Method for removing and/or redistributing material in the trenches and/or vias of integrated circuit interconnect structures by a gas cluster ion beam (GCIB) is described to improve the fabrication process and quality of metal interconnects in an integrated circuit. The process entails opening up an undesired ‘necked in’ region at the entrance to the structure, re-depositing the barrier metal from thicker areas such as the neck or bottom of the structure to the side walls and/or removing some of the excess and undesired material on the bottom of the structure by sputtering. The GCIB process may be applied after the barrier metal deposition and before the copper seed layer/copper electroplating or the process may be applied after the formation of the copper seed layer and before electroplating. The method may extend the usability of the known interconnect deposition technologies to next generation integrated circuits and beyond.

In the semiconductor industry, increasing circuit density drives progress toward smaller and smaller dimensions and larger numbers of transistors placed in an individual device. The challenge to interconnect these transistors becomes increasingly difficult. Some of the problems faced with denser interconnections are increased heat dissipation, greater power consumption, and longer signal delays resulting from higher resistance in the interconnects. The need for smaller dimensions led the industry to develop the dual damascene process. The dual damascene process involves etching a pattern of trenches and holes in a dielectric layer of a semiconductor and subsequently depositing a metal to fill the pattern. A chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) step is then used to planarize the surface before the next layer of dielectric material is deposited and patterned. The filled trenches form the metal interconnect lines and the filled holes form the contact vias which connect the various metal layers to one another.
The development of the dual damascene process allowed the industry to develop devices with high aspect ratio features as well as to develop devices with copper, rather than aluminum, as the interconnect metal. One of the difficulties with fabricating such high aspect ratio interconnect structures is the barrier material, which is employed to encapsulate the metal conductor to prevent diffusion into the surrounding semiconductor materials, must be deposited in such a way as to form a continuous layer on the sidewalls of the trenches and vias. Typical barrier materials used are Ta, TiN, TaN, WN, etc. The current methods of depositing such barrier thin films are Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD), Ionized Physical Vapor Deposition (iPVD), and Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD). The current methods of depositing the copper interconnect metal further require a copper seed layer to be deposited before the subsequent filling of the trenches and vias with electroplated copper.
Depositing these barrier materials and copper seed layers into high aspect ratio, sub-quarter micron vias and trenches often result in uneven thicknesses at the top of the structure, on the side walls and on the bottom of the structure. These effects result in at least three distinct problems that negatively influence the performance of the semiconductor device. First, an excessive overhang of material at the top of the trench or via may cause a "necking in" of the opening which may restrict or prohibit subsequent thin film depositions and/or filling of the structure with the interconnect metal. This problem may then result in voids in the interconnect metal and thus failed devices. Second, a poor sidewall coverage, especially near the bottom corners of the structure, results in too thin of a barrier material layer to prevent copper diffusion and/or too thin of a copper seed layer to allow subsequent copper electroplating and thus failed devices. Third, a build up of material at the bottom of the trenches or vias due to excessive barrier thin film deposition may cause the structures to have substantially higher intrinsic resistivities (typically 100–1000 micro-Ohm-cm) compared to the interconnect metals (1.7 to 3.5 micro-Ohm-cm). This problem results in a significantly higher contact resistance for the interconnect metal and thus negatively influences the performance/speed of the device.
The use of a GCIB for etching or cleaning planar material surfaces is known (see for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,814,194, Deguchi et al.) in the art. For purposes of this discussion, gas clusters are nano-sized aggregates of materials that are gaseous under conditions of standard temperature and pressure. Such clusters typically consist of aggregates of from a few to several thousand molecules loosely bound to form the cluster. The clusters can be ionized by electron bombardment or other means, permitting them to be formed into directed beams of known and controllable energy. The larger sized clusters are often the most useful because of their ability to carry substantial energy per cluster ion, while yet having only modest energy per molecule. The clusters disintegrate on impact, with each individual molecule carrying only a small fraction of the total cluster energy. Consequently, the impact effects of large clusters are substantial, but are limited to a very shallow surface region. This makes ion clusters effective for a variety of surface modification processes, without the tendency to produce deeper subsurface damage characteristic of monomer ion beam processing.
Means for creation of and acceleration of such GCIBs are described in the reference (U.S. Pat. No. 5,814,194) previously cited. Presently available ion cluster sources produce clusters ions having a wide distribution of sizes, n (where n=the number of molecules in each cluster—in the case of monatomic gases like argon, an atom of the monatomic gas will be referred to as a molecule and an ionized atom of such a monatomic gas will be referred to as a molecular ion—or simply a monomer ion—throughout this discussion).
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method of opening or widening the top of a trench or via structure which has an excessive overhang of material after barrier material and/or seed material deposition without significantly damaging or degrading the integrity of the remaining material in order to allow subsequent thin film deposition and/or filling of the structure.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a method of effectively and efficiently redistributing the barrier and/or seed material from the thicker areas in the trench or via, usually the top or bottom of the structure, to the sidewalls without significantly damaging or degrading the integrity of the material in order to provide a more uniform, continuous thin film coverage of the structure.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of fabricating a semiconductor device which reduces the voids present in the metal interconnect lines and/or contact vias thereby increasing the device fabrication yields.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of efficiently fabricating a semiconductor device which allows for the recovery of failed devices due to an excessive overhang of material at the opening of trenches and vias after barrier material and/or copper seed material deposition.

GCIB processing of integrated circuit interconnect structures


A method of preventing or treating type 2 diabetes comprising administering a therapeutically effective amount of 64Zn-enriched zinc.

Type 2 diabetes (or adult-onset or non-insulin-dependent diabetes) is a chronic and progressive condition affecting a person's ability to control the amount of sugar (glucose) in the blood. In people with type 2 diabetes, too little insulin is produced to keep glucose levels normal, or the body fails to respond to insulin.

Composition and method for the treatment of type 2 diabetes


Embodiments of the present application relate to an array substrate, the manufacturing method thereof and a display device. The array substrate comprises: a substrate, of gate lines and of data lines, a plurality of pixel units, defined by the gate lines and the data lines, each of the pixel units comprising a thin film transistor and a pixel electrode, wherein the thin film transistor comprises a source electrode, a drain electrode, an active layer, a gate insulating layer and a gate electrode, and the source electrode and the drain electrode are provided on the substrate opposing to each other with a channel of the thin film transistor provided therebetween, and the pixel electrode is positioned in a region outside the thin film transistor within the pixel unit, and is extended to a position above the drain electrode to be partly lapped over and directly connected to the drain electrode.

Embodiments of the present application generally relate to an array substrate, a manufacturing method thereof and a display device.
Recently, the liquid crystal display technology has been improved continuously. A thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) has predominated in the display field because of various advantages of excellent image quality, low energy consumption, eco-friendliness and the like.
There has always been a demand in increasing the size of a liquid crystal display. With increasing of the size of the liquid crystal display, it is required for frequency of a driving circuit thereof to be increased and in turn, mobility of an amorphous silicon transistor is also required to increase. However, mobility of a current amorphous silicon transistor is generally about 0.5 cm2/V·S, and in the case of the size of the liquid crystal display larger than 80 inches and driving frequency of 120 Hz, mobility of 1 cm2/V·S or more is required, and thus, it is impossible for the current amorphous silicon transistor to meet the requirement of the mobility.
A thin film transistor (TFT) substrate comprising an active layer made of a metal oxide (such as, an IGZO and the like) may better meet requirements of a large size liquid crystal display and an active organic light emitting display because of advantages of high mobility, good homogeneity and the like of the metal oxide, thus attracting much attentions and becoming a research focus in recent years.
Conventionally, a structure of the TFT substrate comprising the active layer made of a metal oxide (such as, IGZO and the like) comprises: a gate electrode layer, a gate insulating layer, an active layer and a source/drain electrode layer (i.e., the source electrode and the drain electrode) sequentially positioned on a glass substrate. Such structure is generally formed by a wet etching process. An etchant used in the wet etching process is typically H2SO4, H3PO4 or H2O2. In such acid etchant environment, the metal oxide itself is easily to be etched, or over-etched. Therefore, a barrier layer provided above the active layer is required to be additionally added in the current TFT substrate, to prevent the metal oxide active layer from being etched and thus being destroyed in the case of using a wet etching process to form the source/drain electrode, thereby further improving performance of the TFT substrate. However, an additional single lithography process is required to form such added barrier layer, which may complicate the manufacturing process of the TFT substrate and thus increasing the production cost of the TFT substrate.

Array substrate, manufacturing method thereof and display device


A method includes recording a current performance signature for first and second components in a system, recording a calibrated baseline performance signature for the components, and processing the performance signatures through an aging model to determine a future performance signature for each component. The future performance signatures are processed through a system function model to determine the state of function of the system for each possible repair case. A cost-optimal repair case is then determined from among the possible repair cases, and recorded in memory. An apparatus includes first and second components of a system, and a host machine configured for processing the current and baseline performance signatures through the aging and system function models as noted above. The cost-optimal repair case is determined from among all possible repair cases, and then recorded in memory. An example system may be a cranking system with a starter motor and battery.

A system is a set of interacting or interdependent components forming an integrated whole. Over time, the performance of the various components comprising the system can degrade at different rates. Because the role and cost of each component can widely differ, the degradation in performance of a given component over time can have a unique impact on the functional state of the system relative to other components used in the same system. Therefore, it can be a challenge to precisely identify the most cost-optimal component(s) in a system to repair or replace.

Cost-optimized model-based extension of system life


Systems, methods, and devices relating to the controlling of a grid-connected inverter. A grid connected inverter is controlled by a proportional-resonant controller which tracks the grid current. To adjust for changes in grid conditions, an update block dynamically and continuously adjusts coefficients used by the controller to ensure high gains provided by the controller at the grid frequency. A harmonic compensator is also provided to ensure that high loop gains at harmonic frequencies of the grid frequency are also provided for. To also adjust for changing grid conditions, a second update block also continuously adjusts the coefficients used by the harmonic compensator.

Distributed power generation is the key to global energy sustainability. Extracting power from renewable energy sources with a distributed generation platform seems to be the only sustainable solution for future power generation. Grid-connected inverters are the interface between the renewable energy power conditioning systems and the utility grid. The grid-connected inverter is responsible for delivering high quality power to the utility grid. In particular, the control system of the inverter is responsible for injecting a high quality current into the utility grid. Regulatory standards for interconnecting renewable energy sources with utility grids impose very strict requirements on the quality of the output current. Particularly, the quality of the current relates to its harmonic contents and its angle with respect to the grid voltage. This angle is called Power Factor (PF).
The control system for the grid connected inverter is responsible for shaping the output current of the inverter to a nearly sinusoidal waveform. The reference signal for the inverter output current is a sinusoidal waveform with a proper angle with respect to the grid voltage. Ideally, the control system controls the inverter output such that the inverter output current tracks this sinusoidal waveform. The sinusoidal waveform has the same frequency as the grid frequency (i.e. the line frequency). In order to track the sinusoidal reference signal, the control loop should have a very high gain at the frequency of the reference signal (i.e. line frequency).
Proportional-Resonant (PR) controllers can be used to provide high gain at the line frequency. These PR controllers are commonly used to provide a very high gain at the frequency of the reference signal by tuning the frequency of the PR-controller to the grid frequency. Also, if a third-order LCL-filer is used at the output of the inverter, a PR-controller, along with a linear state-feedback, can be used to control the output current and to thereby damp the resonance created by the LCL-filter. FIG. 1 shows a typical closed-loop control system for a grid-connected inverter used in distributed power generation according to the prior art. In FIG. 1, a PR-controller is used to provide a high gain at the line frequency. Also in FIG. 1, a harmonic compensator is used to provide high gains at the harmonic frequencies for harmonic rejection of the inverter output current. In addition, a linear state-feedback is used to actively damp the resonance created by the LCL-filter at the output of the inverter.
The digital implementation of the PR-controller has some challenges. One of the main challenges is the effect of the approximation used to discretize the PR controller. The transfer function of the PR controller should be converted from the Laplace domain (s-domain) to the discrete domain (z-domain) for the digital implementation. This approximation creates a deviation of the resonant frequency of the PR controller and, in turn, creates a phase-shift between the output current of the inverter and the reference signal. The other problem is the accuracy required to implement the coefficient of the PR-controller in the discrete domain in order to maintain the resonant frequency at the line frequency. Due to the digital truncation, there might be a large deviation in the resonant frequency of the discrete PR-controller and the line frequency, leading to poor tracking of the reference signal by the control system.
There is therefore a need for systems, methods, or devices which address or mitigate the above issues with the prior art.

Method and apparatus for use with grid connected inverters in distributed power generation


The present disclosure relates to a display technique and provides a multi-screen display apparatus comprising a plurality of display screens, wherein small signal earth wires of the plurality of display screens are connected with each other, large signal earth wires of the plurality of display screens are connected with each other, the small signal earth wires cause small signal grounds of the respective display screens to be connected with each other, and the large signal earth wires cause large signal grounds of the respective display screens to be connected with each other. The plurality of display screens share one power supply, and common-mode choke coils are disposed at signal input terminals of signal boards of the plurality of display screens. The present disclosure further provides a method for eliminating signal interferences in multi screens based on the multi-screen display apparatus. The small signal earth wires of the plurality of display screens are connected together and the large signal earth wires of the plurality of display screens are connected together, respectively, which eliminates potential differences among the plurality of display screens, so that a mura interference phenomenon due to an adjustment of brightness or contrast among the plurality of display screens is eliminated. Furthermore, a common-mode interference due to sharing of the power supply may be eliminated by adding the common-mode choke coil at the signal input terminal of the signal board of each display screen.

Currently, a computer is normally equipped with one display having a single-screen, but when a plurality of windows are required to be opened, they have to be switched on the display and are crowded, especially in a case in which analysis of graphs or a testing of programs is performed, the single-screen display is not suitable any more. Therefore a multi-screen (dual-screen or more than two screens) display appears. However, there are potential differences among the multi screens and pictures would render a mura phenomenon; Further, for the display with the multi screens sharing one power supply, it tends to occur mutual signal interferences among the multi screens.

Multi-screen display apparatus and method for eliminating signal interferences in multi-screens

BEIJING BOE VISION-ELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


The internal movement of one embodiment of a sealed fuel level sender employs two magnets disposed diametrically opposite each other about a pivot. The actuator that is operated by in-tank fuel level has two magnets disposed diametrically opposite each other about the axis with one pole of each magnet of the actuator confronting an opposite pole of a respective magnet of the movement to provide the magnetic coupling for causing the movement to follow the fuel level while minimizing, and preferably substantially eliminating, cross thrust on the pivot. Pole pieces may be associated with the magnets in a further embodiment. Still another embodiment employs magnets to only one side of the pivot, but with pole pieces that reduce cross thrust.

Recent development of a fuel level sender with a resistor card inside a sealed chamber is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,851,315, by Bergsma et al. Fuel and/or fuel vapor is prevented from entering the chamber, eliminating deleterious chemical interaction between fuel and materials of the sender card, e.g. silver and/or silver alloys. A driving source on the outside of the chamber comprises either a ferrous pole or a magnet magnetically coupled with a magnet inside the chamber, or a magnet coupled with ferrous material inside the chamber for turning a fan inside the chamber without physical contact with the drive source. The chamber has a non-magnetic wall separating the inside of the sealed chamber from the outside, and the wall is free of any hole or intrusion (except where one or more electric terminals protrude through in a sealed manner that maintains sealing of the chamber interior from liquid fuel and fuel vapor), and with no requirement for dynamic sealing of a rotary shaft penetrating the chamber wall to couple a driving source to an internal component. Cost and technical complexity of a shaft seal have prevented its use in a high-volume, low-cost, application such as an in-tank fuel level sender in a mass-produced motor vehicle. Magnetically coupled devices are well known for isolating a component such as a pumping blade in a liquid pump from an outside environment.
One of the earliest inventions for a magnetically coupled drive is U.S. Pat. No. 1,847,006, by Kalischer, 1932, followed by many other related inventions: U.S. Pat. No. 2,460,015, by Jones; U.S. Pat. No. 4,163,164 by Pieters; U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,944 by Kyo et al.; and more recently U.S. Pat. No. 6,417,591 by Saito, et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,908,291 by Klein, et al. The use of magnets and ferrous materials both internally and externally to provide a rotary magnetically coupled drive is well known to those skilled-in-the-art.
Torque generated by a magnetically coupled drive is a key specification parameter. The number of magnets, the material, the air gaps, and the flux closure paths are all important in a drive design. A most important design goal of a magnetically coupled drive is that its magnets and poles are aligned one-for-one between the inside and outside of the chamber. The wall thickness of the chamber has a major effect on the permissible air gap between the magnetic poles. The environment both inside and outside the chamber may determine the type of magnetic materials that can be used, as corrosion and chemical effects may affect one material versus another. Size and volume limitations for the device may limit the size and number of magnetic sources and flux closure paths. Some systems are designed with a single magnet on the outside of the chamber wall and a single magnet on the inside, both to one side of a pivot. Flux closure elements may not be part of the design.
A magnetic drive for external reading of a liquid level in a tank, the gauge sealed only against elements of the weather, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,089,086, by Swindler, et al., 2000. U.S. Pat. No. 6,564,632, by Ross, Jr., 2002 describes a hermetic gauge, again sealed only against the atmospheric environment. It should be noted that U.S. Pat. No. 6,089,086 limits its use of a magnetically coupled gauge to a gauge environment external to a tank; the gauge is not designed to be used in a tank with materials designed for sealing against liquids and vapor in the tank. In fact, the proposed magnetic structure is not desirable; it leads to a strong pull along the shaft length of the rotating axis. The cylindrical magnet and the pointer magnet are disposed at different axial distances from the tank or pointer, on opposite sides of a wall perpendicular to the axis of rotation. They pull at each other along the axial direction, creating significant friction in the bearing assembly including the pointer. A better arrangement is magnets positioned radially around ring structures both internally and externally. This prevents axial thrust. U.S. Pat. No. 6,417,591 reads, "Moreover, because force produced between the first magnet group and the second magnet group acts in the radial direction, but not in the thrust direction, there is no likelihood that bearings, etc. will be damaged by the force." However, an unbalanced arrangement of magnets may also produce cross-thrusts that causes significant friction effects leading to incorrect angular positioning of the pointer assembly.

Magnetically coupled drive for a sealed liquid level sender


A process for producing a rubber wet master batch contains at least a filler, a dispersing solvent and a rubber latex liquid as raw materials, comprising: a step (I) of, at the time of dispersing the filler into the dispersing solvent, adding at least one portion of the rubber latex liquid thereto, thereby preparing a slurry containing the filler to which rubber latex particles adhere; a step (II) of mixing the slurry with the rest of the rubber latex liquid, thereby preparing the rubber latex liquid containing the rubber-latex-particle-adhering filler; and a step (III) of solidifying and drying the rubber latex liquid containing the rubber-latex-particle-adhering filler.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rubber wet master batch containing at least a filler, a dispersing solvent and a rubber latex liquid as raw materials, a process for producing the master batch, a rubber composition, and a pneumatic tire.
2. Description of Related Art
Hitherto, it has been known in the rubber industry that when a rubber composition containing a filler such as carbon black is produced, a rubber wet master batch is used in order to improve the workability of the composition and the dispersibility of the filler. The rubber wet master batch is a material obtained by mixing a filler with a dispersing solvent at a predetermined ratio in advance, dispersing the filler in the dispersing solvent by mechanical force to prepare a filler-containing slurry, mixing the slurry and a rubber latex liquid with each other in a liquid phase state, adding a solidifying agent such as an acid to the mixture to solidify the mixture, and collecting and drying the mixture. In the case of using the rubber wet master batch, a rubber composition is obtained which is better in filler-dispersibility and rubber physical properties, such as workability and reinforcing performance, than in the case of using a rubber dry master batch obtained by mixing a filler and a rubber with each other in a solid phase state. The use of this rubber composition as a raw material makes it possible to produce a rubber product (such as pneumatic tire) that has, for example, a reduced rolling resistance and an excellent fatigue resistance.
As a process for producing a natural rubber wet master batch, Patent Document 1 discloses a process for producing a natural rubber wet master batch that includes the step of mixing a slurry in which a filler such as carbon black is previously dispersed in water with a natural rubber latex, wherein as to the particle size distribution of the filler in the slurry, the 90%-by-volume particle diameter (D90) thereof is adjusted to 30 μm or less. Patent Document 2 discloses a natural-rubber wet-master-batch rubber composition obtained by a producing process of mixing a slurry in which carbon black is previously dispersed in water with a natural rubber latex.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-99625    [Patent Document 2] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-213804

Rubber wet master batch, process for producing the same, rubber composition, and pneumatic tire


A leakage current of the MOS transistor of a power control section at a standby time is drastically reduced and the reduction of the consumption power is achieved. A memory module is provided with power control sections. When either of the memory mats is not selected, the power control sections stop the power supply voltage to a non-selected memory mat, a word driver, an input-output circuit, a control circuit and an output circuit. At the standby time of the memory module, the power control section stops a power supply to power control sections, a control circuit, a predecoder circuit, and an input circuit. In this manner, the leakage current of the MOS transistor of the power control sections at the standby time can be drastically reduced.

In general, a memory module such as the SRAM is contained in a semiconductor integrated circuit device such as a system LSI.
Some of these memory modules mentioned above are provided with a power control section for reducing power consumption by cutting off the power during a period when a circuit operation is not needed. This power control section is provided, for example, in each divided memory mat.
The power control section consists of a memory mat, an input-output circuit, a control circuit, a plurality of MOS (Metal Oxide Semiconductor) transistors provided between the power supply voltages supplied to peripheral circuits such as a word driver, a predecoder circuit and the like, and a power control circuit for controlling the on and off of these MOS transistors.
The power control circuit cuts off the power supply voltage supplied to the memory mat, the input-output circuit, and the peripheral circuits by turning off the MOS transistors at the standby time of the semiconductor integrated circuit device.

Semiconductor memory device and semiconductor integrated circuit device

Renesas Northern Japan Semiconductor, Inc.


Deterioration in image quality is caused by deviation in dot forming positions between rasters in the case of carrying out printing of adjoining two rasters. The rasters are printed by two columns of ejection openings array disposed on an ink-jet head. To suppress image quailty deterioration, the two columns of ejection openings are shifted from each other by a half of a pitch at which the ejection openings are arranged in the column. When allocating input image data quantized into multi-valued levels to 2xc3x972 dot array as pseudo half-tone processing before printing, the mutually different plural dot arrangements are applied concerning each level of the input image data, and the plural dot arrangements are cyclically changed in the main scanning direction according to predetermined rules, and also equalization processing for equalizing the number of said adjoining the two raster dots is properly performed in the one cycle. Thus, differences in a covering ratio of the printing medium with formed dots can be put to 10% or less in a range where the adjoining two rasters are deviated from each other by at least xc2x12 pixels in the scanning direction.

This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 11-237299 (1999) filed Aug. 24, 1999, the content of which is incorporated hereinto by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing method and a printing apparatus, and is particularly suited for adjusting the positions of ink dots in a printing apparatus of an ink jet system. In addition to general printing apparatus, the present invention can also be applied to copying machines, facsimiles with a communication system, word processors with a printer, and industrial printing apparatus combined with a variety of processing devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image printing apparatus of so-called serial scan type, which executes the print operation while scanning a print head, or a printing unit, over a print medium, has found a variety of image forming applications. The ink jet printing apparatus in particular has in recent years achieved high resolution and color printing, making a significant image quality improvement, which has resulted in a rapid spread of its use. Such an apparatus employs a so-called multi-nozzle head that has an array of densely arranged nozzles for ejecting ink droplets. Images with still higher resolution has now been made possible by increasing the nozzle density and reducing the amount of ink per dot. Further, to realize an image quality approaching that of silver salt picture, various technologies have been developed, including the use of pale or light color ink with reduced density in addition to four basic color inks (cyan, magenta, yellow and black). A print speed reduction problem, which is feared to arise as the picture quality advances, is dealt with by increasing the number of print elements, improving the drive frequency and employing a bi-directional printing technique, thus realizing a satisfactory throughput.
FIG. 19 schematically shows a general construction of a printer that uses the multi-nozzle for printing. In the figure, reference number 1901 represents head cartridges corresponding to four inks, black (K), cyan (C), magenta (M) and yellow (Y). Each head cartridge 1901 consists of an ink tank 1902T filled with a corresponding color ink and a head unit 1902H having an array of many nozzles for ejecting the ink supplied from the ink tank onto a print medium 1907.
Designated 1903 is a paper feed roller which, in cooperation with an auxiliary roller 1904, clamps a print medium (print paper) 1907 and rotates in the direction of arrow in the figure to feed the print paper 1907 in the direction as required. Denoted 1905 is a pair of paper supply rollers that clamp the print paper 1907 and carries it toward the print position. The paper supply rollers 1905 also keep the print paper 1907 flat and tight between the supply rollers and the feed rollers 1903, 1904.
Designated 1906 is a carriage that supports the four head cartridges 1901 and moves them in a main scan direction during the print operation. When the printing is not performed or during an ink ejection performance recovery operation for the head unit 1902H, the carriage 1906 is set at a home position h indicated by a dotted line.
The carriage 1906, which was set at the home position h before the print operation, starts moving in the X direction upon reception of a print start command and at the same time the head unit 1902H ejects ink from a plurality of nozzles (n nozzles) formed therein according to print data to perform printing over a band of a width corresponding to the length of the nozzle array. When the printing is done up to the X-direction end of the print paper 1907, the carriage 1906 returns to the home position h in the case of one-way printing and resumes printing in the X direction. In the case of bi-directional printing, the carriage 1906 also performs printing while it is moving in a xe2x88x92X direction toward the home position h. In either case, after one print operation (one scan) in one direction has been finished before the next print operation is started, the paper feed roller 1903 is rotated a predetermined amount in the direction of arrow in the figure to feed the print paper 1907 in the Y direction a predetermined distance (corresponding to the length of the nozzle array). By repeating the one-scan print operation and the print paper feeding by a predetermined distance, data for one sheet of paper is printed.
In the above serial type ink jet printer, various provisions have been made as to the construction of the head unit or the printing method in order to realize an image printing with higher resolution.
For example, the manufacture of the multi-nozzle head inevitably places a limit on the density of the nozzles in a single nozzle array.
FIG. 20A shows an example head that realizes a higher nozzle density. This head has two columns of nozzles extending in the Y direction and spaced a distance px (corresponding to a predetermined number of pixels) apart in the X direction. The two nozzle columns, each consisting of many nozzles arranged at a predetermined pitch py in the Y direction, are shifted from each other by a distance py/2 in the Y direction. This arrangement of the nozzles realizes a resolution two times higher than that achieved by a single nozzle column. When this head is applied to the apparatus shown in FIG. 19, the heads having the construction shown in FIG. 20A for one color can be arranged in parallel in the X direction for six colors. In this arrangement, simply adjusting the ejection timings of the two nozzle columns can achieve a color printing with two times the resolution of the single nozzle column.
In other technologies, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,355 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 7-242025 (1995), a high resolution printing is realized by setting the paper feed distance for each print scan to a predetermined number of pixels less than the length of the column of nozzles while leaving the multi-nozzle arrangement at a low resolution. Such a printing method is hereinafter called an interlace printing method.
The interlace printing method will be briefly explained by referring to FIG. 21. Here let us take up an example case where an image with resolution of 1200 DPI (dots/inch) is printed by using a head H with nozzles arranged at a pitch of 300 DPI. For the sake of simplicity, it is assumed that the head has nine nozzles and that the distance of the paper feed carried out after each print scan is nine pixels at 1200-DPI resolution. The rasters printed in the forward pass are shown as solid lines and the rasters printed in the backward pass are shown as dashed lines. These two kinds of lines are formed alternately.
While in this example the paper is fed a fixed distance of 9 pixels at 1200-DPI resolution, other arrangements may be made in the interlace printing. The interlace printing method does not need to have a constant paper feed distance at all times as long as a picture is printed with a plurality print scans arranged at a pitch finer than the arrangement pitch of the nozzles themselves. In either base, an image can be printed with a higher resolution than he nozzle arrangement resolution.
By the various methods explained above, it has been realized to print an image with resolutions higher than a nozzle array.
On the other hand, a printing resolution of a printer is not necessarily equal to an input resolution from a host device as an image data supply source. Recent printers permit printing according to plural input resolutions. For example, when high speed processing is desired, it is possible even for a printer with a resolution of 1200 DPI to reduce a transmission time from the host device if an image data is inputted with a resolution of 300 DPI. In such a case, 17 levels which can be expressed by 4xc3x974 pixels, in practice, are reduced to 2 levels.
Moreover, even if a printing of high quality image is required, it becomes a burden for the host device to transmit an image data of 1200 DPI. In this case, a method has already been proposed and brought into practice, wherein a multi-valued image is inputted beforehand with a resolution of 600 DPI, data amount thereof is a quarter of that of 1200 DPI, and is represented in multi-levels in 2xc3x972 areas for printing. As one of the examples thereof, the technique disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 9-466522 (1997) will be explained below.
FIG. 22 shows an example disclosed in the specification of the above mentioned Application wherein an input data with a resolution of 300 DPI is printed with 800 DPI. In the case that an output resolution of a printer is 600 DPI to an input resolution of 300 DPI from the host device, the printer can represent the output in 5-valued gradations by 2xc3x972 dot arrangement. When the 5 values are defined as xe2x80x9clevelxe2x80x9d to xe2x80x9clevel 4 xe2x80x9d, plural patterns can be represented in each of the levels except xe2x80x9clevel 0xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9clevel 4xe2x80x9d as shown in the figure. The Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 9-46522 (1997) discloses the contents how these plural patterns are arranged sequentially or at random. In such a manner, a dot arrangement for forming a pixel at each gradation is not fixed, therefore, this method has an effect to reduce an pseudo-contour or what is called xe2x80x9csweep-up phenomenonxe2x80x9d etc. appearing on the edge part of an image when pseudo half-tone processing is carried out. Moreover, this printing method is also effective to average the use conditions of the printing head nozzles.
Such a printing method is effective especially for a high resolution printing device. For a printer intended for realizing a photographic image, an input resolution higher than a degree of visual resolution is not necessary, but it is rather effective to improve tone of individual pixels as far as a resolution of about 600 DPI can be obtained. If the tone is further increased by using 6 color inks containing the aforementioned light inks, granular impression is decreased and a smoother image can be obtained.
As opposed to this, when an output of a fine monochrome character or pattern is desired, it is preferable to print a 2-valued image at a degree of an input resolution as the highest resolution of the printer. Thus, it becomes possible to cope with various prints according to uses while using the same printer.
When a head as shown in FIG. 20A is used, because even-numbered rasters and odd-numbered rasters that are alternated in the Y direction (sub-scan direction) are printed by different columns of nozzles, the landing positions of ink droplets from the two columns of nozzles may deviate subtly from the correct positions, degrading the image quality. One of the possible causes for this problem may be explained as follows. When a head face on which nozzles are formed is deformed due to swelling with ink or temperature rise, causing a part of the head face between the nozzle column associated with the odd-numbered rasters and the nozzle column associated with the even-numbered rasters to bulge, as shown in FIG. 20B, the ink droplets from the respective nozzle columns will be projected in two different directions slightly away from each other. The ink landing position deviation between the rasters due to this phenomenon, even if small in magnitude, will have bad effects on the image quality, and a fine image obtained by using the binarization method like an error diffusion method is particularly deteriorated in the quality. Such an image is keeping the whole smoothness by being provided with a blue noise characteristic in the dot arrangement, however, the deviation between a layer of the even-numbered rasters and a layer of the odd-numbered rasters from each other largely collapses the spatial frequency distribution, and this produces a granular impression on the whole image.
Many proposals have been put forward as to the method of correcting ink landing position deviations among different colors and, in the bi-directional printing, the method of correcting deviations in ink landing position of the same color between the forward scan and the backward scan. However, as for the correction of the ink landing position deviations between the rasters of the same color produced by the head shown in FIG. 20A, an effective adjustment method has yet to be proposed although the allowable range for the deviation is narrow and the effects of such the deviations on the image formation are large.
Further, the deviation in ejection direction between the even-numbered nozzle column and the odd-numbered nozzle column is caused by the ink composition, ink ejection history such as ejection frequency, and printing environment, as well as the characteristic variations of individual heads. For example, when printing is done successively, such a phenomenon is brought about as the printing head is increased in temperatures and the inks re decreased in the viscosity, and this results in an increase in an ink ejection speed. As the head is raised in temperatures, so the deviation amount also varies according to the temperature rises, however, since the variation returns to the former state when the printing is completed and the temperature is lowered, it has been impossible to follow this variation even though an adjusting mechanism by user is provided.
Such a problem may occur in the above interlace printing method. In the interlace printing method, because the same image area is completed by repeating the print scan and the paper feed a plurality of times, the printing time will increase. To cope with this problem, a bi-directional printing has been proposed and disclosed. In this case, the odd-numbered rasters are often printed by the forward scans and the even-numbered rasters by backward scans, as shown in FIG. 21. If the ink landing positions deviate from one raster to another, the similar problem to that when the head of FIG. 20A is used will occur.
Although many methods for correcting the landing position deviation between forward printing and backward printing were already proposed, they have been still incomplete in timely and properly coping with the problem that the ejection speed increases as the temperature rises.
If the technique disclosed by the aforesaid Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 9-46522 (1997) is applied, the problem of deterioration in image quality can be relaxed to some extent. However, the proposal has not originally been intended for improving the landing position deviation between even- and odd-numbered rasters, and satisfactory position adjustment for forming dots between even- and odd-numbered rasters has not been examined.
Moreover, the above mentioned Application has also disclosed the contents for varying plural patterns at random. If this proposal is applied to the above problem, an effect can surely be expectable, however, circuitry for generating plural patterns at random becomes necessary, and moreover, it is anticipated that the circuitry will be rather complex. Although the above mentioned Application proposes to generate plural patters at random, as long as there is a limit to a memory for supplying the plural patterns, it is also presupposed that a large cycle appears in the patterns in view of an entire image, and is rather conspicuous.
The present invention is made considering the above-mentioned problems, and the purpose of the invention is to make it possible to suppress deterioration in image quality caused when dot forming positions are deviated from each raster, while using a head comprising plural ejection openings arranged in the main scanning direction and permitting high resolution printing, or while bi-directionally executing an interlace printing method.
In a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing method using a print head on which a plurality of print elements are arranged, the method comprising the steps of:
forming an image on a printing medium by scanning the print head in a direction different from the arranging direction of the plurality of print elements and forming adjoining N rasters of the image in the arranging direction under different conditions; and
allocating input image data quantized into multi-valued levels to Nxc3x97N dot arrangements as pseudo half-tone processing before the image formation; the allocating step having the steps of:
applying a plurality of the dot arrangements mutually different from each other to a same level of the input image data;
cyclically changing the dot arrangement in the scan direction according to predetermined rules, and
equalizing the number of dots of the adjoining N rasters in the one cycle.
In a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus using a print head on which a plurality of print elements are arranged, the apparatus comprising:
a unit for forming an image on a printing medium by scanning the print head in a direction different from the arranging direction of the plurality of print elements and forming adjoining N rasters of the image in the arranging direction under different conditions; and
a unit for allocating input image data quantized into multi-valued levels to Nxc3x97N dot arrangements as pseudo half-tone processing before the image formation; the allocating unit applying a plurality of the dot arrangements mutually different from each other to a same level of the input image data, cyclically changing the dot arrangement in the scan direction according to predetermined rules, and equalizing the number of dots of the adjoining N rasters in the one cycle.
In a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control method of a printing apparatus for printing by using a print head on which a plurality of print elements are arranged, the method comprising the steps of:
controlling the print head to form adjoining N rasters of an image in the arranging direction of the plurality of print elements under different conditions when the image on a printing medium is formed by scanning the print head in a direction different from the arranging direction; and
allocating input image data quantized into multi-valued levels to Nxc3x97N dot arrangements as pseudo half-tone processing before the image formation; the allocating step having the steps of:
applying a plurality of the dot arrangements mutually different from each other to a same level of the input image data;
cyclically changing the dot arrangement in the scan direction according to predetermined rules, and
equalizing the number of dots of the adjoining N rasters in the one cycle.
In a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program for performing a control method of a printing by means of a computer, the apparatus for printing by using a print head on which a plurality of print elements are arranged, the method comprising the steps of:
controlling the print head to form adjoining N rasters of an image in the arranging direction of the plurality of print elements under different conditions when the image on a printing medium is formed by scanning the print head in a direction different from the arranging direction; and
allocating input image data quantized into multi-valued levels to Nxc3x97N dot arrangements as pseudo half-tone processing before the image formation; the allocating step having the steps of:
applying a plurality of the dot arrangements mutually different from each other to a same level of the input image data;
cyclically changing the dot arrangement in the scan direction according to predetermined rules, and
equalizing the number of dots of the adjoining N rasters in the one cycle.
In any one of the above aspects, in the equalization, differences in a covering ratio of the printing medium with formed dots may be put within 10% or less in a range where the adjoining N rasters are deviated from each other by at least xc2x12 pixels in the scan direction.
The print head may have N columns of print elements arranged side by side in the scan direction, the N columns of print elements may be shifted from each other by an amount less than a pitch at which the print elements are arranged in the column, and the N columns of print elements may print the N rasters.
The print head may be operated to scan the printing medium in the forward and backward directions, and image formation may be carried out by relatively transporting the printing medium in a direction perpendicular to the scan directions by quantities for printing at a density higher than the arranging density of the plurality of print elements between the forward and backward scanning, and the printing of the N(=2) rasters may be carried out by the scanning in the forward and backward directions.
The above method or apparatus may further comprises a step of or means for carrying out an adjustment of drive timings to the plurality of print elements in the N rasters.
The print head may be the one which carries out printing by ejecting ink, and the print elements may have ejection openings for ejecting the ink.
Here, the print head may have heating elements to generate thermal energy for causing film boiling in ink as an energy for ejecting ink from the ejection openings.
The above and other objects, effects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Printing method and a printing apparatus


A plurality of slots is provided at a stator core. A cable component is formed by bundling a plurality of conducting wires and connectors are mounted on both ends. The cable component is inserted into corresponding slot so as to cross over the corresponding plurality of slots and then a coil is formed by connecting both ends of the cable component.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motor and a generator of which the armature is wound by a coil and also relates to a method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
A rotating electrical unit has been conventionally and widely used in various fields. Here, the rotating electrical unit includes a motor and a generator. The use of the rotating electrical unit is not limited but here it is used as, for example, a motor for driving the compressor of an air conditioner, a motor for running an electric vehicle (including a hybrid car), a generator mounted on a car, etc.
The rotating electrical unit is generally provided with a coil for generating a magnetic field (in the case of a generator, a coil for generating electromotive force in accordance with the change of a flux). The following method is well known as a method of forming a conventional wire.
For example, in a rotating electrical unit described in patent document 1, a coil is formed by repeatedly winding a conductor wire around the slot of a stator. This stator includes a plurality of stator pieces and these stator pieces are combined after a coil is formed for each stator piece. Therefore, this method has a merit such that a winding operation becomes easier in comparison with a method of winding a conductor wire around the slot provided on a cylindrical stator core.
In addition, in patent document 2, a technology called insert method is described. In the insert method, a coil is produced in advance by winding one conductor wire several times around a ring-shaped frame, etc. and this ring-shaped coil is inserted into the slot corresponding to a stator core using a device called an inserter. According to this insert method, since a conductor wire need not be wound directly around a slot of the stator core, the operation of forming a coil becomes easier.
[Patent document 1]
Japanese patent laid-open application publication 9-191588 (FIGS. 1 and 2, paragraphs 0023 to 0030).
[Patent document 2]
Japanese patent laid-open application publication 58-33945 (pages 1 and 2).
In a case where a coil is formed by winding a conductor wire directly around a slot provided at a stator core (especially, in a case where a slot is provided on an inner circumference side of a cylindrical stator core), the labor for a winding operation increases. In the method described in patent document 1, this problem is alleviated. According to the method described in patent document 1, however, it is interpreted that the configuration of a stator core is complicated and the coil is limited to a concentrated winding.
In the insert method described in the patent document 2, an inserter itself is a relatively large-scale and also expensive device. Especially in a case where a stator core has a long cylindrical shape, a coil can be hardly inserted into the corresponding slot.

Motor or generator and method of producing the same


Features, especially of a call diversion feature, of a communications system are automatically controlled according to the position of a mobile terminal. The mobile terminal can be treated to a certain extent as an indicator of the position of a user carrying the mobile terminal with him/her. The position of the mobile terminal is determined by a global positioning system of the mobile terminal and is compared with a stored reference position. One or more features of the communications system are then controlled according to the results of this comparison.

Contemporary communications systems, e.g. for voice, video and/or data communication, frequently have a multiplicity of features such as, for example, call diversion, call forwarding and group call. To set up or activate such features, however, time-consuming and complicated user inputs are frequently required. In the text which follows, this will be illustrated on the example of setting up a call diversion.
Call diversion is frequently used for diverting calls which are directed to a terminal located at the workstation of a user to another terminal when the user leaves his workstation. For this purpose, the user must activate a corresponding call diversion in a feature control of the communication system every time he leaves his workstation. The user can determine as destination for the diversion, e.g. a mobile or cordless terminal carried by him, a voice box or a terminal of a colleague. When call diversion is activated, the communication system then signals the calls arriving for the terminal at the workstation at the terminal intended as destination for the diversion. When the user returns to his workstation, the user must again explicitly deactivate the call diversion so that incoming calls are again switched to the terminal of the workstation. The user inputs to be made for activating and deactivating a call diversion every time he leaves and, respectively, returns to the workstation are very time-consuming. In addition, there is a risk that the user forgets to activate the call diversion, for example when he leaves his workstation, and, in consequence, is temporarily not available for incoming calls.
Other features of a communications system also require similar cumbersome user inputs, particularly when the user changes location.
It is one possible object of the present invention to specify a method which allows automatic and demand-oriented controlling of features of a communication system. It could also be an object of the present invention to specify a mobile terminal and a base station for implementing the method.
The proposed method and device provide for the automatic controlling of features, e.g. for a call diversion, a call forwarding, a group call, a call back, appointment signaling and/or an internet access, of a communication system in dependence on a position of a mobile terminal. The mobile terminal can be considered to a certain extent as an indicator of where a user carrying the mobile terminal is located. The position of the mobile terminal is determined by a satellite navigation receiver of the mobile terminal and compared with a stored reference position. Following this, one or more features of the communication system are controlled in dependence on the result of the comparison.
In the text which follows, a mobile terminal is also understood as meaning what is known as a cordless terminal. The invention is essentially independent of the wireless communication method used by the mobile terminal and its base station. For example, a mobile terminal according to what is known as the Bluetooth, DECT or GSM standard can be used.
Controlling a feature can comprise, e.g. setting up, configuring, activating or deactivating the feature. Thus, for example, a feature which relates to a landline network terminal on the desk of the user can be activated when the user with his mobile terminal leaves a predetermined area around his desk. For this purpose, this area must first be stored as reference position.
The comparison of the position determined with the stored reference position and the controlling of the feature can be carried out by the mobile terminal or, as an alternative, by a base station of the mobile terminal. In the last-mentioned alternative, the position of the mobile terminal, determined by satellite navigation receiver, must be transmitted by the terminal to the base station. Carrying out the comparison and the controlling of the feature by the mobile terminal has the advantage that no intervention is required at the base station for implementing the method. By comparison, the alternative embodiment of the comparison and of the controlling of the feature by the base station has the advantage that the method can be implemented with any mobile terminal equipped with a satellite navigation receiver, the position of which can be interrogated by the base station.
In a particularly advantageous manner, the method can be used for the position-dependent controlling of a call diversion. Thus, for example, a call diversion for a landline network terminal on the desk of the user can be activated when the user with his mobile terminal leaves a predetermined area around his desk. The call diversion to be activated can lead to any second terminal such as, for example, the mobile terminal itself, to a voice box, to a terminal of a colleague, to a home connection of the user or to another mobile terminal of the user. The last-mentioned example, a call diversion control can be used for implementing what is known as roaming to another mobile terminal which can also belong to another radio network and the mobile terminal used as the position indicator.
The comparison of the position found for the mobile terminal with the reference position can be carried out in a particularly simple manner by determining the distance between the position of the mobile terminal and the reference position. Furthermore, a frame of values for the distance determined can be predetermined and when this is exceeded, control of the feature is initiated. As a frame of values, for example, the distance at which a user can still audibly perceive any ringing of his desk telephone can be predetermined. When this distance is exceeded, a call diversion from the desk telephone to the mobile terminal can then be automatically activated. In addition, further frames of values can be predetermined for the distance between position found and the reference position in order to control features, as required, when a user with his mobile terminal leaves or enters, e.g. the grounds of his company, a city or a country.
In FIG. 1, a mobile terminal ME is shown diagrammatically which is wirelessly coupled to a public or private communication network KN via a base station BS. The mobile terminal ME has a GSM transceiver module GSM (Global System for Mobile communication), a GPS receiver GPS (Global Positioning System), a central processor ST and a memory MEM as functional components. The central processor, in turn, contains a comparison device VGL which is preferably implemented by a comparison routine running on a system processor of the central processor ST. The GSM transceiver module GSM, the GPS receiver GPS and the memory MEM are connected to the central processor ST. A GSM air interface to the base station BS is implemented by the GSM transceiver mobile GSM. As an alternative, the mobile terminal ME could also be coupled to the base station BS via a UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication Service), DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telephony) or a Bluetooth air interface by a corresponding UMTS, DECT or Bluetooth transceiver module.
The GPS receiver GPS is used for receiving and evaluating navigation signals which are radiated worldwide by navigation satellites SAT located in earth orbit. Evaluation of the navigation signals by the GPS receiver allows the global position of the mobile terminal ME to be determined.
The memory MEM contains one or more entries in which in each case a terminal, in this case a desk terminal TE, is associated with a reference position RPOS stored in GPS coordinates. The stored information identifying the respective terminal can be, e.g. its directory number. In FIG. 1, only a single stored reference position RPOS is explicitly shown for reasons of clarity. In the present exemplary embodiment, it designates the position of the desk terminal TE. In principle, however, the reference position RPOS is not tied to a position of a terminal but, instead, can be freely predetermined by a user. A reference position RPOS can be predetermined, e.g. by a current position of the mobile terminal ME, determined by the GPS receiver GPS, being accepted as reference position RPOS and stored in a memory MEM on the initiative of the user. As an alternative, the reference position RPOS can also be input explicitly, e.g. in the form of GPS coordinates, by a user at the mobile terminal ME.
In the present exemplary embodiment, the GPS receiver GPS determines the respective current position POS of the mobile terminal ME at regular time intervals, e.g. at intervals of 30 seconds, and transfer this position POS to the comparison device VGL. The comparison device VGL then compares the position POS of the mobile terminal ME with the stored reference position RPOS. The comparison is made by determining the distance between the current position POS and the reference position RPOS and comparing it with a predetermined limit distance such as, e.g. 50 m. The limit distance can preferably also be stored in a memory MEM, possibly in association with a respective reference position RPOS. Depending on whether the distance found between the current position POS and the reference position RPOS exceeds or drops below the predetermined limit distance, the central processor ST initiates different control processes. In the present exemplary embodiment, the central processor ST activates a call diversion previously set up in communication network KN when the predetermined limit distance is exceeded and deactivates it again when the distance is below this limit distance. For this purpose, the central processor ST generates, in dependence on the result of the comparison between the current position POS and the reference position RPOS associated with a terminal, in this case TE, a control information item SI. The control information item SI contains, among other things, a terminal identification information item identifying the terminal associated with the reference position RPOS, in this case TE, e.g. its directory number, and an authentication information item AI. The authentication information item AI is used for checking the authorization for controlling the call diversion in the communication network KN. In the present exemplary embodiment, the authentication information item AI comprises the directory number of the mobile terminal ME. The control information item SI is transmitted by the central processor ST to the GSM transceiver mobile GSM and from the latter wirelessly to the base station BS and thus into the communication network KN. A control information item SI is preferably formed and transmitted only if the result of the comparison with a limit distance changes compared with the result of the corresponding immediately preceding comparison with this limit distance.
The position-dependent control of the call diversion can be switched on or off by the user of the mobile terminal as required.
FIGS. 2 and 3 in each case show the same communication system, which has the communication network KN, the base station BS, the mobile terminal ME, the desk terminal TE and a further terminal EG in a diagrammatic representation. The base station BS and the terminals EG and TE are in each case connected to the communica-tion network KN. The mobile terminal ME is wirelessly coupled to the base station BS. The position of the desk terminal TE is stored in the mobile terminal ME as the reference position RPOS associated with the desk terminal TE.
The switching system VE contains a call diversion table TAB in which call diversions for any terminals can be entered for the terminals registered with the switching system VE, in this case TE. In the present exemplary embodiment, a call diversion to the mobile terminal ME is entered for the desk terminal TE. To each terminal for which a call diversion is set up, in this case TE, a respective destination terminal, in this case ME, an activation status, in this case A for activated or D for deactivated, and an authentication information item, in this case AI, is allocated in the call diversion table TAB. The switching system VE checks by a respective authentication information AI whether a respective transmitter of a control information item is authorized to control a call diversion for a respective terminal. Control of a call diversion for a terminal is only allowed if the relevant control information item contains the authentication information item allocated to this terminal in the call diversion table TAB.
Setting up a call diversion, i.e. entering a data record in the call diversion table TAB, can be done from the desk terminal TE or from the mobile terminal ME by inputting a diversion destination, in this case ME. When it is entered via the mobile terminal ME, the respective terminal for which the call diversion is to be set up, in this case TE, must be identified, for example by inputting its directory number, in addition to the diversion destination. Furthermore, the reference position RPOS to be allocated to this terminal, in this case TE, must also be defined at the mobile terminal ME. For this purpose, the mobile terminal ME is preferably brought into the vicinity of the desk terminal TE and the position POS of the mobile terminal ME currently determined is stored as reference position RPOS in the memory MEM by a user input reserved for this purpose.
In the present exemplary embodiment, the authentication information item AI includes the directory number of the mobile terminal ME. This means that the call diversion entered for the desk terminal TE can be controlled by control information items SI of the mobile terminal ME.
FIG. 2 shows a situation in which the user with his mobile terminal ME is in the immediate vicinity of the desk terminal TE. The distance between the current position POS and the reference position RPOS allocated to the desk terminal TE, determined by the mobile terminal ME, is less than the predetermined limit distance. In the switching system VE, a call diversion for the desk terminal TE to the mobile terminal ME is set up by a corresponding entry in the call diversion table TAB but initially marked as deactivated by an activation status D allocated to the desk terminal TE.
Since the call diversion set up for the desk terminal TE is deactivated, connection requests VA arriving at the switching system VE and directed to the desk terminal TE by the terminal EG are switched via the switching system VE to the desk terminal TE in accordance with the destination. Since the user with his mobile terminal ME is in the vicinity of the desk terminal TE, the incoming connection requests VA can be accepted by the user at the desk terminal TE.
FIG. 3 illustrates a situation in which the user with his mobile terminal ME is going away from the desk terminal TE. In this situation, the comparison device VGL of the mobile terminal ME finds that the distance between the currently determined position POS of the mobile terminal ME and the reference position RPOS allocated to the desk terminal TE exceeds the predetermined limit distance. In consequence, the central processor ST of the mobile terminal ME forms a control information item SI for activating a call diversion. The call diversion is activated for the terminal, in this case TE, which is allocated to the reference position RPOS, on which the comparison is based, in the memory MEM. The control information item SI formed accordingly comprises a terminal identification information item identifying the desk terminal TE, e.g. its directory number, the authentication information item AI and an activation command AK for activating the call diversion. The control information item SI is wirelessly transmitted by the mobile terminal ME to the base station BS and from the latter to the switching system VE. The switching system VE then finds the entry in the call diversion table TAB which is associated with the desk terminal TE identified by the control information item SI. In the present exemplary embodiment, the entry found relates to the previously deactivated call diversion from the desk terminal TE to the mobile terminal ME. Following this, the authorization for controlling the call diversion is checked by comparing the authentication information item contained in the control information item SI received with the authentication information item stored in the call diversion table TAB. After a successful authorization check, the call diversion is activated by the switching system VE and identified as active by entering the activation status A in the call diversion table TAB. In consequence, subsequent connection requests VA directed to the desk terminal TE by the terminal EG are diverted to the mobile terminal ME by the switching system VE. For this purpose, the switching system VE forwards the connection requests VA—provided with the directory number of the mobile terminal ME as new destination information—to the base station BS. The latter then initiates the further wireless connection set-up to the mobile terminal ME by the new destination information.
If the mobile terminal ME again approaches the desk terminal TE so that the distance between the currently found position POS and the reference position RPOS again drops below the predetermined limit distance, the central processor ST forms a further control information item (not shown) for deactivating the call diversion and transmits it to the switching system VE. The call diversion is thereupon deactivated by the switching system VE and identified as deactivated by entering the activation status D in the call diversion table TAB. In consequence, subsequent connection requests directed to the desk terminal TE by a terminal EG are again forwarded to the desk terminal TE by the switching system VE in accordance with requirements.
The call diversion can be preferably also deactivated when the mobile terminal ME is switched off. In this case, a control information item for deactivating the call diversion is transmitted by the mobile terminal ME to the switching device VE during the switching-off process.
According to an alternative embodiment, a comparison of the current position POS of the mobile terminal ME with a reference position RPOS, and the controlling of the call diversion which depends on this can also be effected by a correspondingly designed base station or switching system. In these cases, the currently found position POS of the mobile terminal ME must be transmitted in each case to this base station or to this switching system, respectively. Correspondingly, the reference positions RPOS and their association with a respective terminal must be stored in this base station or in this switching system, respectively.
Furthermore, the activation status of the call diversion can be interrogated in each case before a position comparison is carried out. The position comparison can then be made in dependence on the activation status found. Thus, when the call diversion is deactivated, a check can be made whether the mobile terminal ME is moving away from the reference position RPOS and when the call diversion is activated, a check can be made whether the mobile terminal ME is approaching the reference position RPOS. A control information item SI is then only formed in each case with a positive result of the check.
Controlling a call diversion does not need to be restricted to its activation or deactivation but can also relate to, for example, a setting-up or configuring of the call diversion or also of any other feature of the switching system. Thus, for example, if the mobile terminal ME finds that it is approaching a predetermined reference position of a further terminal, e.g. the home terminal of the user, a setting-up of a new call diversion to this further terminal can be initiated by the mobile terminal ME. The new diversion destination must then be preferably specified in a control information item formed for setting up the new call diversion by the central processor ST and transmitted to the switching system VE.
The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to preferred embodiments thereof and examples, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Position-dependent control of features of a communications system


A parking lock mechanism of an automatic transmission includes a casing, a parking gear provided in the casing, a parking pawl engaged with the parking gear to achieve a parking lock state, and a “parking pawl holding portion” suppressing inclination of the parking pawl in an out-of-plane direction (a direction shown with an arrow DR40). A groove portion is formed in the casing. A protruding portion is provided in a sleeve fixed to the casing. A side surface of the groove portion implements a “first portion” of the “parking pawl holding portion.” A base and protruding portion are formed from a member separate from the casing, and implement a “second portion” of the “parking pawl holding portion.”

A parking lock mechanism of an automatic transmission has conventionally been known.
For example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2003-106453 discloses a parking lock mechanism of an automatic transmission pivotably supporting a parking pawl using a parking pawl shaft.
The parking lock mechanism as described above is provided in a casing such as a transmission case.
In the parking lock mechanism as described above, the parking pawl is engaged with a parking gear connected to an output shaft of the automatic transmission, so as to achieve a parking lock state. In order to move the parking pawl toward the parking gear, a sliding portion guiding the parking pawl is provided.
If the sliding portion is small, however, accuracy in holding the parking pawl is lowered and malfunction of the parking lock mechanism may occur.
If the sliding portion is implemented solely by the casing of the parking lock mechanism, a size of a portion guiding the parking pawl should be large to some extent, from a viewpoint of prevention of malfunction of the parking lock mechanism. In such a case, an area to be worked in the casing is increased, which results in an increased working time and shorter life of a tool. If the sliding portion is implemented solely by the casing in this manner, it is difficult to achieve both accuracy in holding the parking pawl and productivity of the parking lock mechanism.

Parking lock mechanism of automatic transmission


Different intracardiac echocardiography volumes are stitched together. Different volumes of a patient are scanned with ICE. To stitch the volumes together, creating a larger volume, the volumes are spatially aligned. The alignment is based on feature, surface, or both feature and surface matching of the ICE volumes with a preoperative model of the same patient. The matching with the model indicates a relative position of the ICE volumes with each other. Using machine-trained classifiers may speed performance, allowing for real-time assembling of a volume from ICE data as the catheter is moved within the patient.

The present embodiments relate to intracardiac echocardiography (ICE).
Percutaneous cardiac interventions are becoming more prevalent compared to "open" heart procedures. Percutaneous interventions may result in shorter patient recovery time and are considered a faster and less risky procedure. No anesthesia may be required.
During percutaneous cardiac interventions, clinicians may rely on one or more image acquisition techniques to guide the operation. ICE is one such technique. For example, the AccuNav ultrasound imaging catheter from Siemens Medical Solutions, USA, is used for ICE. This ultrasound catheter, with the small diameter size and long length, is able to be positioned in nearly every position in the heart chambers and record three or four-dimensional scans. The dynamic resolution is usually decent, but the spatial angle of the field of view may be small compared to the desired range. An experienced sonographer may recognize the important anatomical structures, guide the catheter inside the heart, and operate the device during the intervention. A wider field of view may make recognition of structures, guidance, and operation easier.

Model-based positioning for intracardiac echocardiography volume stitching


A graft attachment assembly that may be easily and quickly assembled is provided. The graft attachment assembly includes an attachment member including a base portion having a convex top surface and a branch portion having a passageway therethrough. The branch portion projects outwardly from the base portion. A clamp member having a concave bottom surface is configured to sealingly engage the top surface of the base portion and an opening is dimensioned to slidably receive the branch portion. The clamp member is slidable about the branch portion to a position adjacent the base portion to clamp tissue therebetween. A locking member is slidable about the branch portion and dimensioned to secure a vessel thereabout.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to vascular grafts for surgical use and, more specifically, to a graft attachment assembly which may be easily and quickly assembled. The graft attachment assembly is particularly suited for vascular bypass surgical procedures.
2. Background of Related Art
Vascular grafts for use in surgical procedures for bypassing a section of a main artery to prepare the bypassed section of artery for surgical repair are well known and have taken a variety of different forms. Typically, vascular grafts include an inlet conduit to receive blood flow from an arterial source and an outlet conduit to deliver blood flow to a downstream location, e.g., same or different arteries, body organs, etc. A sealing device is positioned adjacent to each inlet and outlet conduit. Because of the nature of bypass procedures, it is important that a vascular graft be implantable in a relatively short period of time and that the vascular graft be properly attached to the vessels and adequately sealed at its inlet and outlet ends.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,551 to Rayhanabad discloses a vascular shunt having a tubular inlet conduit and a plurality of outlet branch portions. The inlet conduit is configured to be received within an upstream arterial lumen and includes a sealing mechanism in the form of an expandable collar. Each outlet branch portion is configured to be received within a downstream arterial lumen and also includes an expandable collar. An air supply source communicates with each collar via an air supply line to inflate the collar and move the inlet conduit and each of the outlet branch portions into sealing engagement with the inner walls of the arterial lumen. Although the expandable seals might be effective, the additional attachments required in the limited confines of a surgical site are undesirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,619 to Ehrenfeld also discloses a vascular graft having a straight portion, and a flange portion including a crotch region. The flange portion is in the shape of a continuous flow curve and includes a suturing surface. The vascular graft is attached to the aorta using hand applied sutures. Ehrenfeld's vascular graft still requires the time consuming and oftentimes difficult process of suturing.
Accordingly, a need exists for an improved vascular graft attachment apparatus that can be easily and quickly implanted, provides improved sealing, and can be easily and inexpensively manufactured.


An instrument panel is formed symmertrically with respect to a center of the panel. The instrument panel comprises a pair of recesses defined by left and right reinforcing/partition walls, and a pair of lower openings located under the recesses. A meter unit is mounted in the recess to oppose the driver seat. An under cover is mounted in the lower opening which is to oppose the driver seat. The under cover is formed with a hole through which a steering shaft is adapted to be passed. A tray is mounted in the recess which is to oppose the front passenger seat. A glove box is mounted in the lower opening which is to oppose the front passenger seat. The walls for defining the recesses of the instrument panel have a common fixing section usable for mounting any of the meter unit and the tray.

The present invention relates to an instrument panel used for automobiles, and more in particular to an instrument panel usable for both a right-hand drive vehicle and a left-hand drive vehicle.
In Japan, running automobiles are required to keep to the left and therefore the steering wheel of the automobiles is installed on the right side of the vehicle body. In Europe and U.S.A. where the vehicles run keeping to the right, in contrast, the steering wheel is arranged on the left side of the vehicle body. As a result, the automobiles manufactured in Japan are divided into those for the domestic market required to have the steering wheel on the right side of the vehicle body (hereinafter called the right-hand drive vehicles), and those for exports to have the steering wheel on the left side of the vehicle body (hereinafter called the left-hand drive vehicles). Accordingly, the instrument panel on which the meter unit, the glove box and other parts are mounted must be supplied in two types for the right-hand drive vehicles and left-hand drive vehicles. This leads to the disadvantage of a high production cost of the instrument panel.
In view of this, an instrument panel has been suggested which allows the steering wheel apparatus to be mounted either on the right side or on the left side thereof as described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-open Publication H02-34982. This instrument panel has a notch on each of the right and left sides thereof through which a steering shaft is installed. A support bar for supporting the equipment such as the glove box is suspended between the right and left edges of each notch. This support bar includes a main bar and an auxiliary bar. The right-hand drive vehicle has the meter unit arranged on the right side and the glove box on the left side of the vehicle, while the left-hand drive vehicle has the meter unit arranged on the left side and the glove box on the right side of the vehicle.
The above-mentioned instrument panel, which has the notches to pass the steering shaft therethrough symmetrically on the right and left positions, is usable for both the right-hand drive vehicle and the left-hand drive vehicle. In spite of this, this instrument panel is not symmetric at the upper part thereof where the meter unit is mounted. In the conventional instrument panel, therefore, a hole for mounting the meter unit is required to be formed at the right or left part of the instrument panel in accordance with the (right or left) position of the steering wheel. The resulting problem is consumption of a larger processing time.
Another problem of the above-mentioned well-known instrument panel is a low rigidity due to the large opening area of the notches. Specifically, the low rigidity of the instrument panel is liable to distort the surrounding portions of the notches, often resulting in the distance changing between the right and left edges of the notch. Then, the glove box could not be accommodated in the notch or a large gap would occur between the edges of the notch and the glove box, thereby deteriorating the external appearance. Also, the low rigidity of the instrument panel causes the instrument panel to vibrate and develop noises due to the vibrations of the running vehicle and the vibrations of the engine thereof.
These problems can be solved by increasing the rigidity of the instrument panel. For the rigidity of the instrument panel to be increased, however, such measures as attaching a reinforcing member to the instrument panel or increasing the rigidity of the meter unit or the glove box are required. This leads to the problems of an increased number of manufacturing steps and a higher cost of production of the instrument panel.

Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha


Integrated multiple actuator electro-hydraulic systems as well as their methods of use are described. Depending on the particular application, the integrated electro-hydraulic systems may exhibit different frequency responses and/or may be integrated into a single combined unit.

Suspension systems, including active suspension systems, are typically designed to, for example, properly support and orient a vehicle, provide safe handling in various operating environments, and ensure a comfortable ride for occupants. Active suspension systems and their control are described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,260,011 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/602,463, filed Jan. 22, 2015 which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Hydraulic actuators are also used for adjusting vehicle ride height. For example, a hydraulically actuated spring seat adjustment system may be used for ride height adjustment in a vehicle.

Integrated multiple actuator electro-hydraulic units


A method and apparatus for managing data. A request to perform a data operation is received from an application, the request identifying data on which to perform the data operation. The request is delegated to one or more of a plurality of plugins based on the requested data operation, each of the plurality of plugins being associated with at least one distinct data operation. The one or more plugins perform the requested data operation.

In conventional backend data storage systems, data travels from applications to storage devices, and from storage devices to applications based on requests generated by the applications. Requests to store data are generally placed in a queue along with the data to be stored. A dequeuer reads the queue, and places the data directly into a storage device based on the request. Often, the queue cannot be read, and the data cannot be placed in appropriate data storage devices, fast enough to keep up with the requests.
When a new storage device is added to the backend data storage system, applications may require reconfiguration so that data can be stored to the new storage device. Thus, applications that generate the requests and the data may need to be modified, so that they know which storage devices to request for data to be stored in. Such modifications can be time consuming, and cause system down time.

Method and system for data management interface with intelligent plugins that determine whether to perform the requested data operation received from an application


An optical modulator of the Mach-Zehnder type including electrodes disposed above a substrate having a pair of linear portions of an optical waveguide includes a signal electrode to which modulating signals are applied; first and second earth electrodes; and a bias electrode to which a bias signal for controlling an operating point of the modulating signals is applied. The earth electrodes are disposed at either side of the signal electrode disposed above one of the linear portion, and the first earth electrode is disposed above the other linear portion. The bias electrode is disposed adjacent to the first earth electrode on a side opposite to the signal electrode. The bias electrode is disposed on a surface of the substrate, and a buffer layer is formed on the bias electrode. The first earth electrode has a ladder shape having the bias electrode interposed between the two long portions of the ladder.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optical modulators used in optical communication systems for modulating data signals from electrical signals into optical signals by controlling optical phases by means of an electro-optic effect.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, optical communication systems have progressed in various fields with the aim of faster communication, larger capacity, and size reduction. For optical transmitting devices, external modulators of the optical waveguide type using electro-optic crystals such as lithium niobate (LiNbO3; hereinafter referred to as LN) substrates have been developed in view of wideband characteristics and chirp characteristics instead of direct modulation of laser diodes.
An example of such modulators is that including a Mach-Zehnder optical waveguide formed on an electro-optic crystal substrate composed of, for example, LN by thermal diffusion of a metal film composed of titanium (Ti) or the like partly formed on the LN crystal substrate or by proton exchange in a benzoic acid after the formation of a metal film. A buffer layer composed of silicon dioxide (SiO2) or the like is formed on the substrate having the optical waveguide formed thereon. Furthermore, in a case of a Z-cut substrate where the LN material is cut along a direction parallel to the Z axis of the LN crystallographic axes, a signal electrode connected to a radio-frequency (RF) signal generating source that generates modulating signals is formed above one of a pair of linear portions of the Mach-Zehnder optical waveguide, and an earth electrode to which a ground potential is applied is formed above the other linear portion. In general, in the case of coplanar electrodes, the electrode structure is symmetrical about the signal electrode, and two earth electrodes are formed so as to have the signal electrode disposed between the earth electrodes. When signals are applied between the signal electrode and the earth electrodes, electric fields are generated in the optical waveguide, and the refractive index of the optical waveguide is changed. With this, the phase difference between light beams propagated through the pair of linear portions of the optical waveguide is changed. For example, when the phase difference is zero, the optical output is determined as logical level 1, whereas the optical output is determined as logical level 0 when the phase difference is π.
In order to realize such modulation, a direct current can be superposed on the high-speed RF signals using a bias T such that an operating point of the RF signals (DC bias component) applied to the signal electrode is controlled. However, this leads to an increase in operational costs or the like. Moreover, it is difficult to apply the bias T to an optical modulator driven with signals of 10 GHz or higher due to limitation of the frequency band caused by the bias T. In order to solve this problem, an optical modulator disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-233042 includes a bias electrode for applying a bias voltage so as to control an operating point of RF signals (DC bias component) applied to signal electrodes. The signal electrodes are disposed above parts of linear portions of the Mach-Zehnder optical waveguide, and the bias electrode is disposed above other parts of the linear portions.
However, according to the above-described structure, the chip length of the optical modulator becomes long since the bias electrode is disposed downstream of the signal electrodes in a direction along which light beams travel in the optical waveguide. In order to solve this problem, an optical modulator having a bias electrode disposed adjacent and parallel to a signal electrode is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-54961. However, according to the structure of this optical modulator, the bias electrode may be shorted with the earth electrode.