A method for decelerating an expansion piston of an engine is presented. The engine includes an expansion piston slidably received within an expansion cylinder and operatively connected to a crankshaft such that the expansion piston reciprocates through an expansion stroke and an exhaust stroke of a four stroke cycle during a single rotation of the crankshaft. A compression piston is slidably received within a compression cylinder and operatively connected to the crankshaft such that the compression piston reciprocates through an intake stroke and a compression stroke of the same four stroke cycle during the same rotation of the crankshaft. The method includes accelerating the expansion piston during the expansion stroke from the expansion piston's top dead center position, and decelerating the expansion piston during at least a portion of the expansion stroke crank angle interval between 0 degrees and 60 degrees after top dead center.

Internal combustion engines are any of a group of devices in which the reactants of combustion, e.g., oxidizer and fuel, and the products of combustion serve as the working fluids of the engine. The basic components of an internal combustion engine are well known in the art and include the engine block, cylinder head, cylinders, pistons, valves, crankshaft and camshaft. The cylinder heads, cylinders and tops of the pistons typically form combustion chambers into which fuel and oxidizer (e.g., air) is introduced and combustion takes place. Such an engine gains its energy from the heat released during the combustion of the non-reacted working fluids, e.g., the oxidizer-fuel mixture. This process occurs within the engine and is part of the thermodynamic cycle of the device. In all internal combustion engines, useful work is generated from the hot, gaseous products of combustion acting directly on moving surfaces of the engine, such as the top or crown of a piston. Generally, reciprocating motion of the pistons is transferred to rotary motion of a crankshaft via connecting rods.
Internal combustion (IC) engines can be categorized into spark ignition (SI) and compression ignition (CI) engines. SI engines, i.e. typical gasoline engines, use a spark to ignite the air/fuel mixture, while the heat of compression ignites the air/fuel mixture in CI engines, i.e., typically diesel engines.
The most common internal-combustion engine is the four-stroke cycle engine, a concept whose basic design has not changed for more than 100 years. This is because of its simplicity and outstanding performance as a prime mover in the ground transportation and other industries. In a four-stroke cycle engine, power is recovered from the combustion process in four separate piston movements (strokes) of a single piston. Accordingly, a four stroke cycle engine is defined herein to be an engine which requires four complete strokes of one of more pistons for every expansion (or power) stroke, i.e. for every stroke that delivers power to a crankshaft.
Referring to FIGS. 1–4, an exemplary embodiment of a prior art conventional four stroke cycle internal combustion engine is shown at 10. The engine 10 includes an engine block 12 having the cylinder 14 extending therethrough. The cylinder 14 is sized to receive the reciprocating piston 16 therein. Attached to the top of the cylinder 14 is the cylinder head 18, which includes an inlet valve 20 and an outlet valve 22. The bottom of the cylinder head 18, cylinder 14 and top (or crown 24) of the piston 16 form a combustion chamber 26. On the inlet stroke (FIG. 1), an air/fuel mixture is introduced into the combustion chamber 26 through an intake passage 28 and the inlet valve 20, wherein the mixture is ignited via spark plug 30. The products of combustion are later exhausted through outlet valve 22 and outlet passage 32 on the exhaust stroke (FIG. 4). A connecting rod 34 is pivotally attached at its top distal end 36 to the piston 16. A crankshaft 38 includes a mechanical offset portion called the crankshaft throw 40, which is pivotally attached to the bottom distal end 42 of connecting rod 34. The mechanical linkage of the connecting rod 34 to the piston 16 and crankshaft throw 40 serves to convert the reciprocating motion (as indicated by arrow 44) of the piston 16 to the rotary motion (as indicated by arrow 46) of the crankshaft 38. The crankshaft 38 is mechanically linked (not shown) to an inlet camshaft 48 and an outlet camshaft 50, which precisely control the opening and closing of the inlet valve 20 and outlet valve 22 respectively. The cylinder 14 has a centerline (piston-cylinder axis) 52, which is also the centerline of reciprocation of the piston 16. The crankshaft 38 has a center of rotation (crankshaft axis) 54.
Referring to FIG. 1, with the inlet valve 20 open, the piston 16 first descends (as indicated by the direction of arrow 44) on the intake stroke. A predetermined mass of a flammable mixture of fuel (e.g., gasoline vapor) and air is drawn into the combustion chamber 26 by the partial vacuum thus created. The piston continues to descend until it reaches its bottom dead center (BDC), i.e., the point at which the piston is farthest from the cylinder head 18.
Referring to FIG. 2, with both the inlet 20 and outlet 22 valves closed, the mixture is compressed as the piston 16 ascends (as indicated by the direction of arrow 44) on the compression stroke. As the end of the stroke approaches top dead center (TDC), i.e., the point at which the piston 16 is closest to the cylinder head 18, the volume of the mixture is compressed in this embodiment to one eighth of its initial volume (due to an 8 to 1 Compression Ratio). As the piston approaches TDC, an electric spark is generated across the spark plug (30) gap, which initiates combustion.
Referring to FIG. 3, the power stroke follows with both valves 20 and 22 still closed. The piston 16 is driven downward (as indicated by arrow 44) toward bottom dead center (BDC), due to the expansion of the burning gasses pressing on the crown 24 of the piston 16. The beginning of combustion in conventional engine 10 generally occurs slightly before piston 16 reaches TDC in order to enhance efficiency. When piston 16 reaches TDC, there is a significant clearance volume 60 between the bottom of the cylinder head 18 and the crown 24 of the piston 16.
Referring to FIG. 4, during the exhaust stroke, the ascending piston 16 forces the spent products of combustion through the open outlet (or exhaust) valve 22. The cycle then repeats itself. For this prior art four stroke cycle engine 10, four strokes of each piston 16, i.e. inlet, compression, expansion and exhaust, and two revolutions of the crankshaft 38 are required to complete a cycle, i.e. to provide one power stroke.
Problematically, the overall thermodynamic efficiency of the typical four stroke engine 10 is only about one third (⅓). That is, roughly ⅓ of the fuel energy is delivered to the crankshaft as useful work, ⅓ is lost in waste heat, and ⅓ is lost out of the exhaust.
Referring to FIG. 5, an alternative to the above described conventional four stroke engine is a split-cycle four stroke engine. The split-cycle engine is disclosed generally in U.S. Pat. No. 6,543,225 to Scuderi, titled Split Four Stroke Internal Combustion Engine, filed on Jul. 20, 2001, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
An exemplary embodiment of the split-cycle engine concept is shown generally at 70. The split-cycle engine 70 replaces two adjacent cylinders of a conventional four-stroke engine with a combination of one compression cylinder 72 and one expansion cylinder 74. These two cylinders 72, 74 perform their respective functions once per crankshaft 76 revolution. The intake charge is drawn into the compression cylinder 72 through typical poppet-style valves 78. The compression cylinder piston 73 pressurizes the charge and drives the charge through the crossover passage 80, which acts as the intake port for the expansion cylinder 74. A check valve 82 at the inlet is used to prevent reverse flow from the crossover passage 80. Valve(s) 84, at the outlet of the crossover passage 80, control the flow of the pressurized intake charge into the expansion cylinder 74. Spark plug 86 is ignited soon after the intake charge enters the expansion cylinder 74, and the resulting combustion drives the expansion cylinder piston 75 down. Exhaust gases are pumped out of the expansion cylinder through poppet valves 88.
With the split-cycle engine concept, the geometric engine parameters (i.e., bore, stroke, connecting rod length, compression ratio, etc.) of the compression and expansion cylinders are generally independent from one another. For example, the crank throws 90, 92 for each cylinder may have different radii and be phased apart from one another with top dead center (TDC) of the expansion cylinder piston 75 occurring prior to TDC of the compression cylinder piston 73. This independence enables the split-cycle engine to potentially achieve higher efficiency levels than the more typical four stroke engines previously described herein.
However, there are many geometric parameters and combinations of parameters in the split-cycle engine. Therefore, further optimization of these parameters is necessary to maximize the performance and efficiency of the engine.

Split-cycle engine with dwell piston motion


The invention relates to a porous metal-oxide film formed on a glass substrate by the sol-gel process. The film is prepared by a method comprising the steps of: (a) preparing a coating solution by mixing a metal alkoxide(s) and/or a metal acetylacetonate(s), a first solvent, water, an acid and an organic polymer; (b) applying the coating solution to the glass substrate; (c) drying a gel film formed thereon at a first temperature not higher than 100.degree. C.; (d) contacting the gel film with a second solvent which is one of an acid solution and a mixed solution of alcohol and water; and (e) heating the gel film at a second temperature so as to transform the gel film into the porous metal-oxide film. The porous metal-oxide film's surface is minutely rough and has a fine features pattern of three-dimensional micro-porous structure.

The present invention relates to a porous metal-oxide thin film, and a method of forming the film on a glass substrate. The film-forming method belongs to the sol-gel process.
It is known that a porous metal-oxide thin film on a glass substrate is effective in reducing refractive index and thus in providing a low-reflectance glass plate. A porous metal-oxide thin film has a very large surface area, due to its porosity. Therefore, when it is used as a sub-layer of a multilayered film, the contact area between the sub-layer and another layer on the sub-layer becomes very large, and thus adhesion therebetween is much improved. With this, the multilayered film becomes much improved in abrasion resistance and durability.
There is known a method for preparing a porous glass such as Vycor (a trade name of Corning Co.) by phase separation. In this method, a sodium borosilicate glass is separated into an acid-soluble phase rich in Na.sub.2 O.B.sub.2 O.sub.3 and an acid-insoluble phase rich in SiO.sub.2, and then the acid-soluble phase is removed by an acid. With this, a porous silica glass is formed. However, when this method is used for forming a porous glass film, the film thickness tends to become too thick.
Furthermore, there is known a method for forming a porous metal-oxide film on a glass substrate, by etching. In this method, at first, a metal oxide film is formed on a glass substrate. Then, the surface of the metal oxide film is etched by hydrofluoric acid, fluorine nitrate or the like, to make the surface porous. However, hydrofluoric acid and fluorine nitrate are very hazardous against human body. Therefore, these compounds must be handled very cautiously. This lowers the production efficiency. Furthermore, the etching step increases the production cost.
There is known another method for forming a porous metal-oxide film on a glass substrate. In this method, at first, an organic polymer is added to a metal alkoxide solution (sol), to prepare a coating solution. Then, a glass substrate is coated with the coating solution. Then, the thus coated glass substrate is heated at a temperature not lower than the thermal decomposition temperature of the organic polymer, to remove the organic polymer and thus to make the metal-oxide film porous. However, during this heating, the metal oxide film may contract very much. This leads to the occurrence of cracks thereon. In order to prevent this, the amount of the organic polymer may be reduced. However, as the amount is reduced, micro-pores (micro-pits) making the film porous tend to disappear during the contraction (densification) of the film. With this, the surface of the metal oxide film may not become porous.
There is still another method for forming a porous metal-oxide film on a glass substrate, which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,368 corresponding to Japanese Patent Kokai Hei 5-147976. This method belongs to the sol-gel process. In this method, at first, a coating solution is prepared by mixing at least two sols having different average molecular weights with a solvent. Then, a glass substrate is coated with the coating solution, so as to form thereon a sol film. Then, the thus coated glass substrate is heated, so as to transform the sol film to a porous gel film then to a porous metal-oxide film. However, according to this method, it is necessary to use certain special starting materials. Furthermore, from a standpoint of pot life of the sols, it may not necessarily easy to produce porous metal-oxide films having the same surface morphology.

Porous metal-oxide thin film and method of forming same on glass substrate


A floor cleaning apparatus includes a dirt collection vessel and a suction generator carried on the housing. The dirt collection vessel includes a dirty air inlet, a dirt collection chamber and a clean air outlet. A filter is received in the dirt collection vessel. The filter includes multiple sections. Each section provides a discrete airflow pathway. In addition, the floor cleaning apparatus includes a flow control valve assembly including a clean air inlet. The flow control valve assembly is selectively displaceable between two positions. In the first position dirty air is serially moved by the suction generator through the dirty air inlet, the dirt collection chamber, the filter and the clean air outlet so that dirt is collected in the dirt collection chamber. In the second position clean air is moved by the suction generator through the clean air inlet, a selected one of the sections of the filter, back through the other sections of the filter and then through the clean air outlet. In this way dirt is cleaned from the selected filter of the filter.

A vacuum cleaner is an electromechanical appliance utilized to effect the dry removal of dust, dirt and other small debris from carpets, rugs, fabrics or other surfaces in domestic, commercial and industrial environments. In order to achieve the desired dirt and dust removal, most vacuum cleaners incorporate a rotary agitator. The rotary agitator is provided to beat dirt and debris from the nap of the carpet or rug while a pressure drop or vacuum is used to force air entrained with this dirt and debris into the nozzle of the vacuum cleaner. The particulate laden air is then drawn into a dirt collection vessel. The air is then drawn through a filter before being directed through the motor of the suction generator to provide cooling. Finally, the air is filtered to remove any fine particles of carbon from the brushes of that motor or other dirt that might remain in the airstream before being exhausted back into the environment.
Often the dirt collection vessel is designed to produce cyclonic airflow by providing that vessel with a dirt chamber having a cylindrical sidewall and a tangentially directed air inlet. This arrangement forces the air to swirl around the dirt collection chamber in the manner of a cyclone. The centrifugal force that is produced causes dirt and debris to move toward and against the cylindrical sidewall of the chamber while relatively clean air may be drawn off from the center of the chamber through the filter toward the suction generator.
Under most operating conditions most or all of the dirt and debris is removed from the airstream by the cyclonic airflow. At times, however, some dirt and debris remains entrapped within the airstream. Typically, that dirt and debris is relatively fine dirt particles of light weight which are not as susceptible to the centrifugal separation force produced by the cyclonic airflow. Over time such fine particles may become entrapped and fill the pores of the filter media thereby restricting airflow and reducing the cleaning efficiency of the vacuum cleaner. Eventually the cleaning efficiency of the vacuum cleaner becomes so impaired it is necessary for the operator to either clean or change the filter in order to achieve the desired level of cleaning. The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner, extractor or the like equipped with a more efficient and effective filter cleaning mechanism. Advantageously, the present invention allows one to quickly and easily clean dirt and debris from a filter including particularly fine particles from the pores of the filter. As a result each filter has a longer service life and the apparatus may be operated at a higher cleaning efficiency over the entire length of that extended service life.

Floor cleaning apparatus with filter cleaning system


In a filter, LC parallel resonators are arranged along an x-axis direction of a multilayer body and include coils and capacitors, respectively. LC parallel resonators adjacent to each other in the x-axis direction are electromagnetically coupled to each other. Each of the coils includes line conductor layers disposed on an insulating layer, a first via-hole conductor that extends from the line conductor layers to a negative direction of a z-axis direction and that is electrically connected to one conductor layer of the corresponding one of the capacitors, and a second via-hole conductor that extends from the line conductor layers to the negative side of the z-axis direction and that is electrically connected to the other conductor layer of the capacitor. A coupling conductor layer provides a capacitance between two line conductor layers which are adjacent to each other in the x-axis direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a filter, and more particularly, to a filter including a plurality of LC parallel resonators.
2. Description of the Related Art
As an invention concerning a known filter, a multilayer band pass filter disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-71921, for example, is known. FIG. 14 is an exploded perspective view of a multilayer band pass filter 500 disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-71921.
The multilayer band pass filter 500 includes dielectric layers 502a through 502g and LC parallel resonators 504 and 516. The dielectric layers 502a through 502g are formed in a rectangular shape and are stacked on each other from top to bottom in this order.
The LC parallel resonator 504 includes an inductor electrode 506, via electrodes 508 and 510, a capacitor electrode 512, and a ground electrode 514. The capacitor electrode 512 is disposed on the dielectric layer 502f. The ground electrode 514 is disposed on the dielectric layer 502g. The capacitor electrode 512 and the ground electrode 514 oppose each other with the dielectric layer 502f therebetween so as to form a capacitor.
The inductor electrode 506 is a linear conductor disposed on the dielectric layer 502b and extending in the front-and-rear direction. The via electrode 508 passes through the dielectric layers 502b through 502e in a direction in which the dielectric layers 502b through 502e are stacked. The top end of the via electrode 508 is connected to the rear end of the inductor electrode 506. The bottom end of the via electrode 508 is connected to the capacitor electrode 512. The via electrode 510 passes through the dielectric layers 502b through 502f in a direction in which the dielectric layers 502b through 502f are stacked. The top end of the via electrode 510 is connected to the front end of the inductor electrode 506. The bottom end of the via electrode 510 is connected to the ground electrode 514. With this configuration, the inductor electrode 506 and the via electrodes 508 and 510 form an inductor.
The LC parallel resonator 516 includes an inductor electrode 518, via electrodes 520 and 522, and capacitor electrodes 514 and 524. The capacitor electrode 524 is disposed on the dielectric layer 502f. The ground electrode 514 and the capacitor electrode 524 oppose each other with the dielectric layer 502f therebetween so as to form a capacitor.
The inductor electrode 518 is a linear conductor disposed on the dielectric layer 502b and extending in the front-and-rear direction. The via electrode 520 passes through the dielectric layers 502b through 502e in a direction in which the dielectric layers 502b through 502e are stacked. The top end of the via electrode 520 is connected to the rear end of the inductor electrode 518. The bottom end of the via electrode 520 is connected to the capacitor electrode 524. The via electrode 522 passes through the dielectric layers 502b through 502f in a direction in which the dielectric layers 502b through 502f are stacked. The top end of the via electrode 522 is connected to the front end of the inductor electrode 518. The bottom end of the via electrode 522 is connected to the capacitor electrode 514. With this configuration, the inductor electrode 518 and the via electrodes 520 and 522 form an inductor.
In the multilayer band pass filter 500 configured as described above, the two LC parallel resonators 504 and 516 are disposed side by side in the right-and-left direction. With this arrangement, the LC parallel resonators 504 and 516 are electromagnetically coupled to each other so as to form a band pass filter.
In the multilayer band pass filter 500 disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-71921, it is difficult to intensify capacitive coupling between the LC parallel resonators 504 and 516. This will be described more specifically. In the multilayer band pass filter 500, the capacitive coupling between the LC parallel resonators 504 and 516 is adjusted in order to obtain a desired transmission characteristic. If it is desired that the pass bandwidth of the multilayer band pass filter 500 will be increased, intensifying of capacitive coupling between the LC parallel resonators 504 and 516 is effective. For intensifying capacitive coupling between the LC parallel resonators 504 and 516, the distance between the LC parallel resonators 504 and 516 is set to be decreased. Then, the capacitance formed between the via-hole electrodes 508 and 520 is increased, and the capacitance formed between the via-hole electrodes 510 and 522 is increased. As a result, a signal of a lower frequency side than the pass band is more likely to pass between the LC parallel resonators 504 and 516, thereby increasing the pass bandwidth of the multilayer band pass filter 500.
However, if the distance between the LC parallel resonators 504 and 516 is excessively decreased, short-circuiting may occur between the via-hole electrodes 508 and 520 and between the via-hole electrodes 510 and 522. Thus, in the multilayer band pass filter 500, it may be difficult to intensify capacitive coupling between the LC parallel resonators 504 and 516 to satisfy a desired frequency characteristic.


The present invention is directed to a fuel additive composition containing (i) a polyether alcohol of the formula ##STR1## wherein R is hydrogen or a hydrocarbyl group of 1 to about 30 carbon atoms; R.sup.1 is hydrogen or a hydrocarbyl group of 1 to 5 carbon atoms or mixtures thereof provided that no more than 10 mole % of R.sup.1 is hydrogen and where the polyether alcohol is soluble in gasoline; and x is a number from about 4 to about 40; (ii) a hydrocarbylphenol having 1-3 hydrocarbyl groups such that the total weight average molecular weight of the hydrocarbyl groups is about 250 to about 6000; and (iii) optionally a third component containing a nitrogen-containing dispersant; wherein the weight ratio of the polyether alcohol to the hydrocarbylphenol is about 3:1 to about 1:20. The compositions are useful in reducing intake valve deposit and do not contribute to the increase in combustion chamber deposit in port fuel injected engines.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to gasoline compositions effective for reducing intake valve deposits and which do not contribute to increased deposit formation in port fuel injected engines.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known to those skilled in the art that internal combustion engines form deposits on the surface of engine components, such as carburetor ports, throttle bodies, fuel injectors, intake ports, and intake valves, due to the oxidation and polymerization of hydrocarbon fuel. Deposits also form in the combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine as a result of incomplete combustion of the mixture of air, fuel, and oil. These deposits, even when present in relatively minor amounts, often cause noticeable driving problems, such as stalling and poor acceleration. Moreover, engine deposits can significantly increase an automobile's fuel consumption and production of exhaust pollutants. Specifically, when the gasoline used in a given engine is of a constant octane number, the power output decreases when deposits are formed. In order to maintain the power output at a predetermined desired level, it then becomes necessary to increase the octane number of the fuel over the course of time. This Octane Requirement Increase (ORI) is undesirable. Therefore, the development of effective fuel detergents or deposit control additives to prevent or control such deposits is of considerable importance, and numerous such materials are known in the art.
Two general classes of additives are commercially known. One class comprises hydrocarbyl-substituted amines such as those prepared by reacting olefins and olefin polymers with amines (including polyamines). Typical examples of this class are polybutenyl amines. Another class of additives comprises the polyetheramines. Usually, these are "single molecule" additives, incorporating both amine and polyether functionalities within the same molecule. A typical example is an urethane product comprising repeating butylene oxide units under the trade name "Techron.TM." marketed by Chevron.
In some cases, the polyetheramines are preferred as the oxygenation (from the polyether functionality) is thought to lower particulate matter and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions and combustion chamber deposits. In addition, polyetheramines require little or no additional fluidizer oil to pass certain industry mandated valve stick requirements, resulting in a more economical final package. Polyisobutenyl amines, on the other hand, do require the addition of fluidizer oil to pass valve stick requirements and in addition are perceived to cause higher combustion chamber deposits than the fuel alone.
Canadian patent 1021157, Kreuz et al., Nov. 22, 1977 discloses a motor fuel composition comprising a mixture of hydrocarbons in the gasoline boiling range containing a minor amount of high molecular weight aliphatic hydrocarbon substituted or alkylated phenol in which the aliphatic hydrocarbon radical has an average molecular weight in the range from about 500-3500. This composition is useful in the prevention or inhibition of the formation of intake valve and port deposits in a gasoline engine, and also in enhancing the performance of the fuel composition in an engine designed to operate at significantly higher operating temperatures with a minimum of decomposition and deposit formation in the manifold of the engine.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,901,665, Polss, Aug. 26, 1975 discloses that combinations of (A) polymers of C.sub.3 -C.sub.4 olefins having a molecular weight in the range of about 400 to about 1400; and (B) polyoxyalkylene compounds of the formula ##STR2## wherein R is an alkyl group of 1 to 20 carbon atoms and wherein x has an average value of 4 to 20; are effective as anti-icing additives, as carburetor detergents, and in some instances as intake valve deposit modifiers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,006,130, Aiello et al., Apr. 9, 1991, discloses a fuel additive for reducing intake valve deposits in electronic port fuel injected engines, said additive comprising a mixture of (a) about 2.5 parts per million per weight (ppmw) or higher of basic nitrogen based on the fuel composition in the form of an oil soluble aliphatic alkylene polyamine containing at least one olefinic polymer chain, said polyamine having a molecular weight of about 600 to about 10,000, and (b) from about 75 ppmw to about 125 ppmw based on the fuel composition of certain oil-soluble olefinic polymers, poly(oxyalkylene) alcohol, glycol or polyol or mono or di-ether thereof, non aromatic oils or polyalphaolefins.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,807,525, Foreman, Sep. 24, 1957, discloses a fuel composition characterized by a relatively low tendency to form gum deposits in the intake system and valves of an internal combustion engine and a relatively low freezing point containing an additive comprising an oil-soluble monobutoxy poly-1,2-oxypropylene glycol having a viscosity of from about 200 to 1000 SUS at 100.degree. F., and a water-miscible lower aliphatic hydrocarbon alcohol having from one to three carbon atoms in an amount within the range from 20% to 80% by volume to facilitate the solution of the polyoxyalkylene compound in the fuel and together with the polyoxyalkylene compound to reduce the freezing point of water present in the fuel.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,615,295, Manary, Oct. 26, 1971, discloses a fuel composition containing a small but effective amount of a polyalkoxylated alkylphenol of the general formula ##STR3## for reducing the hydrocarbon emission in the exhaust from an internal combustion engine.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,548,616, Sung et al., Oct. 22, 1985 discloses a fuel composition for reducing gasoline octane requirement, containing an additive, said additive comprising a poly(oxyethylene) poly(oxypropylene) poly(oxyethylene)polyol.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,416, Campbell, Oct. 31, 1989 discloses a synergistic fuel composition containing a hydrocarbyl-substituted amine or polyamine and a poly(oxyalkylene) monool, said composition providing for decrease in deposit formation correlated to Octane Requirement Increase (ORI).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,591, Cherpeck, Jun. 27, 1995 discloses a fuel additive of the formula: ##STR4## or a fuel-soluble salt thereof; wherein R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 are each independently hydrogen, hydroxy, lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, or lower alkoxy having 1-6 carbon atoms; R.sub.3 and R.sub.4 are each independently hydrogen or lower alkyl having 1 to 6 carbon atoms. These poly(oxyalkylene) hydroxyaromatic ethers were disclosed to be useful as fuel additives for the prevention and control of engine deposits.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,063, Davis, May 5, 1987, discloses a lubricant composition for use in two-cycle internal combustion engines containing an additive sufficient to control piston ring sticking and promote general engine cleanliness, said additive comprising:
(A) an alkylated phenol of the formula: ##STR5## wherein R' may be located ortho or para to the hydroxyl group and is a hydrocarbon-based group containing about 30 to about 400 aliphatic carbon atoms, R" is a lower alkyl and z is 0 or 1; and PA1 (B) a polyalkylene polyamine of the general formula: ##STR6## or a derivative of such a polyalkylene polyamine wherein U is an alkylene group of from about 2 to about 10 carbon atoms, each R.sup.3 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and a hydrocarbon-based group containing 1-12 carbon atoms with the proviso that at least one R is a hydrogen atom, and n is a whole number of from 1 to about 10 wherein the weight ratio of (A):(B) is in the range of from abut 2:1 to about 400:1. PA1 (a) a major portion of a liquid fuel boiling in the gasoline boiling range; and PA1 (b) about 50 to about 800 parts per million based on the total fuel composition weight of an additive composition, said additive composition comprising: PA1 (A) at least one olefinic compound containing at least one group of the formula ##STR12## and (B) at least one carboxylic reactant selected from the group consisting of compounds of the formula EQU R.sup.3 C(O)(R.sup.4).sub.n C(O)OR.sup.5 (IV) PA1 and compounds of the formula ##STR13## wherein each of R .sup.3, R.sup.5 and R.sup.9 is independently H or a hydrocarbyl group, R.sup.4 is a divalent hydrocarbylene group, and n is 0 or 1; wherein (A) and (B) are reacted in amounts ranging from more than 1.5 moles (B) per mole of (A) up to about 3 moles (B) per equivalent of (A); then reacting the product formed thereby with from about 0.5 equivalents up to about 2 moles, per mole of (B) of at least one of PA1 (C) ammonia or a hydrazine or an amine. PA1 R.sup.4 is a divalent hydrocarbylene group; PA1 n=0 or 1; PA1 y is an integer ranging from 1 to about 200; PA1 A is a hydrocarbyl group or a hydroxy-substituted hydrocarbyl group; and PA1 each of R.sup.9 and R.sup.10 is independently H, alkoxyhydrocarbyl, hydroxyhydrocarbyl, hydrocarbyl, aminohydrocarbyl, N-alkoxyalkyl- or hydroxyalkyl-substituted aminohydrocarbyl, or a group of the formula .paren open-st.Y.paren close-st..sub.a R.sup.11 --B, wherein each Y is a group of the formula EQU R.sup.11 --N(R.sup.12)-- or R.sup.11 --O--, PA1 each R.sup.11 is a divalent hydrocarbyl group, R.sup.12 is as defined above for R.sup.9 and R.sup.10 and B is H, hydrocarbyl, amino, hydroxyhydrocarbyl, an amide group, an amide-containing group, an acylamino group, an imide group, or an imide-containing group, and a is 0 or a number ranging from 1 to about 100, provided that no more than three R.sup.9, R.sup.10, and R.sup.12 contain amide groups, imide-containing groups, acylamino groups or amide-containing groups; or PA1 R.sup.9 and R.sup.10 taken together with the adjacent N constitute a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic group, optionally further containing one or more additional heteroatoms selected from the group consisting of N, O and S; or one of R.sup.9 and R.sup.10 taken together with the adjacent N constitute a N--N group. PA1 Also included among acylated nitrogen containing compounds are oxazolines and imidazolines as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,560,755.
The present invention provides a novel deposit control fuel additive composition comprising an alkylphenol, a polyether alcohol, and optionally a nitrogen-containing dispersant that is shown to give lower deposits in the intake valve and combustion chamber.

Fuel additive compositions containing polyether alcohol and hydrocarbylphenol


A multilevel image into which a color or a black-and-white image is converted is input, and a slightly indistinct binary image generating unit generates a slightly indistinct binary image that includes a slightly indistinct line pattern and does not include background noise. Additionally, a shape-preserved binary image generating unit generates a binary image that preserves the shape of a line pattern and includes background noise. These images are ANDed for each pixel, so that a binary image that preserves the shape of the line pattern and does not include the background noise is generated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, paper form and document recognition techniques using a non-contact type image input device (OHR: Over Head Reader) have received widespread attention.
FIG. 1 shows the external view of an OHR.
The non-contact type image input device (OHR) is an image input device of a standing type shown in FIG. 1, which uses a line or an area CCD as an image pickup device. Using the OHR allows a user to feel comfortable in operations such as an operation for filling in a paper form or a document while inputting an image, an operation for inputting an image while looking at a paper form or a document, etc., in comparison with a contact type image input device such as a conventional image scanner.
However, an image captured by an OHR (OHR image) suffers degradation in image quality, such as density unevenness, a shadow, image deformation, etc., in comparison with an image captured by a scanner (scanner image).
FIG. 2 shows the state of a grayscale (graylevel?) scanner image, whereas FIG. 3 shows the state of a grayscale OHR image. It is known from the OHR image shown in FIG. 3 that the degree of density unevenness is slightly high and character lines are more blurred although no shadow exists.
FIG. 4 shows the state of an OHR image with a shadow. As shown in this figure, the OHR image has a shadow. Therefore, a binarization technique that overcomes density unevenness, a shadow, etc. is essential to use an OHR.
To enable a recognition process with high accuracy for an OHR image, a binarization method for obtaining a stable line pattern is required for a shadow/density unevenness. Binarization using a predetermined threshold is insufficient, and local binarization such as Niblack binarization, etc. must be introduced. For Niblack local binarization, refer to the following document.
φ. D. Trier, A. K. Jain: "Goal-Directed Evaluation of Binarization Methods," IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, Vol. 17. NO. 12, pp. 1191–1201, 1995
Niblack local binarization is a method performing binarization for each pixel by defining that a threshold value of each pixel is T=E+kσ (E and σ are respectively a density average and a standard deviation in the neighborhood of a target pixel, and k is a constant of approximately −0.4 to 0.4). A square area of N×N pixels, which centers on a target pixel, is used in the neighborhood of the target pixel (N=7 or so is frequently used).
Furthermore, if Niblack local binarization is applied unchanged, spotted black-and-white noise occurs in a background area due to the phenomenon that all of pixels in the neighborhood of a target pixel have uniform density. FIG. 5 exemplifies an OHR image, whereas FIG. 6 shows a binary image that is obtained by performing Niblack local binarization for the OHR image shown in FIG. 5.
As is known from FIG. 6, spotted black-and-white noise occurs in a background area (in case of N=7, and k=0.1).
Therefore, the spotted black-and-white background noise is eliminated by determining a 4-concatenated component with an average edge intensity of outline pixels, which is equal to or smaller than a predetermined value, of a 4-concatenated component of black pixels of a binary image to be the background noise, and by removing the concatenated component. The 4-concatenated component of black pixels is a maximum set of black pixels, which is obtained by sequentially concatenating black pixels adjacent left and right and up and down. Also there is an 8-concatenated component containing the 4-concatenated component. This is a maximum set of black pixels, which is obtained by sequentially concatenating black pixels adjacent in four diagonal directions containing left and right and up and down. Here, also the 8-concatenated component may be used. If a simple term "concatenated component" appears hereinafter, it indicates a 4- or 8-concatenated component. The outline pixels of a concatenated component is black pixels included in the concatenated component, and a white pixel being background exists in any of up and down or left and right of each of the black pixels. The average edge intensity of outline pixels is an average of the edge intensities of the outline pixels. The edge intensity of an outline pixel is an edge intensity obtained with a Sobel edge filter, etc.
FIGS. 7A and 7B explain the concept of Niblack local binarization.
As shown in FIG. 7A, for example, a square area of 7×7 pixels centering on each of pixels of a grayscale image obtained from a color or a black-and-white image is recognized to be a process target. Assume that an average of the densities of black pixels within the square area is E, and a standard deviation from the average E of the densities of the pixels within the square area is σ. A threshold value T for determining whether a pixel to be binarized is either black or white is obtained by an equation T=E+kσ. Also assume that the density of the pixel to be binarized is g. This pixel is made black if g≦T, and made white if g>T. According to such determination results, binary images are sequentially obtained by providing black or white data after being binarized as the density data of the target pixel (FIG. 7B).
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of the Niblack local binarization process. Firstly, in step S1, a pixel to be processed is selected. In step S2, densities of pixels within a square area centering on the selected pixel are obtained. In step S3, an average E of the densities of the pixels within the square area, and a standard deviation σ are calculated. In step S4, a threshold value T is obtained with the equation T=E+kσ (k is typically a value between −0.4 and 0.4). Then, in step S5, it is determined whether or not the density of the selected pixel is equal to or larger than the threshold value T. If the result of the determination made in step S5 is "YES", the selected pixel is made black. If the result of the determination made in step S5 is "NO", the selected pixel is made white. In step S8, it is determined whether or not all pixels of the image to be binarized have been processed. If a pixel yet to be processed is left, the process goes back to step S1 and the subsequent operations are repeated. If it is determined that all the pixels have been processed, the process is terminated.
FIG. 9 explains a Sobel edge filter and edge intensity.
If a concatenated component shown in (1) of FIG. 9 exists, a shaded portion corresponds to outline pixels. For the outline pixels, a square area of 3×3 pixels, which is shown in (4) and centers on a pixel to be processed, is taken, and the densities of pixels within the square area and filters shown in (2) and (3) of FIG. 9 are multiplied and added. Suppose that a vector component generated by the filter in (2) is Sx, and a vector component generated by the filter in (3) is Sy. In this case, a vector S=(Sx, Sy) is obtained for the central pixel of the square area as shown in (4). The length of this vector, namely, √(Sx2+Sy2) is the Sobel edge intensity of the target pixel.
The average edge intensity is an intensity acquired by obtaining such edge intensities for all of the outline pixels of the concatenated component in (1), and by averaging the obtained edge intensities.
FIG. 10 shows a result of eliminating background noise by removing 4-concatenated components whose average edge intensities are equal to or smaller than 4.
As described above, a binary image of relatively high quality can be obtained with a conventional technique from an image having relatively good contrast shown in FIG. 5.
The background noise elimination used by conventional techniques stably and properly operates for a character having good contrast, but not for an image having poor contrast between a background and a character, that is, an image including an extremely faint character as shown in FIG. 11.
A result of executing Niblack local binarization (k=0.1) for the grayscale image of FIG. 11 is shown in FIG. 12.
If the background noise elimination is executed with the average edge intensity of 4 or smaller in a similar manner as in the case of FIG. 10, also the extremely faint character string is removed together although the background noise can be eliminated.
If the average edge intensity at the time of background noise elimination is set to 2 or smaller so as to preserve the line patterns of the extremely faint character string, this results in a binary image from which the background noise cannot be eliminated completely.
As described above, the conventional techniques using the background noise elimination that adopts the local binarization and an average edge intensity have a problem in that an extremely faint character string cannot be satisfactorily extracted without including background noise.


A thermal management system includes an airflow sensor that measures airflow in an air path inside an enclosure to be cooled, wherein the air path includes a filter and a fan. A controller is responsive to the airflow sensor for monitoring the rate of airflow inside the enclosure and determining the condition of the filter. In one embodiment, the airflow sensor is an active type sensor, such as a thermistor, disposed on circuit boards. In further embodiments, the airflow sensor is disposed proximate a tube through the filter.

Thermal management systems generally include an enclosure such as a housing or cabinet for heat generating electronic component circuit cards or boards which must be cooled to prevent damage to the electronic components. A variable speed fan may be used to force air over the components and a temperature sensor and/or an air flow sensor monitors the temperature and/or air flow rate of the air or other cooling gas inside the cabinet.
A filter is used to reduce particulate matter in order to eliminate contaminants which could otherwise foul the circuit cards. A controller, connected to the fan and responsive to the temperature sensor and/or the air flow sensor, continuously monitors the temperature of the electronic circuit cards and may adjust the speed of the fan to keep the electronic components cool.
Such prior art systems, however, may detect temperature increases too late to gracefully shut down electronics being cooled. A graceful shut down would allow data to be saved prior to removing power to the electronics.
As circuitry has decreased in size, it is more sensitive to increases in temperature. Further, the resistance to airflow that such smaller circuitry presents is now comparable to that provided by filters. Thus, any blockage of a filter more quickly lowers airflow and adversely affects the circuitry. Common practice today is to schedule filter replacement on a set schedule, such as every six months. This practice does not take into account the environment where the filter may be located. In a dusty environment, the filter may need to be replaced more quickly. In a clean room environment, filter may last much longer than six months.
Further, prior art systems may utilize pressure sensor based airflow sensing in an effort to detect filter blockage. For airflow ranges seen in electronics enclosures, a pressure sensor with low measurement range is required. These sensors are large and susceptible to shock and vibration. They are also sensitive to mounting orientation. With smaller circuitry, the larger sensors become unwieldy and inaccurate. They may also fail to properly detect whether the filter is clogged to the point where cooling is no longer effective. Again, when the filter is clogged, the air flow rate through the cabinet may be less than optimal even at the highest fan speed resulting in component failure, thermal stress, or degradation which may not be detectable.

Airflow sensor for filter blockage detection


An electric generating system comprised of a micro turbine and a rotary device containing a housing having a curved inner surface with a profile equidistant from a trochoidal curve, an eccentric mounted on a shaft disposed within the housing, a rotor mounted on the eccentric shaft which contains at least three intersecting faces and a partial bore located at the intersection of adjacent faces, and at least three rollers rotatably mounted within the partial bores of the rotor. Heat from the micro turbine is passed to a boiler, wherein it is used to generate heated liquid and/or heated fluid.

An apparatus containing at least two trochoidal rotary chamber devices which can be used for compression and expansion of fluid, pumping of liquid, or as a hydraulic motor.
In applicants"" U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,551, there is disclosed and claimed a rotary device comprised of a housing comprising a curved inner surface with a profile equidistant from a trochoidal curve, an eccentric mounted on a shaft disposed within said first housing, a first rotor mounted on said eccentric shaft which is comprised of a first side, a second side, and a third secodeafis partial bore disposed at the intersection of said second side and said second side, athr seodpartial bore disposed at the intersection of said second side and said thirst side, a thirstsldrle disposed and rotatably mounted within said first solid bore, a second solid roller disposed and rotatably mounted within said second partial bore, and a third solid roller disposed and rotatably mounted within said third partial bore. The rotor is comprised of a front face, a back face, a first side, a second side, and a third side, wherein a first opening is formed between and communicates between said front face and said first side, a second opening is formed between and communicates between said back face and said first side, wherein each of said first opening and said second opening is substantially equidistant and symmetrical between said first partial bore and said second partial bore, a third opening is formed between and communicates between said front face and said second side, a fourth opening is formed between and communicates between said back face and said second side, wherein each of said third opening and said fourth opening is substantially equidistant and symmetrical between said second partial bore and said third partial bore, a fifth opening is formed between and communicates between said front face and said third side, and a sixth opening is formed between and communicates between said back face and said third side, wherein each of said fifth opening and said sixth opening is substantially equidistant and symmetrical between said third partial bore and said first partial bore. Each of said first partial bore, said second partial bore, and said third partial bore is comprised of a centerpoint which, as said rotary device rotates, moves along said trochoidal cure. Each of said first opening, said second opening, said third opening, said fourth opening, said fifth opening, and said sixth opening has a substantially U-shaped cross-sectional shape defined by a first linear side, a second linear side, and an arcuate section joining said first linear side and said second linear side, wherein said first linear side and said second linear side are disposed with respect to each other at an angle of less than ninety degrees, and said substantially U-shaped cross-sectional shape has a depth which is at least equal to its width. The diameter is said first solid roller is equal to the diameter of said second solid roller, and the diameter of said second solid roller is equal to the diameter of said third solid roller. The widths of each of said first opening said second opening, said third opening, said fourth opening, said fifth opening, and said sixth opening are substantially the same, and the width of each of said openings is less than the diameter of said first solid roller. Each of said first side, said second side, and said third side has substantially the same geometry and size and is a composite shape comprised of a first section and a second section, wherein said first section has a shape which is different from said second section.
The entire disclosure of this U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,551, and its drawings and claims, are hereby incorporated by reference into this specification. It is noteworthy that the device of this prior patent requires the presence of xe2x80x9c . . . a first solid roller . . . ,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9c . . . a second solid roller . . . ,xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9c . . . a third solid roller . . . xe2x80x9d In an amendment filed in patent application U.S. Ser. No. 079,152, an argument was advanced that xe2x80x9cEven if it be assumed . . . that it would have been obvious to modify the structure of Hoffinann in the manner suggested by the Examiner, the modified structure . . . would not produce a structure comprised of solid rollers, as required by applicants"" claims.xe2x80x9d
Applicants have discovered that the use of such solid rollers in the device of U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,551 causes a substantial amount of wear on both the roller surfaces and the housing.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved rotary positive displacement device which is as effective as the device of U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,551 but is more durable.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved rotary positive displacement device which has a lower polar moment of inertia than does the device of U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,551.
In accordance with this invention, there is provided a rotary device comprised of a housing comprising a curved inner surface with a profile equidistant from a trochoidal curve, an eccentric mounted on a shaft disposed within said first housing, a first rotor mounted on said eccentric shaft which is comprised of a first side, a second side, and a third side, a first partial bore disposed at the intersection of said first side and said second side, a second partial bore disposed at the intersection of said second side and said third side, a third partial bore disposed at the intersection of said third side and said first side, a first hollow roller disposed and rotatably mounted within said first solid bore, a second hollow roller disposed and rotatably mounted within said second partial bore, and a third hollow roller disposed and rotatably mounted within said third partial bore. The rotor is comprised of a front face, a back face, a first side, a second side, and a third side, wherein a first opening is formed between and communicates between said front face and said first side, a second opening is formed between and communicates between said back face and said first side, wherein each of said first opening and said second opening is substantially equidistant and symmetrical between said first partial bore and said second partial bore, a third opening is formed between and communicates between said front face and said second side, a fourth opening is formed between and communicates between said back face and said second side, wherein each of said third opening and said fourth opening is substantially equidistant and symmetrical between said second partial bore and said third partial bore, a fifth opening is formed between and communicates between said front face and said third side, and a sixth opening is formed between and communicates between said back face and said third side, wherein each of said fifth opening and said sixth opening is substantially equidistant and symmetrical between said third partial bore and said first partial bore. Each of said first partial bore, said second partial bore, and said third partial bore is comprised of a centerpoint which, as said rotary device rotates, moves along said trochoidal cure. Each of said first opening, said second opening, said third opening, said fourth opening, said fifth opening, and said sixth opening has a substantially U-shaped cross-sectional shape defined by a first linear side, a second linear side, and an arcuate section joining said first linear side and said second linear side, wherein said first linear side and said second linear side are disposed with respect to each other at an angle of less than ninety degrees, and said substantially U-shaped cross-sectional shape has a depth which is at least equal to its width. The diameter of said first hollow roller is equal to the diameter of said second hollow roller, and the diameter of said second hollow roller is equal to the diameter of said third hollow roller. The widths of each of said first opening said second opening, said third opening, said fourth opening, said fifth opening, and said sixth opening are substantially the same, and the width of each of said openings is less than the diameter of said first hollow roller. Each of said first side, said second side, and said third side has substantially the same geometry and size and is a composite shape comprised of a first section and a second section, wherein said first section has a shape which is different from said second section.


Transfer apparatus and method are provided from first (15A, 16A) to second (15B, 16B) stations of tooling in a cap (11) making press. This cap is biased against the first upper tools by a first airstream (50) introduced under the cap and moves upward with the first station punch (45). As the punch approaches its top location, a transfer airstream (52) begins while the first airstream is still on, and moves the cap out through a transfer chute (18) to the second station. The cap departs the chute and passes detents (67) on a pair of closed retention fingers (60) which define an extension of the transfer path from the chute into the open second station tools. A vacuum (85) applied to a port in the second station punch then holds the cup against the rising upper tools. When the punch clears the closing fingers and approaches its top location, an ejection airstream (87) commences to propel the finished cup via a discharge chute (19).

U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,082,944 and 6,015,062, assigned to the assignee of this application, disclose closure constructions for reclosable containers (e.g a can body) wherein a domed container end with a neck portion having a pour opening is provided with a reclosable lugged type of cap. That invention provides a unique and versatile container for fluids, particularly for beverages, wherein various standard can bodies are provided with a two part end including a neck with a pour opening, a lug formation on the neck below the pour opening, a reclosable cap having a lug formation which can interlock with the lug formation on the neck and including a seal surrounding the pour opening, and thus capable of maintaining product under pressure. The two part end is affixed to a can body by conventional double rolled seam attachment between the bottom of the neck and the rim of the can body. However, it is possible to affix the domed end to a can body without a cap, fill the can though the pour opening, and then apply the cap.
With the possibility of expanded markets for these lugged caps, which are also useful on various jars and bottles, there is a need for a system (method and tooling) for producing lugged cap members in a single machine, e.g. a reciprocating press fitted with appropriate tooling, which is capable of precise high speed (e.g. in the range of 135 to 150 strokes/minute) to achieve acceptable commercial production of the cap.
To develop such production speeds it is desirable to divide the progressive tooling operations into more than one step, and this in turn requires a rapid and precise transfer system to move the partially completed caps from a first station to a second station, and precisely register the caps in the second station. Prior art transfer systems are known for moving and registering can end shells, such as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,770,022 and 4,895,012, however, the end shells are relatively flat disc-like objects with a quite small height to diameter ratio, whereas the caps made by the present invention have a substantially greater height with respect to their diameter.
Thus, the physical dimensions of the caps involved in this invention are quite different from can shells or easy self-opening can ends. This in turn introduces needs not required or anticipated in shell transfer systems, for example with regard to tipping of the caps during high speed transfer operations. Also, because of the relatively high press cycling, and need for precision in cap positioning and deceleration immediately after each transfer to another press station, there is a requirement for precise transfer of each cap from a first press station through high acceleration, very rapid transfer to the next press station, and high deceleration to a precisely defined stationary location at that next station.


The present invention relates to methods of increasing lifespan, delaying aging, and/or preventing or treating an age-related disease or a mitochondrial disease in a subject, comprising inducing a nuclear-mitochondrial OXPHOS protein dyssynchrony, including inhibiting the mitochondrial translation machinery function, as well as methods for screening agents that are able to increase lifespan, inhibit or delay aging, and/or prevent or treat an age-related disease or disorder, or a mitochondrial disease or disorder, in a subject.

Lifespan regulation is a complex process that is coordinated by divergent pathways, including DNA damage, oxidative stress, and metabolic networks (Houtkooper et al., 2010, Cell 142, 9). It has been established by gain- and loss-of-function studies, especially in C. elegans and D. melanogaster, but also in mice, that caloric excess pathways, such as the insulin/IGF1 signaling pathway and the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), decrease lifespan (Harrison et al., 2009, Nature 460, 392-395; Bjedov et al., 2010, Cell Metab 11, 35; Zid et al., 2009, Cell 139, 149; Selman et al., 2009, Science 326, 140), whereas the caloric restriction pathways, for instance AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and sirtuins, tend to increase lifespan (Mair et al., 2011, Nature 470, 404-408; Anisimov et al., 2008, Cell Cycle 7, 2769). Whether or not such genes also contribute to natural lifespan is, however, not understood.
Additionally, in mouse, AMPK has been connected with sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) (Canto et al., 2009, Nature 458, 1056-1060) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator (PGC-1)-αsignaling (Canto et al., 2009, supra; Canto et al., 2010, Cell Metab 11, 213-219) consolidating the link of this system with mitochondrial metabolism, notably mitochondrial respiration. It is still debated, however, how mitochondrial function impacts aging, as both inhibiting and stimulating mitochondrial metabolism seems to enhance lifespan (discussed in Houtkooper et al., 2010, supra; Kenyon, 2010, Nature 464, 504-512).
Aging and the diseases associated with it are a heavy burden on society. The current increase in life expectancy not only impacts on our social systems, but also goes hand in hand with the emergence of common chronic diseases, including those of the nervous, immune, and cardio-metabolic systems, which often reach epidemic proportions. In this respect it is important to understand the natural aging process and to elucidate where lifestyle and/or pharmacological interventions can have an impact. In recent years, many novel therapeutic options have been suggested to prevent aging-associated diseases. Although some of these pharmaceutical interventions were shown to extend lifespan, even in mammals (Harrison et al., 2009, supra; Pearson et al., 2008, Cell Metab 8, 157-168), there is still a need for identification of novel compounds that have the ability to increase lifespan and, thus, be useful for delaying aging and/or preventing or treating age-related diseases and disorders.
The present invention solves this problem by identifying a novel target that functions as a longevity regulator and is conserved from Caenorhabditis elegans to mammals.

Mitochondrial ribosomal proteins as aging regulators

ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FEDERALE DE LAUSANNE (EPEL)


A virtual interaction system includes a haptic feedback apparatus, a depth camera and a processing circuit. The haptic feedback apparatus includes an solenoid mount supporting a plurality of solenoids, a plurality of hand mounts, and a controller. The solenoid mount is configured to be mounted onto a human arm. The plurality of hand mounts are configured to be mounted onto a plurality of positions on a human hand. Each of the plurality the hand mounts includes at least one contact element. Each contact element is controllably moveable by a corresponding solenoid. The controller is configured to receive an input signal, and generate, based on the input signal, a plurality of solenoid control signals.

Haptic feedback devices are used as part of the human-machine interface. Haptic feedback is feedback or response information communicated by a computer or other machine to a human via touch. While electronic devices and equipment primarily provide visual and audible feedback, there has been increasing interest in providing tactile or haptic feedback. For example, it is known to provide haptic feedback in certain types of video games, such as by vibrating a handhold controller. Haptic feedback is also used for other purposes, such as to allow the user to experience feedback from a virtual object manipulated through motions of the hand. Examples of such devices are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,138,976 and U.S. Pat. No. 8,004,492.
Issues with prior devices are that such devices are often cumbersome, and provide only rudimentary feedback. For example, the haptic feedback device of U.S. Pat. No. 8,004,492 shows a feedback device that includes a force applying member coupled to the palm of the hand. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the device requires multiple tethers to computing and solenoids, thereby reducing freedom of movement. Moreover, the types of forces provided to the user are rudimentary, often just limited to impulse and/or vibratory forces of different magnitudes. In addition, the position tracking of haptic devices has been a problem in the past because of drift of traditional sensors like accelerometers. Hence haptic sensory experiences such as gloves and body suits have not been used for spatial and full body interaction with virtual objects. The affordances created by depth sensing cameras have not been exploited to provide users new sensory experiences.
There is a need, therefore, for an improved haptic feedback device that exploit the position tracking of parts of the body, has reduced bulk, dynamic and meaningful feedback characteristics, to give users new kinds of experiences.

Wireless haptic feedback apparatus configured to be mounted on a human arm


A high-k dielectric and metal gate stack with minimal overlap with an adjacent oxide isolation region and related methods are disclosed. One embodiment of the gate stack includes a high dielectric constant (high-k) dielectric layer, a tuning layer and a metal layer positioned over an active region defined by an oxide isolation region in a substrate, wherein an outer edge of the high-k dielectric layer, the tuning layer and the metal layer overlaps the oxide isolation region by less than approximately 200 nanometers. The gate stack and related methods eliminate the regrowth effect in short channel devices by restricting the amount of overlap area between the gate stack and adjacent oxide isolation regions.

1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates generally to integrated circuit (IC) fabrication, and more particularly, to a high dielectric constant (high-k) dielectric and metal gate stack and related methods.
2. Background Art
In the integrated circuit (IC) fabrication industry, metal gate electrodes are being pursued for, for example, the 45 nanometer (nm) and 32 nm technology nodes as a replacement for doped polysilicon (poly-Si) gate electrodes for a number of reasons. A metal gate electrode includes a high dielectric constant (high-k) dielectric within a metal gate stack. One reason, among many, that this technology is being pursued is to enable gate length scaling. Thinner gate dielectrics enable the gate length to be scaled which in turn improves the performance and density of integrated circuits. The best known self aligned process flows for complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) fabrication with the high-k dielectrics and metal gate stacks use a dual field effect transistor (FET) threshold voltage (Vt) work function tuning layers scheme to tune the threshold voltage of adjacent n-type metal oxide semiconductor (NMOS) region (for NFETs) and p-type metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS) region (for PFETs). That is, dual metal/dual dielectric gate stacks.
One challenge for this technology is that narrow width short channel transistors utilizing high-k dielectrics and metal gate electrodes in traditional CMOS gate-first processing suffer from unintentional re-growth of silicon oxide in the active regions. In particular, the high-k dielectrics such as hafnium oxide (HfO2) are deposited over a silicon active region separated by isolation regions, the latter of which typically include silicon oxide (SiO2). Consequently, the oxygen interacts with the silicon in the active region to form (re-grow) silicon oxide like dielectrics, which disadvantageously increases the equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) of the gate dielectric, i.e., the thickness of the gate dielectric is that of the high-k dielectric plus the re-grown silicon oxide in the silicon active region. This situation diminishes the goal of minimizing gate dielectric thickness. This unintentional re-growth also leads to a degradation in the ability to control when the transistor is turned on and off. The loss in control of the transistor leads to overall circuit degradation due to the large variation in turn on voltage. The large variation leads to large degradation in drive current as the width of the device decreases due to oxygen containing processes that occur after gate patterning (e.g., resist strip, rapid thermal anneal (RTA) ambients, etc). In some cases, this lateral oxidation can occur despite encapsulation.

High-k dielectric and metal gate stack with minimal overlap with isolation region and related methods

International Business Machines Corporation


A method and apparatus for sending packets from traffic flows to queues in a network element is provided. Each traffic flow has a packet size parameter indicating a sizing constraint for its packets. The method includes the step of grouping the traffic flows into groups utilizing the packet size parameter of each traffic flow. The method further includes the step of sending packets only from traffic flows of one group to at least one designated queue. Traffic flows of the one group are identified utilizing the packet size parameter of each traffic flow.

In a communications network, network elements such as switches and routers route data from traffic flows to their destinations. Inside a network element, traffic is segmented into fixed-length cells. Traffic flows are comprised of packets, with each packet comprising one or more cells after this "segmentation" stage. Each cell is processed independently from an ingress point through a switching fabric to an egress point. Such network elements may route or switch traffic from both single-cell packet traffic flows and variable-size packet traffic flows. Upon reaching an egress card of the network element on a frame-based interface, the cells of a variable-size packet are reassembled into packets, queued and transmitted from the network element. Generally, traffic flows can contain packets of any size, where packets require a varying number of cells to represent them. Some traffic flows may not contain random packet sizes. One such flow, denoted a single-cell packet traffic flow, contains only packets that can be represented by one cell. A single-cell packet traffic flow is similarly reassembled into packets, queued and transmitted from the network element.
As network elements are required to route and switch data from an increasing number of traffic flows, a network element may reuse reassembly queues for more than one traffic flow to reduce the hardware resources required to service all of the traffic flows. If reassembly queues are not shared, a large number of reassembly queues are required, one to service each traffic flow. A reassembly queue must wait for all cells of a packet to be reassembled before queuing and transmitting the frame from the network element. If traffic flows containing relatively small packets and traffic flows with relatively larger packets share a reassembly queue, the smaller packets may be queued behind larger packets being reassembled into frames. This may cause delays to the traffic flow containing the small packets.
There is a need for a system and method for reassembling packets in a network element that reduces the resources required to reassemble packets and enable efficient processing of certain traffic flows.

System and method for reassembling packets in a network element


A storage case is provided, including two shell bodies correspondingly foldably and unfoldably connected to each other. Each shell body includes a main body and a color ring arranged around a circumferential edge at an end of the main body, and a color of the color ring is different from a color of the main body. When the two shell bodies are correspondingly folded, the two color rings are substantially disposed parallel to each other in intervals and located at opposite end edges remote from each other of the two shell bodies. When the two shell bodies are unfolded and located neighboring to and parallel to each other, the two color rings are disposed, substantially, neighboring to each other on the same level.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a case, and more particularly to a storage case.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is ordinary to use hand tools in our daily life such as in house or in factory, and the hand tools or other similar tools are widely used in industries. Generally, the hand tools or the similar tools are stored in a storage case to keep a working place clean and in order so that it saves time to pick up a demanding tool to use. So it is really important to have the storage case for storing the hand tools or the similar tools.
A prior art of the storage case is composed of two shell bodies which are correspondingly foldably and unfoldably connected to each other. Each said shell body has a space for receiving the hand tools or the similar tools, or the shell body is internally formed with a plurality of receiving slots which are separated by block plates or overlaid with stepping layers for receiving the hand tools. By using the two shell bodies as described above, the two shell bodies can be unfolded and the hand tools or the similar tools can be stored in the storage case. The prior art is disclosed in TW M471966, TW I422474 and TW M463640.
However, a structure as described above has single color or is unformed with an identifying portion for corresponding to different types of tools. To identify the hand tools stored in the storage case, it is necessary to open the storage case or to paste a label up on the storage case, and it is inconvenient. Furthermore, when the storage cases are unfolded/folded and overlaid on each other, it is hard to identify the hand tools stored in the storage cases because the storage cases have the same structure but have no identifying structures. It is easy to confuse and hard to identify the tools, and it is hard to categorize the tools.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.


A clock generation circuit for a dual system radio frequency station is provided. The station includes a digital synthesis circuit clocked by a first clock signal for a first RF system that is adapted to generate a base signal output of a predetermined frequency. A second clock signal is derived from the sum of the frequency of the base signal and the frequency of the first clock signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to radio frequency communications, and in particular to a method and circuit for generating a variable frequency clock signal from a crystal oscillator, and for adjusting the frequency of the variable clock signal to compensate for carrier frequency and sampling rate errors.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Mobile telephones have become a normal part of everyday life. However, there are competing standards for mobile telephone networks around the world. Today, two important digital mobile network systems are the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) and Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA). These two systems use different techniques for channel allocation on the broadcast network, and they use different carrier frequencies. In communications systems, carrier frequencies are derived from a reference timing signal clock which is generated by a crystal oscillator. The same oscillator is also used as a reference clock for the analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and the digital-to-analog converter (DAC) which interface the analog and digital circuits in the system. However, because the crystal oscillator has limited precision, the carrier frequency and the ADC sampling rate may deviate from their nominal values. In some communications systems (e.g., CDMA), it is necessary to compensate for these deviations in order for the system to function properly.
In a dual system supporting both GSM and WCDMA communications, two clock frequencies are required to drive the receiving and transmitting electronics in mobile telephones: a 13 MHz clock for the GSM subsystem, and a 15.36 MHz clock for the WCDMA subsystem. A WCDMA subsystem also compensates for the carrier and sampling frequency offsets described above.
It is not always practical to provide two crystal oscillators to generate dual clock frequencies in a mobile telephone. Existing systems use a single, voltage-controlled, temperature-compensated crystal oscillator for the first clock, and derive the second clock from a second voltage-controlled oscillator driven by a phase-locked loop (PLL) using the first clock as a reference clock. The second frequency may be tuned by fine adjustments of the control voltage of the voltage-controlled oscillator. However, the tuning speed is limited by the settling times of the PLL and voltage adjustment circuits. When the greatest common divisor of the two clock frequencies is low (e.g., 40 kHz for 13 MHz and 15.36 MHz), the PLL settling time is long, and the system performance is degraded. Furthermore, the high resolution required in the control voltage circuit increases the system cost. It is desired, therefore, to provide a system for accurately and rapidly generating a second clock frequency from a first clock frequency, or at least provide a useful alternative.

Method and circuit for deriving a second clock signal from a first clock signal


[Purpose] An object of the present invention is to provide a composition for use in a formation of transparent and electrically conductive film having a low electric resistance and a high transmittance and a method for making the film mentioned above.. [Composition] A mixture of inorganic indium compound and organic tin compound is combined with organic compound capable of coordinating with either of indium and tin to form an organic solution. When the mixture is heated, the inorganic indium compound and the organic tin compound coordinating partially with the organic compound react with water of crystallization of inorganic indium compound. The organic tin compound is partially subjected to hydrolysis to form an intermediate complex compound including indium and tin. This suppresses the evaporation of tin and generates a uniform film having a high transmittance and a low electric resistance. An addition of polyhydric alcohol increases the viscosity of the solution and gives a high stability to a resultant film obtained by applying the composition to the substrate and firing.

The present invention relates to a composition for use in a transparent and electrically conductive film and a method for making the film and more particularly to a composition for a transparent and electrically conductive film formed on a glass substrate or a ceramic substrate and a method for making the film.
Hitherto, an electrode material having a high transmittance for a visible light has been used in a display element such as a liquid crystal display and an electroluminesence display and in a heating resistor for preventing the window glass of a car,an air plane and building from collecting moisture or from freezing.
There has been known a transparent and electrically conductive material usually consisted of antimony tin oxide(ATO) or indium tin oxide(ITO). These metal oxides can be applied to the glass substrate or a ceramic substrate for formation of transparent and electrically conductive film.
The transparent and electrically conductive film can be formed by the following methods: (1) vacuum deposition method; (2) sputtering method; (3) CVD method; (4) screen printing method and (5) dipping method.
However, the above methods (1), (2) and (3) require a complicated equipment in a high cost and have a problem in the cost and the mass production. The methods (4) and (5) have a possibility to solve the problem due to the methods (1), (2) and (3), but has a difficulty to form a film superior in the practical use.
For example, a use of organic solution of an inorganic compound such as indium nitrate, indium chloride or stannic chloride causes the formed film to generate a white spot or to have a weak mechanical strength which results in an easy scratching. There is a method to use an indium organic acid compound having a strong ion bonding such as indium octylate. Since the organic indium compound tends to be hydrolized and is relatively easy to be chemically changed, it is disadvantageous that the application method of liquid generates a gel state. Further, there is proposed another method to use an organic complex of indium or tin. In this method, an evaporation of tin compound during the heat treatment accompanied with thermal decomposition of the film applied to the glass substrate prevents the resultant film from forming an uniform structure. It is difficult for this method to obtain a uniform film having a low electric resistance.
In order to solve the problem mentioned above, an object of the present invention is to provide a composition capable of forming a transparent and electrically conductive film having a low electric resistance and a high transmittance without the evaporation of tin compound during the heat treatment and a method for making the film by use of the composition.
As a result of our sharp study, we found that if a composition to be applied on a substrate contains a Tin compound in a complex form represented by the formula:InX.sub.p-r SnY.sub.q-s Zr.sub.s+, the tin compound is not easy to evaporate during the heat treatment. Therefore, in a first aspect in order to achieve the object, the present invention is to provide a composition for use in a formation of a transparent and electrically conductive film, which essentially comprises a composite compound represented by the formula: EQU InX.sub.p-r SnY.sub.q-s Z.sub.r+s
wherein InX.sub.p is an inorganic indium salt, SnY.sub.q is an organic tin salt and Z is a organic compound capable of coordinating with indium and tin; p, q, r and s are coordination numbers.
In accordance with a composition for use in a formation of transparent and electrically conductive film, a mixture of inorganic indium compound and organic tin compound is combined with organic compound capable of coordinating with both of indium and tin to form an organic solution. When the organic solution is heated, the inorganic indium compound and the organic tin compound coordinating partially with the organic compound react with water of crystallization of inorganic indium compound. The organic tin compound is partially hydrolyzed to form the intermediate complex compound including indium and tin as represented by the above formula. This suppresses the evaporation of tin or tin compound and provides a uniform film having a high transmittance and a low electric resistance.
Accordingly, in a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a composition for use in a formation of a transparent and electrically conductive film , which is prepared by partial hydrolysis under heat treatment of an organic solution mainly containing an inorganic indium compound, an organic tin compound and an organic compound capable of coordinating with indium and tin.
In the organic solution, said organic tin salt is preferablly mixed with said inorganic indium salt in a mixing ratio of 5 to 20 wt % by a definition of Sn/(Sn+In) .times. 100%.
Further, it is preferred that said inorganic indium salt is selected from the group consisting of indium nitrate, indium sulfate and indium chloride. Also, it is preferred that said organic tin salt is selected from the group consisting of salts of a carboxylic acid and a dicarboxylic acid. Furthermore, it is preferred that said organic compound capable of coordinating with tin and indium is selected from the group consisting of .beta.-diketone group, .alpha. or .beta.-ketone acid group, ester group of .alpha. or .beta.-ketone acid group and .alpha. or .beta.-amino alcohol group.
An addition of polyhydric alcohol increases the viscosity of the organic solution and gives a high stability to a resultant film obtained by applying the solution to the substrate and firing or firing. Accordingly, in a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a composition for use in a formation of a transparent and electrically conductive film which further contains a polyhydric alcohol.
Since the composition for use in a formation of a transparent and electrically conductive film is fixed on the substrate, it is preferred that the composition further contains a catalyzer for thermal decomposition in order to promote a thermal decomposition. The catalyzer is preferablly selected from the group consisting of a peroxide compound and a nitro compound. Preferred examples are hydrogen peroxide, tri-nitrotoluene and picric acid since these compounds having small carbon number tend to leave little residual carbon after the thermal decomposition thereof.
In a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provived a method for making a transparent and electrically conductive film, which comprises steps of providing a composition for use in a formation of a transparent and electrically conductive film by heating an organic solution mainly containing an inorganic indium salt, an organic tin salt and organic compound capable of coordinating with indium and tin to carry out partial hydrolysis of said organic solution and if necessary, thereafter adding a polyhydric alcohol and/or a catalyzer for thermal decomposition to a resultant organic solution; applying said composition to a substrate and after drying subjecting the substrate having said composition film applied thereto to a firing treatment.
In the method for making a transparent and electrically conductive film, it is preferred that the firing treatment is carried out in a temperature rising speed of 20 .degree. C./min. or more and under a pressurized atmosphere of steam in order to promote a hydrolysis reaction.
In order to carry out the method for making a transparent and electrically conductive film under a reducing atmosphere, it is necessary that the organic tin salt has an oxygen content of 22 at % or more. Even if the firing treatment is carried out under the reducing atmosphere, the organic compound capable of coordinating with both of indium and tin can evaporate before the thermal decomposition thereof and the inorganic indium compound and the organic tin compound can thermally decompose by means of their own oxygen, so that the oxygen defect amount becomes to be increased and thus the resulting film resistance can be lowered, comparing with that of a film formed by firing under a conventional oxygen atmosphere.
In the method for making a transparent and electrically conductive film in order to achieve a uniform heating the composition applied on the substrate to prevent a formation of semi-hardened or cracked skin layer on a surface of the film, it is preferred that the firing treatment is carried out by means of thermal decomposition due to a radiant heat under a semi-closed atmosphere. Such a thermal decomposition under the semi-closed atmosphere may be carried out in a room defined by walls made of metal, glass or ceramics material provided with small holes, whereby the atmosphere pressure can be self-controlled by means of a ratio B/A between (B) an amount of decomposed gas generating on the thermal decomposition of the composition applied on the substrate and the (A) total area of the small holes for discharging the decomposed gas.
In an embodiment for carrying out the above method for making a transparent and electrically conductive film, an oven provided with the following design conditions can realize the best mode of the thermal decomposition:
(1) wherein the thermal decomposition under the semi-closed atmosphere is carried out in a room defined by walls, each of which temperature can be controlled independently in a manner to make a property of transparent and electrically conductive film formed on front and back surfaces of the substrate to be uniform. PA1 (2) wherein the thermal decomposition under the semi-closed atmosphere is carried out by a direct heat from the walls or by a indirect heat in a semi-closed box heated by a receiving heat from the walls. PA1 (3) wherein the pressure of the semi-closed atmosphere is from 5 to 100mmH.sub.2 O when the thermal decomposition is going. PA1 (4) wherein a ratio (V/A) between the room volume (V) of the semi-closed atmosphere and the total area (A) of the holes for discharging the decomposed gas is from 50 to 2000 cm.sup.3 /cm.sup.2. PA1 (5) wherein a ratio (B/A) between the amount (B) of the decomposed gas and the total area (A) of the holes for discharging the decomposed gas is from 100 to 10000 ml/cm.sup.3. PA1 (6) wherein a ratio (B/V) between the amount (B) of the decomposed gas and the room volume (V) of the semi-closed atmosphere is from 0.01 to 1000 ml/cm.sup.3.
Meanwhile, according to the method of the present invention, there are provided various kinds of the transparent and electrically conductive films. Among them, as a result of our studying a relation between the average particle size and the electrical resistance or the visible light transmittance (at 550 nm), we found that the films which comprise oxide particles of indium and tin having a particle diameter of 30 to 100 nm are superior in the electrical resistance as shown in FIG. 2, since a particle size of 100 nm or more makes a contact resistance between the particles to be large and thus results in a lower packing density. On the contrary, a particle size of 30 nm or less makes a film strength to be weak and thus makes a film resistance to be large.
Also, we found that the more uniform the avarage particle size becomes, the higher strength the film is provided with. Accordingly, the present invention is to provide a transparent and electrically conductive film, wherein 90% of the oxide particles is within a distribution of center particle size .+-. 3.sigma., whereby the film comes to have a much lower resistance.
Further, as a result of studying the relation between the average particle size and the film thickness, we found that it is preferable that a ratio a/b between the average particle size (a) and the film thickness (b) is 0.7 or less, because a number of particles arranged in a series to a thickness direction of the film has a much influence on the film strength.

Composition for use in a transparent and electrically conductive film and a method for making the film

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An arrangement, storage medium, and method are provided for accessing monitoring data from a storage arrangement of a processing system using a Web Service, in which the monitoring data is associated with a field device. For example, the monitoring data may be in an Extensible Markup Language (“XML”) format, and a Simple Object Access Protocol can be used to access a particular portion of the monitoring data from the database. Moreover, based on the monitoring data, the field device can be replaced before problems arise therewith.

Conventional monitoring arrangements may include a plurality of field devices (e.g., smart field devices), positioned at various locations on a network. The smart field devices may include a processor, and can be temperature sensors, pressure sensors, flow rate sensors, valves, switches, etc., or combinations thereof. The smart field devices may be communicatively coupled to each other using an open smart communications protocol. Such open smart communications protocols may include HART®, PROFIBUS®, FOUNDATION® Fieldbus, etc. These open smart communications protocol enable smart field devices that are manufactured by different manufactures to be used together in the same process. The conventional arrangements also may include a controller communicatively coupled to each of the smart field devices using the open smart communications protocol. Moreover the controller may include a processor, and can receive data from each of the smart field devices.
In operation, each smart field device may perform a particular function within the arrangement. For example, a temperature sensor may measure a temperature of a liquid, a pressure sensor may measure pressure within a container, a flow rate sensor may measure a flow rate of the liquid, etc. Similarly, valves and switches may open to allow or increase the flow of the liquid, or may close to stop the flow of the liquid or to decrease the flow rate of the liquid. After the smart field devices obtain measurements of various process parameters, or the valves or switches are opened/closed, the smart field devices may communicate with the controller. For example, the smart field devices may forward the data to the controller, and the controller can implement a control procedure based on the received data.
Moreover, the smart field devices and/or the controller may be adapted or operable to detect existing problems associated with the smart field devices. For example, the smart field device can measure instantaneous temperatures and/or instantaneous flow rates of a fluid, and may store the temperatures and flow rates in a database. The smart field devices can also continuously calculate an average fluid temperature or an average fluid flow rate, and compare the most recently measured temperature or flow rate to the average fluid temperature or flow rate, respectively. When the efficiency of the smart field device decreases, the most recently measured temperature or flow rate may be substantially less than or greater than the average temperature or flow rate, respectively. When the smart field device detects this deviation, it forwards the data to the controller, and the controller reports the existence of the problem to a receiving processing system. Subsequently, the smart field device may be replaced and/or maintenance can be performed on the smart field device.
Nevertheless, such systems only depend on the data associated with the performance of the smart field device to determine whether to replace or perform maintenance on the smart field device. Consequently, problems with the smart field device may arise before the maintenance is performed on the smart field device and/or before the smart field device is replaced. Moreover, in order to access the data associated with the performance of the smart field device, certain programming language and/or particular platform used by the receiving processing system can be the same as the programing language and/or the platform used by a processing system which is accessing the data.

Arrangements and methods for monitoring processes and devices using a web service


A method of controlling polishing includes receiving user input through a graphical user interface selecting a function, the function including at least one parameter that can be varied, polishing a substrate, monitoring a substrate during polishing with an in-situ monitoring system, generating a sequence of values from measurements from the in-situ monitoring system, fitting the function to the sequence of values, the fitting including determining a value of the at least one parameter that provides a best fit of the function to the sequence of values, determining a projected time at which the function equals a target value, and determining at least one of a polishing endpoint or an adjustment for a polishing rate based on the projected time.

An integrated circuit is typically formed on a substrate by the sequential deposition of conductive, semiconductive, or insulative layers on a silicon wafer. A variety of fabrication processes require planarization of a layer on the substrate. For example, for certain applications, e.g., polishing of a metal layer to form vias, plugs, and lines in the trenches of a patterned layer, an overlying layer is planarized until the top surface of a patterned layer is exposed. In other applications, e.g., planarization of a dielectric layer for photolithography, an overlying layer is polished until a desired thickness remains over the underlying layer.
Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is one accepted method of planarization. This planarization method typically requires that the substrate be mounted on a carrier or polishing head. The exposed surface of the substrate is typically placed against a rotating polishing pad. The carrier head provides a controllable load on the substrate to push it against the polishing pad. Abrasive polishing slurry is typically supplied to the surface of the polishing pad.
One problem in CMP is determining whether the polishing process is complete, i.e., whether a substrate layer has been planarized to a desired flatness or thickness, or when a desired amount of material has been removed. Variations in the slurry distribution, the polishing pad condition, the relative speed between the polishing pad and the substrate, and the load on the substrate can cause variations in the material removal rate. These variations, as well as variations in the initial thickness of the substrate layer, cause variations in the time needed to reach the polishing endpoint. Therefore, determining the polishing endpoint merely as a function of polishing time can lead to within-wafer non-uniformity (WIWNU) and wafer-to-wafer non-uniformity (WTWNU).
In some systems, a substrate is optically monitored in-situ during polishing, e.g., through a window in the polishing pad. However, existing optical monitoring techniques may not satisfy increasing demands of semiconductor device manufacturers.

User-input functions for data sequences in polishing endpoint detection