A method of controlling a polar optical transmitter comprising a dual-branch Mach-Zehnder (MZ) modulator driven by a pair of independent electrical drive signals. A cost function is provided which defines a relationship between a control parameter of the optical transmitter and a power level of an output optical signal generated by the MZ modulator. A selected component of the electrical drive signals is dithered using a predetermined dither signal. A modulation depth of the output optical signal power level corresponding to the dither signal is detected, and the control parameter adjusted based on the cost function and the detection result.

For the purposes of understanding the present invention, it is useful to consider a representation of the total optical E-field E(t) as a vector confined to a plane and emanating from a fixed origin, where the length of the vector gives the amplitude of the E-field at any instant (t), and the direction of the vector gives the phase of the field at any instant (t). Within this construction, we consider two basis sets. The first basis set is a Cartesian coordinate system centered on the E-field origin. In this Cartesian representation, the total E-field E(t) is decomposed along the orthogonal Real (Re) and Imaginary (Im), or, equivalently, In-phase (I) and Quadrature (Q), directions. The second basis set is a polar coordinate system, again sharing its origin with that of the E-field vector. In this polar representation, the E-field is decomposed into vector length (S) and phase angle (φ) relative to the Re-direction. These two basis sets are related by a non-linear transformation, in a manner well known in the art. In each of these representations, the time-sequence of loci of the end-point of the E-field vector may be referred to as a trajectory of the E-field.
In the optical communications space, various techniques are used to synthesize an optical communications signal for transmission. A popular technique utilizes a laser 2 coupled to an external Electrical-to-Optical (E/O) converter 4, as shown in FIG. 1a. The laser 2 generates a narrow-band continuous wave (CW) optical carrier signal 6 having a desired wavelength. The E/O converter 4 operates to modulate the amplitude and/or phase of the carrier signal 6 to generate the optical communications signal 8 based on one or more drive signals S(t) generated by a driver circuit 10 based on an input data signal x(t).
In the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 1a, the E/O converter 4 is provided by a well known Mach-Zehnder (MZ) interferometer. Other types of E/O converters may be used, depending on the desired type of modulation. For example, an electro-absorptive E/O converter (EAM) or a variable optical attenuator (VOA) may be used for amplitude modulation, whereas phase shifters are well known for implementing phase modulation schemes. In each case, the driver circuit 10 generates the drive signals S(t), primarily by scaling the input data signal x(t) to satisfy the voltage and current requirements of the E/O converter 4. In some cases, the input data signal x(t) is encoded in accordance with a desired modulation scheme (e.g. for quadrature encoding), and the resulting encoded data signal scaled to satisfy the voltage and current requirements of the E/O converter 4. The format of the drive signal S(t) output from the driver circuit 10 is principally governed by the desired modulation scheme, and will typically take the form of a baseband (i.e., binary, direct current) signal; a coded (e.g. quadrature encoded) signal; or a modulated electrical (e.g. radio frequency) carrier signal. In addition, each drive signal may also be generated in the form of a differential signal pair ±S(t), which provides certain advantages known in the art. In all cases, the drive signals S(t) are directly modeled on the input data signal x(t), and represent the data to be modulated onto the CW carrier 6. This is true even where an encoding scheme, such as quadrature encoding, is used.
For example, FIGS. 1a and 1b illustrate a conventional transmitter in which an input data signal x(t) is transmitted using the well known On-Off Keying (OOK) modulation scheme. As may be seen in FIG. 1a, the driver 10 scales the input data signal x(t) to produce a differential pair of bi-state (that is two-level) baseband drive signals ±S(t). The baseband drive signal pair ±S(t) is then used to drive excursions of the E/O converter's (sinusoidal) amplitude response between maximum and minimum transmittance, as may be seen in FIG. 1b. This operation yields an amplitude-modulated optical communications signal 8 having an optical E-field EO(t) which exhibits excursions of amplitude between two states reflecting the binary values of each bit of the input data signal x(t), as shown in FIG. 1c, in which the optical E-field EO(t) is represented in the complex Re/Im plane. As may be seen in FIG. 1c, amplitude modulation of the CW carrier 6 in the above manner results in excursions of the optical E-field EO(t) between loci clustered about two points on the real (Re) axis. Ideally, all of the E-field loci will be located on the real (Re) axis. However, in practice the optical E-field EO(t) will also exhibit excursions in the imaginary (Im) direction due to phase chirp resulting from coupling of phase and amplitude responses of all real electro-optical devices.
FIG. 1d illustrates an arrangement in which the input data signal x(t) is encoded by an encoder block 12 prior to scaling. Various encoding schemes are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,522,439 (Price et al), teaches an arrangement in which the input data signal x(t) is split into a pair of parallel In-phase (I) and Quadrature (O) signal components (i.e. the sine and cosine of the data signal x(t)), which are then modulated onto an electrical (RF) carrier and scaled to yield a corresponding pair of drive signals SI(t) and SQ(t). U.S. Pat. No. 5,892,858 (Vaziri et al) teaches another arrangement in which the input data signal x(t) is sampled to generate a duo-binary encoded signal, which is then scaled to generate the drive signal. It is also known to quadrature encode the input data signal x(t) prior to scaling. In this case, the input data signal x(t) is divided into successive 2-bit symbols. The stream of symbols is then supplied to the driver circuit 10, which outputs a quad-state (i.e. four-level) drive signal S(t). Driving the phase response of the E/O converter 4 with the quadrature-encoded quad-state drive signal S(t) yields a communications signal 8 having an optical E-field EO(t) which exhibits phase excursions between four discrete states reflecting the binary values of each 2-bit symbol. This is illustrated in FIG. 1e, in which the optical E-field EO(t) is represented in the complex Re/Im plane. As may be seen in FIG. 1e, quadrature phase shift modulation of the CW carrier 6 in the above manner results in excursions of the E-field E(t) between loci clustered about four points which are roughly symmetrically distributed about the origin. Here again, scatter of the E-field loci is a function of phase and amplitude distortions due to phase/amplitude response coupling.
In addition to data encoding, it is also known to provide various analog electrical signal processing functions in order to modify the drive signals S(t). For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,522,439 (Price et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,574,389 (Schemmann et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,687,432 (Schemmann et al.) teach optical transmitters which compensate chromatic dispersion (or, more generally, odd order distortions) of an optical link by predistorting the drive signals. As shown in FIG. 2, these systems provide a signal distorter 14 between the driver circuit 10 and the E/O converter 4. Thus, the drive signal 10 (in any of baseband, coded, or modulated electrical carrier formats) is supplied to the signal distorter 14 which imposes a dispersive function F[ ] on the drive signal S(t). The resulting distorted drive signal F[S(t)] is then supplied to the E/O converter 4 to generate a predistorted optical communications signal for transmission through the link.
In each of the above-noted patents, the signal distorter 12 is provided by an analog filter circuit (not shown) having a group delay characteristic selected to counteract chromatic dispersion of the link. Multiple filter circuits may be cascaded to compensate some other distortions. For example, Schemmann et al. teach that the (typically squaring response) of an optical receiver can also be precompensated at the transmitter, by means of a suitable filter circuit within the signal distorter 12.
A common characteristic among all of the above-noted predistortion techniques is that analog filter circuits are used to distort an otherwise conventionally generated (and thus conventionally formatted) analog drive signal S(t). The premise is that distorting the drive signal S(t) will suitably distort the optical signal 8 in such a way as to offset distortions due to impairments of the optical link. While this approach is satisfactory for compensating linear distortions (such as chromatic dispersion, and receiver squaring effects) it cannot compensate non-linear impairments such as SPM and four-wave mixing. Quite apart from the limitations inherent to analog filter circuits, all of which are well known, compensation of non-linear distortions is complicated by the fact that all real electro-optical devices (i.e. lasers, E/O converters etc.) exhibit a response in both phase and amplitude to changes in drive voltage (or current). This coupling of phase and amplitude responses means, for example, that any change in drive signal voltage required to produce a desired change in the optical E-field amplitude also produces a transient phase change (chirp), and vise-versa. Further complicating this situation is that the overall system response, in terms of changes in the output optical E-field (amplitude and/or phase) due to changes in drive signal voltage (or current) tends to be highly non-linear. As a result, the prior art techniques for compensating linear distortions (such as chromatic dispersion) by applying a dispersive function F[ ] to the drive signals S(t) typically results in compounding the effects of system non-linearities.
Applicant's co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/262,944, filed Oct. 3, 2002; Ser. No. 10/307,466 filed Dec. 2, 2002; Ser. No. 10/405,236 filed Apr. 3, 2003; and Ser. No. 10/677,223, filed Oct. 3, 2003, the contents of all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference, and International Patent Application No. PCT/CA03/01044 filed Jul. 11, 2003 describe techniques for compensating both linear and non-linear impairments in an optical link by using a multi-bit digital signal path to generate the drive signals S(t). Thus, a signal processor 16 receives the input data signal x(t) as an input, and uses a compensation function C[ ] to compute successive multi-bit In-phase and Quadrature values (EI(n) and EQ(n), respectively) representing successive loci of the end-point of a desired or target optical E-field vector. A linearizer 18 then uses the multi-bit (EI(n), EQ(n)) loci to synthesize a pair of multi-bit digital drive signals VR(n) and VL(n). The digital drive signals Vx(n), in which x is an index identifying the involved branch of the signal path, are then converted into analog (RF) signals by respective high speed multi-bit Digital-to-Analog Converters (DACs) 20, which are then amplified (and possibly band-pass filtered to remove out-of-band noise) to generate the drive signals Sx(t) supplied to an E/O converter 22. The digital drive signals Vx(n) are computed such that the drive signals Sx(t) supplied to the E/O converter 22 will yield an optical E-field EO(t) at the E/O converter output 24 that is a high-fidelity reproduction of the target E-field computed by the signal processor 16.
In general, the signal processor 16 is capable of implementing any desired mathematical function, which means that the compensation function C[ ] can be selected to compensate any desired signal impairments, including, but not limited to, dispersion, Self-Phase Modulation (SPM), Cross-Phase Modulation (XPM), four-wave mixing and polarization dependent effects (PDEs) such as polarization dependent loss. In addition, the compensation function C[ ] can be dynamically adjusted for changes in the optical properties of the link, and component drift due to aging. The inherent flexibility of the mathematical function implemented by the signal processor 16 also implies that the signal processor 16 can be placed into a "test" mode, and used to generate (EI(n), EQ(n)) loci of a desired optical E-field vector independently (or even in the absence) of an input data signal x(t).
The linearizer 18 can also implement any desired mathematical function, and thus can perform signal format conversion (i.e. from Cartesian to polar coordinates); compensate for non-linearities in the signal path between the linearizer 18 and the output 24 of the E/O converter 22; and perform various scaling and clipping operations to limit dynamic range requirements of electrical components downstream of the linearizer 18 (principally the DACs 20).
The resolution of each analog drive signal Sx(t) is governed by that of the DACs 20. In general, each DAC 20 has a resolution of M-bits, where M is an integer, which yields excursions of each analog drive signal Sx(t) between 2.sup.M discrete levels. It will be noted that M=1 represents a trivial case, in which each analog drive signal Sx(t) is a bi-state signal similar to that produced by the conventional driver circuits described above with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. In applicant's co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/262,944, filed Oct. 3, 2002; Ser. No. 10/307,466 filed Dec. 2, 2002; Ser. No. 10/405,236 filed Apr. 3, 2003; and Ser. No. 10/677,223, filed Oct. 3, 2003, and International Patent Application No. PCT/CA03/01044 filed Jul. 11, 2003, M is greater than 4.
The E/O converter 22 will normally be provided as either nested MZ interferometers, or as a conventional dual branch MZ interferometer, as illustrated in FIG. 3. In this latter configuration, each branch of the MZ modulator is driven with a respective one of the analog drive signal Sx(t) so as to perform polar (i.e. phase and amplitude) modulation of the E-field of the optical carrier 6. This solution is particularly advantageous in that it enables arbitrary E-field modulation using readily available (and relatively low-cost) optical components.
Multi-bit digital generation of the drive signals Sx(t) in this manner enables the optical transmitter to synthesize any desired E-field waveform at the output 24 of the polar E/O converter 22. Because the linearizer 18 synthesizes the digital drive signals Vx(n) based on a model of the target optical E-field (as opposed to the data signal being transmitted), it is possible to derive a mathematical representation of the entire data path between the signal processor 16 and the E/O converter output 24, which enables phase and amplitude of the output E-field EO(t) to be independently controlled, even with significant coupling of phase and amplitude responses of the polar E/O converter 22. This is an operational feature which is simply not possible in prior art transmitters.
An implicit limitation of this technique is that accurate synthesis of a desired optical E-field waveform at the E/O converter output 24 is contingent upon satisfying a number of criteria, including (but not necessarily limited to):
the drive signals Sx(t) must be supplied to respective branches of the E/O converter 22 with substantially zero phase and amplitude error;
generation of the drive signals must take into account the known response of the E/O converter 22, as well as "component drift" due to changes in temperature, and aging; and
the E/O converter must be driven to an optimal bias point.
In addition to the inherent phase/amplitude response coupling and non-linearity of real electro-optical components, satisfying these criteria is complicated by the fact that each of the devices in the signal paths traversed by the drive signals Sx(t) are subject to manufacturing variations, as well as component drift due to temperature, aging and (in some cases) mechanical stress. As a result, an exact match between the two signal paths is not practicable.
A known method for dynamically controlling an E/O converter 4 of the type described above with reference to FIGS. 1-3, is to implement one or more control loops using a dither signal inserted into the drive signal S(t). Typically, such a dither signal takes the form of a low frequency sinusoidal analog signal that is added to the drive signals S(t), and detected in the optical signal at some point downstream of the E/O converter 4. Differences (typically of amplitude) between the added and detected dither signals provide a direct indication of gain, from which other performance characteristics may be inferred. The frequency of the dither signal is typically selected to be low enough to avoid interference with data traversing the signal path, but high enough to avoid being attenuated by low-frequency cut-off.
However, these techniques assume that the drive signal Sx(t) is formatted to drive the amplitude (or phase) response of the E/O converter between two states, as described above with reference to FIGS. 1a-c. For various reasons, these conventional techniques become progressively less accurate as the number of states increases (as in, for example, quadrature phase modulation described above with reference to FIGS. 1d-e). In the extreme cases of the dispersion compensated drive signals, using either the dispersive function F[ ] of FIG. 2 or the high-resolution signals of FIGS. 3a-c, conventional control loop techniques cannot distinguish between output optical signal variations due to the dispersive or compensation functions F[ ], and C[ ], respectively, from those produced by the dither signal. Furthermore, the conventional control loop techniques fail entirely in a situation where the drive signals Sx(t) are formatted to simultaneously drive desired excursions of both the phase and amplitude response of the E/O converter 22, as in the embodiment of FIGS. 3a-c.
Accordingly, methods and apparatus for cost-effectively controlling a polar optical transmitter to accurately synthesize a desired optical E-field waveform remains highly desirable.

Control system for a polar optical transmitter


A hydraulic cylinder has a tube with a first end and a section end. The hydraulic cylinder also has a piston assembly movably disposed within the tube and configured to move between the first and second ends of the tube. The hydraulic cylinder further has a valve plunger connected to the piston assembly and having an axial bore. The hydraulic cylinder additionally has a cap assembly connected to the tube to close off the first end of the tube. The cap assembly has a fluid passageway and the valve plunger is configured to progressively restrict fluid flow through the fluid passageway as the piston assembly approaches the first end of the tube.

Work machines such as, for example, dozers, loaders, excavators, motor graders, and other types of heavy machinery use linkage systems to accomplish a variety of tasks. These linkage systems often include hydraulic cylinders. Problems can be encountered in the operation of a hydraulic cylinder if a piston within the hydraulic cylinder impacts against an end structure of the hydraulic cylinder. Such impacts can disturb work operations, cause undesirable noise, and can cause damage to the cylinder or other components of the linkage system. To prevent such problems, a variety of sensors and electro-hydraulic devices are used to cushion the end of a piston stroke within the cylinder. These cushioning devices can include cylinder position sensors that are in communication with electronically actuated hydraulic valves.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,509,733 (the '733 patent) issued to Blugaugh et al. on Jan. 21, 2003, describes a fluid cylinder having an embedded positioning sensor. The fluid cylinder includes a cylinder body having an internal cavity, a piston and rod assembly disposed within the internal cavity, and end caps enclosing the internal cavity. A sensor is disposed within an end cap for sensing a distance of the piston or rod from a predetermined location and outputting signals representative of the distance. This distance information may then be used to manipulate electronically actuated hydraulic valves that control both the position and speed of the fluid cylinder.
Although the fluid cylinder system of the '733 patent may provide position and velocity information for controlling electronically actuated hydraulic valves to prevent piston-to-cylinder impact, the fluid cylinder system may be unable to provide piston-to-cylinder impact protection in the case of a malfunction of components of the system that includes the electronically actuated hydraulic valves. In addition, the positioning sensor of the '733 patent may not assist in avoiding piston-to-cylinder impact in hydraulic systems that do not utilize electronically actuated hydraulic valves.
The disclosed hydraulic cylinder is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.

Hydraulic cylinder having a snubbing valve


The invention provides a combination of a nozzle and a vacuum hood. The vacuum hood has a chamber that surrounds the tip of the nozzle and removes residue from the tip by a vacuum which flows in the chamber past the nozzle tip. This vacuum catches and removes residue from the nozzle tip and prevents the reside from interfering with the spraying action or dripping down. The method of the instant invention provides for dispensing a fluid from a nozzle without dripping fluid from the nozzle having a vacuum hood. The method comprises: (a) dispensing a fluid on a rotating semiconductor wafer through a nozzle over the wafer; (b) terminating the fluid flow through the nozzle; (c) creating an upward flow of gas about the dispensing nozzle when the flow of fluid through the nozzle is terminated; (d) capturing any fluid residue from the nozzle in the upward flow of gas; (e) removing the wafer and positioning another wafer; and (f) terminating the upward flow of gas; and repeating the process of steps (a) through (f).

1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to liquid spraying devices and particularly to a nozzle that is self cleaning and more particularly to a nozzle that has a vacuum hood which delivers a vacuum to remove residue from the nozzle and exterior of the nozzle.
2) Description of the Prior Art
Great improvements have been made to liquid and aerosol spraying nozzles over the last decade. Nozzles and sprayers have become very complicated, small, and efficient However, in many applications nozzles spray liquids, aerosols, and suspensions of solids, etc., which can leave residues on the tip of the nozzle and on the outside of the nozzle. These liquid and solid residues can clog or partially block the nozzle. Also, these residues can drip from the nozzle onto critical parts thereby damaging the parts. For example, this occurs in the manufacture of semiconductor chips, and especially in the rinsing of photoresist from the top periphery of a wafer.
The problem of nozzles dripping residue and damaging product occurs in the rinsing of photoresist from wafers. A first photoresist layer is coated on a semiconductor wafer. Then in a photoresist rinse operation, the photoresist is rinsed away from the edge of the wafer. The photoresist is removed from the edge of the wafer because it will contaminate the equipment in the next process step. A rinse nozzle sprays thinner onto the edge of the spinning wafer to remove the photoresist from only the edge of the wafer. FIG. 1A shows a side view of a wafer 2 with a photoresist layer 4 covering the top side 6 of the wafer and also overhanging the edge of the wafer. FIG. 1B shows the photoresist layer rinsed off from the sides and top edge of the wafer. For example for a wafer with about a 150 mm diameter, about 2 and 3 mm of the photoresist would be removed from the edge 8. FIG. 1C shows the result of the problem when thinner drips from the nozzle onto a wafer. The photoresist 4 develops patches 5 where the wafers have to be reworked or destroyed. The small nozzle used in the photoresist operation exacerbates the drip problem.
Several methods have been tried to keep the nozzles clean. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,087 to Fuchs, after a spray medium is stopped from flowing through a discharge nozzle, a compressed air is flowed to clean out the inside of the nozzle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,093,123 to Maran, teaches a method which cleans out the inside of a paint sprayer by turning the paint spray can upside down, to halt the spray of paint and to flow air through the nozzle. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,752 to Nezworski, a nozzle cleaning method is disclosed using cleansing and deliming solution, for a washing machine application.
However, these devices and methods do not adequately solve the problem of nozzle discharge residues forming on the tip and on the outside of the tip. These residues can be liquid, combinations of liquids and solids, and solids. These residues can degrade the function of the nozzle by for example, clogging the nozzle tip or dripping from the outside of the nozzle tip onto some other work. There is a need to develop a nozzle device and method of dispensing fluids from a nozzle which prevents fluids from dripping from the nozzle.

Combination nozzle and vacuum hood that is self cleaning

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


Integrated circuits and methods for producing the same are provided. In an exemplary embodiment, a method for producing an integrated circuit includes forming a work function layer overlying a substrate and a plurality of dielectric columns. The dielectric columns and the substrate define a short region having a short region width and a long region having a long region width greater than the short region width. The work function layer is recessed in the long region to a long region work function height that is between a dielectric column top surface and a substrate top surface. The work function layer is also recessed in the short region to a short region work function height that is between the dielectric column top surface and the substrate top surface. Recessing the work function layer in the long and short regions is conducted in the absence of lithography techniques.

The majority of present day integrated circuits (ICs) are implemented by using a plurality of interconnected field effect transistors (FETs), also called metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs or MOS transistors). A FET includes a gate electrode as a control electrode overlying a semiconductor substrate and spaced-apart source and drain regions in the substrate between which a current can flow. A gate insulator is disposed between the gate electrode and the semiconductor substrate to electrically isolate the gate electrode from the substrate. A control voltage applied to the gate electrode controls the flow of current through a channel in the substrate underlying the gate electrode between the source and drain regions. The FETs are generally "N" or "P" type FETs, ("nFET" or "pFET") where the source and drain for nFETs are implanted with "N" type conductivity-determining ions, and the source and drain for pFETs are implanted with "P" type conductivity determining ions.
The gate electrode may be a replacement metallic gate, where a temporary, sacrificial gate, which is called a "dummy" gate, is initially formed while other components of the FET are produced. A dielectric column is formed overlying the source and drain, and the dummy gate is removed from between adjacent dielectric columns. The dielectric column may include a dielectric barrier and a dummy core. The replacement metallic gate is then formed, and the dummy cores are removed and replaced with contacts extending upward from the source and drain. The dielectric barrier, which is commonly known as a spacer, is between and physically separates the replacement metallic gate and the contact. Therefore, the dielectric barrier insulates the contact from the replacement metallic gate, but the dielectric barrier ends at the dielectric column top surface. In some cases, a short may develop where the replacement metallic gate becomes electrically connected with the contacts at or near the dielectric column top surface. The replacement metallic gate may be recessed to a lower level to increase the amount of dielectric barrier between the replacement metallic gate and the contact, and thereby reduce the chance of a short.
The integrated circuit may include different types of replacement metallic gates, where some are formed in a short region with a short region width and some are formed in a long region with a longer width. Somewhat different processes are conventionally used to recess the replacement metallic gate in the short regions as compared to recessing the replacement metallic gate in the long regions, and lithographic processes may be used for the different processes. Lithographic processes are one of the more expensive processes in the manufacture of integrated circuits.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide integrated circuits and methods of manufacturing integrated circuits with replacement metallic gates having different widths, where the production process uses a reduced number of lithographic processes. Other desirable features and characteristics of the present embodiment will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.

Methods for producing integrated circuits using long and short regions and integrated circuits produced from such methods

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


The invention relates to a toy system including a plurality of toy construction elements, an image capturing device and a processor. The image capturing device is operable to capture one or more images of a toy construction model constructed from the toy construction elements. The processor is configured to: execute a digital game having computer executable code causing the processor to provide a digital play experience; receive an unlock code indicative of one or more virtual objects; unlock the one or more virtual objects for use in the digital play experience, each virtual object being associated with one of the respective toy construction elements or with a respective toy construction model; receive one or more images captured by said image capturing device; recognize one or more toy construction elements and/or toy construction models within the one or more images; provide a digital play experience involving said first unlocked virtual object.

Different attempts of integrating physical objects into virtual game play have been made. However, it remains desirable to provide ways of linking the physical world and a virtual game play which may stimulate the interactive involvement of the user and provide entertaining game play. Therefore there is a need for a new approach to interactive game play.
Most toy-enhanced computer games or so-called toys-to-life systems currently involve systems wherein toys must have a physical component configured to communicate with a special reader via some form of wireless communication like RFID, NFC etc. Examples of such systems are disclosed in e.g. US 2012/0295703, EP 2749327 and US 2014/256430. It would be generally desirable to provide toy systems that do not require the toy to comprise elements that are capable of communicating with a reader device so as to be able to identify a toy element, and to create its virtual digital representation and associate it with additional digital data.
WO 2011/017393 describes a system that uses computer vision to detect a toy construction model on a special background. In this prior art system, an assembled model is detected on a special background plate with a specific pattern printed on it.
EP 2 714 222 describes a toy construction system for augmented reality.
WO 2018/069269 describes a toy system including scannable tiles including visible, scannable codes. The codes represent in-game powers.
In view of this prior art it remains desirable to provide improved toy systems.


It is inter alia disclosed to identify coverage area position information to obtain identified coverage area position information. The identified coverage area position information comprises at least respective position information for one or more coverage areas associated with a device for which a position estimate is to be determined at least based on at least a part of the identified coverage area position information. The respective position information for the one or more coverage areas is stored in a database. The identifying is at least based on coverage area identification information determined by the device and comprising at least respective identification information for the one or more coverage areas. A validity of respective position information for at least one coverage area is checked. The respective position information for the at least one coverage area is stored in the database, and the checking is at least based on respective position information for at least one of the one or more coverage areas comprised in the identified coverage area position information.

As an alternative or add-on to satellite-based positioning systems, positioning systems in which a present position of a terminal is estimated based on an identification of one or more coverage areas a terminal is currently associated with and a database that stores Position Information (PI) for a plurality of coverage areas have gained recent interest. A terminal may for instance be associated with a coverage area if it is able to "hear" signals sent by an entity (such as for instance abase station of a cellular communication system or a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) Access Point (AP)) that provides said coverage area. The PI for the one or more coverage areas associated with the terminal may then be retrieved from the database and combined to determine a position estimate for the terminal.

Checking a validity of coverage area position information


A motor vehicle headlight comprises a reflector, a bulb, a glass, and a direct light mask provided in front of the bulb and mounted on the reflector by at least one generally vertical bracket. The reflector has a reflective surface capable of generating by itself a beam whose light is distributed widthwise in a homogeneous manner, between a zero inclination and a maximum inclination. The reflector has two lateral zones delimited by axial vertical limit-planes passing in the vicinity of the edges of the bracket or brackets, the reflective surfaces of which are such that the radiation changes progressively, from these limit-planes, between an essentially zero horizontal deviation and a divergent horizontal deviation, and a central zone situated between the said limit-planes and capable of directing a substantial part of the radiation away from the transition zones constituted by the edges of the bracket or brackets.

Such a mask may be incorporated into the bulb, or an added component fixed on the bulb-holder or on the reflector. In certain headlights, the mask is mounted on one or two vertical brackets extending between the top and/or bottom of the reflector and the region situated in front of the bulb, where they hold the mask.
It has been found that the presence of these brackets undesirably modifies the photometry of a light beam obtained using a reflector which is capable of generating by itself, that is to say without action of the sealing glass, a beam with a wide cut-off.
Examples of such automatic width-generating reflectors are described for example in the documents FR-A-2 609 148, FR-A-2 639 888 and FR-A-2 664 677 in the name of the applicant.
A known headlight has a bulb, and with a bulb filament and a direct light mask provided in front of the bulb also has two vertical brackets connecting the direct light mask to the upper and lower regions of a reflector in which the bulb is mounted. A width-generating reflector surface forms a European type dipping beam unit.
In this lamp, the bracket obstructs the passage of reflected rays directed towards it, and it turns out that, with the type of reflector considered, the occulted rays would cover an angular range for example from -2.degree. to +2.degree. in the beam formed. As a result of the occultation, a lack of light occurs in a fault zone which is slightly offset to the right, simply as a result of the reflective surfaces being, in a manner known per se, designed to offset at least part of the light slightly to the right with respect to the center of a reference projection screen.


A thrust bearing assembly includes upper and lower bearing halves for journaling a shaft therebetween. At least one thrust washer is arranged on the outer surface of at least one of the bearing halves and has ends which extend beyond and confront the ends of the bearing half on which the thrust washer is mounted to support it against rotational movement relative to the bearing half. A bearing half can have such thrust washers, in which case the other bearing half is narrower and is retained axially by the ends of the thrust washers of the opposing bearing half, or a thrust bearing can be provided on each of the bearing halves in axially opposed relation to one another.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to thrust washers or bearing for use in internal combustion engines, and more particularly to three-piece type thrust bearings in which the axially spaced thrust washers are separately made and secured to the associated bearing.
2. Related Art
The thrust washers or bearings for internal combustion engines are typically made as split bearing halves, with each half being formed separately from the other from a respective single piece of bearing material deformed to define an arcuate half bearing and a pair of axially spaced thrust flanges or washers extending radially outwardly of the journal bearing, or alternatively, each formed as a three-piece structure wherein the journal bearing and thrust washer portions are separately formed of the same or different materials and subsequently welded to one another. One-piece flange bearings are costly to manufacture as a number of stamping, forming and bending operations are required. The one-piece construction also limits the selection of materials to be used for the journal bearing and thrust flange portions of the bearing, which typically are of the same material composition since the bearing is made from a single strip of bearing material.
Three-piece thrust bearings are known alternatives to the single-piece type thrust bearings, and have the advantage of enabling the thrust washers to be made of a different material than that of the journal bearing to which they are attached. Typically, the journal bearing is formed along its opposite side edges with a series of notches in which to receive corresponding tabs formed on the thrust washers to prevent the thrust washers from rotating relative to the journal bearing body. The washers are further welded or crimped to prevent relative radial movement of the thrust washers away from the journal bearing on which they are mounted. The requirement of forming notches in the sides of the journal bearings and the additional assembly and securing operations required to hold the thrust washers in place add to the cost and complexity of making such bearings.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome or greatly minimize the inherent limitations of the foregoing thrust washers.


A method for controlling the retention time of a casting retained in a mold comprises providing a vibratory shakeout conveyor having a conveying surface, placing the mold on the conveyor; and imparting a vibratory force to the conveyor at a predetermined angle to the conveying surface whereby the predetermined angle determines the retention time of said casting in said mold. A plurality of sensors for detecting mold position and media breakdown may also be employed to detect appropriate mold retention time.

There are known in the art a plurality of commercially available vibratory conveyor systems for controlling the speed and direction of articles or materials being conveyed thereby. Many prior art systems vary conveying speed and direction by changing either the direction or magnitude of a force applied to a conveyor trough that is resiliently mounted on a suspension system to permit vibratory motion to be imparted thereto. Alternative prior art conveying systems employ a wide variety mechanical systems to elevate or decline an end of the vibratory conveyor, thereby changing the angle of inclination of the entire conveyor trough to speed up or slow down the progress of an article along the conveyor.
One exemplary prior art system of this nature is U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,763 to Schieber, assigned to Carrier Vibrating Equipment, Inc., of Louisville, Ky., herein incorporated by reference. Generally speaking, this systems varies the vibratory force being applied to a resiliently mounted conveyor trough by securing to the trough a plurality of shafts having a plurality of eccentric weights mounted thereto. The shafts, and consequently the eccentric weights, are capable of rotation, typically through the action of driven pulleys or the like such that the rotating shafts and eccentric weights impart a vibratory force to the conveyor trough.
The angle of the vibrating force acting on the conveyor in such systems is determined by the relative position of the eccentric weights on the rotating shafts. The relative position, or phase angle relationship between eccentric weights may be maintained and controlled by various mechanical control and positioning systems or alternatively, by utilizing an electronic control system to monitor and adjust the phase angle relationships between various rotating masses.
Prior art vibratory conveyor systems are incapable of monitoring an article being conveyed to adjust the speed and direction of conveyance to impart a desired amount of vibratory force to an article before its discharge from the conveyor. The ability to monitor an article's position or progress along the conveyor can be very beneficial for certain products and manufacturing processes that require the input of a particular amount of force over a given time period for proper production. For example, some casting and molding processes utilize vibratory force to separate a casting or part from its mold and concomitant media. In many prior art systems, foundries utilize vibratory shakeout devices to mechanically separate sand or other surrounding media used in the casting process from the casting itself.
In operation, prior art vibratory shakeout devices have attempted to control the time a casting is retained in its mold by changing the elevation of one end of the shakeout to change the angle of inclination of the conveyor trough. Longer casting retention times are typically required for more complete media removal whereas short retention times are desirable for more fragile castings since a shorter retention time typically requires that less vibratory force is imparted through the conveyor trough to the fragile casting. Increasing the angle of inclination of a shakeout typically increases the retention time of a casting in the mold and, conversely, decreasing shakeout inclination usually decreases mold retention time.
Many prior art shakeout systems utilizing angle of inclination type control systems are relatively unreliable since they typically employ complex mechanical systems such as air bellows or hydraulic cylinders to elevate an end of the shakeout. These mechanical systems are inherently unreliable, particularly in the harsh industrial environment of a foundry or other molding facility. Furthermore, many prior art systems offer only a limited range of process control since the angle of inclination can only be raised a few degrees before the ability to convey the casting forward along the conveyor trough ceases unless a tremendous amount of vibratory force is applied. Additionally, variations in casting speed are difficult to effect with these prior art systems.

System and method for controlling casting shakeout retention


A nutritional gel containing creatine and the method of producing the creatine gel. The creatine gel is made by cross linking maltodextrin and a modified starch through an aqueous endothermal reaction at a temperature of approximately 90 degrees Celsius. A buffering agent, such as potassium phosphate, is added to the gel to maintain a pH value at approximately 7.0. The gel is then cooled and creatine is added. Next, the gel is stabilized bacteriologically by adding a preservative, such as potassium sorbate to the gel.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates to nutritional supplements, and more particularly, to a nutritional gel containing creatine and the method of producing the creatine gel.
2. Description of Related Art
Nutritional supplementation is used by many people for a wide variety of reasons, such as improving one's diet, increasing one's exercise output, and preventing various ailments. Recently, one of the most popular supplements is creatine.
Creatine is a nutrient which is found in many foods and is stored within a human body's muscle cells. Creatine is one of the main sources of energy for muscles. Humans receive most of the creatine they need from food or dietary supplements. When a person does not consume enough creatine to meet the body's requirements, creatine production occurs in the liver, pancreas and kidneys.
Creatine is important for providing an energy source for muscular contractions. When a person's muscles contract, the initial fuel source is a chemical compound called adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP provides the energy to contract a person's muscles by releasing one of its phosphate molecules. The ATP then converts to another chemical compound, adenosine diphosphate (ADP). The energy produced from the release of the phosphate molecules lasts only about ten seconds, therefore, more ATP must be expended for continued muscle contraction. Creatine provides the source for replacing the missing phosphate molecules for ADP to convert to ATP, thereby providing the energy source necessary for continued muscular activity. Once the creatine provides the phosphate molecule to the ADP compound forming ATP, the newly reformed ATP may be re-used again.
The ability to regenerate ATP depends primarily on the body's supply of creatine. The more creatine available in the person's body, the more ATP remade, and the greater the ability for the person to use his muscles. This greater ability to use one's muscles is highly advantageous to a training athlete. Providing an increased supply of nutrients necessary to expend energy results in greater performance results during training.
Another energy source comes from glycolysis, which forms lactic acid as a by-product. This lactic acid creates the burning sensation a person feels in his muscles during intense exercise. If the amount of lactic acid becomes too great, muscle movement stops. However, when a person continues to use ATP as the primary energy source, other energy sources are minimized, such as from glycolysis. Thus, by using ATP, instead of utilizing the glycolysis process, lactic acid production is minimized, enabling a person to exercise longer and harder.
Therefore, creatine supplementation is very beneficial to a training athlete. Increased performance through creatine dietary supplementation is well known throughout the sports world. However, there are several problems in using creatine. First, creatine converts to creatinine over a period of time. Creatinine cannot be used to supplement the additional phosphate necessary to form ATP, therefore is not a useful supplement. Creatine converts to creatinine at a greater rate when it is mixed with water, or any other soluble liquid. Because of the instability of creatine within liquids, creatine is presently offered to users in only two forms, pills and powder.
Creatine powder has some disadvantages. A user must have a container and some liquid for mixing with the creatine powder. When the user desires to ingest the creatine powder, usually right before exercising, he must mix the creatine powder and the liquid in the container. This process can be time consuming and messy, and may result in spillage during the transfer of the creatine powder into its container.
Creatine pills are not always the optimum method of dietary supplementation. Many people have difficulty swallowing pills. Additionally, if a person chews the pills, the creatine may not be fully absorbed prior to the person commencing exercising. Pills also have the added disadvantage of having a bitter taste.
Although there are no known prior art teachings of a solution to the aforementioned deficiency and shortcoming such as that disclosed herein, a prior art reference that discusses subject matter that bears some relation to matters discussed herein is U.S. Pat. No. 5,612,375 to Sueoka (Sueoka). Sueoka discloses a process for producing a beverage comprising creatine as a main ingredient. The process comprises the steps of heating water rendered weakly alkaline and adding between one and three grams per 100 cc of a crystalline creatine powder to the heated water. Next, the creatine powder is dissolved by stirring the creatine powder into the heated water, forming a creatine aqueous solution. Then an additive is added to the creatine aqueous solution for improving the taste. Finally the creatine aqueous solution is sterilized to obtain a creatine beverage having a pH value between 7 and 10. However, Sueoka merely discloses a creatine liquid. Sueoka does not teach or suggest a creatine supplement which prevents the rapid conversion of creatine to creatinine.
Thus, it would be a distinct advantage to have a creatine supplement which does not quickly convert to creatinine and is easily and conveniently ingested by a person. It is an object of the present invention to provide such a supplement and method of producing it.


A disk brake has an electromagnetic friction clutch that is brought into controllable frictional engagement with a brake disk. The friction clutch is in form-fitting rotational engagement with a piston of a clamping device for the friction linings associated with the brake disk, the piston is axially displaceable by a key driver that is independent of the direction of rotation. To press the friction linings against the brake disk, energy is provided by the rotating vehicle wheel by the friction clutch and metered to the clamping device. The friction brake can be used in passenger cars, for example.

The invention is based on a friction brake and to a method for braking a vehicle equipped with at least one friction brake as described hereinafter.
Such a friction brake in the form of a disk brake is already known (German DE 40 21 572 A1), U.S. Pat. No. 5,107,967, in which an electric motor acts as the drive source for the clamping device. Its motor shaft is connected by a non-shiftable coupling to a worm of a worm gear whose worm wheel is seated on a recirculating ball screw that indirectly engages the piston of the clamping device. The clamping power for this friction brake must therefore be provided solely by the electric motor. Because limited space is available for it inside the wheel rim of the vehicle wheel, only a relatively small electric motor can be used. For a motor with limited capacity to generate the necessary clamping power, the worm gear must have a high transmission ratio. As a consequence, the brake reacts relatively sluggishly to braking signals. Although it would be possible to increase the dynamics of the friction brake by putting a higher load on the electric motor, this would result in negative repercussions on the electrical system of the vehicle. Moreover, a considerable disadvantage is the self-locking action of the worm gear, so that an electric motor is also required to release the brake. A non-self-releasing brake, however, represents a potentially serious danger.
It is further known (EP 0 177 767 A1) to provide vehicles with a hydraulic deceleration device triggered by the driver in the form of a service brake. In this case, a positive displacement pump is used that is disposed in a wheel hub, on the delivery side of which a device for generating a counterpressure is positioned, and a cooling device is downstream of the device. The pump can have an adjustable volumetric displacement and be triggered by a servo motor. Such a brake has limited dynamics. Moreover, the hydraulic deceleration device is also subject to losses in the non-braking state In addition, the cooling device requires a great deal of space.


A non-contact method to impart a texture to a surface using laser irradian uses an excimer laser to illuminate a sample immersed in a halocarbon ambient thereby initiating a photo/thermal chemical reaction which etches the sample only in the area illuminated with sufficient laser fluence. The resulting etched area can be repetively illuminated and etched to provide a textured surface to reduce extraneous reflections, or for micromachining, decorative texturing and marking. This technique is particularly well suited to improve the performance of backside illuminated CCDs by reducing the background (dark) signal, increase resolution and responsivity uniformity. The technique is compatible with other laser processing procedures and can be implemented with a variety of CCD enhancements such as improved dark current and blue response from laser doping or activation of backside implants. The noncorrosive nature of the halocarbon ambients allows the laser texturing process to be performed on pre-packaged, pre-tested devices and therefore can salvage parts which had failed performance specifications. This process therefore can improve device performance as well as yield, reliability and fabrication costs.

The application of a texture to a surface implies a modification to the surface structure. An example in the semiconductor industry is the planarization of sputtered aluminum by laser heating as described in the article entitled "Laser Planarized Metal Shows Several Advantages" by P. H. Singer, chief editor, Semiconductor International. vol. 13, No. 6, May 1990, pages 18 and 20. The heating process causes the aluminum to melt and flow into vias thereby forming a smooth planar surface. The smoothed surface allows for simpler processing steps for subsequent fabrication of multilayered semiconductor devices. The application of a roughened surface also has a variety of applications. In what can be called "passive" applications, a roughened surface can be used to mark or label a surface. In this case the roughened surface may also be in such a pattern as to be decorative in form. In so called "active" applications, the rough surface can be used, for example, to inhibit reflections or increase coefficients of friction.
One particular example for the need to inhibit reflections is found in the fabrication of backside illuminated charge coupled devices (CCDs). CCDs are solid state electronic imaging devices which read out image charges from wells in an array of pixels. CCDs designed for solid-state cameras, such as camcorders, are in great demand and are widely available. They have been designed to provide adequate performance when viewing brightly illuminated scenes. However, in astronomical, scientific and military applications their spectral response, readout noise, dark current, full well-capacity and blooming characteristics are not satisfactory.
To overcome the limitations of imaging through the polysilicon gates that necessarily cover all of the sensitive pixel array, it would be desirable to illuminate the CCD from the backside if the silicon substrate were thin enough. In other words, a solution to obtaining better light sensitivity would be the thinning of the backside of the CCD to a total thickness of roughly 10 microns. The need is quite apparent for new microelectronic processing schemes to produce thin membranes such as those required for the backside illuminated CCDs, such a process is disclosed in the above identified S. D. Russell et al. "Excimer Laser-Assisted Etching of Silicon Using Halocarbon Ambients", U.S. patent pending application Ser. No. 07/501,707. Additional features that should attend this thinning process are the creation of a smooth surface for uniform imaging, nonreflecting sidewalls for stray light rejection and large (approximately 2 mm by 2 mm) square cross section for optimal illumination of the active area of the array.
A conventional fabrication procedure for backside illuminated CCDs calls for chemical thinning of the silicon. However, the standard wet chemical thinning-etch procedure produces an extremely low yield process and requires the handling of fragile thin silicon membranes. Furthermore, the chemical thinning requires two processes, a deep etch using potassium hydroxide and a subsequent Dash polishing etch. The active area of the array is normally fabricated by chemically thinning a (100) oriented silicon wafer using the potassium hydroxide (KOH) etch. The potassium hydroxide anisotropically etches to the (111) crystallographic plane in silicon leaving smooth sidewalls at an angle of 54.7 degrees to the surface of the array (as described in "Micromachining of Silicon Mechanical Structures" by G. Kaminsky in J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B. Vol. 3, No. 4, July/August 1985, pages 1015-1024) and shown in FIG. 1. This smooth surface acts as a mirror to reflect extraneous light onto the active array of the CCD causing spurious images thereby degrading response uniformity, image resolution and increasing background (dark) signal. Under stress conditions such as a radiation environment, these parameters degrade further subsequently failing to meet device specifications leading the problems mentioned above to be exascerbated. Therefore, there is a need in the fabrication of CCDs to roughen these sidewalls without causing damage to any other portion of the electronic circuit. The Dash etch mentioned above, consists of applying a mixture of acetic, nitric and hydrofluoric acids along with a surfactant. The Dash etch process used for polishing the thinned membrane also requires additional masking to protect the frontside metalization and backside gold eutectic used for packaging and therefore does not eliminate sidewall reflections. Additional cleaning and inspection steps are required to complete the conventional thinning process. Elimination of these steps would allow further "dry" processing of the thinned die, such as laser doping or dopant activation. In addition, the minimization of the required number of processing steps always is desirable in this microelectronic processing procedure to maximize the yield and reliability while also reducing costs.
The preferred method proposed here utilizes an excimer laser in a non-contact process to promote a chemical reaction between a halocarbon ambient and the sample. The laser-assisted chemical reaction results in a roughened surface which will not scatter light. The use of a non-reactive ambient allows for texturing prepackaged and pretested devices thereby minimizing fabrication costs and salvaging devices which fail specifications. Subsequent laser processing steps, such as activation of backside implant, can be easily implemented before or after this process.
It is evident from the above discussion that advances in microelectronics often are limited by the multitude of relatively complicated processing steps required to produce the devices. A further example of the large number of processing steps required in a typical process flow is shown by a simple etching of a pattern into bulk silicon. This requires the application of a precise thickness and uniform film of photoresist with a subsequent low temperature heat treatment. This is followed by exposure to a lamp through a mask in contact with the photoresist and chemical development of the resist. Another heat treating step is next, then the silicon is chemically etched and, lastly, the remaining photoresist subsequently is stripped from the silicon. These seven steps are typical in standard etching techniques used in the semiconductor industry. It becomes apparent that significant savings and yield could be obtained through the more simplified procedures that might be provided by a contactless form of etching. The reduced complexity of such a procedure would eliminate the many time consuming and costly steps of the conventional etching technique, and in the case of roughening the sidewalls of a backside illuminated CCD provide a unique method to rework tested parts.
In view of the foregoing, noncontact processing is receiving widespread interest in the microelectronic industry. A variety of laser-assisted processing techniques to modify materials used in this industry are being pursued, particularly with the introduction of the excimer laser which typically emits at the shorter wavelengths. The works of D. Ehrlich et al. in their article "A review of Laser-Microchemical Processing" J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B., 1, 969 (1983), F. Houle, in her article entitled "Basic Mechanisms in Laser Etching and Deposition" Appl. Phys. A. 41, 315 (1986), D. Bauerle in the article entitled "Chemical Processing with Lasers: Recent Developments" Appl. Phys. B, 46, 261 (1988), and T. Chuang in the article entitled "Laser-Induced Chemical Etching of Solids: Promises and Challenges" in A. Johnson et al., ed's, Laser Controlled Chemical Processing of Surfaces, Materials Research Society Symposia Proceedings, vol. 29 (New York: North Holland, 1984), pp. 185-194, offer a review of the effort involved with laser-assisted processing techniques. As a consequence, laser processing has grown from a purely research effort into a production tool. Early on, however, investigations related to laser processing of silicon led to the conclusion that laser ablation of silicon using an excimer laser was considered undesirable since the surface quality would be poor, although the rate of material removal would be high. For texturing applications where particulate control is of little or no concern, ablative techniques are applicable. However, the use of ablation for texturing applications has not been previously reported.
The use of halogens to etch silicon is well established by the text of the Gutmann, Halogen Chemistry. Vol 2 (New York: Academic Press, 1967), pp. 173-180. In addition, an existing body of research for plasma processing of silicon is described by H. F. Winters et al. in the article "Surface Processes in Plasma-Assisted Etching Environments" J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B, 1, 469 (1983) and B. A. Heath et al. in the article "Plasma Processing for VLSI" chapter 27 in M. G. Einspruch, ed. VLSI Handbook (San Diego: Academic Press, 1985) pp. 487-502.
The laser-assisted etching of silicon has been examined using a chlorine ambient by R. Kullmer et al. in their article "Laser-Induced Chemical Etching of Silicon in Chlorine Atmosphere: I. Pulsed Irradiation" Appl. Phys. A, 43, 227 (1987), P. Mogyorosi et al. in the article entitled "Laser-Induced Chemical Etching of Silicon in Chlorine Atmosphere: II. Continuous Irradiation" Appl. Phys. A, 45, 293 (1988), R. Kullmer et al. in the article "Laser-Induced Chemical Etching of Silicon in Chlorine Atmosphere: Combined CW and Pulsed Irradiation" Appl. Phys. A, 47, 377 (1988), Y. Horiike et al. in the article "Excimer Laser Etching on Silicon" Appl. Phys. A, 44, 313 (1987) and W. Sesselmann et al. in their article entitled "Chlorine Surface Interaction and Laser-Induced Surface Etching Reactions" J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B, 3, 1507 (1985). S. Palmer et al. in their article entitled "Laser-Induced Etching of Silicon at 248 nm in F.sub.2 /Ne" Conference on Lasers and Eleectrooptics Technical Digest Series 1988. vol. 7, 284 (Optical Society of America, Washington, D.C., 1988) examined the fluorine ambient.
The use of nitrogen trifluoride ambient was discussed by J. H. Brannon in his article entitled "Chemical Etching of Silicon by CO.sub.2 Laser-Induced Dissociation of NF.sub.3 " Appl. Phys. A, 46, 39 (1988) and the above referenced article by Y. Horiike et al. The use of the halogenated ambient xenon difluoride was discussed by T. Chuang, "Infrared Laser Radiation Effects on XeF.sub.2 Interaction with Silicon" J. Chem. Phys., 74, 1461 (1981), by F. Houle "Photoeffects on the Fluorination of Silicon: I. Influence on Doping on Steady State Phenomena" J. Chem. Phys., 79, 4237 (1983) by F. Houle in the article "Photoeffects on the Fluorination of Silicon: II. Kinetics of the Initial Response to Light" J. Chem. Phys., 80, 4851 (1984). And, the use of halogenated ambient sulphur hexafluoride was examined by T. Chuang in his article entitled "Multiple Photon Excited SF.sub.6 Interaction with Silicon Surfaces" J. Chem. Phys., 74, 1453 (1981).
Typical etch rates of approximately one angstrom per pulse have been reported for the ambients of the preceding paragraphs under a variety of conditions. Such etch rates with the high pulse repetition rate of the excimer laser (100 Hz typical, 250 Hz available) are satisfactory to meet yield requirements of some applications. However, difficulties in handling and processing pure halogens such as chlorine and fluorine make them less suitable for inserting into existing manufacturing processes. Furthermore, pure halogens and many halogenated ambients are corrosive in nature and will spontaneously react with some (or all) of the materials composing a partially fabricated microelelectronic device. Masking, therefore, is required in such ambients despite the non-contact nature inherent in laser processing. Masking may be difficult or impossible in many applications. In addition, the detrimental effects of chlorine on the radiation hardness of silicon devices makes it potentially unsuitable for a wide variety of military or space applications.
The use of laser-assisted wet etching was explored by R. Osgood Jr. et al. in "Localized Laser Etching of Compound Semiconductors in Aqueous Solutions" Appl. Phys. Lett., 40, 391 (1982), R. von Gutfeld et al. in "Laser-Enhanced Etching in KOH" Appl. Phys. Lett., 40, 352 (1982) and F. Bunkin et al. in "Laser Control Over Electrochemical Processes" SPIE Vol. 473, Symposium OPPIKA' 84, Vol. 473, pp. 31-37. The drawback to the laser-assisted wet etching technique is that it requires a different processing chamber to that of the gaseous "dry" etching technique and would require additional handling for further processing.
M. D. Armacost, S. V. Babu, S. V. Nguyen, J. F. Rembetski, in their article "193 nm Excimer Laser Assisted Etching of Polysilicon", Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. Vol. 76, (1987), pp. 147-156, examine various ambients for etching polysilicon. They used two halocarbon ambients but found etch profiles that were not repeatable or did not show any appreciable etching. They did not examine the effects of etching silicon, nor investigate the critical parameters and processing windows required to achieve the results attained in accordance with this inventive concept. S. D. Russell and D. A. Sexton in our article entitled "Excimer Laser-Assisted Etching of Silicon using Chloropentafluoroethane" in R. Rosenberg, A. F. Bernhardt, J. G. Black, eds. In-Situ Patterning: Selective Area Deposition and Etching, (Mat. Res. Soc. Proc., Vol. 158, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1990), pages 325-330, we discuss one possible laser-assisted chemical reaction used in laser texturing, however there is no mention of the resulting surface texture nor the effect and benefits of texture as disclosed here.
Thus, there is a continuing need in the state of the art for a contactless technique utilizing an excimer laser to promote a chemical reaction between an ambient and a sample thereby imparting a surface texture that produces the above mentioned benefits, eliminates many standard processing steps and has the advantage of processing in a prepackaged and pretested device and that can be extended to other applications requiring surface modification techniques.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


The telephone includes a touch sensor which may be attached on a handset. When the telephone receives a call meant therefor, the telephone alerts the user to the call by outputting a ringing tone through a speaker. In response to the call, the telephone also transmits a signaling tone to a base station which may be connected to the telephone over a radio channel and to a public switching telephone network. If the user touches the touch sensor in response to the ringing tone, the telephone stops the signaling tone and thus informs the base station that the user has responded to the call.

The present invention relates to a telephone and, more particularly, to a telephone suitable for a mobile telephone system.
In a conventional telephone the user responds to a telephone call by picking up a handset or pressing a talk start button.
In the case of picking up the handset, a hook switch of the telephone is closed to inform a telephone exchange, which in a mobile telephone system may be connected to the telephone through a mobile base station, that the user of the telephone has responded to the call. If the user wants to use the telephone as a hands-free telephone, however, he does not need the handset; nevertheless, he must pick it up to connect the call.
Similarly, upon pressing the talk start button, the telephone informs the telephone exchange that the user has responded to a call. In this case, however, the user must search for the talk start button among many buttons provided on the telephone. This may hinder driving when the telephone is used in a vehicle.

Telephone having touch sensor for responding to a call


The present disclosure relates to a method and a device for random access power control. Such a method for random access power control present disclosure may include setting, by a first base station, random access preamble transmission power required for a random access of a terminal with a second base station and transmitting by the first base station, to the terminal, a downlink signal including information on the set transmission power and information indicating the random access of the second base station.

Advances in communication systems enable consumers (e.g., companies and individuals) to use various types of wireless terminals. Current mobile communication systems have employed 3GPP technologies, for example, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), and the like. Such mobile communication systems may be high capacity communication systems capable of transmitting and receiving various data, such as image data, wireless data, and the like, beyond providing a sound-based service. In order for high capacity communication, there is a desire for developing a technology that transmits high capacity data. Data may be efficiently transmitted through a plurality of cells as a scheme for transmitting high capacity data. In data transmissions using a plurality of cells or transmission/reception points, signals may collide with one another, which is a drawback. That is, a typical scheme may not be used for power control when a communication environment includes a plurality of cells.

Method and device for random access power control


In the present invention, a first circuit pattern 3 composing a semiconductor element is formed on the front side of a substrate 1, a first insulating layer 2 is formed on the first circuit pattern 3, solder electrodes 5 for external connection are formed on the first insulating layer 2, a second insulating layer 6 is formed on the backside of the substrate 1, a second circuit pattern 7 is formed on the second insulating layer 6, through vias 8 are formed to connect the first circuit pattern 3 and the second circuit pattern 7, chip passive components 9 are placed on the second circuit pattern 7, and the backside of the substrate is integrally molded with epoxy resin 10 such that the epoxy resin 10 covers the chip passive components 9.

In recent years, particularly in the field of mobile communications mainly through cellular phones, the need for higher functionality has increased as well as the size reduction and slimming down of semiconductor devices for communications. Conventionally, a plurality of semiconductor elements have been used to configure a circuit on the substrate of a cellular phone. Thus there is a growing demand for advanced modules in which a plurality of semiconductor elements are stored in a single package and chip passive components such as a chip capacitor and a chip inductor are mounted in the package to provide a self-contained circuit and function in a device as circuit formation between the semiconductor elements.
For example, in PA modules for GSM cellular phones, a signal package includes a plurality of semiconductor elements corresponding to triple bands serving as usable frequency bands and includes a number of chip passive components such as a chip capacitor and a chip inductor for a circuit configuration between the elements, resulting in a complicated configuration (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-041401).
A conventional semiconductor device will now be described in accordance with the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing the configuration of the conventional semiconductor device. In the conventional semiconductor device of FIG. 9, a circuit pattern 17 is formed on a resin substrate 91 which includes stacked thin plates of resin and has a diameter of 8 mm and a thickness of 1.5 mm. On the circuit pattern 17, a semiconductor element 93 and chip passive components 9 in 0603 size are mounted. Particularly, the chip passive components 9 are fixed on the resin substrate 91 by electrically connecting the chip passive components 9 to the circuit pattern 17 with solder 18. Further, the overall surface of the resin substrate 91 is molded and covered with epoxy resin 10, and solder electrodes 5 for external connection are formed on the underside of the resin substrate 91.
In the conventional semiconductor device of FIG. 9, the solder electrodes 5 for external connection are mounted on the underside of the resin substrate 91, the semiconductor element 93 and the chip passive components 9 are mounted on the top surface of the resin substrate 91, and the top surface of the resin substrate 91 is entirely molded with resin. This configuration increases both of the lateral dimensions and thickness dimensions of the semiconductor device, increasing the size of the overall device.
Further, the resin substrate 91 used as the substrate of the device increases the self weight of the overall semiconductor device and the deformations of the solder electrodes 5 for external connection. Thus a large spacing is necessary between the adjacent solder electrodes 5, increasing the size of the overall device.
Moreover, in this configuration, the semiconductor element 93 and the chip passive components 9 on the resin substrate 91 are only molded with resin. Thus it is not possible to obtain an electromagnetic shielding effect when the operating frequency is a high frequency of at least several hundreds MHz, causing a problem in obtaining the operational stability of the semiconductor device.
Another problem is how to dissipate heat from the semiconductor device when the heat is liberated during the operation of the semiconductor device as in a power semiconductor. Further, the use of the resin substrate 91 inevitably increases the manufacturing cost including the material cost.
Generally, in power amplifier circuits for amplifying high frequencies, it is necessary to set a large inductance value on a power supply line to prevent amplified power from leaking to a power supply side and perform high efficiency operations. An inductance component with such a large value formed on a surface of the semiconductor device causes a large chip size and inevitably increases the manufacturing cost including the material cost.
Further, when a plurality of inductance components are formed on a surface of a semiconductor device, the chip area is increased and it is difficult to obtain high-frequency isolation between the components, resulting in higher manufacturing cost and a deterioration of high frequency characteristics.

Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same


A container tray apparatus of the wraparound type is provided with reinforcing corner support members. The tray apparatus features internal minor flaps which have been split to create inner and outer flaps which can be folded and aligned on the inside and the outside of the corner areas of the tray apparatus to provide vertically extending corner support structures in addition to the corners formed by the end and side walls of the container tray apparatus, to provide enhanced stacking strength without requiring additional container material in the blank.

The present invention is directed to container tray apparatus, of the wraparound type. In particular, the present invention is directed to container tray apparatus of the kind which are formed from one or more blanks of container material, such as corrugated paperboard.
In the construction of container tray apparatus, such as are known in the prior art, there is typically a tradeoff between attempting to obtain a maximum amount of strength, such as stacking or crush resistance strength, and attempting to reduce the amount of container material in the blank or blanks from which the container tray apparatus is formed. While it is desirable to provide as much strength as possible, such strength typically comes at the expense of having to provide additional container material in the blank which increases the cost of the container tray apparatus. In addition, sometimes container tray apparatuses are provided with reinforcing structures which not only may require the addition of material to the blank, but also may sometimes result in container blanks having unusual, typically highly non-rectangular configurations, which can likewise add to the overall cost of the container tray apparatus, and which can increase the difficulty in the fabrication and erecting of the container tray apparatus.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a container tray apparatus of the kind which is formed from one or more blanks of container material, which has a simplified blank form for enhanced manufacturability.
It would additionally be desirable to provide a container tray apparatus which is provided with further corner reinforcing structures, from one blank, which structures are articulable into vertical stacking support positions about the basic container flaps, and with minimized blank material--for enhanced stacking strength.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent in light of the present specification including claims, and drawings.

Tray apparatus with reinforced corner structure


A gate switch apparatus of a-Si LCDs is provided. The gate switch apparatus is suitable for switching a plurality of sub gate lines and disposed in two rim spaces of a display to make a-Si TFT switch with less impedance. According to a switch driving timing, a plurality of sub gate lines are able to share a single gate line, which saves cost and reduces the difficulty in the manufacturing process.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a gate switch apparatus of a LCD, and particularly to a gate switch apparatus of an amorphous silicon LCD (a-Si LCD).
2. Description of the Related Art
A LCD is a display designed according to the liquid crystal principle and liquid crystal mechanism. Normally, liquid crystal can free flow like liquid. However, the molecules in liquid crystal are arranged in a certain pattern, so the optic characteristic thereof is unstable and easily affected by outside conditions, such as electric field, temperature and pressure. The variation of the outside conditions would cause optoelectronic effects with the liquid crystal. LCDs are categorized in two driving modes, a simple-matrix mode and an active-matrix mode, wherein LCDs in active-matrix mode can be a tri-terminal structure such as the typical products of MOSFET-LCD (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor LCD) and TFT-LCD (thin film transistor LCD). Among all LCDs in the active-matrix mode, the TFT-LCD has the most potential. In the TFT-LCD field, there are two widely developed technologies, the amorphous silicon TFT (a-Si TFT) and the low-temperature polysilicon TFT (LTPS TFT).
In fact, TFT-LCDs have wide applications, such as calculators, watches, game devices, regular electric appliances, portable electronic dictionaries, word processors, notebook PC, workstations and flat-panel plasma TV.
However, in designing a high-resolution TFT-LCD in the prior art, the number of channels required in the driver thereof is higher, which leads an increased production cost. In addition, an increasing junction points in the driver of a high-resolution TFT-LCD raises the difficulty of assembly in the manufacturing process.
To solve the above-described problems, in a conventional driving system of LTPS TFT, TFTs are used as switches because the electrons move fast enough. The source driver herein is designed as a common source output signal with a switching function, so that each output channel for driving the IC is able to drive a plurality of LCD data lines at different time segment. Thus, the required channel of a source driver is reduced, which accordingly reduces the production cost.
Referring to FIG. 5, a schematic active-matrix circuit drawing of a conventional LTPS LCD is shown, wherein a gate driver 500 is at the left side and a source driver 510 is at the bottom. The gate driver 500 provides an addressing signal, which coordinates with a timing control to turn on or off the TFT gate in sequence and further control the turning on/off of TFTs. Thus, a gray-level data voltage provided by the source driver 510 can charge the storage capacitors such that the gray-level data voltage stored in the storage capacitors are is saved. Further, the gray-level data voltage of the storage capacitor is transferred or read, to become the voltage value of the LCD device. Accordingly, a displaying process of a pixel unit (including a TFT, a storage capacitor and a LCD device) is then completed.
Based on the excellent conductive characteristic of a polysilicon TFT, a LTPS LCD utilizes the common output channels of the source driver 510 for reducing the number of the original source output channels by two thirds; i.e. only one third of the original source output channels remains.
On the other hand, in an a-Si TFT-LCD, since the impedance of an a-Si TFT tends to be very large when an a-Si TFT is on, the TFT width therefore must be widened to reduce the impedance thereof. As a result, the size of the transistor must be increased, and the number of pixel units may be accordingly reduced. For a high-resolution a-Si LCD, such design is seriously flawed. Therefore, the conventional design does not fit to serve as a switch, and further complicates the design and mass production process.

Gate switch apparatus for amorphous silicon LCD


A waterproof cable having a plurality of conductive strands which are twisted together to form a wire core which is surrounded by an insulation layer. A water-absorptive swellable powder is applied to the individual strands prior to twisting and thereby is introduced into the interstices between adjacent strands. If water attempts to enter the spaces between the strands, it is absorbed by the powder which swells to occupy all the space and thereby seals the cable against further water penetration. The cable is produced by application (e.g. by spraying) of a solution of the powder in a solvent to the individual strands. Thereafter, the solvent is evaporated, leaving the powder adhered to the strand surfaces. In a preferred form of the Invention, regions containing the powder are longitudinally spaced apart from adjacent regions having no powder therein. In a more preferred form of the Invention, the powder is removed from the outer surface of the wire core prior to coating with insulation. This facilitates stripping of the insulation layer when and where needed.

Cable of the type to which the present Invention is directed consists of a wire core covered by a coat of insulation. The core comprises a plurality of individual strands which have been twisted together, resulting in a certain amount of clearance between adjacent conductive strands. Therefore, if the insulation is removed and the core exposed, water can be drawn into the spaces between the wires by capillary action. This can continue through a substantial length of the cable, causing discoloration and corrosion of the wire strands. Moreover, if the water reaches the opposite end of the cable, it can enter the inside of the housing to which the cable terminal is connected. Thus, not only the wire strands, but also the connector housing and the connector itself can be corroded thereby.
To solve this problem, various expedients have been proposed. For instance, in the method of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Hei) 5-151848, after coating by introducing a waterproof material into the interstices between the strands, a rubber insulating separator tape, having a higher melting point than that of the waterproof material, is applied to the periphery of the wire core. The rubber and plastic insulation is then coated thereon. By covering the cable with the insulation after applying the separator tape longitudinally, the deformation that would be caused by pressure on the surface of the waterproof material can be avoided, thus assuring water-tightness and excellent appearance of insulator.
The method of the aforementioned Japanese Publication brings the exposed portion of the wire core into contact with a meltable waterproof organic insulating material. This material has a melting point of more than 50.degree. C. and a viscosity of less than 200 centipoise. As a result, a filling layer is formed between the wire core and the insulation. The end of the cable is immersed in the waterproof material and a vacuum is applied to the other end of the cable. The negative pressure thus created causes the waterproof material to enter between the wire strands, thereby sealing the cable.
However, the foregoing prior art method possesses certain disadvantages. Although the waterproof material is forced between the strands by coextrusion of the strands and the material, it is nearly impossible to fill the small clearances, because the waterproof material for the inner layer is pressed inwardly from the periphery after the cable has been stranded. In addition, since the cable is heated after application of the waterproof material, the latter is extruded as an outer layer, followed by extrusion of a separate tape to be wrapped around the periphery of the outer layer. This means that a large number of process steps are required; therefore, productivity is low, leading to higher cost. In addition, when peeling off the insulating coating to expose the wire core before crimping on a wire terminal, a problem arises because the necessity for removing the separator tape, waterproof material of the outer layer, and waterproof material of the inner layer.
According to the method of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Hei) 2-10614, as shown in FIG. 6, the exposed conductive area connected to a terminal is dipped into a fluid tank containing a melted electrically-insulating organic substance. With this method, as the terminal is also coated, it is necessary to provide a further process step to remove the substance from the terminal surface.
Another known manufacturing method is that of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Hei) 6-84416. In this process, it is problematical as to whether the vacuum applied to one end of the cable will find its way through the spaces between the wire strands to the other end which is immersed in the sealing agent. There is, of course, no guarantee that the interstrand clearances will be continuous from one end of the cable to the other. Moreover, even if the vacuum does reach the other end, it is likely that the sealing agent will be unable to flow all the way to the end to which the vacuum is applied. Therefore, a suitable waterproof seal throughout the length of the cable will probably not be achieved.

Waterproof cable and method of manufacture thereof


A variable hydrostatic track system for vertical lathes includes                a plurality of sectors arranged between the periphery and the central opening of an annular base. Each sector includes an upper housing with a hydraulic fluid outlet such that when the injected hydraulic fluid overflows from the housings, it forms a film between the rotating chuck and the sectors. The track system further includes        a positioning mechanism having a plurality of hydraulic cylinders fixed on the annular base in a radial direction between the central opening and the sectors. The rod of each hydraulic cylinder is coupled to a piston and to one of the sectors.

Vertical lathes are tools which are generally designed for the machining parts which, due to their dimensions and weight, would make the fixing thereof in a horizontal lathe difficult. They usually comprise a vertical shaft and a rotating chuck. The rotating chuck is assembled on a base and between both there are arranged bearings allowing the rotation between the rotating chuck and the base. The part to be machined is secured on the base whereas the machining tool or tools (lathe, milling tools, etc.) are assembled in one or several columns. A bearing is arranged between the base and the rotating chuck which enables the rotation of the chuck with respect to the base.
The use of hydrostatic tracks as bearings is known, which hydrostatic tracks are made up of a series of arched elements in the form of circle segments arranged such that they form a circumference, and which comprise housings into which there is injected pressurised hydraulic oil filling the housings. If the pressure of the hydraulic oil is maintained, such hydraulic oil overflows and lifts the rotating chuck with respect to the base. A film of oil acting as a sliding track is thus formed between both elements. Given that the rotating chuck must have the possibility of rotating at a determined speed for the machining, and given that the machining force of the tool on the part must be supported by the rotating chuck, the latter is subjected to a highly considerable torque generated by the applying of force of the tool at a distance with respect to the rotation shaft of the chuck. This torque varies considerably depending on the dimensions of the part to be machined. Therefore, for a determined size of the part to be machined, there is a suitable chuck diameter and a suitable hydrostatic track, essentially the diameter of the hydrostatic track is fixed for a determined size of the part. This results in the drawback that a hydrostatic track of a different size and, therefore, a different vertical lathe or machine are needed for each size of the part to be machined, which involves a serious limitation in relation to the versatility of use, and, therefore, the cost of vertical lathes equipped with such hydrostatic tracks.

System of variable hydrostatic guideway for vertical lathes and a vertical lathe that includes said guideway

Abstract: Each sector is guided in a radial guidance element such that, due to the action of the hydraulic cylinder, the sector is movable between an inner radial position and an outer radial position.


A spinneret (1) for producing several filaments, comprising a plurality of perforations (2), each of which ends on the bottom side of the spinneret (1) into a respective outlet opening (3) for pressing a thermoplastic there through for forming the filaments, wherein the outlet openings (3) are arranged in rows (5) which extend along a cooling direction (A), from one side of the spinneret (1) to the opposite side, wherein these rows (5) are arranged increasingly close together, away from a line (C), along this cooling direction (A) and through the centre of the spinneret (1).

With such existing spinnerets, the outlet openings are conventionally arranged in rows, wherein the rows are tilted with respect to said cooling direction, so that the air can impinge on each filament to the greatest degree. However, if the number of perforations per spinneret is increased in such an arrangement, the air will no longer be able to reach all the filaments formed thereby, but be deflected around the filament bundle, so that the filaments are cooled to an insufficient degree.
There already exist such optimized spinnerets in which the outlet openings are arranged in slightly curved rows which are substantially directed along the cooling direction, so that all filaments can again be impinged by cooling air in the case of a relatively large number of filaments formed thereby. However, also with this variant of a spinneret, the limit of the number of outlet openings per spinneret has been reached. If the number of outlet openings were to be increased further, the filaments would be cooled to an insufficient degree and/or they would start to stick together.