A method for fabricating a transistor including a bulb-type recess channel includes forming a bulb-type recess pattern in a substrate, forming a gate insulating layer over the substrate and the bulb-type recess pattern, forming a first gate conductive layer over the gate insulating layer, forming a void movement blocking layer over the first gate conductive layer in the bulb-type recess pattern, and forming a second gate conductive layer over the void movement blocking layer and the first gate conductive layer.

1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to a method for fabricating a semiconductor device, and more particularly, to a transistor including a bulb-type recess channel and a method for fabricating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the increase of integration of semiconductor devices, there is a requirement for a memory array transistor with sub-100 nm design rule. The sub-100 nm array transistor has very low threshold voltage due to the short channel effect, and thus a data retention time is gradually decreased.
A transistor having a recess channel has been developed to overcome the above limitation. The transistor having the recess channel has a long data retention time because a channel length is longer than that of a typical planar type transistor.
Recently, a method for extending the recess channel length has been proposed to obtain improved data retention time characteristics and improved current characteristics compared to a typical transistor having a recess channel. To this end, a bottom portion of a trench in the recess channel is additionally etched in the shape of a ball to thereby form a so-called bulb-type recess channel array transistor (BRCAT).
FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a typical method for forming a transistor including a bulb-type recess channel. A bulb-type recess pattern 12, configured with a trench pattern 12A and a ball pattern 12B, is formed in a substrate 11. A gate insulating layer 13 is formed over a surface of bulb-type recess pattern 12. A gate conductive layer 14 to be used as a gate electrode is formed over gate insulating layer 13 such that gate conductive layer 14 fills bulb-type recess pattern 12. Gate conductive layer 14 may include a polysilicon.
In the typical bulb-type recess channel, however, since the diameter of ball pattern 12B is greater than the width of trench pattern 12A in bulb-type recess pattern 12, gate conductive layer 14 does not completely fill ball pattern 12B when forming gate conductive layer 14. Therefore, a void V is often formed in the center of gate conductive layer 14 in ball pattern 12B.
In particular, void V may move toward gate insulating layer 13 while gate conductive layer 14 is being recrystallized by a subsequent high temperature thermal process. Consequently, a portion of gate insulating layer 13 may not be in contact with gate conductive layer 14 where void V exists.
FIG. 2 illustrates a cross-sectional view showing a state where void V moves toward gate insulating layer 13 of ball pattern 12B after a high temperature thermal process. The high temperature thermal process may be performed in a temperature range of approximately 650° C. to approximately 1,050° C. Gate conductive layer 14 may include a polysilicon.
Void V formed in the center of gate conductive layer 14 in ball pattern 12B moves toward gate insulating layer 13 to be in contact with gate insulating layer 13. The reason void V moves during the subsequent high temperature thermal process because a vacancy dissolved in gate conductive layer 14 at an equilibrium state causes void V in the center of gate conductive layer 14 in ball pattern 12B to grow and move during the high temperature thermal process. The vacancy refers to a type of lattice defect where atoms are dislodged from normal lattice positions in a crystal, which is also called an empty lattice point or a vacancy lattice point.
The reason for the vacancy movement is that the thickness of the polysilicon layer, i.e., gate conductive layer 14, in trench pattern 12A is greater than that in ball pattern 12B. That is, since the thickness of the polysilicon layer tends to become uniform while being recrystallized during the subsequent thermal process, the void in the polysilicon layer also moves correspondingly, resulting in changing the thickness of the polysilicon layer in ball pattern 12B.

Transistor including bulb-type recess channel and method for fabricating the same


This invention relates to a surgical irrigation system having an improved reusable, motorized console and a separable/attachable irrigation pump cassette, including, at least in one embodiment improved mechanical and electrical inner-connection structure therebetween, and at least in one embodiment improved pump priming structure and methods.

Surgical irrigation apparatus, of the type having portions engageable with a surgical site and including a pumping member separably engageable with a power unit including a motor for driving the pumping member, is known in the prior art. A number of examples exist. However, those of which applicants are aware have variously provided room for improvement in terms, for example, of performance, convenience of use, reliability, cost, etc.
Accordingly, the objects and purposes of the invention include providing an improved apparatus of the aforementioned general type.
Further objects and purposes of the invention will be apparent to persons of ordinary skill in this art upon reading the accompanying description and inspecting the accompanying drawings.


Provided is a control device for an electric power steering device, the control device configured to control an output torque of a motor that provides an assist torque to a steering torque, the output being controlled based on a steering-torque signal from a torque sensor that detects a steering torque, the control device controls the output torque using a correction signal to damp a vibration at a natural frequency determined in accordance with a transfer characteristic from the steering-torque signal to the output torque.

In an electric power steering device for applying an assist torque generated by a motor in accordance with a steering torque applied by a driver of an automobile to a steering wheel, the assist torque which is approximately proportional to the steering torque is determined so that a torque proportional gain which corresponds to an amplification factor of a proportional relationship between the steering torque and the assist torque is set large to reduce a steering force of the driver. At the same time, a vibration such as an oscillation of a control system, which is generated along with an increase in the torque proportional gain, is suppressed to improve a driver's feeling.
For the suppression of the oscillation/vibration, it has conventionally been proposed to reduce a steering frequency component of a rotation speed of a motor (hereinafter also referred to as "motor speed") by a highpass filter (HPF) when a signal obtained by detecting or estimating the motor speed is fed back to an output torque of the motor (for example, see Patent Literatures 1 and 2). According to the above-mentioned literatures, the effects of suppressing the vibrations while suppressing the occurrence of a phenomenon in which the feedback of the motor speed becomes a resistance with respect to the steering in the steering frequency are obtained.
Moreover, as another example, it has been proposed to set a control cycle at the time of feedback control using the motor speed shorter than a cycle of an uncomfortable vibration to reduce the steering frequency component by using a bandpass filter (BPF) (for example, see Patent Literature 3). A center frequency of a selected frequency of the bandpass filter lies in the vicinity of 20 Hz to 40 Hz. Therefore, only a vibration component of a frequency band in the vicinity of the center frequency is selectively transmitted. Therefore, a signal component having a relatively low frequency as high as about several hertzes corresponding to the steering frequency does not pass through the bandpass filter. With the configuration described above, the effects of suppressing the vibrations while preventing a feeling of viscosity (viscous resistance) with respect to the steering from increasing to an undesirable level are obtained.


A golf club practice device consisting of:. a generally planar base from which a positioned golf ball may be driven; PA1 a supporting member in a first plane extending vertically from the surface of the generally planar base at a distance of eleven to fourteen inches, and having a first end and a second end connected to the planar base; PA1 an elongated member in a second plane substantially parallel to the generally planar base, having a length of 30 inches to four feet, and having a first end and a second end distal said supporting member; and PA1 a connecting member in the same plane as the elongated member, between the first end of the supporting member and the first end of the elongated member, substantially parallel to the generally planar base, having an elbow connection to each of the first ends, substantially perpendicular to the supporting member and the elongated member, and having a length of four to eight inches; PA1 wherein the supporting member, the elongated member and the connecting member form a single one piece construction; and PA1 wherein the connecting member is over a golf club head when the club head is addressing a golf ball on the surface of the generally planar base directly under a location on the connecting member as a user starts a practice golf swing that is a critical distance from the elbow connection of the connecting member to the first end of the supporting member and between the first ends of the elongated member and the supporting member so that the golf ball would just be completely visible to the user and wherein the elongated member is substantially parallel to the user's body as the user faces the practice device and serves as a guide for the user to achieve an optimum golf swing in which the golf club is brought back in the direction of the second end of the elongated member and an optimum golf swing is achieved when no part of the device is struck during a complete golf swing.

Many golf club training devices have been developed over the years. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,873 discloses and claims a lightweight indicator which is mounted on a golf club to give the golfer an indication of the lack of swing smoothness. The device produces an audible signal when the golfer has exceeded the optimum acceleration of the club. U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,873 disclosed and claims a light emitter diode assembly to be mounted on the shaft of a golf club for use with the Selective Electronic Company's trademarked Seispot system for analyzing a golfer's swing.
There is a need for a non-complex golf club practice device which will alert the golfer when the golf club is taken outside the normal swing plane. There is a need for such a device which will train the golfer to avoid slices, hooks, topping the golf ball and other swing imperfections as well as to teach the golfer to avoid "looking up."


A two-piece clip for tying down a sheet of material has an elongated triple tapered wedge insertable in a mating triple tapered groove. The two components bind the covering material therebetween with a tight friction fit and compress a relatively large area of material, especially plastic material with a built-in reinforcing fiber grid. The clip binds a large number of rows and columns of reinforcing elements of a plastic cover sheet in a tight friction fit therebetween for a secure grip and easy release without damaging the material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to clips having dissociable gripping members and particularly to a two-piece tie down clip to attach to a flexible sheet, the clip comprising a first triple tapered wedge member with means to receive a rope or cord and a second mating triple tapered groove member which is placed behind the sheet material, whereby the first wedge member can slide into the second groove member with the flexible sheet clamped between by binding the sheet in a tight friction fit.
2. Description of Related Art
Including information disclosed under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
A variety means for fastening tarps and other sheet materials are known in the art. In the case of tarps, the cloth is provided with a plurality of holes along its margin through which rope or cord can be threaded to secure the tarp in a desired position. These holes in the tarp are often reinforced with grommets to prevent damage to the material. Unfortunately, the grommets often rip out of the tarp and the tarp becomes ripped or frayed. Edge-securing clips have been devised to use in place of the holes in a tarp, some of which pierce the tarp creating further damage, others comprise clamps or adhesively secured devices which lose their holding ability over time.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,686,748, issued Aug. 18, 1987 to Kaivanto, is for an attachment device that comprises a clamp for attaching to a flexible sheet. The clamp has a first member with sides narrowing longitudinally to a first end and inclining upwardly inwardly. The first member can receive an attachment. A second member comprises a main body formed with a recess that narrows longitudinally to a first end and with interior sides that incline upwardly inwardly. Thus the first member can be received within the second member with the flexible sheet clamped between.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,975,000, issued Sep. 25, 1934 to Beaumont, provides a curtain attachment device which comprises a base channel member having a suspending means attached thereto which is placed behind a curtain. The device further comprises a wedge member which is placed in front of the curtain and fit within the base channel member, clamping the curtain between the two members.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,837,804, issued Jun. 10, 1958 to Danell, shows a hanger for holding vertically oriented sheet material. The hanger includes a back portion having a vertical dovetailed slot with forwardly extending side walls, and a hanging portion having a tapered end. The tapered end of the hanging portion is placed in front of the sheet material and then fitted within the back portion, clamping the sheet material between the two portions.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,125,540, issued Aug. 2, 1938 to Carlson, claims a fastening device that comprises a tapered receptacle and a tapered wedge for fitting within the tapered receptacle for holding a stocking and distributing the gripping surface over a large area, thereby avoiding damage to the stocking.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,218,769, issued Mar. 13, 1917 to Hill, describes a garment clasp for a stocking or the like which comprises a clasp having a tapering form, a pair of opposed channels along its edges and a strap attaching element. The device further comprises a flat tapered wedge piece which fits within the clasp to trap and hold the edge of the stocking.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,089,221, issued Aug. 10, 1937 to Patur, discloses a two-part securing means for attaching ornaments, flowers or the like to a garment. The device comprises a wedge to which the flowers or ornaments are attached, and a wedge-receiving base which is placed behind the garment. The wedge is fitted within the base with the garment clamped therebetween.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,063,429, issued Dec. 8, 1936 to Gordon, indicates a clasp or fastener for use with hosiery which comprises a female base member and a wedge-shaped male member. The wedge-shaped member can be received within the female member with the hose clamped therebetween.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,785,003, issued Jan. 15, 1974 to Thomson, puts forth a curtain hanger which includes a body having a vertical dovetailed slot with forwardly extending side walls, one of which is wider than the other, each of the forward edges of the side walls having a flange extending towards the other wall. The hanger includes a keeper or tongue element complimentary in shape to the space defined by the walls of the body member and adapted to engage drapery material which is slid into the slot by sideways insertion of the tongue towards the wider side wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,789,295, issued Sep. 14, 2004 to Svensson, concerns a clamp apparatus for application to an object, for example a plate, a sheet, a fabric or a thin film, by gripping two opposite sides of the object. For this purpose, the apparatus comprises a tubular element with an inner passage with a cross section which tapers in the direction of one end of the element and a clamp surface projecting from the opposite end of the element. A wedge shaped element with a tapering section is insertable into the passage via its wide opening. Thereby, a nip is formed in the co-operation between the wedge shaped element and the clamp surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,272, issued Dec. 2, 1997 to Woods, illustrates a two-part clip for the purpose of securely holding fabric or sheet material without damaging said material. The clip consists of a U-shaped body with an angled cavity and a wedge which is angled to fit snugly into the cavity. An additional component of the invention is a section of rope which is passed through a hole, first in the wedge, then through a hole in the body of the clip. The fabric to be secured is inserted into the cavity on either the top or the bottom of the wedge. As tension is applied to the rope, the wedge becomes firmly seated in the cavity, thus securing the fabric.
What is needed is an easy to install clip attachable to any portion of a sheet of covering material which is easy to attach to the material and exerts a strong long-lasting grip on the material without tearing the material.

Two-piece tie down clip for sheet material


The present invention presents a method of processing ferrous powder materials to produce high strength small component parts suitable for use in miniaturized electrical and electronic equipment. The processing steps involve, in part, mixing with a binder, dewaxing or presintering at a temperature higher than in the conventional dewaxing process, and final sintering at a temperature lower than the conventional sintering process to produce parts having density values of over 96% theoretical density and high mechanical strength properties in a shorter sintering time than the conventional processing method.

This invention relates to a processing method of making injection molded ferrous component parts having high strength by a two stage sintering process. The invented processing method is particularly suitable for making small component parts for miniaturized electrical and electronic equipment.
Injection molding of ferrous powders is a known art. For example, a carbonyl iron powder of less than 15 .mu.m average particle diameter is mixed with 8-15 weight % of a thermoplastic resin binder. This mixture is kneaded in a kneader at 135.degree. C. for three hours, and the mixture is then cooled to room temperature, followed by further granulation in the kneader to obtain feed particles of about 1-5 mm diameter for injection molding.
These particles at temperatures of 130.degree.-140.degree. C. are injection molded at an injection pressure of 500-700 kgf/cm.sup.2 at injection cycle times of 20-40 seconds.
The injected parts are then dewaxed at 300.degree.-500.degree. C., in a reducing atmosphere, such as in hydrogen, and this processing is terminated while the parts still retain about 10-20 weight % of the binder so that the dewaxed parts can retain the shape properly.
Dewaxing step is followed by further heating at 1100.degree.-1400.degree. C. to remove the remaining binder and to sinter the material in a hydrogen atmosphere, for example, to obtain the final sintered density of 50-70 % of the theoretical density. It is known that this high temperature dewaxing operation is time consuming (10-20 hours) and that the parts made by such a process are used as structural components in various electrical and electronic equipment.
The recent trends toward energy efficiency and light weight has promoted miniaturization of components and equipment in industries, and the demands for small thin walled structural components have increased. But the small components made by the conventional methods did not have sufficient strength to meet such requirements of the products.
The present invention resulted from extensive studies by the inventors to solve such problems of low strength and other problems associated with the conventional processing methods.
The inventors confirmed that the conventional dewaxing, in which the parts are heated at 300.degree.-500.degree. C., and the heating is terminated while fairly high amount of binder is still left in the molded parts (so as to maintain the shape), produces low density parts. They found that high density molded parts are obtained when dewaxing is carried out at a temperature range of 680.degree.-750.degree. C., higher than in the conventional method, to remove almost all the binder. At this stage, the carbon content of the dewaxed part becomes 0.05 weight %, and the theoretical density of the parts is about 60-70 %. The parts are then sintered at relatively low temperatures in the range of 870.degree.-910.degree. C., compared with the conventional sintering temperature of 1100.degree.-1400.degree. C. By this processing method, it is now possible to obtain parts having density values in the range of 96-99 % theoretical density in about 1-5 hours of sintering, in contrast to the conventional processing method involving long hours of heating to attain 90-95 % theoretical density.

Method for making high strength injection molded ferrous material


A method, device, and system is described herein for pointing a rotary drill bit. A rotary bit pointing device is positioned between a proximal end of a control shaft and a universal joint. As the bottom hole assembly rotates, various portions of the rotary bit pointing device are enabled and subsequently disabled to apply a substantially constant force in a substantially constant direction to the control shaft. Such a force causes the distal end of the control shaft to point the rotary drill bit in a target direction.

Field formations can include reservoirs holding one or more resources. To reach such reservoirs so that the resources can be extracted, one or more holes are drilled through the field formations. Various drilling techniques can be used when creating a wellbore in an exploration process.
One or more such techniques involve the use of rotary steerable tools. Rotary steerable tools are used to direct the path of wellbores when drilling for resources. One application in which rotary steerable tools are used is when an entity is drilling multiple wells in different directions from one location. Another application in which rotary steerable tools are used is when an entity is positioning a wellbore horizontally along the length of a reservoir to maximize the amount of resources collected.


A plasma process apparatus comprises a plasma process chamber, substrate-to-be-processed supporting means for supporting a substrate to be processed, provided in the process chamber, gas introducing means, gas evacuation means, microwave introducing means using an endless circular waveguide having a plurality of slots arranged around the process chamber, and radio frequency power supplying means for supplying radio frequency power to the substrate supporting means. The above arrangement permits a uniform plasma to be generated in high density and in a large area even under the low-pressure condition of about 1 mTorr without using a magnetic field, thus enabling etching of large-area substrates in super fine patterns and at high speed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microwave plasma process apparatus. The apparatus enables etching of large-area substrates in super fine patterns at high speed. Further, the apparatus can be applied to oxidation, nitriding, doping, cleaning, cleaning ashing, and so on.
2. Related Background Art
The reactive ion etching (RIE) apparatus for applying RF (radio frequency) power between parallel plate electrodes opposed to each other is frequently used for pattern formation in fabrication of electronic components such as ultra-large-scale integrated (ULSI) circuits.
A conventional RIE apparatus is shown in FIG. 2. In a process chamber 201 there are provided a holder 203 for a substrate 202 to be processed, and a gas introducing means 204. An RF power supply 206 is connected to the holder 203. The process chamber is evacuated by an evacuation means 205.
Etching is carried out as follows. The inside of the process chamber 201 is evacuated to a vacuum through the evacuation means 205. Subsequently, etching gas is introduced at a predetermined flow rate through the gas introducing means 204 into the process chamber. Then a conductance valve (not shown) set in the evacuation means 205 is adjusted to keep the inside of the process chamber 201 at a predetermined pressure. Desired power is supplied from the RF power supply 206 to the substrate holder 203. Electrons are accelerated by an RF electric field to generate a plasma in the process chamber 201. The plasma ionizes the etching gas, and ions produced thereby are accelerated by a self-bias electric field formed near the substrate 202 to impinge upon the surface of the substrate, thereby etching the surface.
It is, however, not easy for the conventional RIE apparatus to achieve discharge under low pressures of about 10.sup.-3 Torr, under which anisotropy of ion incidence directions can be maintained, and therefore, the conventional RIE apparatus is not effective in performing anisotropic etching of fine patterns. With increase of integration of devices demand is increasing for further making the patterns finer, but the conventional apparatus fails to meet this demand.
Another etching apparatus under research, replacing the RIE apparatus, is a plasma process apparatus utilizing electron cyclotron resonance (ECR), which can achieve discharge under the low-pressure condition of about 10.sup.-3 Torr. The ECR is a phenomenon that in the case of the magnetic flux density of 87.5 mT, the electron cyclotron frequency of electrons rotating around magnetic lines of force is coincident with the ordinary frequency of microwave 2.45 GHz whereby the electrons resonantly absorb the microwave to be accelerated, thereby generating a high-density plasma.
An ECR etching apparatus is shown in FIG. 3. In a process chamber 301 there are provided a holder 303 for a substrate 302 to be processed, and a gas introducing means 304. An RF power supply 306 is connected to the holder 303. The process chamber is evacuated by an evacuation means 305. Further, in the process chamber the microwave is introduced through a microwave introducing window 307 and a magnetic field can be generated by a magnetic field generating means 308.
Etching is carried out as follows. The inside of the process chamber 301 is evacuated to a vacuum through the evacuation means 305. Subsequently, the etching gas is introduced at a predetermined flow rate through the gas introducing means 304 into the process chamber 301. Then a conductance valve (not shown) set in the evacuation means 305 is adjusted to keep the inside of the process chamber 301 at a predetermined pressure. The magnetic field of 875 G is generated in the process chamber 301 by the magnetic field generating means 308 and microwave power is introduced through the microwave introducing window 307 into the process chamber 301 to generate a plasma. Electrons helically move around magnetic lines of force, and when the frequency of rotation of the electrons comes to coincide with the frequency (normally 2.45 GHz) of the microwave (in the case of the magnetic flux density 875 G), the electrons resonantly absorb the microwave to be accelerated. Further, the electrons ionize neutral molecules by bombardment, thereby forming a high-density plasma. When desired power is supplied from the RF power supply 306 to the support holder 303 at this time, the ions are accelerated by the self-bias electric field formed near the substrate 302 to impinge upon the surface of the substrate, thereby etching the surface.
Use of such ECR etching apparatus permits discharge to occur even under the low-pressure condition of about 1 mTorr, which enables anisotropic etching of fine patterns.
The ECR etching apparatus as shown in FIG. 3, however, is not easy to generate a uniform magnetic field, so that the apparatus has a problem of nonuniformity of etching and a problem of device destruction due to charge separation in a direction along the surface of the substrate. Because of high temperatures of electrons, in the case of processing of fine patterns with high aspect ratios, abnormal etching (notch) is also likely to be caused by charge separation in a direction along the depth of the substrate.
An object of the present invention is to provide a plasma process apparatus and method, solving the problems in the conventional plasma process apparatus as described above, that can generate a uniform plasma in high density and in a large area even under the low-pressure condition of about 1 mTorr without using the magnetic field, thereby enabling etching of large-area substrates in super fine patterns and at high speed.


An antenna hub having an antenna includes a housing. Uplink circuitry is disposed within the housing. The uplink circuitry includes block upconverters, high-power amplifiers and variable phase combined amplifiers. A diplexer is also disposed within the housing at the antenna hub. A configuration is set-up for redundancy so that uplink signals are not lost.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Satellite broadcasting of television signals has increased in popularity. Satellite television providers continually offer more and unique services to their subscribers to enhance the viewing experience. Providing reliability in a satellite broadcasting system is therefore an important goal of satellite broadcast providers.
Frequencies used in broadcasting of satellite information are scarce. Therefore, higher frequencies such as Ka band frequencies are now being used. When transmitting such frequencies, losses between various ground elements may occur. This may allow transmitting errors and, thus, loss of signal. In satellite television applications, there is no chance for re-sending the signal such as in purely data applications. Therefore, it is desirable to improve the quality of the signal by preventing losses.


A light guide plate includes a light discharge surface, a light diffusing surface, a light incident surface, and a plurality of scattering dots. The light diffusing surface is located opposite to the light discharge surface. The light diffusing surface has a first part and a second part. The first part is adjacent to a light source. The light incident surface intersects with the light discharge surface and the light diffusing surface. The scattering dots within the first part are arranged in the form of a plurality of concentric arcs, and the scattering dots within the second part are arranged in the form of a plurality of lines.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to light guide plates and backlight modules.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently, because liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are thin, lightweight, long lasting, and consume little power, they are widely used in a variety of electronic devices, such as digital cameras, video cameras, and personal digital assistants. However, since liquid crystal displays are not self-luminescent, backlight modules are typically required. A backlight module typically includes a light source and a light guide plate having a light incident surface and a light discharge surface. The light guide plate functions to change a direction of light beams emitted from the light source and introduced into the light guide plate. That is, the light beam is guided in a direction that is substantially parallel to the light discharge surface of the light guide plate to being perpendicular to the light discharge surface. That is, the light guide plate effectively changes the linear or point light source into a surface light source.
Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, a typical light guide plate 10 includes a light incident surface 11, a light discharge surface 12 and a light diffusing surface 13. The light discharge surface 12 intersects with the light incident surface 11 and is substantially perpendicular to the light incident surface 11. The light diffusing surface 13 is opposite to the light discharge surface 12. At least one side of the light incident surface 11 is connected the light diffusing surface 13 and the light discharge surface 12. A plurality of scattering dots 130 is disposed on the light diffusing surface 13. The scattering dots 130 are arranged on the light diffusing surface and evenly spaced from each other. When beams emitted from a light source arrive at the scattering dots 130, a direction of the beams will change because of reflection and diffusion, and the beams will be output in a direction that is perpendicular to the light discharge surface 12. However, as the propagating distance of the light beam from the light source to the respective scattering dots of the light guide plate differs, the brightness of the light beams discharged from the light discharge surface 12 is affected with respect to the propagating distance of the light beams, thereby causing non-uniform brightness overall of the backlight module.
What is needed, therefore, is to provide a light guide plate and a backlight module using the same that have an improved uniformity of brightness.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The exemplifications set out herein illustrate at least one embodiment of the present light guide plate and backlight module, in at least one form, and such exemplifications are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosure in any manner.


A dual damascene structure is described, including a substrate, a dielectric layer, a hard mask layer, a contact and a conductive line. The dielectric layer is located on the substrate, the hard mask layer is on the dielectric layer, the contact is located in the dielectric layer, and a horizontal cross-section of the contact has an asymmetrically rounded outline. The conductive line is in the hard mask layer and the dielectric layer, and is located on and electrically connected to the contact. The conductive line has a laterally swelling portion on an edge portion of the first contact, wherein the borders of the laterally swelling portion and the edge portion are contiguous.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure of semiconductor device and a method for fabricating the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a dual damascene structure and a method for fabricating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, dual damascene techniques are widely used to embed metal inter-connect structures in insulating layers. By using dual damascene methods, the overlay errors and the process biases between metal contacts and lines can be reduced, as compared with the conventional method that forms a metal contact first and then directly defines a metal line. Consequently, the reliability and throughput of products can be improved. Hence, dual damascene techniques are very important in advanced semiconductor processes where devices are highly integrated.
In some dual damascene methods, the trench is defined with a hard mask layer with a trench pattern therein, and the contact hole is defined with a patterned photoresist layer with a contact-hole pattern therein that is formed after the hard mask layer. However, when misalignment occurs between the trench pattern and the contact-hole pattern such that the contact-hole pattern exposes a portion of the hard mask layer, the etching step of the contact hole is restricted by the hard mask layer to reduce the cross-sectional area of the contact hole. Therefore, the cross-sectional area of the contact formed later is also reduced, so that the contact resistance is raised to lower the speed of the device or even decrease the yield of the process.

Dual damascene structure and fabrication thereof


A compound represented by general formula (I): ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1 and R.sub.2, each presents an ethyl group and R.sub.3 represents an alkoxy group having (1) to (7) carbon atoms which may be substituted by one or more substituents selected from a hydroxyl group, a halogen atom, a cyano group, an alkoxy group having (1) to (4) carbon atoms, an amino group and an acylamino group with the proviso that R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 are not a methyl group simultaneously, is disclosed.. The compound according to the present invention is useful as a pharmaceutical.

It has been known that an activated vitamin D.sub.3 has many pharmaceutical activities such as differentiation-inducing and immunoregulating actions in addition to calcium metabolic regulatory action. Up to the present time, vitamin D.sub.3 derivatives having a substituent at the 2-position have been disclosed in, for example, JP 6-23185 B and JP 6-41059 A. Among these compounds are those which are useful as a treating agent for osteoporosis.


Dental implant, having a central body (1) with a substantially conical or frustoconical shape and having, extending from the end with a larger cross-section, a connection seat (701) able to receive a stump pin; this central body (1) is provided with a blade (2) positioned in a longitudinal mid-plane of said central body (1) and has a length so as to protrude beyond the end of the central body (1) which has a smaller cross-section; the central body (1) and the blade (2) are able to give the implant a substantially wedge-like form able to epand the bone during insertion.

As is known, when performing dental implants, pins are fixed onto the jaw or onto the upper jaw bone of the patient in predetermined positions. These implants are also provided at the top with a seat inside which stump pins or the like are fixed. There are cases where the thickness of the patient's bone in which the implant is to be performed is very small, for example from 2.5 mm to 6 mm, and in such cases insertion of the implant is very difficult since, in order to be able to insert the implant, it is required to perform complicated regenerative surgery using special bone grafts. Usually, a normal implant, which has a main body with a cylindrical cross-section, requires a thickness of the bone crest at least 2 mm greater than its diameter.
The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a dental implant which may be advantageously applied even in small-thickness zones of the bone crest of the patient, has limited volumetric dimensions, provides optimum anchoring in the bone, has a surface area similar to that of standard-size implants and ensures an excellent primary stability.


A control integrated circuit for a power factor correction converter has a pin for detecting an alternating-current information and a direct-current information of an input signal. The control integrated circuit comprises a signal peak detector for detecting a peak value of the input signal to the pin to obtain the direct-current information of the input signal. Since the alternating-current information and the direct-current information of the input signal can be obtained through the same pin, the pin count of the control integrated circuit can be decreased.

A power factor correction (PFC) converter requires alternating-current (AC) information and direct-current (DC) information of the input signal to the PFC converter for various applications, such as establishing a current in proportion to the waveform of the input signal, detecting the valley of the input signal, and determining total harmonic distortion (THD) to improve trip point by using the AC information, and determining the value of the input signal, achieving brown in/brown out protection, etc. by using the DC information. Traditionally, the DC information is obtained by detecting the peak or root-mean-square (RMS) value of the input signal.
FIG. 1 shows a traditional control integrated circuit (IC) 2 for a PFC converter. An AC voltage Vac supplied to the PFC converter is rectified by a bridge rectifier 4 and becomes an input signal Vin, which is divided by a divider circuit 6 to generate an input signal Vd for a pin MULT of the control IC 2. The control IC 2 may obtain the alternating-current information of the input signal Vin from the input signal Vd on the pin MULT. The PFC converter uses a signal peak detector 8 to detect the peak of the input signal Vd to obtain the DC information of the input signal Vin. In the signal peak detector 8, an ideal diode 10 consisting of a diode and an operational amplifier provides the input signal Vd to a capacitor C1, to generate a peak signal Vpeak. A conversion circuit 12 obtains the DC information of the input signal Vin according to the peak signal Vpeak. A resistor Rff connected in parallel to the capacitor C1 acts as a discharging path for allowing the capacitor C1 to discharge slowly. However, this method for detecting the DC information requires a large capacitor C1 to stabilize the peak signal Vpeak. Since such a large capacitor C1 cannot be integrated into the control IC 2, an additional pin VFF has to be used to connect the large capacitor C1 outside the control IC 2. Thus, the traditional PFC converter needs two pins MULT and VFF to obtain the alternating-current information and the DC information of the input signal Vin.
In addition, when the peak of the input signal Vin drops, the method using the capacitor C1 to obtain the peak signal Vpeak has relatively slow transient response. Particularly, referring to FIG. 2, between time points t1 and t2, the input signal Vin turns to a high peak from a low peak, and the peak signal Vpeak on the capacitor C1 soon raises to a second level VL2 from a first level VL1. However, when the input signal Vin turns from a high peak to a low peak, as happening between time points t3 and t4, since the capacitor C1 discharges slowly, the peak signal Vpeak will not drop to the first level VL from the second level VL2 until several cycles TP of the input signal Vin lapse. Thus, in the signal peak detector 8 of FIG. 1, when the input signal Vin has its peak turning from high to low, the transient response of the peak signal Vpeak is relatively slow.
In some applications, a PFC converter may give up the alternating-current information and only obtain the DC information in order to reduce the number of the pins required. FIG. 3, FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 show detectors for detecting the DC information without obtain the alternating-current information. FIG. 3 is a conventional RMS detector 14, which comprises a filter that consists of resistors R3 and R4 and a capacitor C1 and serves to obtain an RMS value Vrms of the input signal Vin for the control IC 2. The RMS value Vrms has the DC information of the input signal Vin, so the control IC 2 can accordingly obtain the DC information of the input signal Vin. FIG. 4 shows another signal peak detector 8, which comprises a capacitor C1, resistors R3, R4, Rff and a diode D1. The resistors R3 and R4 divide the input signal Vin to generate a input signal Vd. The input signal Vd charges the capacitor C1 via the diode D1 to generate a peak signal Vpeak for the control IC 2 such that the control IC 2 can accordingly obtain the DC information of the input signal Vin. The resistor Rff that is connected in parallel with the capacitor C1 acts as a discharging path for the capacitor C1 to discharge slowly. In the signal peak detector 8 of FIG. 4, the forward bias of the diode D1 causes an error between the peak signal Vpeak and the peak of the input signal Vd. This error can be eliminated by adding a diode D2 between an anode of the diode D1 and the resistor R4, as shown in FIG. 5. However, the detectors of FIG. 3, FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 also have the problem about slow transient response when the peak of the input signal Vin turns to low from high.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,731,230 teaches a signal peak detection method that detects an input signal to generate an output peak signal. During the input signal rises, if the output peak signal is smaller than the input signal, the output peak signal is risen in a relatively high speed. During the input signal falls, a reference voltage is used for detecting the input signal to remain the output peak signal at the peak voltage level of the input signal. When the input signal remains lower than the reference voltage over a predetermined number of clock cycles, the output peak signal is stopped from dropping with the input signal. However, this method also has the problem about slow transient response when the peak of the input signal turns to low from high.

Signal peak detector and detection method, and control IC and method for a PFC converter


A sensor detects values of inflation pressure of a tire of a vehicle one after another. A controller calculates, from the values of the tire inflation pressure, a deflation rate at which the tire is deflating per unit time. When the deflation rate is higher than a first predetermined value, the controller judges that the tire is suddenly punctuated. When the deflation rate is not higher than the first predetermined value but is higher than a second predetermined value, the controller judges that the tire is deteriorated. When the deflation rate is not higher than the second predetermined value, the controller judges that compressed air is naturally leaked from the tire. An alarm unit gives an alarm indicating punctuation or deterioration of the tire or natural air leaking in response to the judgment of the controller.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a direct type apparatus for directly detecting tire inflation pressure, and more particularly to an apparatus in which a signal of tire inflation pressure directly detected by a pressure sensor is transmitted from a transmitter attached to a wheel of a tire to a receiver of a vehicle body to specify a cause for the pressure deflation of the tire.
2. Description of Related Art
As one of various types of apparatuses for detecting tire inflation pressure, a direct type has been known. In this type, a transmitter with a sensor such as a pressure sensor or the like is attached to each of wheels of a vehicle, and a receiver with an antenna is disposed in a vehicle body. Each sensor directly detects tire inflation pressure of a tire of the wheel. When the transmitter transmits a detection signal of the tire inflation pressure to the receiver through the antenna, the tire inflation pressure is analyzed in the receiver.
When the analyzed tire inflation pressure is lower than a predetermined threshold value, an alarm lamp is turned on for a driver. Therefore, the driver can know that the tire inflation pressure reaches a low level.
In this apparatus, only one predetermined threshold value is preset. Therefore, regardless of causes of the pressure deflation of a tire, the same alarm is given to the driver.
However, there are actually various causes for lowering tire inflation pressure of a wheel. For example, when a tire is suddenly punctured or blown out, immediate repairing of the tire is needed. When a tire is deteriorated, air of the tire leaks out through the deteriorated rubber of the tire, and tire inflation pressure is gradually lowered. In this case, no immediate repairing of the tire is needed, but the tire must be repaired in the near future. Further, a size of molecules of air is much smaller than that of rubber. Therefore, even tough the rubber is not deteriorated, air of a tire naturally leaks out through the rubber for a long time so as to lower tire inflation pressure very slowly. In this case, no repairing of the tire is needed, but recharging of the air in the tire is needed.
In this specification, the term of "deteriorated tire" indicates a tire in which grooves notched on rubber remain sufficiently deep but the rubber is deteriorated because of the long time passage of the tire from its production so as to cause air leaking from the tire in a degree exceeding the natural air leaking.
Another type of apparatus for detecting tire inflation pressure has been disclosed in Published Japanese Patent First Publication No. H07-323708 (1995). In this apparatus, tire inflation pressure is detected by using a Hall effect element with a magnet, and it is judged whether the pressure deflation of a tire is caused by a puncture of the tire or natural leaking of air. More particularly, a diaphragm is moved in response to a change of air pressure of an air chamber surrounded by a tire and a wheel of the tire, and the magnet is rotated with the movement of the diaphragm so as to change a magnet field. The Hall effect element detects the air pressure in response to the change of the magnet field and outputs a signal indicating tire inflation pressure. When the tire inflation pressure indicated by the signal is lowered to a predetermined threshold value, a change of the tire inflation pressure per unit time is calculated. When the change is larger than a predetermined change value, it is judged that the pressure deflation of a tire is not caused by the natural air leaking but is probably caused by a sudden puncture of the tire, and an alarm is outputted.
However, though the apparatus of the Publication can detect that the pressure deflation of a tire is not caused by natural leaking of air, the apparatus cannot correctly detect other causes. For example, when tire inflation pressure is lowered because of deterioration of a tire, the apparatus erroneously judges that the tire inflation pressure is lowered by a sudden puncture of the tire or natural leaking of air from the tire.
Further, in the apparatus of the Publication, even though tire inflation pressure is gradually lowered for a long time due to natural leaking of air, the apparatus cannot detect the natural leaking of air until the tire inflation pressure is lowered to the predetermined threshold value. In this case, until the tire inflation pressure is lowered to the predetermined threshold value, a driver cannot notice that he drives the vehicle at inadequate fuel economy.
Moreover, in the apparatus using the Hall effect element, tire inflation pressure is not directly detected, but detects air pressure of the air chamber as tire inflation pressure. Therefore, the tire inflation pressure cannot be detected at high precision. Further, when the air pressure of the air chamber is changed for a short time, the movement of the diaphragm does not correctly reflect a change of the tire inflation pressure. Accordingly, this apparatus cannot quickly determine whether the pressure deflation of a tire is caused by a sudden puncture of the tire or natural leaking of air from the tire.
Generally, tire inflation pressure of a wheel is gradually lowered because of natural air leaking. When tire inflation pressure of a wheel is lowered to a specific value, it is difficult for a driver to drive his vehicle safely or at adequate fuel economy. Therefore, it is necessary to inform a driver that tire inflation pressure of his vehicle will reach the specific value in the near future.

Apparatus for detecting tire inflation pressure


A test tube holder includes a test tube insertion adapter having an adapter body and an elastic annular band and projections. The adapter body includes a flange section, an annular section, a plurality of flat spring sections whose proximal end portions are connected to the annular section and whose distal end portions extend inward in the cylindrical hollow and bent toward the axis of the adapter body and contact sections which are formed on the inner surfaces of the flat spring sections. The elastic annular band designed to bind the flat spring sections together while surrounding the outer surfaces thereof over a given range in order to bring the contact sections into contact with the outer surfaces of the test tubes. The projections projected from the outer surfaces of the flat spring sections to hold the elastic annular band in a given position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a test tube holder that is capable of holding a test tube, which keeps a specimen such as blood, in an upright position and is suitable for conveying the test tube.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally test tube holders called columnar racks have been used a lot. The columnar racks each have a columnar base body made of synthetic resin. An engagement groove with which a guide rail of a conveyor belt is engaged and a control groove for controlling the conveyance of a test tube by the conveyor belt are formed on the outer surface of a proximal end portion of the columnar base body such that the test tube can easily be conveyed by the conveyor belt. The columnar base body has a cylindrical hollow for holding and keeping the test tube in an upright position at the core of the columnar base body.
In the conventional columnar rack or test tube holder, the cylindrical hollow is so designed that its size matches that of a specific test tube. Therefore, the columnar rack or the test tube holder cannot be applied to a test tube of size (especially the outside diameter) different from that of the specific test tube.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A free cooling outdoor unit includes: a refrigerant circuit through which refrigerant circulates; a brine circuit through which brine circulates; a water circuit through which water circulates; a fan configured to send air to the second heat exchanger; a flow control valve configured to control a circulation amount of the brine in the brine circuit; a water temperature detection sensor configured to detect a water temperature in the water circuit; an outside air temperature sensor; and a controller configured to control, where the outside air temperature is equal to or lower than a freezing temperature of the brine, the circulation amount of the brine based on the water temperature such that a brine temperature is prevented from reaching a temperature equal to or lower than the freezing temperature of the brine.

Hitherto, a free cooling outdoor unit utilizing natural energy has been used in order to realize energy saving (see, Patent Document 1, for example).
In the free cooling outdoor unit disclosed in Patent Document 1, heat exchange units are disposed in a cooling tower provided with a fan, in which each heat exchange unit is formed by arranging a cooling water coil that cools water being an object to be cooled (hereinafter referred to as "cooling water") and a condenser coil that cools refrigerant for a refrigerator in the same plate fin tube heat exchanger, and the cooling water or the refrigerant is cooled in the cooling tower. Water that is subjected to heat exchange by external equipment, and heated to have a high temperature is cooled with cooling water or refrigerant that has been cooled, and the cooled water is again sent back to the external equipment.
When the free cooling outdoor unit as described above is installed in a cold district or the like, a brine mixed with an additive to lower the freezing point is used to prevent cooling water from freezing, but the concentration of the additive (hereinafter referred to as "brine concentration") was determined taking into account the lowest temperature of a site of installation.


A system and method thereof to regulate a current to a capacitive load from a power supply connected to the capacitive load. The system includes a first switch between the power supply and the capacitive load, a super-capacitor configured for charging by the power supply and powering the capacitive load, a current limiting circuit between the super-capacitor and the power supply, a second switch between the super-capacitor and the capacitive load, and a power control circuit configured to control opening and closing of the first switch and the second switch independently, sense a voltage of the power supply, and sense a voltage of the super-capacitor.

The present invention relates in general to power supplies for electronic and computer systems employing backup power capability in the form of super-capacitors which allow the power supply to continue to function after main power has failed.
As electronic and computerized systems are increasingly used in all aspects of daily life, so has the requirement for such systems to be available twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week, and to be able to continue to function in the event of other system failures such as interruptions or failures of national grid power.
Large systems are often protected by backup power systems using battery power or diesel generators. Smaller systems such as computer servers may also protect against failure at a local level by using redundancy in the form of running twin identical servers and allowing seamless switching from one to the other (also called "failover"), or using redundant arrays of storage disks (termed "RAID").
With storage systems, the use of solid-state disks (SSDs) is becoming more prevalent due to their advantages in terms of speed and performance. SSDs employ a form of non-volatile memory, often in the form of SSD devices known as NAND flash memory (chips), and due to the requirement to present such memory as though it were a traditional hard disk drive, a memory controller is required to perform a translation of the hard disk protocols to instructions to read and write the memory. This operation requires a memory controller to use large translation and mapping tables and other metadata to assist in this process. For reasons of speed and performance, these tables are normally read from the flash memory at initial power-on, then stored in volatile RAM memory. In order not to affect performance, the data in RAM is only periodically flushed back to flash memory and when the system is properly shut down.
An SSD is therefore exposed to a window of time wherein the user data and the translation and mapping tables and metadata are not consistent. If the power to the drive were to be suddenly removed from the drive during this time, the up-to-date translation/mapping tables and metadata in RAM may be lost and unrecoverable. The result may be that when the SSD next powers up, it may not be possible to reconcile the user data and translation/mapping tables and metadata stored in flash memory, and user data may be lost.
To prevent data loss, it is now common to employ a backup power supply for an SSD, generally located on the same circuit board as the memory controller and flash memory devices. This severely limits the size and amount of power the backup supply can provide and batteries are generally too bulky.
However, the main requirement is to supply enough power to keep the SSD running for enough time to allow it to flush all the unsaved data from RAM to the flash memory, so that the metadata can be brought into synchronization with the user data. This has allowed for the use of relatively small backup power components, for example, capacitors commonly known as super-capacitors. Super-capacitors have capacitance values up to 10,000 times that of normal electrolytic capacitors, but much less power capacity (e.g., about 10%) of a conventional backup battery. Super-capacitors do, however, have a much higher energy density than a conventional backup battery and can therefore satisfy the requirement for a short term backup supply in a small volume that can be readily fitted into an SSD package.
Power circuits have therefore been developed for SSDs which merge super-capacitors with a DC to DC converter which supplies the various regulated DC voltages (such as 3.3V) required by the SSD, its controller and the flash memory, from the incoming main power supply voltages, which are typically 5V and 12V.
These circuits generally employ sequencing of the application of power using a power management device such that the super-capacitors are powered up first, then the DC-DC converter, and finally the output regulated voltages to the components.
A major consequence of adding super-capacitors is that extra inrush current limiting must be employed as the large values of capacitance and low internal resistance means that large currents will otherwise flow over a relatively long time as the super-capacitors charge up at power on. The current limiting may need only consist of a resistor and diode
Without super-capacitors, some form of current limiting or slow start-up circuitry may still be required for the DC-DC converter, although while the input capacitance of the DC-DC converter will be less, the solution should be capable of supplying sufficient current for normal operation whilst not consuming power, which will involve a more sophisticated and expensive solution than a simple resistor.
Current limiting is known in the prior art is for connecting a power supply to a DC-DC converter and may be based on using current limiting resistors in parallel with switches (mechanical and electronic) such as in U.S. Pat. No, 5,087,871 (Losel) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,646,842 (Pan et al).
There is an ongoing need for systems and methods suitable for reducing an inrush current for a power supply with both backup super-capacitors and a DC-DC converter.

System and method for limiting inrush current in solid state drives


A game racket comprises a head frame, a handle, and a triangular throatpiece located between the head frame and the handle. The triangular throatpiece comprises a space defined by three side frames making up the triangular throatpiece. A shock-absorbing member of a geometric shape is disposed in the space of the triangular throatpiece. The shock-absorbing member is fastened at three points with the three side frames of the triangular throatpiece, so as to enable the shock waves to travel from the head frame to reach the shock-absorbing member in which the shock waves are cancelled out at the geometric center of the shock-absorbing member.

There are several kinds of game rackets, such as tennis rackets, squash rackets, badminton rackets, etc., which may be made of composite, or aluminium or wooden material. In general, a game racket has an inverted triangular throatpiece located between the head and the handle of the game racket.
A game racket of carbon composite material or aluminium alloy material is known for its lightweight quality and high rigidity. The high structural rigidity of the game racket is generally responsible for a rapid transmission of the shock waves from the head to the handle and further to the hand holding the handle. As a result, the hand of the user of such game racket is vulnerable to injury. The most commonly used method of absorbing the shock waves is to use the shock-absorbing element which is disposed between the head frame and the head strings so as to mitigate the impact of the shock by making a direct contact with the head strings. Another commonly used method of absorbing the shock waves of the head strings is to provide the racket handle with a shock-absorbing means. Such prior art methods as described above are limited in that the shock waves are not effectively mitigated by the shock-absorbing element so disposed as to make a direct contact with the head strings, and that the structure and the construction of the racket frame is made rather complicated by the shock-absorbing means disposed in the head frame or the handle.

Shock absorbing throatpiece of game racket


An apparatus and method for enhanced heterogeneous network handover using a media independent handover scheme is provided. A heterogeneous network handover method of the present invention includes generating, at a mobile node, self-location information, transmitting the self-location information to a management server which manages heterogeneous networks, searching, at the management server, surrounding networks using the self-location information, composing a set of candidate networks including at least one of the surrounding networks, transmitting information on the set of candidate networks to mobile node and deciding, at the mobile node, a target handover network among the candidate networks. Accordingly, latency during handover in a heterogeneous network can be reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for handover between heterogeneous networks. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method that provide enhanced heterogeneous network handover using a media independent handover scheme.
2. Description of the Related Art
Handover, or handoff, is a technical procedure for switching a call in progress from the radio coverage area of one base station to another base station while ensuring the continuity of the established call.
Handover is commonly performed when user equipment, currently in an active communication session, moves between the cells of a homogenous system. With the deployment of various heterogeneous system networks, advanced handover techniques for supporting handover between heterogeneous networks have been developed. Handover between heterogeneous networks (also known as vertical handover) means an inter-technology handover such as a switch between a WiBro network and another standard system network, such as a 2nd generation (2G) network, a 3rd generation (3G) network, or a wireless local area network (WLAN) based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 802.11 (IEEE 802.11) standards.
Media Independent Handover (MIH) is a standard being developed as part of the IEEE 802.21 standard to enable handover in a heterogeneous network environment. MIH is a seamless intermediate handover technique guaranteeing quality of service (QoS) between heterogeneous networks regardless of media types. MIH provides Event Services, Command Services and Information Services for allowing a mobile node having multiple radio interfaces to switch the communication session in progress to an optimal network regardless of media type without requiring user interface. With such services, the upper layers can perform a handover to an optimal network.
FIG. 1 illustrates message flows in a conventional inter-system handover procedure. In FIG. 1, a mobile node (MN) 100 is attempting a handover from a WLAN to a wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN).
Referring to FIG. 1, a mobile node (MN) 100 is serviced by a WLAN 101 as a serving network in step S110. If a link status changes, the MN 100 transmits an MIH get information request message (MIH_Get_Information.request) to neighbor networks via an MIH Information Service (MIIS) server 102 in step S115. The change of link status is determined by comparing a link parameter value with a threshold value. If the link parameter value is greater than the threshold value, it is determined that a change of link status has occurred. The high link parameter value indicates that the received signal strength is weak. Accordingly, the MN 100 determines information about neighboring networks, such as received signal strengths of the different networks, and prepares to perform a handover to the neighboring network having an optimal state. The MIH_Get_Information.request message is formatted as follows and the parameters of the MIH_Get_Information.request message are defined as in table 1.
MIH_Get_Information.request (             InfoQueryType,             InfoQueryParameters             )
TABLE 1ValidNameTypeRangeDescriptionInfoQueryTypeAn integer value correspondingN/AThe type of query that is specifiedto one of the followingtypes:1: TLV2: RDF_DATA3: RDF_SCHEMA_URL4: RDF_SCHEMAInfoQueryParametersQuery type specific parametersN/AQuery type specific parameters which indicatethe type of information the client may beinterested in.
The MIH_Get_Information.request is transmitted by MN 100 to request information related to a specific interface, attributes to the network interface as well as entire network capability.
As shown in table 1, integer values of the InfoQueryType parameter of the MIH_Get_Information.request respectively correspond to TLV, RDF_DATA, RDF_SCHEMA_URL, and RDF_SCHEMA.
When the InfoQueryType is specified as TLV, the InfoQueryParameters is a binary string. When the InfoQueryType is specified as RDF_DATA, the InfoQueryParameters is a string which contains a SPARQL (Protocol and RDF Query language) query where the SPARQL query is supposed to contain an appropriate query for obtaining expected RDF/XML data. When the InfoQueryType is specified as RDF_SCHEMA_URL, the InfoQueryParameters is a null string. Finally, when InfoQueryType is specified as RDF_SCHEMA, the InfoQueryParameters carries either the URL of the extended schema the query originator wants to obtain or a null string when the URL of the extended schema is unknown.
In response to the MIH_Get_Information.request message, the MIIS server 102 transmits an MIH get information response message (MIH_Get_Information.response) to the MN 100 in step S117. The MIH_Get_Information.response message includes information on the candidate networks that are selected by the MIIS server 102 in consideration of the location of the MN 100. Upon receiving the MIH_Get_Information.response message, the MN 100 determines link relief information in step S120. That is, the link layer of the MN 100 notifies that the current link established by MIH is released within a predetermined time. Accordingly, the MN 100 determines another link to perform handover to a new cell, i.e. a new network.
Next, the MN 100 receives information required for a new connection from WMANs 103 and 104 as the candidate networks in steps S125 and S126. For simplifying the explanation, it is assumed that two WiBro networks based on the IEEE 802.16 standard are selected as the candidate networks in FIG. 1. However, the number of the candidate networks can be changed and other the types of networks, such as cellular networks and WLANs, can be utilized.
Since the candidate networks 103 and 104 are WiBro networks, the connection information includes Downlink MAP (DL MAP), Uplink MAP (UL MAP), Downlink Channel Descript (DCD), and Uplink Channel Descript (UCD).
If the network connection information is collected, the MN 100 performs a link scanning on the links of the candidate networks 103 and 104 in step S130 and then transmits a candidate query request message (Candidate_Query. request) including the information on the candidate networks 103 and 104 to the serving network 101 in step S132. The Candidate_Query.request includes a link type identifier, network identifiers of the candidate networks, and information about operations required for the current link after handover. Upon receiving the Candidate_Query.request message, the serving network 101 transmits a handover (HO) query resource request message (Query_Resource.request) to the candidate networks 103 and 104 in steps S135 and S136. The candidate networks are selected in consideration of the location of the MN 100, and the number and types of candidate networks are not limited to the example of FIG. 1. In a case where five candidate networks are reported by the MIIS server 102, the serving network 101 requests the radio resource information for handover to the five candidate networks.
In response to the Query_Resource.request, the respective candidate networks 103 and 104 transmit a query resource response message (Query_Resource.response) containing information on their resources to the service network 101 in steps S137 and S138. Particularly, the handover resource information response message may include handover acceptability for the MN 100. The serving network 101 determines one of the candidate networks as an optimal network for handover in consideration of the handover acceptability and resource status of the candidate networks 103 and 104. Next, the serving network 101 transmits a Candidate_Query.response containing information on the HO target network to the MN 100 in step S140.
Assuming that the candidate network 103 is selected as the handover target network, the MN 100 performs operations for establishing a connection to the target network 103. Since the handover target network 103 is a WiBro network, the MN 100 performs a ranging process for establishing a connection link in step S145. After completing the ranging process, the MN 100 determines successful handover completion in step S147 and is served by the new serving network 103 in step S150. Here, the communication link to the old service network 101 is released. In this manner, the vertical handover between heterogeneous networks is performed.
As described above, in the vertical handover specified by the IEEE 802.21 standard, the MN transmits MIH_Get_Information.request to the MIIS server whenever a handover to a new cell is required, and the MIIS server collects information on the networks in a core network and determines the existence of available heterogeneous networks for handover. The MIIS server transmits the network status information to the MN using the MIH_Get_Information.response message.
In the conventional standard specification, when a handover is required due to the movement of the MN, the core network predicts a location of the MN using a prediction algorithm and informs the MN of whether a handover to a heterogeneous network is available. In the heterogeneous network environment, however, the network resource management for the vertical handover is very complicated and inefficient real time handover traffic may cause significant network problems. Such problems increase latency and deteriorate communication reliability. That is, the conventional vertical handover method is limited in efficient handover performance due to the latency and communication reliability caused by inaccurate user location and mobility estimated by the core network.

Apparatus and method for handover between heterogeneous systems


A method of controlling a work machine having at least one wheel includes providing a controller, an operator control, and a steering system including a steering wheel position sensor, a road wheel angle sensor, a speed sensor, and a feedback device. The method includes detecting a change in steering wheel position via the steering wheel position device and a wheel speed of the at least one wheel via the speed sensor. A predicted lateral acceleration is calculated by the controller as a function of wheel speed and a feedback torque is determined by the controller as a function of the predicted lateral acceleration. The feedback torque is determined from a plurality of feedback torque curves stored by the controller, where each of the plurality of feedback torque curves corresponds to a sensitivity level selectable from the operator control. The feedback torque is commanded to the feedback device.

Off-road work machines encounter an extremely wide range of surface conditions during operation. In addition, many off road work machines carry heavy loads or pull heavy implements. In addition, there are many different tire options available which affect vehicle dynamics. For example, agricultural work machines often carry or pull heavy implements hitched to the rear of the vehicle. These large loads can often alter the steering characteristics of the machine. For example, when lightly loaded a machine may have a desirable and relatively stable "understeer" characteristic. But, when heavily loaded, the same machine may have an undesirable relatively unstable "oversteer" characteristic.
Moreover, operators of these work machines often want more control over the steering system. In particular, operators desire to feel an amount of feedback when steering the machine. Some operators prefer a more sensitive steering system where more feedback can be felt whereas other operators desire a less sensitive steering system.
It would be desirable to provide a work machine with a steer-by-wire steering control system which allows vehicle operators to adjust or tune the sensitivity of the steering system and receive a desired feedback when controlling the machine.

Operator selectable steering mode with variable torque feedback and system thereof


A set of plate segments for refining comminuted cellulosic material including: a first plate segment and a second plate segment, wherein the first plate segment and the second plate segment each have a refining side configured to oppose the refining side on the other segment, and each of said refining sides includes a refining zone having bars and grooves between adjacent ones of the bars, wherein distance between the grooves in the first plate segment and the grooves in the second plate segment is substantially constant along an arc through the refining zone while the set is mounted to discs in a refiner.

The invention generally relates to a disc refiner for lignocellulosic material such as wood chips. In particular, the invention relates to the grooves between adjacent refiner bars on opposing sides of plate segments mounted on the discs of the refiner or disparager.
Mechanical pulping involves mechanically separating fibers found in logs or wood chips or other lignocellulosic material. In some embodiments, such fibers may be suitable for paper making.
A common method of separating the fibers involves the use of a mechanical (or semi-chemical) refiner, which often consists of one rotating disc (e.g., a rotor) facing a stationary disc (e.g., a stator), with the rotating disc turning at speeds of approximately 900 to 2300 revolutions per minute (RPM), and in which wood material is fed into the center of the stationary disc. In some cases, both discs rotate in opposite directions, and in some other cases, there is a conical section following the flat disc surface. The discs are typically equipped with a number of replaceable segments (plate segments) positioned side by side and are mounted to the disc, these plate segments having an array of bars and grooves. The grooves generally have dams to impede the progression of wood material from the center of the plate segment inner edge to the outer edge of the plate segment. As the bars from the opposing discs cross, crossing bars impart compressive and shear forces to the lignocellulosic material. The compressive and shear forces cause separation of the larger pieces of wood material into individual fibers, development of the fibers and, to some degree, cutting of the fibers. Cutting of the fibers may not be desirable.
In the typical designs of refiner plates or plate segments (the terms plate and plate segment will be used interchangeably), both facing discs feature a certain depth of the grooves which is substantially similar on opposite plates or plate segments. The profile of the groove depths relative to the distance from the center of the disc is generally flat and planar, either substantially parallel with the top of the refining bars or at a slight deviation from parallel, such that the depth (i.e., distance from the top of the refining bar to the bottom of the groove) gradually reduces towards the periphery of the plate.
FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a set 100 of complementary conventional refiner plate segments 102 and 104. Unrefined lignocellulosic material 120, such as wood chip material, is fed near the conventional refiner plate inner edge 108. Refined lignocellulosic material 122 exits near the conventional refiner plate outer edge 106. Thus the material moves as illustrated in FIG. 1 from right to left. While moving as illustrated in FIG. 1, the material first encounters dams 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, and 140 in an innermost refining zone or a breaker bar zone 101. Conventional refiner plate segments 102 and 104 have a series of alternating bars 150, 152 and grooves (not shown). The tops of the bars 150, 152 of the respective conventional refiner plate segments 102, 104 face each other. As illustrated, bar 150 of conventional refiner plate segment 102 opposes bar 152 of conventional refiner plate segment 104.
Between bar 150 and bar 152 there is a gap 157 having a distance 164 between the tops of the bars. Gap 157 is generally uniform. In contrast the gap 162 between the bottoms of opposing grooves varies due to dams 154 and 156 in the grooves.
There are dams 154 and 156 on the respective conventional refiner plate segments 102, 104. These dams 154 and 156 force material traveling through the grooves defined by the respective surfaces 158 and 160 into the gap 157 and opposing conventional refiner plate segments 102, 104. As illustrated, the bottom of the opposing grooves has a distance 162. The distance between the bottom of the grooves and the tops of the respective dams, e.g. as illustrated by 166, varies along the radius illustrated in the cross section of FIG. 1. The number of dams, shape, distance, and height from the bottom of the grooves to the tops of the respective dams varies in different refiner plate designs of existing technology, based on the required retention of feed material.
Due to the centrifugal forces caused by the relative rotation of the discs, many refiner plate designs use dams in the grooves, which restrict the free flow of material in those grooves. These dams are believed to prevent unrefined material from flowing out of the discs without being mechanically treated.
Mechanical pulping can use significant amounts of energy and may produce large quantities of heat through dissipation of frictional energy. This heat transforms water from the process into steam; in most cases a substantial amount of steam is produced. The steam produced must evacuate from the refiner via the gap formed between the discs. Failure to evacuate this steam with relative ease is believed to cause mechanical vibration of the refiner, as well as process instability. In many instances, poor steam evacuation may also cause a limitation in the amount of energy that can be imparted to the lignocellulosic material, due to a limit of how much force the refiner can apply to hold the discs in close proximity to achieve the desired work. The steam may also travel together with the lignocellulosic material through the grooves in a non-rotating disc, and conventional stator refiner plates also include dams to prevent un-treated fibers from exiting the refining gap without mechanical treatment.
Refiner plates with various patterns of bars and grooves are known to those skilled in the art. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,617 to Deuchars; U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,525 to Gingras; U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,888 to Deuchars; U.S. Pat. No. 6,402,071 to Gingras; U.S. Pat. No. 6,607,153 to Gingras; U.S. Pat. No. 6,616,078 to Gingras; and PCT Pub. No. WO/2010/112667 to Ruola et al.
The conventional bar, groove, and dam arrangements (e.g., as noted in the patents identified in the previous paragraph) may be effective at forcing material out of the grooves into the gap formed between the opposing discs, but the arrangements may restrict steam flow. It is believed that the path of steam flow through a refiner equipped with conventional refiner plates is turbulent (e.g., non-laminar) and may cause refiner instability. In addition, the very abrupt changes in groove depths due to dams and the short spacing between dams often results in steam flow being restricted to a very small percentage of the groove depths—thus limiting the steam evacuation efficiency.

Refiner plate having a smooth, wave-like groove and related methods


There is provided a self-contained nail care system having a base housing for storing a powered hand tool, and at least a rotary motion adapter head and a linear motion adapter head for use with the hand tool. The base housing stores the hand tool. The base housing has a nail dryer, an integrated manicure bowl, and integrated UV light and/or other types of heat source.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to nail care. More particularly, the present invention relates to a nail care system having a compact housing. The housing has a removable tray and conveniently stores a powered hand tool, a number of adapter heads for use with the powered hand tool, and a number of nail care attachments that interface with the power heads.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the prior art, there are known nail care systems and devices for providing a variety of nail care tools (manual and powered) and storage cases for housing the nail care tools. Generally, the prior art devices that incorporate nail care tools and a storage case for the tools provide a compartment for storing an elongated hand tool in a substantially horizontal position that is neither compact nor particularly functionally other than merely storing the nail care tool. Also, the prior art powered hand tools employ a rotary drive mechanism for rotating nail care attachments. Consequently, the prior art devices tend to be limited to providing rotary motion nail care tooling and have a storage case/housing that is bulky and space-consuming.
Therefore, there exists a need to provide a full-featured, compact, self-contained nail care system having a powered hand tool that provides at least a rotary and linear motion nail care tooling and other functionality in addition to storage of the powered hand tool.


The exhaust gas purification device includes a NO.sub.x absorbent disposed in an exhaust gas passage of an internal combustion engine. The engine is mainly operated at a lean air-fuel ratio. The NO.sub.x absorbent absorbs NO.sub.x in the exhaust gas from the engine when the exhaust gas flowing into the NO.sub.x absorbent is at a lean air-fuel ratio, and releases the NO.sub.x absorbed therein and reduces it when the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas becomes a rich air-fuel ratio. A control circuit is provided for controlling the operating air-fuel ratio of the engine. When the ignition switch of the engine is turned off, the control circuit continues the engine operation for a predetermined period before terminating the engine operation. During this engine operation, the operating air-fuel ratio of the engine is controlled at a rich air-fuel ratio to supply exhaust gas with a rich air-fuel ratio to the NO.sub.x absorbent. Therefore, NO.sub.x absorbed and held therein when the ignition switch is turned off is released and reduced by the rich air-fuel ratio exhaust gas from the engine. Since the NO.sub.x absorbent is maintained at the condition where no NO.sub.x remains in the NO.sub.x absorbent after the engine has stopped, unreduced NO.sub.x is not released from the NO.sub.x absorbent even if the NO.sub.x absorbent is cooled after the engine has stopped.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exhaust gas purification device for an internal combustion engine. More specifically, the present invention relates to exhaust gas purification device which includes an NO.sub.x absorbent for removing NO.sub.x in the exhaust gas of an internal combustion engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
An exhaust gas purification device which disposes a NO.sub.x absorbent in an exhaust gas passage of an internal combustion engine is known in the art. A NO.sub.x absorbent absorbs NO.sub.x in the exhaust gas when the exhaust gas from an engine is at a lean air-fuel ratio, and releases the absorbed NO.sub.x and reduces it when the exhaust gas from the engine is at a rich air-fuel ratio. An exhaust gas purification device of this type is, for example, disclosed in international patent publication WO93-25806. In the exhaust gas purification device in the '806 publication, a NO.sub.x absorbent is used for absorbing NO.sub.x in the exhaust gas of a lean-burn engine which can be operated at an lean air-fuel ratio. The device in the '806 publication is provided with means for detecting the amount of the NO.sub.x absorbed in the NO.sub.x absorbent and monitors the amount of the absorbed NO.sub.x during the lean air-fuel ratio operation of the engine. When the amount of the absorbed NO.sub.x reaches a predetermined value, the device lowers the oxygen concentration in the exhaust gas in order to cause the NO.sub.x absorbent to release the absorbed NO.sub.x and reduce the same using reducing substances such as HC, CO in the exhaust gas (in this specification, the operation which causes the NO.sub.x absorbent to release the absorbed NO.sub.x and reduce the released NO.sub.x to N.sub.2 is referred to as "a regenerating operation"). The device in the '806 publication prevents the NO.sub.x absorbent from being saturated with the absorbed NO.sub.x by performing the regenerating operation when the amount of the NO.sub.x absorbed in the NO.sub.x absorbent reaches the predetermined value.
However, in the device of the '806 publication, there is a problem in that the absorbed NO.sub.x may be released from the NO.sub.x absorbent after the engine has stopped and then diffuse into the atmosphere. As explained later, the maximum amount of NO.sub.x which can be absorbed and held by the NO.sub.x absorbent, i.e., a NO.sub.x saturating amount varies depending on the temperature of the NO.sub.x absorbent. Usually, the NO.sub.x absorbent is disposed in the exhaust gas passage at a position where the temperature of the NO.sub.x absorbent falls in a range where the NO.sub.x saturating amount becomes the maximum value (for example, 300.degree. C. to 500.degree. C.), and the above-noted predetermined value of the absorbed NO.sub.x at which the regenerating operation is commenced is set at a relatively large value (for example, 70 to 80% of the maximum NO.sub.x saturating amount in the above temperature range). Therefore, if the engine is stopped immediately before the NO.sub.x amount absorbed in the NO.sub.x absorbent reaches the above-noted predetermined value, a substantially large amount of NO.sub.x is held in the NO.sub.x absorbent after the engine has stopped. However, since the temperature of the NO.sub.x absorbent decreases due to heat radiation from the NO.sub.x absorbent after the engine has stopped, the NO.sub.x saturation amount (i.e., the maximum amount of NO.sub.x which the NO.sub.x absorbent can hold) decreases. Therefore, when the NO.sub.x saturation amount becomes lower than the amount actually held in the NO.sub.x absorbent due to the cooling of the NO.sub.x absorbent, the amount of NO.sub.x in excess of the NO.sub.x saturating amount is released from the NO.sub.x absorbent and diffuses into the atmosphere without being reduced. The amount of the NO.sub.x diffusing into the atmosphere increases in proportion to the maximum NO.sub.x saturation amount of NO.sub.x absorbent, i.e., a NO.sub.x absorbing capacity of the NO.sub.x absorbent. Therefore, if the NO.sub.x absorbent having a large NO.sub.x absorbing capacity is used, the amount of NO.sub.x diffused into the atmosphere after the engine has stopped also become large.
This problem may not occur if the above-noted predetermined value of the absorbed NO.sub.x at which the regenerating operation is commenced (hereinafter, referred to as "a regenerating amount") is set at a relatively low value. By setting the regenerating amount at lower value, the maximum amount of NO.sub.x absorbed and held in the NO.sub.x absorbent during the engine operation becomes low. Therefore, if the regenerating amount is set at a sufficiently low level, the amount of NO.sub.x held in the NO.sub.x absorbent when the engine is stopped never exceeds the NO.sub.x saturating amount even if the NO.sub.x saturation amount decreases after the engine has stopped due to the cooling of the NO.sub.x.
However, if the regenerating amount is set at a lower value, the NO.sub.x absorbing capacity of the NO.sub.x absorbent cannot be fully utilized. For example, if the regenerating amount is set at, for example, 20% of the maximum NO.sub.x saturating amount instead of conventional 70 to 80%, the frequency of the regenerating operation during the engine operation increases by roughly three times. When the frequency of the regenerating operation increases, problems such as a deterioration in the driveability due to changes in the operating air-fuel ratio of the engine and a worsening of a fuel economy of the engine may occur. Therefore, the solution by setting the regenerating amount at a lower value is not practical.

Exhaust gas purification device for an internal combustion engine