Working efficiency is improved without wasted activity of vehicles by enabling prompt change of a travel route at a time when it becomes necessary to change the travel route of a vehicle. A monitor station changes a worksite towards which a vehicle should travel from a worksite 60a to a worksite 60axe2x80x2 on the basis of a result of monitoring current positions of a plurality of vehicles and current status of a plurality of worksites. At the same time, the monitor station provides data for the travel route from the current positions of the vehicles to the changed worksite 60a to the vehicles. Upon receiving the data for the travel route from the monitor station, the vehicles then travel along the travel route from their current positions to the changed worksite 60axe2x80x2.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle control system for managing vehicles travelling toward a worksite.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to improve the efficiency of mining operations in a large scale mining area, the loaders (excavator, wheel loader), dump trucks, and so forth are made large in size. In other words, instead of running a plurality of dump trucks with a plurality of operators, attempts are being made to run a small number of dump trucks with a small number of operators by making the dump trucks larger. These dump trucks have reached the 200 t capacity class.
Particularly in recent years, unmanned dump trucks (unmanned vehicles) have come to be widely used with the dissemination of position measuring devices such as GPS (global positioning system) and human labor has been correspondingly reduced. In other words, a position measuring device such as GPS is deployed on the unmanned vehicle, compares the position measured with this position measurement device to the positions in the stored course data, and controls the vehicle so that these positions agree. The unmanned vehicle thereby travels along a predetermined course.
At the level to which unmanned vehicles were initially introduced, the unmanned vehicles performed work to transport ore from a predetermined loader to a predetermined earth removal site.
In a mining area, a plurality of loaders at a plurality of loading sites and a plurality of earth removal devices at a plurality of earth removal sites (hoppers for crushing and refining the ore and stockyards as temporary holding sites) are operating at the same time. For this reason, when any of the plurality of loaders and earth removal devices become unable to work temporarily for reasons such as a failure, it becomes necessary to provide orders for changing the travel route to the unmanned vehicles headed thereto. The change in the travel route is necessary in order to eliminate wasteful waiting time for the unmanned vehicles.
For example, a fleet 1 (group of unmanned vehicles) engaged in transport operations from an excavator A to a hopper B and a fleet 2 engaged in transport operations from an excavator C to a hopper D are working in parallel at the same time. Under these conditions, when the operator of the excavator A takes a break, it would be desirable for the unmanned vehicles in fleet 1 to shift to fleet 2, travel the travel route of fleet 2, and continue the transport operations without interruption.
A temporary work stoppage for one fleet and a loss of working efficiency often occur in cases other than when an operator takes a break. For example, a loader may engage in road maintenance at the loading site, making embankments for safety purposes, or making roads for the loader itself to travel upon during breaks from loading operations. In these cases as well, the operations for one fleet may be temporarily halted, causing reduced efficiency. Furthermore, the movement of a loader within the loading site, failure of a hopper, overflow, obstacles on the route traveled by the unmanned vehicles, and reductions in travel speeds of the unmanned vehicles due to quagmires on the travel route can temporarily halt work by a fleet and cause reduced efficiency.
In cases where there is a risk of reducing the efficiency of a fleet 1 in this way, the unmanned vehicles scheduled to perform work in the fleet 1 must be moved to another fleet 2, caused to take the travel route of the fleet 2, and sent to those loading sites and earth removal sites.
In the conventional art, a system is constituted wherein the travel route is changed once the unmanned vehicles have first traveled to a predetermined location. For example, the excavator A for fleet 1 temporarily stops work. The unmanned vehicles in fleet 1 continue to travel along the fleet 1 travel route and reach a predetermined location (for example, the entrance to the site where the excavator A is present). Then, at this predetermined location, the unmanned vehicles received instructions to xe2x80x9cchange to the fleet 2 travel routexe2x80x9d from a monitor station. According to these orders, the unmanned vehicles travel the fleet 2 travel route to the loading site (excavator C) for the fleet 2.
This type of technology is noted in the following reports.
For example, the Japanese Patent application Laid-Open No. 7-20939 (conventional art A) includes an invention wherein an unmanned transport vehicle traveling indoors is caused to move to and wait at a predetermined location (position of control information transmission device) on the transport path. At this waiting location, data for a changed transport path is provided to the unmanned transport vehicle.
Also, the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-181888 (conventional art B) includes an invention wherein a mobile machine is caused to travel to and wait at a mining site, and at this mining site, the mobile machine is provided orders for its next movements (movement to reentry path) depending on the current situation in the mining site (failure of loader or hopper).
Furthermore, in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-263138 (conventional art C), an unmanned dump truck is caused to follow a travel course to a loading site and stop at the entry to the loading site. While stopped at this location, the vehicle generates data for a course from that position corresponding to the position of the loading machine and provides this course data to the unmanned vehicle.
This conventional art A, B, and C applies to cases wherein an excavator A temporarily stops work for a fleet 1. In this case, the unmanned vehicles in the fleet 1 must travel on the travel route for the fleet 1 and arrive at the entry for the loading site where the excavator A, that has temporarily stopped work, is located. It is then necessary for the unmanned vehicles to stop at the entry to the loading site and wait at this location for instructions from a monitor station. Then, after receiving the instructions changing the travel route from the monitor station, the unmanned vehicles must shift to the other fleet 2, follow the travel route for fleet 2, and go to the loading site (excavator C) for the fleet 2.
In this conventional art, it is not possible to change the travel route unless the unmanned vehicles have traveled to and stopped at a predetermined location. For this reason, the unmanned vehicles operate to no purpose and working efficiency is greatly reduced.
The present invention was made in view of these facts. It is a first object of the present invention to eliminate wasteful activity of the vehicles and to improve efficiency by making it possible to promptly change the travel route at the time when it becomes necessary to change the travel route of a vehicle.
The unmanned vehicles receive data for the scheduled travel route from the monitor station and travel along this scheduled travel route.
At the monitoring station, however, the decision is made whether it is necessary to change the initially provided travel route according to monitoring results. In this case, travel instructions are provided by the monitor station to the unmanned vehicle and instruct the unmanned vehicle to turn off at an intersection with the scheduled travel route and to follow the changed travel route. When the current position of the unmanned vehicle is sufficiently distant from the intersection, there is leeway for traveling and for performing navigation control and the unmanned vehicle can turn off at the intersection without leaving the travel route. However, when the current position of the unmanned vehicle is close to the intersection, there is no leeway for traveling and navigation control. For this reason there is a risk of the unmanned vehicle leaving the travel route near the intersection. Departure from the travel route (road surface leveled on one of two lanes for going back and forth) may bring about collisions with other vehicles, while increasing the risk of the vehicle overturning on the shoulder, or colliding with embankments or rock falls from cliffs.
The present invention was made in view of these facts. It is a second object of the present invention to definitely avoid leaving the travel route so as to avoid major accidents such as collisions with other vehicles, overturning, or landslides, even in the case where travel instructions to turn off at an intersection with the scheduled travel route are provided from the monitor station.
In a mining area, a plurality of vehicles arrive sequentially at a single worksite (for example, a loading site) and the loading work is performed in the order of arrival. The travel speed of manned dump trucks (manned vehicles) depends on the operator. For this reason, manned vehicles travel at any speed and arrive at the worksite in accordance with the operations by the operator. Also, unmanned vehicles travel at speeds and arrive at the worksite in accordance with speed data provided by the monitor station.
However, when another vehicle arrives at the worksite before a particular vehicle, that particular vehicle must wait at the worksite until the other vehicle""s work is complete.
Consequently, when the travel speed on a vehicle is set high and the vehicle travels to the worksite at a high speed, the early arrival results in a corresponding increase to the waiting time. For this reason, wasteful waiting time occurs for a particular vehicle and the efficiency is reduced by that waiting time. Moreover, when caused to travel at high speeds, a dump truck will have higher operating costs as well as wasteful waiting times. Specifically, wear on the tires is accelerated by the extent that the dump truck travels at high speeds to worksites. A dump truck uses special tires and the unit cost of the tires is very high. High speed travel increases wear on the tires and shortens the time between tire replacement. For this reason, the operating costs of the dump trucks become very high. Furthermore, fuel costs are increased due to the dump trucks traveling to worksites at high speeds. For this reason, fuel costs become high and also become a factor in raising the operating costs of the dump trucks.
It was thought that establishing low vehicle travel speeds would avoid these operating cost increases. However, even though the problem of increased dump truck operating costs is resolved when vehicles travel at those speeds, the time necessary to travel to a worksite is increased and work is started with the preceding vehicle having already completed its work. For this reason, wasteful free time, wherein loading work is not being performed at the worksite, occurs. The occurrence of this wasteful free time in conjunction with all of the vehicles traveling at low speeds results in a loss of working efficiency.
Before now, there have been no inventions for setting the speed of a particular vehicle in relation to another vehicle arriving at the worksite in advance thereof
The present invention was made in view of these facts. It is a third object of the present invention to be able to greatly increase working efficiency by starting work at a worksite in an optimum waiting time, while minimizing vehicle operating costs.
Moreover, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-126294 (conventional art D) is cited as showing the general technical level of this application. This report makes note of an invention wherein, when a plurality of automobiles enter an intersection, the path of each automobile is generated so that there is no conflict in the intersection. However, this conventional art D is only an invention for resolving the problem of conflict in an intersection. This point is different from the present invention which has the object of optimizing vehicle waiting times at a worksite, improving efficiency, and minimizing vehicle operating costs.
In order to achieve the abovementioned first object, the first invention relating to the present invention is a vehicle travel route control system applied to a case where a plurality of vehicles travel towards a plurality of worksites and perform works at the plurality of worksites, comprising: a monitor station for changing a worksite to which the vehicles should travel and providing to the vehicles data for a travel route to the changed worksite; and vehicles traveling along the travel route from their current positions to the changed worksite when the data for the travel route are provided from the monitor station,
wherein the monitor station changes the worksite to which the vehicles should travel on the basis of a result from monitoring current positions of the plurality of vehicles and current status of the plurality of worksites, and directly provides the data for the travel route from the current positions of the vehicles to the changed worksite on the basis of a result from monitoring the current positions of the plurality of vehicles and current status of the plurality of worksites; and
wherein the vehicles have position measuring devices for measuring the current positions of the vehicles, provide the current positions of the vehicles measured by the position measuring devices to the monitor station, and travel along the changed travel route from the current positions to the changed worksite when the data for the travel route are provided from the monitor station, while the vehicles are on any of the travel route of the vehicle.
In the first invention, the second invention is featured that the monitor station changes the worksite to which the vehicles should travel so as to maximize a working efficiency at the plurality of worksites.
In the first invention, the third invention is featured that the monitor station selects a travel route with a shortest travel time in a case where there is a plurality of travel routes from the current positions of the vehicles to the changed worksite.
The abovementioned first invention (second invention, third invention) is explained with reference to FIG. 1(b).
According to the first invention, the monitor station 20 changes the worksite to which the vehicle 30 should travel from worksite 60a to worksite 60axe2x80x2 based on the results of monitoring the current positions of the plurality of vehicles 30, 30xe2x80x2 and the current status of the plurality of worksites 60a, 60axe2x80x2, while providing to the vehicle 30 the data for the travel route from the current position of the vehicle 30 to the changed worksite 60a. When the data for the travel route are provided from the monitor station 20, the vehicle 30 travels along this travel route from its current position to the changed worksite 60axe2x80x2.
In this way, with the first invention, the travel route of the vehicle 30 can be changed and the vehicle 30 can be caused to travel along the changed travel route at the time when a failure of the loaders 60 occurs at the worksite 60a and it becomes necessary to change the travel route of the vehicle 30. It is not necessary for the vehicle 30 to travel to, and stop and wait at the worksite 60a at which work is temporarily halted as in the prior art. The travel route can be changed at the current location while the vehicle 30 is traveling. For this reason, wasteful movement of the vehicle 30 is eliminated and the efficiency is greatly increased.
In order to achieve the abovementioned second object, the fourth invention relating to the present invention is a vehicle travel route control system comprising: a monitor station for changing a travel route that a vehicle should travel when the vehicle is traveling along a scheduled travel route toward a worksite and providing data for the changed travel route to the vehicle; and a vehicle for turning at an intersection of the scheduled travel route onto the changed travel route and traveling along the changed travel route when the data for the changed travel route are provided by the monitor station,
wherein, when the travel route is changed, the vehicle or the monitor station determines whether to travel along the scheduled travel route or the changed travel route after the intersection based on a distance from a current position on the scheduled travel route to the intersection; and
wherein the vehicle is an unmanned vehicle having a position measuring device for measuring a current position of the vehicle, which provides the current position of the vehicle measured by the position measuring device to the monitor and travels according to a result of the determination.
The abovementioned fourth invention is explained with reference to FIGS. 9(a) and 9(b).
According to the fourth invention, the vehicle 30, upon receiving the data for the changed travel route Kb from the monitor station 20, determines whether to travel along the scheduled travel route Ka or to travel along the changed travel route Kb after the intersection X based on the distance from the current position on the scheduled travel route Ka to the intersection X. This determination can also be made by the monitor station 20. The vehicle 30 travels according to the results of this determination. Specifically, when the distance is less than an established threshold value, the vehicle will travel along the scheduled travel route Ka after the intersection (FIG. 9(b)) because there is a risk of the vehicle leaving the travel route when turning at the intersection X. If the distance is greater than the threshold value, the vehicle will travel along the changed travel route Kb after the intersection (FIG. 9(a)) because there is no risk of the vehicle leaving the travel route when turning at the intersection X.
In this way, with the fourth invention, it becomes possible to insure the selection of the travel route having no risk of the vehicle leaving the travel route even when travel instruction to turn at the intersection X with the scheduled travel route Ka are received from the monitor station 20. For this reason, departure from the travel route is certainly prevented and major accidents such as collisions with other vehicles, overturning, or landslides are avoided.
In order to achieve the abovementioned third object, the fifth invention relating to the present invention is a vehicle control system applied to a case where a plurality of vehicles travel towards a worksite and the plurality of vehicles perform works in sequence at the worksite, comprising: a monitor station for providing to the vehicles data for a travel route to the worksite to which the vehicles should travel and data for a travel speed; and vehicles which, when the data for the travel route and the data for the travel speed are provided from the monitor station, travel along the travel route from their current positions to the worksite at the travel speed;
wherein the monitor station estimates a waiting time until the work begins for each vehicle based on a relationship between the current positions of the plurality of vehicles and a location of the worksite, and provides the data for the travel speed to each vehicle so as to be able to begin the work in an optimum waiting time based on a result of this estimate.
In the fifth invention, the sixth invention is featured that the monitor station finds an order of arrival at the worksite and an arrival time from the current position until arrival at the worksite for each vehicle, based on the relationship between the current positions of the plurality of vehicles and the location of the worksite, estimates a waiting time until the work begins for each vehicle, based on the order of arrival and the arrival time thus found and a working time required for one vehicle at the worksite; and generates data for the travel speed for each vehicle based on a result of this estimate so that the vehicles can arrive at the worksite in an optimum arrival time and can begin the work in the optimum waiting time.
The abovementioned fifth invention (sixth invention) is explained with reference to FIGS. 11(a) and 11(b).
With the fifth invention, in the monitor station 20, the waiting time Tw2, Tw3 until work begins is estimated for each vehicle 30xe2x80x2, 30 based on the relationship between the current positions G2, G3 of the plurality of vehicles 30xe2x80x2, 30 (FIG. 11(a)). Based on the results of this estimate, the data for speed of travel are provided to each vehicle 30xe2x80x2, 30 in order that work can begin in the optimum waiting times Tbw2, Tbw3. For this reason, the speed of travel of the vehicle 30, for example, is set at a lower speed and the vehicle travels at this low speed to the worksite. The vehicle 30 then can begin work in the optimum waiting time Tbw3 (FIG. 11(b)).
In this way, with the fifth invention, working efficiency can be greatly improved while the operating costs of the vehicles are minimized because the speed of travel of the vehicles is set so that work can begin in the optimum waiting time.


There is provided a reset circuit in which the necessity for adjusting the constant of the pull-up resistor of the reset trigger signal is eliminated to assure a reliable reset operation. The reset circuit has another function to cancel the reset, even when clocks are stopped on power up. During the normal operation, a clock stop detection signal CALMB takes on the level ‘H’ so that a reset trigger signal CPURSTB is masked by an OR gate circuit 8. If the clocks are stopped during the normal operation, and the clock stop detection signal CALMB is ‘L’, the reset trigger signal CPURSTB is passed through OR gate circuits 6, 8 and AND gate circuit 10, and output as a reset output signal RSTB.

In a digital communication apparatus, having a rack structure, such as a wireless base station apparatus or an exchanger, a status monitor unit is provided to each package, and an upper order status monitor unit monitors the package states at all times through this status monitor unit. For example, in the digital communication apparatus, shown in FIG. 5, there are provided a plurality of packages 128 and an upper order monitor unit 27, which upper order monitor unit monitors the status of the packages 128. Each of the packages 128 includes a status monitor unit 20, a power supply monitor circuit 21, a processor 22, a power-on reset circuit 23, a clock monitor circuit 24, a reset circuit 101, an AND gate circuit 26, other devices 25 and an external pull-up resistor 29.
The status monitor unit 20 reports the state of the package 128 to the upper order monitor unit 27. The power supply monitor circuit 21 monitors the power supply voltage of the package 128 and sets the external power-on reset signal PRSTB to a high level, abbreviated to 'H' hereinbelow, when the power supply voltage is not lower than a prescribed value, while setting the external power-on reset signal PRSTB to a low level, 'abbreviated to 'L' hereinbelow, when the power supply voltage is lower than the prescribed value.
The processor 22 is such a device performing the processing in accordance with a pre-stored program, such as a CPU or a DSP (digital signal processor), and exercises control for various devices provided within the package 128. When the processor 22 has determined that the package 128 in its entirety needs to be reset (initialized), such as when the operation of the package 128 has become unstable such that re-setting (re-initializing) the package is necessary, the processor outputs a reset trigger signal CPURSTB from the PIO port to the reset circuit 101. In the explanation to follow, the reset trigger signal CPURSTB is an active low signal, so that, in resetting the package 128, the processor 22 performs the operation of setting the reset trigger signal CPURSTB, which is normally in a negated state indicating 'H' state, to an asserted state indicating 'L' state.
In general, when a signal line is in an effective or active state, such signal line is said to be asserted. When a signal line is in an ineffective or inactive state, such signal line is said to be negated. On the other hand, setting the signal line to the effective state or to the ineffective state is said to assert or negate the signal line, respectively.
The power-on reset circuit 23 generates an active low reset signal, based on the external power-on reset signal PRSTB from the power supply monitor circuit 21, to send the so generated signal to the AND gate circuit 26.
The clock monitor circuit 24 monitors clock signals, supplied to respective circuits in the package 128, and outputs, to the reset circuit 101, a clock stop detection signal CALMB, which is in the negated state indicating the 'H' state when the clock signals are operating normally, and which is in the asserted stat indicating the 'L' state when the clock signals are stopped.
The reset circuit 101 generates and outputs a reset output signal RSTB which takes on the level 'L' for a prescribed period when the reset trigger signal CPURSTB from the processor 22 takes on the level 'L'.
The AND gate circuit 26 takes a logical product of the reset signal from the power-on reset circuit 23 and the reset output signal RSTB from the reset circuit 101 to send the results of the processing operation to the status monitor unit 20, the processor 22, and to the other devices 25. Since the reset signal from the power-on reset circuit 23 and the reset output signal RSTB from the reset circuit 101 are both active low signals, the output of the AND gate circuit 26 also transitions to 'L' indicative of an active state if any one of the signals is active.
In this digital communication system, the upper order state monitor unit 27 monitors the state of each package 128 through the status monitor unit 20 provided to each of the plural packages 128.
FIG. 6 shows the configuration of the reset circuit 101 shown in FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 6, this conventional reset circuit 101 is made up by inverter circuits 7, 9, a reset extension circuit 3 and an AND gate circuit 10.
The inverter circuit 7 inverts the reset trigger signal CPURSTB from the processor 22 to output the resulting inverted signal to an input terminal IN of the reset extension circuit 3.
The reset extension circuit 3 detects a rise edge of an output of the inverter circuit 7 and generates a signal which remains 'H' for a predetermined time as from the rise edge to send out the so generated signal at its output terminal OUT. The reset extension circuit 3 is supplied with a clock stop detection signal CALMB, as an asynchronous clear signal C and, when the clock is in a stopped state and the clock stop detection signal CALMB transitions to 'L' indicating the asserted state, the reset extension circuit is initialized to set the output terminal OUT to 'L'.
The inverter circuit 9 outputs to the AND gate circuit 10 a signal RSTB3 which is an inverted version of the output signal of the reset extension circuit 3.
The AND gate circuit 10 takes a logical product of the signal RSTB3 from the inverter circuit 9 and a signal RSTB4 of the same logic as the signal CPURSTB to send out the result of the operation as reset output signal RSTB.
FIG. 7 shows the configuration of the reset extension circuit 3 shown in FIG. 6. The reset extension circuit 3 is supplied with an input signal IN (active high signal), an external input clock CLK and an asynchronous clear signal C, as inputs, to output a reset extension signal OUT (active high signal). The asynchronous clear signal C is an active high signal for the reset extension circuit 3, such that, when the asynchronous clear signal C is H, the reset extension circuit performs the reset extending operation, whereas, when the asynchronous clear signal C is 'L', the reset extension circuit is initialized to set the output terminal OUT to 'L'.
The reset extension circuit 3 is made up by a differentiating circuit 31, a counter circuit 32 and a JK flip-flop circuit 33.
The differentiating circuit 31 is supplied with the input signal IN, external input clock CLK and with the asynchronous clear signal C to detect the rise edge of the input signal IN to send out a pulse of one clock width, synchronized with the external input clock CLK, to the counter circuit 32 and to the JK flip-flop circuit 33.
The differentiating circuit 31 is made up by a D-flip-flop circuit 311, a D-flip-flop circuit 312, an inverter circuit 313 and an AND gate circuit 314.
The D-flip-flop circuit 311 is supplied with the input signal IN as a D input, with the external input clock CLK as input clock and with an asynchronous clear signal C as an asynchronous clear input (active high), to send out an output Q to the inverter circuit 313 and to the AND gate circuit 314. The inverter circuit 313 is supplied with the output of the D-flip-flop circuit 311 as an input and sends out its inverted version to the D-flip-flop circuit 312. This D-flip-flop circuit 312 is supplied with the output of the inverter circuit 313 at a D input, with the clock CLK as input clock and with the external input C as the asynchronous clear signal C (active high) to send out an output Q to the AND gate circuit 314. The AND gate circuit 314 is supplied with outputs of the D-flip-flop circuits 311, 312 as inputs to perform logical product processing thereon to send out the result of the operation as output of the differentiating circuit 31.
The counter circuit 32 is supplied with the output of the differentiating circuit 31 at an LD input, with the clock CLK as an external input clock and with an external input C as the asynchronous clear signal (active high signal), to send out an output OUT to the K input of the JK flip-flop circuit 33. When the asynchronous clear signal C is 'H', the counter circuit 32 initializes the counter function to output 'L' to the terminal OUT. When the asynchronous clear signal C is 'L', and the input at LD is 'H', an initial value is set in the counter with the rise of the external input clock CLK. When the LD input transitions to 'L', the counter counts up or down with each rise of the external input clock CLK. When the counter has reached a setting value, a signal 'H' is output with the rise of the clock CLK.
The JK flip-flop circuit 33 is supplied with an output of the differentiating circuit 31 at the J-input, with an output OUT of the counter circuit 32 at the K-input, with the clock CLK at an input clock terminal, and with an asynchronous clear signal C (active high signal) at an external clear input C, to send out a Q output at an output terminal OUT of the reset extension circuit 3.
The signal flow in the reset extension circuit 3 is such that transition from 'L' to 'H' of the external input IN is detected by the differentiating circuit 31 to output a pulse 'H', and the JK flip-flop circuit 33 outputs the output signal OUT in the 'H' state, based on the pulse 'H', at the same time as an initial value is set in the counter circuit 32. When the prescribed period of time as provided in the counter circuit 32 has elapsed, the counter circuit 32 outputs a signal 'H', as a result of which the output signal OUT of the JK flip-flop circuit 33 is set to 'L'. Thus, the operation of the reset extension circuit 3 is such that 'H' is output as a signal OUT until a predetermined time has elapsed as from the rise edge of the input IN.
This operation of the reset extension circuit 3 will be explained by referring to the timing chart of FIG. 8.
When the reset trigger signal CPURSTB is asserted at timing of T0, the D-flip-flop circuit 311 of the differentiating circuit 31 outputs 'H' at FFOUT1 at a timing of T1 corresponding to the rise of the next clock. Since the output FFOUT2 of the D-flip-flop circuit 312 remains in the 'H' state at this time point, 'H' commences to be output in an output CIN of the differentiating circuit 31. At a timing of T2, FFOUT2 takes on the level 'L', so that CIN also transitions to 'L'. Since the J-input of the JK flip-flop circuit 33 is 'H' at this timing of T2, the Q-output of the JK flip-flop circuit 33 takes on the level 'H', while RSTB1 and the reset output signal RSTB become 'L' as from timing of T2, thus asserting the reset output signal RSTB. With the reset output signal RSTB thus asserted, the PIO port output of the processor 22 is initialized as input port and hence undergoes transition gradually to 'H' by the external pull-up resistor 29.
The shaded parts of the reset trigger signal CPURSTB in FIG. 8 indicates that the time for transition to 'H' differs with the constants of the pull-up resistor 29 or with the values of device capacitances. Hence, FFOUT1 and FFOUT2 may take 'H' or 'L' during the time as indicated by shaded parts. However, this has nothing to do with the operation as the reset extension circuit 3, since the output CIN of the differentiating circuit 31 necessarily outputs 'H' only during the time as from timing of T1 until timing of T2.
Since CIN is 'L' at the timing of T3, the counter circuit 32 starts counting up or down. At timing of T4, the predetermined time Td as set by the counter circuit 32 as from the timing of T3 has elapsed. At this timing of T4, the counter circuit 32 provided in the reset extension circuit 3 has timed out to output 'H' at the output terminal OUT. Thus, at a timing of T5, the output Q of the JK flip-flop circuit 33, provided in the reset extension circuit 3, takes on the level 'L', while the reset output signal RSTB takes on the level 'H', thus stopping reset extension.
If the reset trigger signal CPURSTB from the processor 22 is entered to the above-described conventional reset circuit 101, the reset output signal RSTB, which is set to the asserted state ('L' state) only for a predetermined time by the reset extension circuit 3 provided in its inside, is generated and output. The reason is that, in order for e.g., the other devices 25 to perform the normal reset operations, there is provided a minimum prescribed time period in which the reset output signal RSTB is to remain in the 'L' state, and that, for assuring the normal reset operations, the reset output signal RSTB must be in the 'L' state for a time duration not shorter than this prescribed time period.
Since the status monitor unit 20 reports the status of the package 128 to the upper order state monitor unit 27, it is necessary for the status monitor unit to be in operation even when the package 128 is malfunctioning, in order to continue the monitoring of the status of the package 128. Such malfunctioning state includes states in which clocks have ceased to be supplied to the processor 22 or to the reset circuit 101. Thus, in case the clocks are stopped during the time the reset circuit 101 is performing the operation for reset extension, the clock stop detection signal CALMB takes on the level 'L' to initialize the reset extension circuit 3 to set the output terminal OUT to 'L' to stop the reset extension of the reset circuit 101.
However, if the reset extension circuit 3 is reset by the clock supply cessation, such that the reset operation cannot be carried out, it becomes impossible for the processor 22 to carry out the reset operations.
Thus, with the conventional reset circuit 101, the reset trigger signal CPURSTB and the output of the inverter circuit 9 are entered to the AND gate circuit 10, and the output of the AND gate circuit 10 is output as the reset output signal RSTB, such that the reset output signal RSTB is directly output by way of a 'through outputting'.
By this configuration, the reset trigger signal CPURSTB may be directly sent as a 'through output' and output as the reset output signal RSTB. However, if the reset trigger signal CPURSTB is sent as 'through output' in this manner, the problem as now explained may be produced when the clock inputting is taking place normally.
In general, the PIO port acts as an input port during the resetting of e.g., a processor, and hence is in a high impedance state. Thus, a pull-up resistor or a pull-down resistor is connected in circuit for prescribing the level of negation of the reset trigger signal if, in case the PIO port is set as an output port and used for outputting the reset trigger signal, the processor is being reset. In the conventional technique, shown in FIG. 5, 'H' is the level of negation, and hence a pull-up resistor 29 is connected to the reset trigger signal CPURSTB.
If reset is entered to the processor 22 itself the instant the processor 22 has asserted the reset trigger signal CPURSTB, such that the processor 22 has discontinued to assert the reset trigger signal CPURSTB, the reset trigger signal CPURSTB undergoes transitions to the negated state over some time through the pull-up resistor 29.
However, with the reset extension circuit 3, shown in FIG. 7, the D-flip-flops 311, 312, counter circuit 32 and the JK flip-flop circuit 33 are provided for the input signal IN, so that, if the reset extension is to be carried out normally, it is necessary to adjust the constant of the pull-up resistor 29 in such a manner that the reset trigger signal CPURSTB will be in the 'L' state for at least two clocks or for a longer time as from the time the reset signal is entered to the processor 22.
FIG. 9 shows a timing chart in case reset extension has been carried out normally by adjusting the pull-up resistor 29. In FIG. 9, the reset trigger signal RSTB is kept in the 'L' state at timings T1, T2 when two clocks have as yet not elapsed as from a timing of T0 when the reset trigger signal RSTB has become 'L'. Consequently, the reset output signal RSTB follows a scheduled operation of transition in which the signal takes on the level 'L' at the timing of T0 and subsequently takes on the level 'H' after lapse of the predetermined time.
However, if the constant of the pull-up resistor 29 or the value of the device capacitance is too low, it may be an occurrence that the time of two clocks is not guaranteed as the time duration in which the reset trigger signal CPURSTB remains in the 'L' state. FIGS. 10 and 11 depict the timing charts for such case.
FIG. 10 shows a case wherein the reset trigger signal CPURSTB transitions to 'L' and then reverts to 'H' before detection of the next rise edge of the clock signal, with the result that the reset extension circuit 3 is unable to detect the reset trigger signal CPURSTB such that it is unable to perform reset extension. FIG. 11 shows a case wherein the time of two clocks is not guaranteed as the time duration during which the reset trigger signal CPURSTB is 'L', with the result that the reset output is transiently negated.
In FIG. 10, the reset trigger signal CPURSTB at timing of T0 transitions to 'L' indicating the asserted state and reverts at timing of T1 to a level at which the signal is determined to be 'H'. Thus, even though the AND gate circuit 10 detects that the reset trigger signal CPURSTB has transitioned to 'L', such that the reset output signal RSTB keeps on to be 'L' as from timing of T0 until timing of T1, the reset extension circuit 3 is unable to detect that the reset trigger signal CPURSTB has transitioned to 'L', such that no reset extension is carried out. The result is that the reset trigger signal CPURSTB is negated at the timing of T1 and hence the time during which the reset output signal RSTB keeps onto be in the 'L' state becomes shorter such that the reset time prescribed by the devices cannot be achieved.
FIG. 11 shows a case wherein the signal level of the reset trigger signal CPURSTB sufficient to verify the signal to be in the 'L' state can be maintained only until lapse of one clock as from the time the signal CPURSTB has transitioned to 'L'. In FIG. 11, the reset trigger signal CPURSTB at timing of T0 takes on the level 'L' indicating the asserted state and maintains the 'L' level at timing of T1. However, the reset trigger signal is unable to maintain the 'L' level at timing of T3. Hence, the reset extension cannot be achieved normally and, at timing of T2 when the reset trigger signal CPURSTB has been determined to be 'H', the reset output signal RSTB transiently takes on the level 'H' indicating the negated state and again takes on the level 'L' at timing of T3.
In any of the above-described cases of FIGS. 10 and 11, it is not assured that the reset output signal RSTB takes on the level 'H', indicating the asserted state, for a prescribed time duration, with the result that malfunction is produced, depending on device types. It may be an occurrence that a package performs unpredictable operations. Thus, with the conventional reset circuit 101, the state of 'L' of the reset trigger signal CPURSTB is guaranteed, by adjusting the constant of the pull-up resistor or the pull-down resistor, until such time that two clocks have elapsed as from the transitioning of the reset trigger signal CPURSTB to 'L', lest the above-described problem should be produced.
When the clocks are stopped at the time the power supply is turned on, the conventional reset circuit 101 suffers from a problem different from the above-described problem. If clocks are present on power up, data values or input/output settings of input/output ports of e.g., processors do not become indefinite even if the clocks are subsequently stopped, such that the reset output signal RSTB is not fixed at 'L' even if the reset trigger signal CPURSTB is output as 'through-signal' for operating as the reset output signal RSTB. However, when the clocks are stopped on power up due e.g., to malfunctions, the PIO port and neighboring circuitry of the processor 22 cannot be reliably initialized and becomes destabilized. Consequently, the PIO port, which should inherently be set to high impedance during reset, is likely to take on an output mode to become fixed in the state of asserting the reset trigger signal CPURSTB to the reset circuit 101, that is, in the 'L' state. FIG. 12 shows a timing chart for such case.
In FIG. 12, the power supply is turned on as the clock stop detection signal CALMB is 'L', that is, with the clock signals in the stopped state, and the reset trigger signal CPURSTB is fixed at 'L'. With the conventional reset circuit 101, shown in FIG. 6, the reset trigger signal CPURSTB is directly supplied in such state to the AND gate circuit 10, so that the reset output signal RSTB is also fixed at 'L', that is, in the asserted state. Consequently, the reset signal, supplied to the status monitor unit 20, keeps on to be asserted, and hence the status monitor unit is unable to report the stop of the clock signals to the upper order state monitor unit 27.
Heretofore, a large variety of circuit configurations have been proposed as a reset circuit for generating reset signals. For example, there has been proposed a reset circuit for preventing malfunctions by shifting the supply timing of the reset signal to various circuits architecting the system (for example, see JP Patent Kokai Publication JP-P2001-142792A). However, there lacks up to now a reset circuit capable of solving the above problems.
The above-described conventional reset circuit suffers the following problems:
(1) Except if it is determined that the asserted state persists for not less than two clocks in the least as from the time the reset signal is entered to the processor, a normal reset extension operation cannot be achieved. Hence, it becomes necessary to adjust the constant of the pull-up resistor coupled to the reset trigger signal.(2) If the power supply is turned on as the clock signals are stopped, such that the reset trigger signal keeps on to be asserted, the state monitor unit is also reset and hence is unable to report the stopped state of the clock signals to the upper order monitor unit.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a reset circuit in which, as the function of outputting the reset trigger signal in a 'through' fashion in case the clocks of the reset circuit are stopped, and the function of stopping the reset extension when the clocks are stopped during the reset extension, are left, the necessity for adjusting the constant of the pull-up resistor or the pull-down resistor of the reset trigger signal is eliminated to assure a reliable reset operation.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a reset circuit in which, even when clocks are stopped on power up such that the PIO port of e.g., a processor takes on the output mode, with the reset trigger signal becoming fixed in the asserted state, the reset may be canceled to enable the operation of the status monitor unit.

Reset circuit and digital communication apparatus


A device for sharpening razor blades, comprising, a housing having an upper casing and a lower casing defining an interior space, the upper casing having an opening, and a lid to cover the opening, a reciprocating carriage disposed in the lower case below the opening for receiving a razor blade unit containing a razor blade with a shaving edge facing downward, a sharpening wheel coated on its outer circumference with an abrasive material fixedly disposed in the lower case for rotation around an axis beneath and simultaneously with the reciprocating carriage, mechanism to reciprocate the carriage, mechanism to rotate the sharpening wheel, power supply to operate the reciprocating and rotating mechanisms, a switch to activate the device to reciprocate the carriage and rotate the sharpening wheel simultaneously, such that when the razor blade unit with the razor blade is inserted through the opening into the carriage and the power is turned on by the switch the sharpening wheel rotates and the carriage holding the razor blade reciprocates at the same time, with the shaving edge of the razor blade traversing the abrasive material on the outer circumference of the rotating sharpening wheel as the carriage moves in one direction thereby evenly sharpening the shaving edge of the razor blade, and when the carriage reciprocates in the other direction, the abrasive material on the rotating sharpening wheel re-contacts the razor blade to clean it of shaving residue.

Safety razors are found in almost every home in modern society. Most men and women have such razors for use in shaving unwanted body hair. The term "razor applies to the whole shaving device which usually consists of a handle either formed as a unit with a fixed blade head holding one or more razor blades, or a handle with a removable blade head.
Since razor blades are made from very thin, metallic material, they tend to wear out rather quickly. Thus these blades often need to be replaced at a not insignificant cost over a year's time. This also contributes to the pollution to the environment due to the non-biodegradable nature of the metal and plastic from which they are usually manufactured.
Attempts have been made to develop alternatives that will prolong the useful life of razors.
One approach is to provide blades with adjustable positioning, such as a pivoting blade arrangement described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,706, incorporated herein by reference.
Another approach is to sharpen used blades so that they can be reused repeatedly. This reduces the amount of pollution from discarding the used plastic and metal razor into the environment. Thus sharpeners to hone the dulled razor blade edges have come on the market.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,875,702 shows a mechanism for sharpening razor blades with two vibrating sharpening stones where the blade is rotated from one side to the other, each side being sharpened by a different stone.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,958,134 describes a process for cutting edges of stacks of razor blades by moving the stacks through deposition and etching stations mounted in the sides of a vacuum chamber.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,969,299 discloses a razor blade sharpener for multiple blades with a spring-loaded motorized belt having an abrasive material. The device has a razor cleaner, timer, and sensors. The belt is made to move horizontally across all the blade edges simultaneously and does not necessarily compensate for the angle of the blades. There is no provision for cleaning the edge of the blades to leave the razor free from the residue resulting from the abrasion process.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,104,874 claims a razor sharpening apparatus with a rotatable hub and at least one flexible sharpening strip with abrasive surface mounted on the hub for sharpening one or more blades. One end of the strip is mounted to the hub and the other end projects freely. When the hub is rotated the flexible strip sweeps across the blade to strop the blade edges only in one direction.
As the above cited examples show, there are blade sharpeners that generally operate in accordance with well-known principles to those who are skilled in the art. A light, abrasive force is applied against the edge of a razor blade using some kind of repetitive motion. For multiple razor blade heads, this can be a problem if the blades are not sharpened at the same angle and with the same force. This increases the likelihood of an uneven shave and some blades in multiple razor blade cassettes will be left more worn than others. Furthermore, there needs to be a way to remove fluff or metallic residue resulting from abrasion which invariably tends to collect on the cutting edges of sharpened razor blades and which may interfere with a good shave. The above-cited patents have one or more of these disadvantages which the present invention comes to resolve.

Razor blade sharpener and method of sharpening


A bulkhead includes three flange portions. A first flange portion of the bulkhead is sandwiched between an upper flange portion of a rocker inner panel and an upper flange portion of a rocker outer panel, so as to be fixed to the rocker inner panel and the rocker outer panel. A third flange portion of the bulkhead extends from the first flange portion to bring at least a part of the third flange portion in contact with an inner surface of the rocker inner panel or an inner surface of the rocker outer panel, and is fixed to the contacted inner surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle side section structure.
2. Description of Related Art
In Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-296600 (JP 2008-296600 A), the following rocker is disclosed. The rocker has a closed cross section constituted by a rocker inner panel and a rocker outer panel, and extends in a vehicle longitudinal direction along a lower edge portion of a vehicle side surface. Additionally, in this related art, a plurality of longitudinal-wall-shaped longitudinal bulkheads, which partition the closed cross section inside of the rocker in the vehicle longitudinal direction, are disposed in the vehicle longitudinal direction at intervals. This suppresses cross-sectional collapse of the rocker.
However, in above-described JP 2008-296600 A, when a load is input to a vehicle upper side with respect to the rocker, the closed cross section of the rocker may be deformed into a parallelogram shape. In this respect, there is a room for improvement.
Other related techniques are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication Nos. 2009-161056 (JP 2009-161056 A), 2006-273296 (JP 2006-273296 A), 2006-224702 (JP 2006-224702 A), and 2007-283794 (JP 2007-283794 A).


Vented check valves, pumps and refill units for dispensers are disclosed herein. Some embodiments disclose a refill unit including a container for holding a liquid. A pump chamber is secured to the container. The pump chamber is defined at least in part by a one-way liquid inlet check valve, a one-way liquid outlet check valve and at least one wall. The volume of the pump chamber is movable between a first volume and a second volume. The inlet check valve includes a venting recess. The venting recess allows air to flow past the inlet check valve in the opposite direction of the flow of liquid into the liquid chamber.

Liquid dispenser systems, such as liquid soap and sanitizer dispensers, provide a user with a predetermined amount of liquid upon actuation of the dispenser. In addition, it is sometimes desirable to dispense the liquid in the form of foam by, for example, injecting air into the liquid to create a foamy mixture of liquid and air bubbles by use of an air pump or air compressor. Most pumps, whether liquid pumps or foam pumps have a constant volume output and to change the volume requires one to change the pump or "short-stroke" the pump. A pump is short-stroked when the actuator of the dispenser is prevented from moving its full stroke. Problems often occur with pumps when they are short-stroked. If a blocking plate is added to the dispenser actuator so that the actuator does not drive the liquid piston the full length of the pump chambers, many pumps will not prime because an air bubble remains in the liquid piston. Another problem is that air trapped in the liquid dosing chamber results in an inconsistent output.

Vented check valves, pumps and refill units with vented check valves


A method of displaying an image includes alternating an active state of each of a plurality of light sources. The light sources each generate a light beam when active. The alternating includes deactivating an active light source before an output of a light beam from the active light sources falls below a first predetermined threshold. The alternating further includes activating a deactivated light source only after an output of the inactive light source reaches a second predetermined threshold. The method further includes receiving each of the light beams at a spatial light modulator.

This invention relates generally to the field of image displays and more specifically to a method and system for providing a more constant light source for a display.
Generating an image on a projection lens traditionally consists of utilizing white light generated by a lamp and passed through a color wheel to produce sequential colored beams of light corresponding to color filters in the color wheel, such as red, green, and blue. These sequential colored beams of light are combined by a DMD to produce a desired color and provided to the projection lens for later display. This standard process, however, has disadvantages. For example, it may reduce the quality of the image by creating a rainbow effect on the projection lens.
Other conventional processes for generating an image on a projection lens consist of using various light sources instead of a color wheel. These standard processes may reduce the rainbow effect. However, the quality of the image generated may also be reduced by the heat generated by the light sources. In particular, keeping a light source activated for too long causes the brightness of each light source to decrease. This, in turn, decreases the quality of the image generated.

Method and system for generating a display


Systems and methods for calculating round trip time (RTT) between two wireless devices with respective clock drifts, while lowering the impact of the clock drifts on the RTT. A first RTT in a first direction is determined between a first wireless device and a second wireless device based on a first set of one or more messages exchanged between the first wireless device and the second wireless device. A second RTT in a second direction is determined between the second wireless device and the first wireless device based on a second set of one or more messages exchanged between the second wireless device and the first wireless device, and an average RTT of the first RTT and the second RTT is computed, wherein the average RTT has a low impact of the clock drifts.

Wireless communication systems can include wireless devices and access points (APs). The wireless devices can be configured as mobile stations (STAs) which can communicate between one another or through the APs. Standards such as IEEE 802.11ac, 802.11ad, 802.11v, etc are commonly used for such communications. These standards can include error specifications to ensure quality of communication.
An STA can include at least one local clock, based on which the STA bases its communication and data processing. However, it is usually not possible to precisely synchronize the local clocks among the several STAs, and therefore, each local clock can have its own error or clock drift. In positioning or location based applications using an 802.11 standard, determination of round trip time (RTT) for pre-specified messages or dialogs between two STAs for example can be used to provide an indication of distance between the two STAs. In a conventional method of RTT determination, when a transmitting STA, for example, is communicating with a receiving STA, the error in the transmitting STA's local clock gets compounded with the error in the receiving STA's local clock. Thus, the RTT determination and corresponding computation of distance between the two STAs is imprecise and highly error prone. The resultant error may be unacceptably high according to the wireless communication standard.

Reducing impact of clock drift in wireless devices


Provided are an apparatus and method for generating panorama images and an apparatus and method for tracking an object using the same. The apparatus for generating panorama images estimates regional motion vectors with respect to respective lower regions set in an image frame, determines a frame motion vector by using the regional motion vectors based on a codebook storing sets of normalized regional motion vectors corresponding to a camera's motion and then accumulates motion mediating variables computed with respect to respective continuous image frames to determine an overlapping region, and matches the overlapping regions to generate a panorama image.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for generating panorama images and an apparatus and method for tracking an object using the same, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for generating a single image by combining a plurality of image frames and an apparatus and method for detecting an object in a captured image to track the object.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, as a market for digital cameras is expanding, a variety of applications using digital techniques are more highlighted. For example, there is a technique for forming a panorama image, in which a geometrical relationship between a camera and a background that is photographed by the camera is used to spatially expand an image.
According to a conventional technique, images are aligned by extracting and matching feature points of respective images. In this case, however, errors may be increased because feature points of respective images are overall non-uniform and feature points can be wrongly extracted. To solve these problems, a plurality of block regions are set in an image, and a regional motion vector of each block is estimated by phase-matching in a frequency region. By using an equalization method using the estimated regional motion vector, a frame motion vector indicating a motion amount or direction of a frame is determined. If the regional motion vector is regular and has a predictable pattern, errors do not occur when a frame motion vector is determined and thus, images can be accurately matched. In fact, however, the estimated regional motion vector is not always regular, errors occur when the frame motion vector is determined and images are thus wrongly matched and panorama images have a low quality. In addition, since complex computing, such as transformation of images into a frequency region and Fourier transformation to extract a phase component, is required, a process speed is low.
In addition, as security on public places and personal regions is more concerned, monitoring cameras are commonly installed. Furthermore, techniques for automatizing intelligence functions, such as an object tracking function and an object identification function, are demanded. Specifically, a demand for an all-direction monitoring technique that enables object-tracking with a wide field of view is increasing.
A conventional video object tracking system using a single fixed camera, in most cases, uses a camera having a limited field of view (FOV). Accordingly, when the entire or part of an object that is tracked is outside a corresponding FOV, tracking stops. To solve this problem, wide FOV-based studies are being conducted to monitor a wider region. For example, a system using a pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera is suggested.
According to this system, a plurality of images that are obtained in advance are aligned to form a background image and then, an object and a background are separated by using a difference between a captured image and the background image. However, when the PTZ camera is used, the object and the background moves together, and thus, unless the background image is accurately extracted, noises may occurs due to mismatching when the difference of images are computed and, in turn, tracking the object is difficult.

Apparatus and method for generating panorama images and apparatus and method for object-tracking using the same

Chung-Ang University Academy Cooperation Foundation


Methods for accurate and conformal removal of atomic layers of materials make use of the self-limiting nature of adsorption of at least one reactant on the substrate surface. In certain embodiments, a first reactant is introduced to the substrate in step (a) and is adsorbed on the substrate surface until the surface is partially or fully saturated. A second reactant is then added in step (b), reacting with the adsorbed layer of the first reactant to form an etchant. The amount of an etchant, and, consequently, the amount of etched material is limited by the amount of adsorbed first reactant. By repeating steps (a) and (b), controlled atomic-scale etching of material is achieved. These methods may be used in interconnect pre-clean applications, gate dielectric processing, manufacturing of memory devices, or any other applications where removal of one or multiple atomic layers of material is desired.

Fabrication of integrated circuit (IC) devices at a modern level of miniaturization demands techniques that can operate at an atomic scale. Certain components of IC devices now have dimensions of tens or hundreds of Angstroms, corresponding to only a few atomic layers of material. For example, gate dielectric in modern IC transistors can have a thickness of only 12 Å, corresponding to only four atomic layers of silicon dioxide. It is often desirable to fine-tune the electronic properties of these components by altering their dimensions, which would involve deposition or removal of only a few atomic layers of material. While atomic layer deposition (ALD) and atomic-scale epitaxial growth techniques have been developed, the methods for controlled removal of one or several atomic layers are still limited.
Atomic layer etching technique (ALET) has been used for controlled etching of silicon and gallium arsenide. ALET involves chemisorption of a halogen, such as chlorine gas on the surface of silicon or GaAs, and subsequent removal of the reaction product through heat, laser or UV irradiation, or exposure to the argon ion beam. The amount of etched material is controlled by the self-limiting nature of chemisorption, and by the number of adsorption-desorption cycles applied to the substrate surface. This technique, although valuable for its purpose of semiconductor etching, is limited to the halogen—silicon chemistry and is not widely applicable. For instance, it cannot be applied to other materials of the IC device, such as silicon dioxide. Furthermore, sputtering during the desorption step is often damaging to the wafer components since it involves bombardment of the wafer surface with high-energy species.
Another specific example of atomic layer etching has been described by Yoder (U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,794). In this case nitrogen dioxide gas is adsorbed onto the surface of diamond (carbon), which is then irradiated by an ion beam. During irradiation NO2 decomposes, and decomposition products oxidize carbon to easily removable gaseous carbon oxides. Again, controlled etching of atomic layer of diamond is achieved due to the self-limiting nature of NO2 adsorption on the surface of the diamond. As in the case of silicon ALET, the described chemistry is not widely applicable. The method also necessarily involves irradiation with high-energy ions, which may be damaging to the wafer. None of the described above methods is applicable to etching of SiO2 on an atomic scale.
Silicon dioxide and its carbon-doped variants are important dielectric materials used in IC devices. Silicon dioxide serves as a dielectric in bulk dielectric layers, as a gate dielectric in transistors, and as a capacitor dielectric in memory devices, such as DRAM. It also is inadvertently formed on the layers of silicon when the partially fabricated wafer is exposed to air. This type of silicon dioxide, known as native oxide, forms a thin film on the layer of silicon. Native oxide film together with oxide residue produced during etching and/or ashing frequently presents a problem for further processing steps. When formed in the bottom of a silicon landed via or contact hole, native oxide and other oxides are highly undesired, since they raise the overall electrical resistance of the via after it is filled with conductive materials. FIG. 1A shows a cross-sectional depiction of a partially fabricated integrated circuit having a via 101 residing in a bulk dielectric layer 103. The via 101 is landed in a silicon-containing transistor source 105. Other components of the transistor, a drain 107 and a gate 109 are also shown. Transistor components reside in the bulk layer of silicon 111. Native oxide film 113 is shown to cover the silicon-containing material in the bottom of the via.
Oxide material is conventionally removed in a pre-clean processing step. The resulting device with a pre-cleaned via is shown in FIG. 1B. A variety of methods can be employed for the pre-clean step, including plasma etching with reactive and/or inert species, dry chemical etching, and wet etching such as HF dip. It should be understood that since native oxide is readily formed when silicon is exposed to ambient air, it is highly desirable to conduct pre-clean step and subsequent via filling step in one apparatus taking care to avoid exposure to oxygen. The via is often filled with a conductive material by a CVD or ALD method and it is therefore highly desirable to conduct the pre-clean step in the deposition apparatus or at least in an apparatus provided in the same vacuum environment as the deposition apparatus. This requirement limits the number of practically feasible pre-clean methods to dry etching processes, which will be discussed further.
As indicated, in a step following the pre-clean, the via 101 is filled with conductive material 115. Referring to FIG. 1C, a cross-sectional depiction of the wafer shows the filled via after the deposition step. The via may be filled with such material as W, Cu, Ru, TiN or WN which can be deposited by a CVD or ALD step.
Several methods have been developed for silicon dioxide removal. It should be understood, that none of these methods can accomplish a well controlled removal of one or several atomic layers of silicon dioxide. All of the methods described below remove bulk amounts of silicon dioxide and are poorly controlled at an atomic level.
Most of silicon dioxide etching methods are relying on silicon dioxide—fluoride chemistry. It is convenient to use this chemistry because it is selective for silicon dioxide and does not affect elemental silicon, and because silicon fluoride products are either gaseous or easily sublimated compounds, and can therefore be easily removed after the etching is complete.
Hydrofluoric acid, HF, does not etch silicon dioxide when dry, but readily reacts with it in the presence of moisture or other catalysts following reactions 1 and 2.6HF+SiO2→H2SiF6+2H2O  (1)H2SiF6→SiF4↑T+2HF↑  (2)The resulting hexafluorosilicic acid, when not in solution, immediately dissociates into gaseous products, silicon tetrafluoride and hydrofluoric acid. Therefore the HF etch in the presence of small amounts of water is a viable method of silicon dioxide removal under essentially "dry etch" conditions. This method, however, is rarely used due to corrosive properties of HF/H2O mixtures, which may damage the process chamber. It is usually preferred to either generate HF in situ from precursors, or to employ a different fluoride source, such as ammonium fluoride (NH4F) or ammonium bifluoride (NH4F.HF). Both of these salts react with silicon dioxide according to reactions 3 and 4.6NH4F+SiO2→(NH4)2SiF6+2H2O+4NH3  (3)3NH4F.HF+SiO2→(NH4)2SiF6+2H2O+NH3  (4)These reactions result in easily removable gaseous and liquid products and in a solid salt, ammonium hexafluorosilicate. This salt is readily decomposed into gaseous products when heated, in what is usually referred to as a sublimation step:(NH4)2SiF6→2NH3↑+SiF4↑+2HF↑  (5)
Ammonium fluoride and ammonium bifluoride cannot be easily introduced into the dry-etch chamber, due to their relatively low vapor pressure, and are most often formed from gaseous precursors within the chamber.
There is a wealth of literature describing deposition of etchants onto the wafer surface coated with oxide. All of these processes are essentially CVD-type processes, in which the reactant gases are introduced into the chamber simultaneously and react in the gas phase to form etchants. The etchants are formed in bulk in the process chamber and are then deposited onto the wafer surface. In most of these processes the amount of deposited etchants is controlled by the flow rate and flow time of the reactant gases, substrate temperature, or chamber pressure. The amount of etched material is subsequently determined from the amount of deposited etchants or from the time that etchants were allowed to react with the underlying layer. These CVD-type processes are not well suited to accurately control the thickness of a layer to be removed and cannot be applied for removal of defined amounts of material on an atomic scale. Although in some cases the amount of deposited etchant can be controlled by the use of microbalance, it is not possible to achieve accurate atomic layer control over material removal by these types of methods.
The precursors used for formation of fluoride etchants in these processes are usually simultaneously introduced into reaction chamber and are allowed to react to produce an etchant which may or may not be deposited onto the wafer surface. Thus an uncontrolled amount of etchant is brought into contact with the on the wafer surface. This etchant then reacts with native oxide layer by any of the reactions 1-5, and the resulting reaction products are removed either by purging or, if ammonium hexafluorosilicate is the product, by a separate sublimation step, followed by purging.
Nishino et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,030,319) describes several embodiments of these CVD-type etching methods, which differ in the nature of precursor gases and in the conditions of the processes. For example, the authors describe an embodiment in which NF3 and NH3 gases are reacted in a microwave discharge forming ammonium fluoride and ammonium bifluoride, which deposit onto the wafer and etch silicon dioxide according to reactions 3 and 4. In another example H2O vapor and HF gas are introduced into the chamber to achieve the etching according to reaction 1. In yet another example, SF6 and H2O gases are introduced into the chamber as precursors. Following a microwave discharge, a solution of HF in sulfuric acid is formed, which is deposited onto the wafer surface, and etches silicon dioxide according to equation 1. Similar methods employing etchants produced by the plasma reaction of NH3 and NF3 were disclosed by Phan et al. in a communication at SEMICON (2006, pp. 157-163).
Jeng et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,925) describes an etching method in which NH3 and HF gases are simultaneously and rapidly introduced into the reaction chamber and their reaction products are condensed onto the wafer. Since NH3 is a base and HF is an acid they react immediately upon mixing, according to reactions 6 and 7. The etching occurs as discussed above.NH3+HF→NH4F  (6)NH3+2HF→NH4F.HF  (7)The only control over the amount of etched material that is possible in this situation is the control over the substrate temperature, composition, and residence time of the reactant film.
In one embodiment, Jeng et al. describes silicon dioxide etching method which has some control over the amount of etched material and Jeng et al. speculate that the method could be used for removing monolayers of material. In this method condensed ammonium bifluoride is placed in a source container connected to the reaction chamber, which contains the substrate. The source container is maintained at a temperature which is lower than the temperature of the wafer substrate. By regulating the pressures and temperatures within the chamber and within the source container, it is conceivable to find conditions when the ammonium bifluoride vapor would form an adsorbed monolayer on the surface of the wafer, and would etch controlled amount of silicon dioxide. The amount of etching is monitored by a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) coated with silicon dioxide. Although this proposed method may provide some fine control over the etching process, it is laborious and imprecise due to difficulties in QCM calibration.
The CVD-type etchant deposition processes are poorly controlled at an atomic level. These methods are also not well suited for etching relatively small amounts of material, particularly from the high aspect ratio features of the substrate. The bulk amount of etchant deposited onto the substrate surface in these methods usually forms a blanket film of low conformality and uniformity. While these methods sometimes work adequately in the substrates with low aspect ratio features, they do not provide highly conformal and uniform etchant film coverage needed for removal of material from high aspect ratio recesses.
Therefore there is a need for a reliable method for removal of defined amounts of material on an atomic scale with better uniformity and conformality.

Adsorption based material removal process


A lithium tantalate substrate obtained by working in the state of a substrate a lithium tantalate crystal grown by the Czochralski method is buried in a mixed powder of Al and Al2O3, followed by heat treatment carried out at a temperature kept to from 350 to 600° C., to manufacture a lithium tantalate substrate having volume resistivity which has been controlled within the range of from 1010 to 1013 Ωcm. The substrate obtained has a very low pyroelectricity or no pyroelectricity, and it can be made colored and opaque from a colorless and transparent state and also sufficiently has the properties required as a piezoelectric material.

Lithium tantalate (LT) crystals are ferroelectric materials having a melting point of about 1,650° C. and a Curie temperature of about 600° C. Then, LT substrates are chiefly used as materials for surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters used to remove signal noise of cellular telephones.
It is predicted that a SAW filter having a frequency region of about 2 GHz hereafter increases rapidly because, e.g., cellular telephones are being made high-frequency and Bluetooth (2.45 GHz), which is a cordless LAN of electronic equipment of various types, has prevailed.
Such a SAW filter has a structure in which a pair of comb-shaped electrodes are formed of metallic thin films of an AlCu alloy or the like on a substrate constituted of a piezoelectric material such as LT. Such comb-shaped electrodes play an important role that governs the polarity of devices. Also, the comb-shaped electrodes are made up by forming metallic thin films on the piezoelectric material by sputtering, thereafter leaving a pair of comb-shaped patterns, and removing unnecessary portions by etching using a photolithographic technique.
In order to make the filter adaptable to higher frequency, the comb-shaped patterns must finely and also thinly be formed. In devices of about 2 HGz in frequency, the filter has an electrode-to-electrode distance of 0.3 to 0.4 μm which is about ⅓ of that of currently prevalent devices of 800 MHz in frequency, and a thickness of about 200 nm or less which is ⅕ or less of the same.
The LT single crystal is, in an industrial scale, usually chiefly obtained by the Czochralski method, using an iridium crucible having a high melting point, and is grown in an electric furnace having an atmosphere of a nitrogen-oxygen mixed gas of several to about 10% in oxygen concentration, then cooled in the electric furnace at a stated cooling rate, and thereafter taken out of the electric furnace (see Albert A. Ballman, Journal of American Ceramic Society, Vol. 48, 1965).
The LT crystal thus grown is colorless and transparent or has a highly transparent pale yellow color. After it has been grown, it is subjected to heat treatment at an soaking temperature close to the melting point in order to remove the residual strain produced by thermal stress of the crystal, and further to poling treatment so as to be single-polarized, i.e., a series of treatment in which the LT crystal is heated from room temperature to a stated temperature of Curie temperature or more, a voltage is applied to the crystal, and, keeping the voltage applied, the crystal thus heated is cooled to a stated temperature of Curie temperature or less, and thereafter, stopping the voltage being applied, cooled to room temperature. After the poling treatment, the LT crystal the periphery of which has been ground in order to make the crystal have a proper shape (an ingot) is put to mechanical working such as slicing, lapping and polishing steps, and made into the LT substrate. The LT substrate obtained finally is substantially colorless and transparent, and has a volume resistivity of about 1014 to 1015 Ωcm.
Now, in the LT substrate obtained by such a conventional method, it may come about that, because of sparks generated in a process of fabricating a surface acoustic wave device when the substrate surface is charged up due to temperature changes undergone during the process, on account of the pyroelectricity that is a property of the LT crystal, patterns formed on the substrate surface are destroyed and further the substrate is broken to cause a lowering of yield in the device fabrication process.
There also arises a problem that, since the LT substrate has a high light transmittance, the light transmitted through the interior of the substrate in the step of photolithography that is one step in the device fabrication process reflects from the back of the substrate and returns to the surface to make poor the resolution of the patterns formed.
Accordingly, in order to solve such problems, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Applications Laid-open No. H11-92147 and No. H11-236298, it is proposed to expose a lithium niobate (LN) crystal to a reducing atmosphere (stated specifically an atmosphere of a gas selected from argon, water, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, oxygen, and combination of any of these) in the range of 500 to 1,140° C. to blacken a wafer of LN crystal so that the substrate can be kept from having a high light transmittance and also it can have a high electrical conductivity to thereby keep the light from returning from the back of the substrate and at the same time make the substrate have a low pyroelectricity.
However, the invention disclosed in the publications Japanese Patent Applications Laid-open No. H11-92147 and No. H11-236298 is intended not only for the LN crystal but also the lithium tantalate (LT) crystal, but these publications Japanese Patent Applications Laid-open No. H11-92147 and No. H11-236298 have substantially no disclosure at all as to the LT crystal. Then, experiments made by the present inventors have confirmed that the method disclosed therein is effective in respect of the lithium niobate crystal, having a melting point of as low as about 1,250° C., but not effective in respect of the LT crystal, having a melting point of as high as 1,650° C.
Under such a technical background, the present inventors have already proposed a method quite different from the method disclosed in the publications Japanese Patent Applications Laid-open No. H11-92147 and No. H11-236298, i.e., a method in which the LT crystal is buried in a metallic powder of a metal selected from the group consisting of Ca, Al, Ti and Si (what is called a reducing agent) and this is subjected to heat treatment at a temperature kept to 350 to 600° C. to manufacture the lithium tantalate (LT) substrate (see the specification in Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-104176).
The LT substrate manufactured by this method, like the lithium niobate (LN) substrate disclosed in the publications Japanese Patent Applications Laid-open No. H11-92147 and No. H11-236298, can be kept from having a high light transmittance and also can have a high electrical conductivity. Hence, in the lithium tantalate (LT) substrate as well, it enables solution of the above problems of a lowering of yield in the device fabrication process and of making poor the resolution of the patterns formed.
However, the invention disclosed in the specification in Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-104176, has a problem that, if the reducing conditions in respect of the lithium tantalate (LT) substrate are too strong, the LT substrate obtained may have a very low pyroelectricity and hence the problem to be caused by the charge-up can be remedied, but the LT substrate may also similarly have a low piezoelectricity to have low properties required as a piezoelectric material, and has a problem that, if on the other hand the reducing conditions in respect of the lithium tantalate (LT) substrate are too weak, it is difficult for the LT substrate obtained to have a low pyroelectricity. Thus, there has been room for further improvement.

Lithium tantalate substrate and process for its manufacture


An automotive air conditioning system orifice tube type refrigerant expansion valve is axially symmetrical, so as to be error proof at installation, and/or so as to operate in a bi directional refrigerant flow. A pair of coaxial screens surrounding each end of the orifice tube, an inner noise attenuation screen of finer mesh, and an outer particulate screen of coarser mesh, provide upstream particulate exclusion and downstream noise attenuation without the potential for reverse installation. In addition, by pass ports allow for a by pass flow should the downstream inner screen become plugged.

Automotive air conditioning systems incorporate a refrigerant expansion valve in the refrigerant line that runs from the condenser to the evaporator, in order to render the pressurized refrigerant suitable for use in the evaporator. Basically, the refrigerant is run through a reduced diameter orifice, causing it to rapidly contract and then expand on the other side, into a low pressure, cold mist. More expensive systems use a selectively expandable and contractible orifice, but a fixed orifice tube, generally brass, is still commonly used, because of its inexpensive and reliable operation. The orifice tube is typically centered within a support plug, which is then crimped inside the refrigerant line to center the tube within the line. The refrigerant leaving and expanding from the downstream end of the tube produces expansion noise, especially evident as a hissing noise at system shut down. Another consideration with expansion valves is the necessity to filter out particulates carried by the refrigerant at the upstream end of the tube.
Conventional orifice tube assemblies deal with upstream particulate filtering and downstream noise attenuation through the use of two different purpose screens, one surrounding each opposed end of the tube. At the upstream end, a relatively large mesh, long and large diameter particulate screen, typically nylon screen, provides enough surface area to catch particulates without totally plugging over a suitable operation interval. At the downstream end, a relatively small mesh, shorter and smaller diameter screen muffles expansion noise, by acting as a baffle to reduce turbulence. Such an assembly, being asymmetrical, is not intended to work in each direction, or to be installed in either direction within the refrigerant line. However, it is possible to accidentally install it backward. If this occurs, the orifice tube per se can perform its task in either direction. Furthermore, the noise attenuation screen, if misplaced upstream, can provide particulate exclusion, albeit for a shorter interval before it would need to be changed, given its smaller total surface area. However, the particulate filter, if misplaced downstream, does not, by its nature, provide adequate noise attenuation, given its larger size, and particularly its larger mesh. Backward assembly will, therefore, be made evident by increased noise of operation, but even if the cause of the noise is properly analyzed, it is inconvenient to have to remove and re install the valve.

Bi-directional refrigerant expansion valve


Embodiments provide a method and apparatus for unlocking a feature of a user portable wireless electronic communication device. The user portable wireless electronic communication device can include a camera configured to capture a characteristic of a waving hand of a user across the user portable wireless electronic communication device. The user portable wireless electronic communication device can include a controller coupled to the camera. The controller can determine whether the user is authorized to access a locked feature of the user portable wireless electronic communication device based on the captured characteristic. The controller can unlock the locked feature if the user is authorized to access the feature.

1. Field
The present disclosure is directed to a method and apparatus for user portable wireless electronic communication device operation. More particularly, the present disclosure is directed to unlocking a feature of a user portable wireless electronic communication device.
2. Introduction
Presently, user portable wireless electronic communication devices include wireless telephones, cellular phones, smartphones, personal digital assistants, selective call receivers, tablet computers, or any other wireless electronic communication device that can be carried by a user. These devices store private user data, such as user information, contact information, e-mails, pictures, and other private data that users and enterprises want to keep secure. To keep the private user data secure, devices employ password protection that prevents access to the data by unauthorized users. For example, a cellular phone can require a user to enter a personal identification number to unlock the phone.
Unfortunately, frequently entering a password on a device is tedious for users. For example, a user may frequently make calls, but may put the device to sleep in-between calls to conserve battery life. The user is then forced to enter a password each time the user makes a call. In fact, studies have shown that some users stop using their password because it is too much of a hassle. For example studies have shown that some users set a password after first receiving a device, but later stop using the password, apparently to avoid the hassle of entering a password. Furthermore, half of users of devices with password protection have stated that they do not lock their devices to avoid the hassle of entering a password. Other users may still dislike using a password, but they are enterprise users who are forced to use a password based on employment requirements or are users who put up with the extra hassle to keep their data more secure.
Face recognition is an alternate to password protection for user authentication. Unfortunately, face recognition has proven to not be reliable enough because it can authenticate a non-authorized user as an authorized user, which permits non-authorized users to access secure data and otherwise use the devices for unauthorized purposes. A fingerprint sensor is another alternate for user authentication. However a fingerprint sensor adds cost to the device. Furthermore, space constraints on a device limit the number of accessories that can be added to a device and a fingerprint sensor takes up valuable space in the device.
Thus, there is a need for an improved method and apparatus for unlocking a feature of a user portable wireless electronic communication device.

Method and apparatus for unlocking a user portable wireless electronic communication device feature


The invention relates to a system for withdrawing body fluid from a body part via a withdrawal site located on the surface of the body part, with at least one sensor for detecting at least one variable dependent on the location or state of the withdrawal site, and with an evaluation unit for evaluating the at least one variable detected by the at least one sensor and for triggering a reaction, dependent on the value of the detected variable, in the system for withdrawing body fluid, said reaction serving to prepare the system for puncturing the surface of the body part, and with at least one puncturing device for creating an opening in the body at the withdrawal site. The invention further relates to an integrated analysis system, to a method for configuring a system for withdrawal of body fluid, and to a method for selecting a menu item from a menu for controlling a system for withdrawing body fluid from a body part.

Body fluids are mainly withdrawn for the purpose of subsequent analysis, in order to permit diagnosis of diseases or to monitor a patient's metabolism. This kind of withdrawal is carried out on diabetics in particular, in order to determine the blood sugar concentration.
In the prior art, blood sampling systems have for some time been known with which the patient or hospital staff can withdraw fluid in a simple manner. An example of an appliance suitable for this purpose is the commercially available Softclix lancing device, whose operation is described in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 35,803. This appliance provides a possibility of setting the depth of insertion of a lancet into the tissue. Thus, the patient is able to select the minimum depth of insertion with which he obtains just the right amount of blood for subsequent analysis, and he can thus minimize the pain caused by puncturing the skin. After the patient has created an opening in the skin by puncturing it, then, particularly in the case of shallow insertion depths, he has to rub or apply pressure to the finger in order to extract sufficient blood from the puncture wound.
A further system for withdrawing body fluid is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,983. This system comprises a hollow puncturing element for creating an incision at the withdrawal site, and a collection tube which communicates with the puncturing element. A so-called stimulator incites flow of body fluid from the puncture by compressing a ring of body tissue around the puncture. During this process, the puncturing element is moved within the incision by means of a movement mechanism in order to keep the incision open during withdrawal of the body fluid. A suction mechanism sucks the body fluid through the puncturing element into the collection tube. In this appliance too, it is possible to set the depth of insertion of the puncturing element.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,951,492 relates to a further system for withdrawing body fluid. It comprises a mechanism for creating a puncture in the skin of the user, and a sample-withdrawing element in order to convey the body fluid through the puncture and via a capillary element onto a test strip, which receives the body fluid from the capillary element. This system also comprises a sample-identifying mechanism which detects a droplet of body fluid on the surface of the user's skin.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,319,210 relates to another system for withdrawing body fluid, in particular blood or interstitial fluid. This document describes a puncturing mechanism which is also intended to be suitable for withdrawal sites other than the finger pad. Here once again, a stimulator is used to incite the body fluid to flow from an incision, the stimulator either being heated or vibrated.
PCT Patent Publication No. WO 01/89383 discloses a system for withdrawing body fluid from an area of a body part, in particular the finger pad, with a compression unit onto which the body part is pressed in a primary direction and which converts the pressure partially into a movement in a secondary direction, partially transverse to the primary direction, so that the internal pressure in an area of the body part is increased. This system further comprises a puncturing device, in particular a lancet or cannula, for creating an opening in the body in the area of increased internal pressure, the compression unit having a press-on area made of a deformable material.
However, the systems from the prior art are not able to detect the withdrawal conditions, in particular the location of the withdrawal and the state of the skin at the withdrawal site, nor are they able to adjust automatically to these withdrawal conditions in order to ensure that body fluid can be withdrawn as painlessly as possible and in as short a time as possible, with the fewest possible maneuvers by the user.
Different withdrawal sites (for example finger pad or forearm) require different parameter sets for withdrawal of the body fluid and also for its analysis. The volume of blood attainable from the forearm is very much smaller. Furthermore, the puncture needed is much deeper compared to when collecting a sample from the finger. At the same time, there is less need for precise control of the puncture depth, because the overall sensitivity to pain is lower and is influenced less by the puncture depth. If the parameter set for withdrawal of blood from the forearm was applied for withdrawing blood from the finger pad, this would involve an extremely deep and thus very painful incision. Further disadvantages are of a hygienic nature, because incorrect use of the forearm puncture parameters leads to far too great a sample volume, as a result of which the system may be soiled.
Moreover, the parameter sets ought to be adapted to the state of the skin at the withdrawal site, for example to the skin temperature. Generally, the warmer the skin, the better its blood circulation, and the easier it is to collect blood from it.
For substantially pain-free withdrawal of body fluid, it is also important that this is done only when the withdrawal site is lying correctly on the withdrawal system, that is to say with sufficient pressure and over a sufficiently large surface area.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to make available a system and a method for withdrawing body fluid, which system and method avoid the aforementioned disadvantages of the prior art and permit substantially painless withdrawal of body fluid in a short space of time and with the fewest possible maneuvers by the user. They are also intended to permit withdrawal of body fluid at different withdrawal sites (alternate site testing) and with different states of the withdrawal site, the system being intended to automatically adjust to the withdrawal conditions.