate, and two C-plates are provided between the liquid crystal cell and the second polarizing plate.

1. Technical Field
The disclosed subject matter relates to a liquid crystal display of a vertical alignment type. In particular, the presently disclosed subject matter relates to a liquid crystal display having a liquid crystal layer with a retardation of about 600 nm or more and an effective viewing angle compensation structure therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, viewing angle compensation means having a variety of optical characteristics have been proposed for vertical alignment type liquid crystal displays. In particular, examples of such viewing angle compensation means include viewing angle compensation plates.
Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 7-69536 discloses a liquid crystal display having a vertical alignment type liquid crystal cell and first and second polarizing plates which are cross-Nicol disposed on respective sides of the liquid crystal cell. In this liquid crystal display, viewing angle compensation means is provided between the liquid crystal cell and any one of the first and second polarizing plates.
In the disclosed liquid crystal display, the viewing angle compensation means comprises a viewing angle compensation plate having three main refractive indices. In this instance, one of the main refractive indices is smaller than the other two main refractive indices, and an axis corresponding to the smallest main refractive index is parallel to the normal direction of the compensation plate.
In addition to this, the patent document discloses that it is effective to utilize a negative uniaxial compensation plate, so-called "C-plate," as a viewing angle compensation plate, which has an optical axis being parallel to the normal direction of the compensation plate. Further to this, the patent document also discloses that it is effective to utilize a biaxial compensation plate, so-called "biaxial plate," as a viewing angle compensation plate, which is a medium having biaxial optical anisotropy and which has a minimum main refractive index with its axis being parallel to the normal direction of the compensation plate.
The invention of Japanese Patent No. 3330574 includes viewing angle compensation means which is provided between the liquid crystal cell and one polarizing plate as in the previous case. This viewing angle compensation means utilize a viewing angle compensation plate, so-called "biaxial plate," which has three main refractive indices where one of the main refractive indices is smaller than the other two main refractive indices, and an axis corresponding to the smallest main refractive index is parallel to the normal direction of the compensation plate. This biaxial plate is arranged such that larger one of the other two main refractive indices, namely the delay phase axis in the in-plane direction of the viewing angle compensation plate, is substantially parallel to or perpendicular to the absorption axis of the adjacent polarizing plate. In this configuration, the patent document discloses that the retardation in an in-plane direction of 120 nm or less is advantageous.
The invention of Japanese Patent No. 3027805 includes viewing angle compensation means which is provided between the liquid crystal cell and one polarizing plate as in the previous cases. The viewing angle compensation means is composed of a so-called A-plate (which has an optical axis in an in-plane direction and is a positive uniaxial compensation plate whose refractive index anisotropy is positive) and a so-called C-plate (which has an optical axis being parallel to the normal direction of the compensation plate and is a negative uniaxial compensation plate whose refractive index anisotropy is negative). In this viewing angle compensation means, the A-plate, the C-plate, and the polarizing plate are arranged in this order from the liquid crystal cell side. In this instance, the patent document discloses that the retardation of the A-plate is advantageously set to 120 nm or less.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-19518 discloses a vertical alignment type liquid crystal display in which liquid crystals are oriented in an axial symmetric manner in each of liquid crystal areas when a voltage is applied thereto. It is also disclosed that this liquid crystal display is advantageously provided with a biaxial plate as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 7-69536 or the publication of Japanese Patent No. 3330574, or a viewing angle compensation plate prepared by stacking the A-plate and the C-plate as disclosed in Publication of Japanese Patent No. 3027805.
As shown, the inventions disclosed in the publications of Japanese Patent No. 3330574 and No. 3027805 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-19518 have proposed the respective optical compensation plates which are configured based on the principle of the viewing angle compensation means provided to the liquid crystal display of vertical alignment type disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 7-69536 and are further improved by setting certain viewing angle compensation conditions.
Here, Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 7-69536 does not specifically discuss the product of the birefringence of the liquid crystal and the cell thickness, namely, the retardation of the liquid crystal layer. In this regard, the publications of Japanese Patent No. 3330574 and No. 3027805 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-19518 each disclose that the advantageous effect can be obtained within a certain range of retardation values. Specifically, the publications of Japanese Patent No. 3330574 and No. 3027805 disclose that the retardation value of the liquid crystal layer is advantageously in the range of from 80 nm to 400 nm. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-19518 discloses that the retardation value of the liquid crystal layer is advantageously in the range of from 300 nm to 550 nm.
Since the liquid crystal displays disclosed in the publications of Japanese Patent No. 3330574 and No. 3027805 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-19518 are active matrix type liquid crystal displays that are typically represented by TFT-LCDs, the retardation values are specifically limited as described above. In other words, the above-referenced publications do not consider cases in which a liquid crystal layer in liquid crystal display has a larger retardation value.

Liquid crystal display comprising a biaxial plate and a C-plate


A filter device for filtering a gas flow, especially for filtering the gases produced by a gas generator for an impact protection cushion, comprises a filter element exhibiting several filter material plies of varying permeability lying in series in the flow direction. The filter element is fashioned as a wrapped member produced by winding up a length of filter material. The length of filter material has sectionally different filter materials, preferably wire mesh of differing mesh widths and metal fiber mats. A wrapped member is formed by winding up this filter material web, the wrapping plies of which consist of different materials with varying filter effects. This filter element wrap is inserted, for example, in the annular interspace between the two tubes of a double-tube gas generator. Owing to the rising pressure of the gas to be cleaned, the wrapped member is compacted with the consequence that its filtering function is improved.

This invention relates to a filter device for filtering a gas flow, especially for filtering the gas produced by a preferably round or tubular gas generator for an impact protection cushion of a vehicle, with a filter element through which the gas can flow and which exhibits several layers of filter material of differing permeability following one another in the flow direction.
Impact protection cushions for protecting the occupants of automotive vehicles (such collision protection devices being also called "airbag" systems) are filled, in case of need, by pressurized gases produced during the combustion of a gas-releasing charge in a gas generator. In order to retain slag formed during combustion of the gas-releasing material and to cool the slag as well as the combustion gases, the gases flow through a filter element arranged in the gas generator. The filter element consists of several layers of filter material of differing permeability succeeding one another in the flow direction. Wire mesh of varying mesh widths and fine filter mats of metal fibers are utilized as the filter element and/or filter element plies. In case of round and tubular gas generators, the individual wire mesh plies of the filter element exhibit tubular, cup, ring, or hat shapes of varying diameters. The individual thus-formed wire mesh fabrics or fine filter mats are prefabricated as individual cylinders or shaped articles and then assembled. The manufacture of a filter element having this structure is relatively expensive and thus uneconomical.


A method and apparatus for trimming a reference cell in a semiconductor memory device are provided. The method includes generating an internal bias current capable of being trimmed, and trimming the reference cell based on the internal bias current. The semiconductor memory device includes a reference cell in which a reference cell current flows between a drain and a source based on a bias voltage, an internal bias current generator configured to generate an internal bias current capable of being trimmed, and a trimming circuit configured to trim the reference cell based on the internal bias current.

Conventional semiconductor memory devices, for example, flash memory devices compare a current of a reference cell with a current of a memory cell using a sense amplifier, and use the results of the comparison to identify whether the memory cell is a program cell or an erase cell. Conventionally, when programming memory cells in a flash memory device, programming and verifying a reference cell in the flash memory device (hereinafter, referred to as "reference cell trimming") may be needed to adjust a program voltage of the reference cell to a desired level. Such reference cell trimming may be performed by manufacturing engineers during fabrication of conventional flash memory devices.
FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a conventional method for trimming a reference cell in a semiconductor memory device. Referring to FIG. 1, in the conventional method, reference cell trimming may be performed using a bias current (or a bias voltage) input from a tester via an input/output (I/O) pad in the semiconductor memory device.
At S110, automatic trimming is performed on the reference cell. For example, the reference cell may be erased and programmed based on a given program bias voltage at S112. The reference cell may be implemented in the form of a transistor in which a source-drain current (hereinafter, referred to as a "reference cell current") flows based on the program bias voltage. For example, a given bias voltage greater than a bias voltage applied to a source region may be applied to a drain region and a gate of the reference cell to program the reference cell. At S114, the programmed reference cell may be verified based on an external bias current input from a tester. For example, the reference cell current may be compared with the external bias current and completion of the verification of the reference cell may be determined based on a result of the comparison. The programming and verification of the reference cell may be repeated until the reference cell current is within a given error range of the external bias current.
The programming and verification may be automatically performed in the semiconductor memory device and referred to as automatic trimming (e.g., S112 and S114).
At S120, a tester measures the reference cell current flowing in the reference cell. When the reference cell current measured by the tester is within the given error range of the external bias current at S130, the reference cell trimming terminates.
Returning to S130, if the reference cell current measured by the tester is not within the given error range of the external bias current, the tester may perform manual trimming of the reference cell at S140. When manually trimming, the reference cell of the semiconductor memory device may be programmed based on a program bias voltage (e.g., a voltage applied to the source, the gate, and the drain of the reference cell) supplied by the tester at S142, and the reference cell current of the programmed reference cell may be measured by the tester at S144. When the measured reference cell current has a requested current value (e.g., when the measured reference cell current is within a given error range of the external bias current) at S146, the manual trimming terminates. Returning to step S146, when the measured reference cell current is not within the given error range, the manual trimming may be repeated. The manual trimming may be repeated by changing the program bias current supplied by the tester.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a conventional semiconductor memory device 200 for performing the reference cell trimming illustrated in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 2, the semiconductor memory device 200 may include a reference cell 210, an I/O pad 215, a first comparator 220 and a voltage supply controller 230. During automatic trimming of the reference cell 210, the reference cell 210 may be programmed based on a bias voltage Vpg1 supplied by the voltage supply controller 230.
A reference cell current Iref1 may flow between a drain and a source of the reference cell 210 based on the bias voltage Vpg1. The first comparator 220 may compare an external bias current Ix input via the I/O pad 215 with the reference cell current Iref1 and output a comparison signal ST. The voltage supply controller 230 receives the comparison signal ST and may supply the bias voltage Vpg1 to the reference cell 210 based on the comparison signal ST.
In the conventional reference trimming in a conventional semiconductor memory device, a parasitic component may cause errors when the external bias current is supplied by the tester during the automatic trimming, which may decrease accuracy of the automatic trimming. In addition, to measure the reference cell current of each of a plurality of reference cells in the conventional semiconductor memory device during manual trimming, a parametric measure unit (PMU) in the tester may individually contact each reference cell, and thus, trimming test time for the reference cells in the semiconductor memory device may increase.

Methods and apparatuses for trimming reference cells in semiconductor memory devices


A semiconductor device includes: a Through Silicon Via (TSV) region extending in a first direction and crossing a center portion of a semiconductor device; a plurality of cell regions disposed at both sides of the TSV region in a second direction crossing the first direction; a plurality of peripheral circuit regions each disposed between the TSV region and a corresponding cell region or between two neighboring cell regions in the first direction; a plurality of test pad regions each disposed at an edge portion of the semiconductor device and having a plurality of test pads, wherein the plurality of test pad regions encloses the cell regions, the peripheral circuit regions, and the TSV region; and a reservoir capacitor disposed below corresponding test pads in a test pad regions.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a semiconductor device, and more particularly to a semiconductor device including a reservoir capacitor.
Generally, a semiconductor device such as a DRAM includes a large number of small elements and generates an internal voltage to operate these elements. For example, various power sources are used to operate capacitors in a cell region and semiconductor elements in other regions that include a peripheral circuit region. When power sources supply voltages to the semiconductor elements, the supplied voltages may have unstable levels because of noise included therein. A reservoir capacitor may be used to reduce such noise and stabilize the supply of a power voltage and/or a ground voltage.
Typically, a reservoir capacitor is disposed in a peripheral circuit region of a semiconductor device and includes a plurality of Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (MOS) transistors, each of which includes a gate, a source, and a drain. A source and a drain of a MOS transistor are electrically coupled to each other and form one end of a MOS capacitor so that the MOS transistor acts as the MOS capacitor.
A MOS capacitor includes a gate oxide film that has superior inner pressure characteristics when a voltage is applied to both ends of the MOS capacitor. Assuming that there is sufficient space for forming capacitors in a peripheral circuit region, MOS capacitors can be formed in the peripheral circuit region when MOS transistors are formed in a cell region. That is, the MOS capacitors disposed in the peripheral circuit region and the MOS transistors disposed in the cell region can be formed in the same process. Thus, a fabrication process of a semiconductor device can be simplified.
However, as the integration degree of a semiconductor device increases, the integration degree of the peripheral circuit region also increases. As a result, the size of a region in which a reservoir capacitor including a plurality of MOS capacitors can be formed is reduced. While a MOS capacitor has superior inner pressure characteristics for a voltage applied to both ends thereof, since a MOS capacitor has low electrostatic capacitance per unit area, it is difficult to use MOS capacitors as a reservoir capacitor in a highly-integrated semiconductor device.

Semiconductor device including a reservoir capacitor


A system and method for displaying and navigating through structured content, such as a webpage, is provided. The content includes focusable elements, at least one of which is a non-enableable element that is normally not capable of gaining focus when the content is displayed in a browser or other viewing application. Navigation of the content by moving focus from one element to another includes moving the focus to the focusable, non-enableable element. The non-enableable element is defined as a focusable element by an attribute. Focusable elements may also be defined with attributes for capturing directional navigation instructions and calling event handling functions in response to detected directional navigation instructions.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to navigation of structured content on a data processing or communication device, and in particular to navigation through the movement of element focus in response to user input.
2. Description of the Related Art
Documents, such as web pages or structured documents having content encoded with structural information, may be viewable on a data processing or communication device using applications such as web browsers or other content viewing applications. When the displayable area of the content extends beyond the limits of the viewable region on the communication device display, the user may scroll through the content from top to bottom or from bottom to top using a user input interface, such as a trackball, scroll wheel, trackpad, keyboard, or the like.
Alternatively, whether the content is entirely viewable on the communication device display or not, the user may navigate through or traverse the content from one focusable element to another, according to the structural information encoded within the content. For example, the user may effectively scroll through content such as a webpage document by jumping from hyperlink to hyperlink or from anchor to anchor within the document. This type of navigation is generally linear in nature; when a user jumps from one focusable element to another, the order of elements is determined by the order of presentation defined by the content's structural information concerning the ordering of the elements rather than by the element's position on the display. As a result, the flow of navigation within the content may not coincide with the user's expectations. When the user initiates a command to shift the focus to the next focusable element, the user may expect the focus to shift to the element that is perceived to be the next logical element, whereas the content encoded structure defines a different element as the next focusable element. The rigid ordering of focusable elements within the content also limits the content developer's ability to control the user's navigation through the content.


Schottky diodes and gas sensors include a diamond layer having a Schottky contact thereon and an ohmic contact thereon, wherein the diamond layer includes a highly doped region adjacent the ohmic contact to provide a low resistance ohmic contact. Dramatically reduced frequency dependence of the capacitance/voltage characteristic of Schottky diodes and gas sensors formed thereby, compared to Schottky diodes and gas sensors which do not include the highly doped region adjacent the ohmic contact, is provided. The highly doped region is preferably boron doped at a concentration of at least 10.sup.20 atoms per cubic centimeter to form an ohmic contact with a contact resistance of less than 10.sup.-3 .OMEGA.-cm.sup.2. The ohmic contact is preferably a back contact on the face of the diamond layer opposite the Schottky contact.

Schottky diodes are widely used microelectronic devices. As is well known to those having skill in the art, a diode exhibits a very low resistance to current flow in one direction and a very high resistance to current flow in the opposite direction, thereby producing current rectification. As is also well known to those having skill in the art, a Schottky diode produces rectification as a result of nonlinear current transport across a metal-semiconductor contact.
Schottky diodes are also widely used as gas sensors. For example, a Schottky diode using a catalytic metal contact such as platinum or palladium, has been shown to be an excellent hydrogen gas sensor. In a Schottky diode, the Schottky barrier height decreases when the device is exposed to a hydrogen containing atmosphere. The hydrogen induced changes are typically detected as a modification of the capacitance voltage (C-V) or the current voltage (I-V) characteristics of the diode. See, for example, a publication entitled Use of the Electroreflectance Technique in Pt/GaAs Schottky Barrier Sensor Characterization by Lechuga et al., Sensors and Actuators, Vol. 32, pp. 354-356, 1992.
Diamond is a preferred material for semiconductor devices because it has semiconductor properties that are better than silicon, germanium or gallium arsenide. Diamond provides a higher energy bandgap, a higher breakdown voltage and a higher saturation velocity than these traditional semiconductor materials.
These properties of diamond yield a substantial increase in projected cutoff frequency and maximum operating voltage compared to devices fabricated using silicon, germanium or gallium arsenide. Silicon is typically not used at temperatures higher than about 200.degree. C. and gallium arsenide is not typically used above 300.degree. C. These temperature limitations are caused, in part, because of the relatively small energy band gaps for silicon (1.12 eV at ambient temperature) and gallium arsenide (1.42 Ev at ambient temperature). Diamond, in contrast, has a large band gap of 5.47 Ev at ambient temperature, and is thermally stable up to about 1400.degree. C.
Diamond has the highest thermal conductivity of any solid at room temperature and exhibits good thermal conductivity over a wide temperature range. The high thermal conductivity of diamond may be advantageously used to remove waste heat from an integrated circuit, particularly as integration densities increase. In addition, diamond has a smaller neutron cross-section which reduces its degradation in radioactive environments, i.e., diamond is a "radiation-hard" material.
Because of the advantages of diamond as a material for semiconductor devices, there is at present an interest in the growth and use of diamond for Schottky diodes and Schottky diode gas sensors. Unfortunately, it has been found that Schottky diodes fabricated from diamond exhibit frequency dependence of their capacitance/voltage characteristic, thereby limiting the usefulness of diamond based Schottky diodes and gas sensors.
The frequency dependent variation of the capacitance/voltage characteristic of diamond based Schottky devices has been widely investigated. See, for example, the publications entitled The C-V Characteristics of Schottky Barriers on Laboratory Grown Semiconducting Diamonds by Glover, Solid State Electronics, Vol. 16, pp. 973-983 (1973); and Electrical Characteristics of Schottky Diodes Fabricated Using Plasma Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposited Diamond Films by Gildenblat et al., Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 53, No. 7, pp. 586-588 (1986).
In these investigations, the frequency dependent variation in capacitance/voltage characteristic has been attributed to the presence of deep level states in the diamond band gap, and to the high resistivity of bulk diamond as a result of diamond's unique energy level structure. Accordingly, characterizations of Schottky contacts have heretofore assumed that the undesirable frequency dependence of the capacitance/voltage characteristic was as a result of the inherent energy level structure (i.e. the deep level states in the diamond bandgap) and high series resistance of the diamond material itself. This undesirable frequency dependence limits the usefulness of diamond based Schottky diodes and gas sensors, notwithstanding the advantages of diamond as a material for semiconductor devices, especially in high frequency or fast transient applications.

Diamond schottky diodes and gas sensors fabricated therefrom


The present invention relates to an electro-pneumatic positioner for use with a pneumatically controlled two-chamber actuator comprising a first valve unit (10) comprising a first air supply valve (14) and a first air outlet valve (37) connected to a conduit (30, 38, 50), which in turn is connectable to a chamber of the actuator, a second valve unit (12) comprising a second air supply valve (14xe2x80x2) and a second air outlet valve (37xe2x80x2) connected to a conduit (30xe2x80x2, 38xe2x80x2, 50xe2x80x2), which in turn is connected to a second chamber of the actuator; a first control device (60, 74) acting on the first air supply valve, which first control device comprises a first control valve (60); a second control device (60xe2x80x2, 76) acting on the said second air supply valve, which second control device comprises a second control valve (60xe2x80x2). The invention is characterized in that said first control device further comprises a first air supply means (74) able of supplying pressurized air to said first air supply valve (14) and that said first control valve (60) acts on and controls said first air supply means (74); that said second control device further comprises a second air supply means (76) able of supplying pressurized air to said second air supply valve (14xe2x80x2) and that said second control valve (60xe2x80x2) acts on and controls said second air supply means (76); that said first air supply means (74) is able of supplying air to said second air outlet valve (37xe2x80x2), and that said second air supply means (76) is able of supplying air to said first air outlet valve (37).

The present invention relates to an electro-pneumatic positioner for use with a pneumatically controlled two-chamber actuator comprising a first valve unit comprising a first air supply valve and a first air outlet valve connected to a conduit, which in turn is connected to a chamber of the actuator, a second valve unit comprising a second air supply valve and a second air outlet valve connected to a conduit, which in turn is connected to a second chamber of the actuator; a first control device acting on the first air supply valve, which first control device comprises a first control valve; a second control device acting on the said second air supply valve, which second control device comprises a second control valve.
Positioners are widely used in many applications, such as controlling the opening degree of valves in different processes. With these pressurised fluid is controlled and directed to the chambers of an actuator, often in the form of a cylinder/piston arrangement.
In recent years so called electro-pneumatic positioners have come in use. These often comprise piezo-electrical valves controlling the flow of pressurised air through the positioner in response to electrical signals to the piezo-electrical valves.
One type of electro-pneumatic positioner is described in patent document DE 196 35 368. The positioner comprises two main valve units, each comprising a main air supply valve and a main air outlet valve. Each unit is in communication with a respective chamber of an actuator. Each valve unit is controlled by a piezo-electrical control valve acting on a switch valve in the main air supply valve. As shown in the drawing of the patent, air via the control valve acts directly on the switch valve.
Further in order to have a simplified function of the positioner, a type of cross-connection is made, whereby the main outlet air valve of the first valve unit is controlled by air taken from the switch valve of the further main air supply valve and that the main outlet air valve of the further valve unit is taken from the switch valve of the first main air supply valve. With this cross-connection only two piezo-electrical valves are required to control two supply valves and two outlet valves, thus simplifying the overall design and reducing the manufacturing costs.
One major drawback with the solution according to DE 196 35 368 is that, as mentioned above, the piezo-electrical valve acts directly on the membrane of the air supply valve. Since the air pressure of the air supply is small, in the order of 1-1.5 bar, and the air orifices in the piezo valve are rather small in order for the valve to be able to close, the air flow will consequently be small, typically in the order of 1.5 1/min. This rather small air flow acting on the membrane of the air supply valve gives rise to a slow reaction of the supply valve in response to an opening of the piezo-electrical valve. This also puts a restraint on the size of the valve openings in the air supply valve.
Another drawback with the positioner according to DE 196 35 368 is that the pressurised air for controlling the air outlet valves is taken from the outlet of the air supply valves. This means in practice that there probably is a certain delay in the system. If for instance the positioner is to activate one side of the actuator, one of the piezo-electrical valves opens and provides air to the air supply valve of one of the valve units, which in turn opens a passage for the process air supply, e. g. an air compressor, which is led to one chamber of the actuator. This process air supply is further led to the air outlet valve of the other valve unit. Since there is a certain sequential activation of the valves a delay might be obtained.
Another disadvantage with working directly with the process air is that the pressure is known to fluctuate somewhat. Due to these fluctuations in pressure the controlling force on the air outlet valves fluctuate also, which means unpredictable variations in control characteristics.
The aim of the present invention is to provide a positioner which remedies the above problems, which provides a positioner with better performance and faster and more reliable control characteristics.
In this context it is to be understood that the word positioner comprises both positioners able of positioning an actuator at any position along its stroke as well as positioning an actuator at its end positions, i e a sort of on-off function.
According to one aspect of the invention this aim is obtained by a positioner according to the preamble of patent claim 1 characterised in that said first control device further comprises a first air supply means able of supplying pressurised air to said first air supply valve and that said first control valve acts on and controls said first air supply means; that said second control device further comprises a second air supply means able of supplying pressurised air to said second air supply valve and that said second control valve acts on and controls said second air supply means; that said first air supply means is able of supplying air to said second air outlet valve, and that said second air supply means is able of supplying air to said first air outlet valve. According to another aspect of the invention, it is characterised in that the air flow rate that the air supply means are able of supplying are substantially larger than the air flow rate that the control valve is able of supplying in order to control the air supply means.
There are several benefits with the invention. By using an air supply means controlled by the control valve, much larger air flow rates are obtainable for controlling the valves of the positioner, than with positioners according to the state of the art, where the air flow from the control valve was used directly to control the valves of the positioner. That becomes especially noticeable with piezo-electrical control valves, which only can cope with airflow rates in the order of 0.5 1/min. One of the benefits with a larger air flow rate is that the response time for the positioner valves is greatly reduced, providing a quicker reaction of the positioner upon a control signal.
Further with the larger air flow rates, the power obtainable for controlling the valves of the positioner is increased, i e larger membrane and piston areas may be used, thereby providing for the possibility of having larger openings in the valves with maintained valve performance and characteristics. These larger openings reduce the risk of particles in the pressurised air depositing inside the valve and disrupting the function.
Preferably the pressurised air that the air supply means obtains from the air supply source has passed a pressure regulator valve. In doing this a predictable pressure level is obtained for controlling the valves, which is important in order to achieve reliable and predictable characteristics of the positioner and thus the actuator.
These and other aspects of, and advantages with, the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.


A system and method are provided for selecting, from among a plurality of attachment schemes, an attachment scheme which is appropriate for embedding information in digital data, attaching information representing the selected attachment scheme to the digital data using a predetermined attachment scheme, and attaching arbitrary information such as copyright information or user information to the digital data using the selected attachment scheme.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method, an apparatus, and a system for processing information by attaching information to digital data (such as data representing a document, an image, or music) to protect a copyright of the digital data, to protect the digital data from being counterfeited, and to manage the digital data, and also relates to a storage medium storing a computer-readable program to carry out the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Due to rapid advances in computers and computer networks, a diversity of digital data, such as document data, image data, and audio data, is handled by computers and computer networks. Since such digital data is easily copied, copyright of the digital data is frequently violated. Copyright information and user information are occasionally embedded using a digital watermark technique, without drawing attention to them, in a manner such that those items of information are not recognized either in vision or by hearing. In this way, a user of the digital data can extract the copyright information from the digital data, and can examine the copyright information to determine whether the digital data has been distributed by an unauthorized third party. A copyright holder of the digital data can extract the user information from the digital data, and can examine the user information to determine whether the digital data has been illegally obtained by the user.
A first requirement of the digital watermark technique is that the digital watermark embedded in the digital data go unnoticed by the senses of human beings. In other words, a digital watermark must be embedded without degrading the quality of the original digital data (quality).
A second requirement of the digital watermark is that the embedded digital watermark remain embedded. Even if the digital data is edited, for example, compressed or filter processed, the embedded digital watermark must not be lost (robustness).
A third requirement of the digital watermark is that the amount of information of the digital watermark to be embedded into the digital data be selected depending on the application of the digital data (the amount of information).
The three requirements imposed on the digital watermark are mutually traded-off with respect to each other.
For example, a scheme of digital watermarking that embeds information with a sufficient robustness suffers from a relatively large quality degradation, and the amount of information embedded becomes small.
Schemes of digital watermarking that embed the digital watermark in multi-level digital data representing still image are divided into two major types. In one type, a digital watermark is embedded in a spatial area, and in the other type, a digital watermark is embedded in a frequency domain.
The scheme of embedding the digital watermark into a spatial area of the digital data is not so much degraded in quality, but is less robust. The scheme of embedding the digital watermark in the frequency domain of the digital data suffers from a significant quality degradation, but is more robust. Among the various schemes of embedding the digital watermark in a spatial area of the digital data and the schemes of embedding the digital watermark in the frequency domain of the digital data, some are robust but the amount of information embeddable is small, and others suffer less from quality degradation but are less robust.
It is difficult for a copyright holder of digital data to select an appropriate embedding scheme for a digital watermark in the digital data from among numerous schemes.
The scheme used in embedding the digital watermark is related to a scheme of extracting the digital watermark in one-to-one correspondence, and is generally incompatible with another scheme.
If an individual is not aware of the type of scheme through which information is attached to the digital data, the information cannot be extracted from the digital data.

Method, apparatus, and system for processing information by attaching information to digital data, and storage medium storing computer-readable program codes to carry out the method


A spool of traverse wound double-sided PSA tape and method of making same. The PSA tape includes an adhesive body with an upper adhesive surface releasably adhered to a bottom side of a release liner having a release value. At least one reinforcing strand is disposed longitudinally through the adhesive body. The PSA tape is traverse wound onto a core in successive winding layers with each successive winding layer producing an outer winding layer with the bottom side of its adhesive body crossing at an angle over the top side of the release liner of a preceding inner winding layer. The tensile strength of the at least one reinforcing strand is greater than a Resistance Bond of the outer winding layer to the preceding inner winding layer.

Double-sided pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) tape, as the name implies, is a tape strip with adhesive surface on both sides and is used for bonding or joining items back-to-back. Double-sided PSA tape is well known and is used in a variety of consumer and commercial applications.
As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, conventional double-sided PSA tape 10, comprises an adhesive body 12 having an adhesive upper surface "A" and an adhesive lower surface "B". The tape 10 also includes a removable release liner 14 which serves to protect the upper surface "A" of the adhesive body 12 until the release liner 14 is removed prior to use. As best illustrated in FIG. 2A, the release liner 14 has a top release coating "C" and a bottom release coating "D" with the edges 22 of the release liner 14 being uncoated. The top and bottom release coatings C, D typically have different release values (discussed later).
Conventionally, double-sided PSA tape 10 is distributed as a disk 16 (also referred to as "pancakes") in which the PSA tape strip is spiral wound around a core 18 (approximately the same width as the release liner 14), with the lower adhesive surface B of each successive spiral winding overlying the release liner 14 of the previous spiral winding, thereby producing a spiral wound "disk" or "pancake" with the release liner 14 acting as a separator between each spiral layer. In use, the disk 16 is rotatably supported on a shaft extending through the core 18 permitting the disk 16 to rotate as the tape 10 is unwound as it is being applied to the intended article. As the tape 10 is unwound, the release liner 14 remains adhered to the upper surface A of the adhesive body 12 for protection of the adhesive until the release line 14 is purposefully removed prior to use.
To ensure that the release liner 14 remains adhered to the upper surface A of the adhesive body during the unwinding process, the bottom release coating D of the release liner 14 typically has a higher release value (i.e., a "tighter release") than the top release coating C having a lower release value (i.e., an "easier release"). Thus, when the tape 10 is pulled to unwind it from the disk 16, the lower surface B of the adhesive body 12 will readily pull away from the "easier release" top release coating C of the release liner 14 of the previous spiral winding, while the upper surface A of the adhesive body 12 remains adhered to the "tighter release" bottom release coating D of the release liner 14.
It should be appreciated that for commercial applications, the diameter of the spiral wound disks 16 can be quite large because the commercial user desires the maximum lineal feet of tape 10 on each disk to minimize downtime associated with swapping out spent or used disks with new disks.
Others have attempted to produce traverse wound spools of double-sided PSA tape because it is well recognized that a spool of traverse wound tape will provide more continuous linear feet of tape than is feasible with a spiral wound disk. FIG. 3 illustrates a traverse wound spool 20 of double-sided PSA tape. It should be appreciated that with any traverse wound spool of double-sided PSA tape, the outer winding layer of tape will cross over the previously wound inner winding layer at an oblique angle.
FIGS. 4-7 (discussed separately below) illustrate different prior art cross-sectional embodiments of the PSA tape 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D which others have attempted to use to produce traverse wound spools. As explained in more detail below, the PSA tape embodiment 10A can result in catastrophic failures during the unwinding process and therefore is not a suitable solution and while the embodiments of the PSA tape 10B, 10C and 10D may serve the intended purpose, they are costly to produce.
FIG. 4 illustrates a cross-section of one embodiment of an unreinforced double-sided PSA tape 10A as viewed along lines 4-5 of FIG. 3. Referring to FIG. 8, which is intended to represent a partial cross-sectional view of the spool 20 as viewed along line 8-8 of FIG. 3, it should be appreciated that the unreinforced adhesive body 12 of the outer winding layer L2 will come into contact with and bond to the uncoated edges 22 of the release liner 14 of the inner winding layer L1 resulting in "Edge Bonding". As illustrated in FIG. 8A, when unwinding the outer winding layer L2 from the inner winding layer L1, because the adhesive body 12 is unreinforced, if the strength of the Edge Bonding is greater than the release value of the bottom release coating D of the release liner 14, the adhesive body 12 of the outer winding layer L2 will begin to pull away from the release liner 14 of the outer winding layer L2. Eventually, as the tape 10A continues to unwind, the unreinforced adhesive body 12 will eventually completely separate from the release liner 14 as shown in FIG. 8B. At some point, the unreinforced adhesive body 12 will eventually tear causing the severed adhesive body 12 to remain behind as the release liner 14 continues to unwind resulting in a catastrophic failure of the unwinding process. If such a catastrophic failure occurs, the unwinding process has to be stopped, the tape cut, and the spool must typically be discarded as unusable resulting in lost productivity and loss of part of the tape spool.
FIG. 5 illustrates a cross-section of another embodiment of double-sided PSA tape 10B as viewed along lines 5-5 of FIG. 3. In this embodiment, the tape 10B includes a "scrim" layer 24 disposed in the middle of the adhesive body 12. The scrim layer 24 may comprise a thin plastic film, paper or non-woven material. To produce the double-sided PSA tape 10B having a scrim layer 24, a first adhesive layer is applied onto a wide disposable release liner across its full width. A wide scrim layer 24 is then applied over the top surface of the first adhesive layer. A second layer of adhesive 28 is then applied across the full width of the scrim layer 24. The multi-layered adhesive body is then slit into the desired finished adhesive width, and the top release liner 24 is then applied onto the top surface of the second adhesive layer. The disposable release liner is then removed leaving the scrim reinforced adhesive body 12 with the top release liner 14 as illustrated in FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 9, which is intended to represent a partial cross-sectional view of the spool 20 as viewed along line 9-9 of FIG. 3, it should be appreciated that the lower or first adhesive layer 26 of the outer winding layer L2 will still come into contact with and bond to the uncoated edges 22 of the release liner 14 of the inner winding layer L1 resulting in Edge Bonding. However, the scrim layer 24 serves to reinforce the adhesive body prevent the type of catastrophic failure described above which may occur with unreinforced adhesive bodies. However, as explained above, the addition of a scrim layer 24 requires a multi-step process for producing the tape thereby significantly increases the cost of manufacturing the tape.
FIG. 6 illustrates a cross-section of another embodiment of double-sided PSA tape 10C as viewed along lines 6-6 of FIG. 3. This embodiment is disclosed in JP63199147 and is substantially the same as the tape embodiment 10B of FIGS. 5 and 9, except that the scrim layer 24 is significantly wider than the adhesive body 12. Referring to FIG. 10, which is intended to represent a partial cross-sectional view of the spool 20 as viewed along line 10-10 of FIG. 3, it should be appreciated that the lower or first adhesive layer 26 of the outer winding layer L2 will still come into contact with and bond to the uncoated edges 22 of the release liner 14 of the inner winding layer L1 resulting in Edge Bonding. But, like the previously described embodiment, the wide scrim layer 24 serves to reinforce the adhesive body 12 to prevent the type of catastrophic failures that can occur with the unreinforced adhesive tape 10A. However, this embodiment suffers from the same high cost and complexity of production as the previously described tape embodiment 10B.
One attempt to overcome the problem of Edge Bonding when traverse winding PSA tape is disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication No. US2010/0119803 to Kosaka et al. (the "Kosaka Publication"). In the Kosaka Publication, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the double-sided adhesive tape 10D includes a second release liner 30 adhered to the lower adhesive surface B of the adhesive body 12. FIG. 11 is a partial cross-sectional view of the tape 10D as viewed along line 11-11 of FIG. 3. It should be appreciated that the bottom release liner 30 substantially prevents Edge Bonding from occurring because the adhesive body does not come into contact with the uncoated edges of the release liner. While the use of a second release liner 30 over the lower adhesive surface B may avoid the problems associated with Edge Bonding, such a solution significantly increases the cost of production in the same manner as the tape embodiments 10B and 10C. For example, to produce the tape 10D having a bottom release liner 30, the bottom release liner 30 is first laid down. A hot-melt adhesive (or other desired adhesive) is deposited onto the upper surface of the bottom release liner 30. The wide upper release liner 14 is then placed onto the top surface of the adhesive body 12. Once the adhesive body is suitably cured, it is then traverse wound onto the core 18 to form the spool 20 as shown in FIG. 3. However, it should be appreciated that before the PSA tape 10D can be applied to an item, the bottom release liner 30 must be removed to expose the bottom surface B of the adhesive body 12. Accordingly, the user must modify its process and equipment used to apply the tape in order to remove and wind the bottom release liner 30 as part of the unwinding process in order to expose the bottom surface B of the adhesive body 12 prior to applying the tape 10D to the item. Accordingly, with the additional material costs of the bottom release liner and the additional steps associated with removal of the bottom release liner prior to use, the tape 10D is not a suitable solution.
Accordingly, there remains a long felt but unresolved need for a more economical solution for producing a transverse wound double-sided PSA tape which overcomes the problems associated with the prior art due to Edge Bonding of unreinforced adhesive bodies but which is more economical to produce than current methods of producing reinforced adhesive bodies.

Traverse wound double-sided pressure sensitive adhesive tape


A radiographic three dimensional imaging apparatus capable of focusing on a center of rotation point, includes at least two gamma ray detectors, each having a radiation input face, with each detector positioned on a linear path, wherein each detector is movable along the detector's linear path, while simultaneously swiveling to maintain the detector's input face towards the rotation point. The apparatus allows for organ-targeted tomography as a virtual center of rotation can be placed arbitrarily with respect to a patient, constrained only by the physical limits of the detector motion.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to imaging systems and more particularly to three dimensional imaging systems for use in nuclear medicine.
2. Description of Background Art
Multiple gamma ray cameras often are used in nuclear medicine to generate high quality three dimensional images for clinical studies such as brain studies, heart studies, total body, bone and other diagnostic studies, using SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography), or PET (Positron Emission Tomography). One challenge in this field is to provide a three dimensional imaging apparatus for multiple cameras and/or camera movements to allow for high patient throughput for both economic and therapeutic reasons. Diagnosis cost is reduced if more patients can be tested per unit time. For very ill patients or patients in intensive care the time for image acquisition should be minimized in the interests of patient health and comfort.
Accordingly, a variety of gantries, gamma detector types and detector orbital movements have been exploited. Modern gamma ray cameras utilize detectors, such as Anger cameras, that have a wide field of view to allow imaging the full width of the body of a patient at each angular view or stop without requiring rectilinear scanning. These detectors generally use thick lead collimators to acquire projection data. The collimators often are positioned close to the patient to generate high resolution images. The image data acquired by the detectors are processed by a computer to reconstruct a tomographic image. Techniques for processing image data are well-known and described, for example, in "Principles of Instrumentation in SPECT" by Robert Eisner, Journal of Nuclear Medicine, Vol. 13, #1, Mar. 1985, pp. 23-31; Computed Tomography in Nuclear Medicine" by John Keyes, (chapter in) Computer Methods, C. V. Mosley, St. Louis, 1977, pp. 130-138; and "Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography," by Bernard Oppenheim and Robert Appledown, (chapter in) Effective Use of Computers in Nuclear Medicine, Michael Gelfand and Stephen Thomas, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York 1988, pp. 31-74.
To facilitate faster detection time, dual-head systems with detectors oriented at a fixed angle of 180°, and triple-head systems, with three detectors oriented at fixed angles of 120° have been used, particularly for SPECT gamma ray imaging. Further, detectors on a gantry may rotate about the patient, thereby defining a lateral axis as the mechanical axis of rotation aligned with a computer matrix for reconstructing the SPECT images.
Acquisition of data for a total body scan typically involves movement of detector(s) along the patient's body and dual head or triple head systems allow shortened time via simultaneous data capture. However, high quality images require angular sampling of data over typically at least 180 degrees around the focal point of an imaging apparatus. Thus, a high-quality SPECT for brain, bone, or liver studies for example, generally requires a view taken along a complete 360 degree circle (360° scan) around the body of the patient. Typically, about 64 to 128 angular views or stops are required to acquire the image data, using a single detector. For cardiac SPECT imaging, typically at least 32 stops over a 180 degree arc about the patient's body (180° scan) may be required.
Generally, rotating gantries are used that move detector(s) within an orbit, allowing multiple positions for the same detector(s). See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,242,743; 5,757,006, and see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,652,759; 4,652,758; 4,645,933, 6,184,530 and 4,613,122, the contents of which are incorporated by reference in their entireties. Unfortunately, large rotating gantries in particular, such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,184,530, generally require heavy drive gear rings and other parts and tend towards large gantries, which makes the overall apparatus quite large and less open to the patient.

Open limited orbiting tomographic imaging system


A vibration sensor (1) for monitoring the state of rotating components or bearings, includes a housing (2), a sensor element (3), evaluation electronics (4), and at least one interface (5, 6). With the vibration sensor (1), reliable monitoring of the state of rotating components and bearings can be done easily and economically, and in addition the vibration sensor can be easily operated. The evaluation electronics (4) has an analog-to-digital converter (7), and a signal conditioning device (8) having a plurality of signals, which have been acquired by the sensor element (3), and which are converted into a state value using signal analysis and a diagnosis algorithm.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vibration sensor for monitoring the state of rotating components or bearings, with a sensor element, with evaluation electronics and with at least one interface. In addition the invention also relates to a process for monitoring the state of rotating components or bearings with a vibration sensor which has a sensor element and evaluation electronics.
2. Description of Related Art
In mechanical engineering and plant engineering there are a host of machines and systems which each have rotating components, generally a shaft. The shaft is supported via a bearing, especially a roller bearing, in the stationary housing of the machine or equipment. Depending on the embodiment, the inside ring or the outside ring of the bearing being movably arranged, while then accordingly the inside ring or the outside ring is supported to be stationary. Problem-free serviceability of the bearing, as the force-transmitting component in motion, is decisive for the serviceability of the machine or system. Due to high dynamic and static loads in operation and as a result of structural limitations, the bearing often constitutes the "Achilles heel" of the machine or system. Thus, bearing defects are by far the most frequent cause of failure for electrical drives.
For this reason, there are a host of various sensors and methods for monitoring the state and for detection of bearing damage. In addition to measuring the temperature of the bearing and analyzing the bearing lubricants, especially of the bearing oil, mainly vibration-diagnostic methods are used to assess the state of the bearing. Using an acceleration sensor, the solid-borne noise signal of the bearing which is to be monitored on the machine surface is detected and analyzed. In doing so, however, simple characteristic values of the vibration signal, such as the effective value, the peak value or the quantitative average, do not allow reliable conclusions about the state of the monitored bearing. In particular, for early detection of damage, these characteristic values are completely unsuited. This is also due especially to complex operating conditions and to the host of bearings, which can be used, and which are used with their different dimensions and characteristic values.
Reliable early diagnoses of bearing damage or unbalanced masses of rotating components is therefore only possible with comprehensive evaluation of the high frequency signals delivered by the vibration sensor in the range up to a few kilohertz. The evaluation of these high frequency signals generally takes place using spectral signal analysis. In this way, it is not only possible to draw a conclusion regarding whether a bearing is intact or damaged, but a conclusion can also be drawn about the type of damage. Likewise a conclusion can be drawn about the expected remaining service life of the bearing. Although it is thus possible by measurement engineering to detect varied damage early, vibration sensors for monitoring the state of rotating components or bearings are used only rarely in practice.
The prior art in industrial monitoring of bearings is limited, on the one hand, to intermittent measurement with hand measuring instruments, and on the other hand, to the use of relatively expensive central measurement systems, which as a result of high procurement costs are feasible only for monitoring of high-value machines, such as turbines or large gear trains. Intermittent measurement with hand measuring instruments has the disadvantage that continuous checking of the state of the bearing does not take place, so that reliable early diagnosis of damage is not possible. Moreover, as a result of the different operating conditions, it is only possible with difficulty to draw a reliable conclusion about the state of the bearing from the different measured values. To do this, the corresponding expert know-how is necessary, resulting in high personnel expenditure and high costs.
In the implementation of a central measurement system, as a result of the large number of data to be evaluated, on the one hand, the cabling of the individual vibration sensors to the central data processing systems is complex, and on the other hand, due to the real time capacity, which is often required, very high demands are imposed on the central data processing system. In this case, the central data processing system for reasons of safety in addition is often having to be made redundant. But even with the use of a correspondingly powerful and high-speed data processing system, due to the large number of data to be evaluated, the number of sensors, which can be connected to the data processing system, is very limited, if the individual sensors are to be evaluated in real time and not only in a multiplexed process. Because the individual sensors must be connected to the central data processing system via separate lines, such a central measurement system has an expansion capacity, which is made very limited or has none at all. Thus, planning of a central measurement system requires thorough preparation, and machines and sensors, which may have to be added at a later time, having to be taken into account at the same time in the planning.

Vibration sensor and method for monitoring the condition of rotating components and bearings


A game is divided into a plurality of charged playing sections which a player can play by paying a point and the thus divided charged playing sections are set. Game cards to which proper passwords are respectively assigned are distributed. The password is transmitted from a game playing terminal to a server, and the point corresponding to the password is set by the server. At this time, data comprising an image of a present item usable in the game is downloaded into the game playing terminal. In the game playing terminal, the image of the present item is produced and is displayed, and the server controls for allowing the player to play the charged playing section within bounds of the point which has been set on the account.

Such a game playing form is known that money is paid by a credit card and a game playing terminal is connected with a server through a communication line so as to enjoy a game within a predetermined time meeting paid money.
Applicant is not aware of documents to be disclosed as prior art where such a game playing form is systematically described.
When using charged system with credit cards, people who can not possess credit cards, such as children and persons under age, do not become players of games, which may lead to weakening of the whole game market since many people can not enjoy games.
In order to smoothly operate the charged system, registering operation to the server is inevitable for a player, but such a registering operation is generally troublesome for a player. Then, a method of controlling a game for giving a player a motivation for being willing to register is desired to be developed.
When controlling the game to be executed in such a game playing terminal by the server through the communication line, such as the Internet and a telephone line, measures for preventing some gamemanias from taking an unfairly action, such as altering card data should be taken.
Then, the method of controlling a game for being willing to register to the server for a player without using credit cards is desired to be developed.
Besides, the method of controlling a game where altering of card data is difficult is desired to be developed.

Method for managing game using communication line


In an embodiment, a processor includes multiple domains including a core domain having at least one core to execute instructions and a graphics domain including at least one graphics engine to perform graphics operations and a power controller to control power consumption of the processor. The power controller may include a logic to receive an indication of a priority domain of the domains and to dynamically allocate power to the domains based on a power limit, one or more maximum domain frequency requests, and the priority domain indication. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Advances in semiconductor processing and logic design have permitted an increase in the amount of logic that may be present on integrated circuit devices. As a result, computer system configurations have evolved from a single or multiple integrated circuits in a system to multiple hardware threads, multiple cores, multiple devices, and/or complete systems on individual integrated circuits. Additionally, as the density of integrated circuits has grown, the power requirements for computing systems (from embedded systems to servers) have also escalated. Furthermore, software inefficiencies, and its requirements of hardware, have also caused an increase in computing device energy consumption. In fact, some studies indicate that computing devices consume a sizeable percentage of the entire electricity supply for a country, such as the United States of America. As a result, there is a vital need for energy efficiency and conservation associated with integrated circuits. These needs will increase as servers, desktop computers, notebooks, Ultrabooks™, tablets, mobile phones, processors, embedded systems, etc. become even more prevalent (from inclusion in the typical computer, automobiles, and televisions to biotechnology).
In a computer platform, both a processor's voltage regulator and a platform power supply have peak instantaneous power delivery constraints to be managed in order to ensure stable operation. In some systems, each individual voltage regulator is sized for peak power consumption of individual voltage rails such as processor cores and graphics engines. Similarly, the platform power supply is sized for the peak power demand of the sum of all voltage rails. Yet sizing the input power delivery system (including platform power supply) to supply the sum of peak power on all voltage rails is a significant over-design of real peak power demand during real workload operation.
However, allocating power to individual rails using a fixed allocation scheme can result in significant performance losses as workload power delivery demand on each rail shifts. Furthermore, on a processor with a single input voltage rail and several on-die integrated voltage rails, there is not an easy option to manage allocation of peak power to each of the on-die voltage rails.

Dynamic balancing of power across a plurality of processor domains according to power policy control bias