A dishwasher pump and automatic purge system which includes a wash impeller supported for rotation within a pump chamber wherein the pump chamber has a main outlet and a sample outlet port. Wash liquid pumped out through the main outlet is recirculated throughout the dishwasher interior wash chamber. A soil collector receives wash liquid through the sample outlet port. The soil collector includes a filter screen for returning filtered wash liquid back into the sump such that soils are retained in the soil collector. Pressure within the soil collector is sensed by a pressure sensor. The soil collector is purged by a drain pump when the pressure within the soil accumulator exceeds a predetermined limit level such that soils are cleared from the collector and the filter screen. When the pressure within the soil accumulator is reduced to below the predetermined limit level, the drain pump is deenergized. A control valve is provided for preventing fluid flow from the dishwasher sump to the drain pump during the purge operation while the wash pump is operating. The control valve is operated in response to fluid pressure created by the wash impeller.

The present invention relates to a dishwasher filtration and soil collection system, and more particularly to a system for automatically purging a filter and soil collection system in a dishwasher to remove accumulated soils.
Typical domestic dishwashers in use today draw wash liquid from a sump at the bottom of a wash tub and spray the wash liquid within the wash tub to remove soils from dishes located on racks in the tub. In an attempt to improve performance and efficiency, some dishwashers employ a system for separating soil out of the recirculating wash liquid and for retaining the soils in a collection chamber. Frequently, a filter screen is used to retain soil in a soil collection chamber. U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,433, for example, discloses a dishwasher system including a centrifugal soil separator which sends soil laden wash liquid into a soil container whereupon the soil laden wash liquid passes through a fine filter disposed in the wall of the soil container.
Inherent in the system described in the '433 patent, and in any fine mesh filter screen system in a dishwasher, is the problem of screen clogging by food soils removed from the dishes. Typically, backwash jets are directed against the filter in an attempt to clear the filter and prevent clogging. Heavy soil loads, however, can result in screen clogging in spite of backwash jets.
Screen clogging can adversely affect the dishwasher's cleaning ability, causing poor washability and indirectly causing increased water and energy consumption. Moreover, the build-up of pressure behind the screen may increase--to a maximum determined by the ability of the pump supplying soil laden wash liquid against the screen--and result in soil embedding into the screen such that it is difficult to subsequently remove the soils from the screen.
Some attempts have been made to develop a dishwasher wash system which is capable of dealing with heavy soil loads and avoid filter clogging. U.S. Pat. No. 4,559,959 discloses a dishwasher wherein soil load is measured by monitoring pressure in a soil collection chamber in which soils are retained after the wash liquid passes through a filter mesh. If the pressure exceeds a predetermined limit, indicating that the filter mesh is clogged, the wash liquid is completely purged by draining all of the wash liquid out of the tub and refilling the tub with fresh water. The '959 patent provides for a maximum of three complete purges at the beginning of the dishwasher cycle. Additionally, the number of purges required is monitored and that information is used to control the subsequent wash cycle--selecting the appropriate cycle for the soil load of the dishes.
Concerns over dishwasher water and energy consumption make complete purges of wash liquid from a tub undesirable. Accordingly, some dishwasher systems utilize purges which only partially drain the dishwasher tub. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,346,723 discloses a dishwashing system wherein soils are collected in a bypass soil collector. The soil collector may be purged by draining small amounts of wash liquid in "spurts" during an early wash period by selectively opening and closing a drain valve.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,042 discloses a method of washing dishes wherein during the wash cycle a portion of the washing solution is drained from the bottom of the tub to remove soils. The wash solution is subsequently replenished with fresh water having a volume equal to the volume of the discharged wash solution.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,679 includes a soil collection system wherein wash liquid is sent into a filtration chamber and then returned to the tub sump through a filter. After the first wash cycle, a portion of wash liquid, approximately 1 gallon out of the total 2.3 gallons of wash liquid, is sent to drain and then replaced by adding fresh water to the tub.
The above described systems all include several drawbacks. One of the most significant is that, for all of these references, a relatively large quantity of water is drained during each purge. Moreover, several of the above references teach interrupting the wash operation during each drain purge such that no spray is directed against the dishes while wash liquid is being purged. Another problem with the above described systems is one of soil redeposition wherein soils, collected in the soil collection chamber prior to each purge, are redeposited onto the dishes during the purge cycle.
In addition to the inadequacies of the prior art in dealing with clogging filter screens, there exists a need for an improved food particle sizing system in a dishwasher. Modern dishwashers are sold under the promotion that dirty dishes can be loaded into the dishwasher with a minimum of preliminary rinsing or cleaning. In order to fulfill this promise, many dishwashers are equipped with internal food processor or garbage disposal systems. Current food processors or "food choppers" typically includes a straight blade confined within a cylindrical housing adjacent a sizing plate. Typically, the blade is mounted on the output shaft of the dishwasher motor and rotates as the wash impeller rotates.
The problem associated with this currently available design is in its inability to process tough or fibrous foods such as corn skins. Specifically, corn skins have been observed wrapping around the leading edge of a straight blade wherein they are held against the blade by the force of the blade moving through the water. When food particles, such as corn skins, are retained against the blade, they are not efficiently passed through the sizing plate and into the soil accumulator. As a result, the skins or other fibrous food may remain in the food chopper housing after the wash water has been drained and are often carried out of the sump late in the wash cycle and redeposited on the dishes. As a result, difficult soils such as corn skins are never removed at all due to the inability of currently available food choppers to cut these fibrous soils into small pieces which can be filtered out in the accumulator system.
Another problem associated with the currently available food choppers is the accumulating of soils against the inside surface of the housing which surrounds the blade. As the blade rotates within the housing, the food is often thrown against the inside surface of the housing and retained there during the wash cycle. Obviously it would be preferable to have all food or "soil" move through the blade region such that the soils may be chopped and pass through the sizing plate wherein the soils may be separated and collected in a soil accumulation system.
Accordingly, there is a need for a dishwasher with improved soil chopping capabilities.

Automatic purge filtration system for a dishwasher


A folding camping stove. The folding camping stove may be formed in a clamshell configuration, having two clamshells that fold outward to expose at least two cooking surfaces. Two pivot points are provided on the folding camping stove. Each of the clamshells folds about a separate pivot point. Fuel trains for the clamshells are positioned at the pivot points. A regulator and manifold assembly is provided for providing gas from a canister to the folding stove. The manifold splits the gas coming from the regulator and directs it to opposite sides of the folding stove. Each of the clamshells includes a cooking grate. The cooking grates appear symmetrical from a top view, but are slightly offset relative to one another so that the clamshells may be folded inward relative to each other and the grates may nest together.

Portable stoves are popular cooking appliances, especially for use while camping or picnicking. Portable stoves commonly are powered by combustible gasses, such as propane gas. A typical portable stove includes a stove frame, one or more burner assemblies arranged in the frame, and a gas supply, such as a gas canister, coupled to the burner assembly via a control valve. Smaller versions convenient for backpacking may be not much larger than the gas canister itself, while larger versions designed for group camping may be the size of a large briefcase.
Larger portable stoves typically are designed to rest on a picnic table and open and close in a manner similar to that of a hard-sided suitcase. As with a suitcase, there may be a handle in the middle of the long, narrow front panel for carrying the portable stove in the closed position.
While these larger, suitcase-style portable stoves work well for their intended purpose, there are some limitations to their use. Generally, the suitcase-style portable stoves require a separate table on which to rest, and must be level or near level on that table. In addition, although the suitcase-style portable stoves fold into a box configuration, they are still somewhat bulky for travel and storage. Care must be taken with the devices because there are often objects that extend outside the box configuration, such as gas line attachments or control knobs, which may need protection during storage and/or transport.


A device for cooking tortilla shells evenly and to create a U-shape for tacos or bowl-shape for tostadas. For tacos, the device has one shaping member with a top, a bottom, a plurality of vertically disposed peaks from bottom to top, and a plurality of valleys adjacent to each of the peaks. A plurality of apertures are on each of the peaks the purpose of which is to allow full circulation of microwaves on the seated surface of a tortilla shell placed on this shaping member. A two-piece cooking device has two similarly configured rounded shaping members each with a flat top and a downward extending side wall. The top and side walls have a plurality of apertures. A tortilla is placed in between the two shaping members and heated in a microwave oven. Such cooking causes the tortilla shell to retain the bowl-like shape of the two shaping members.

This tortilla cooking device of this present disclosure relates to an improvement in cooking tortillas, and more particularly to cooking tortillas in a more healthy fashion and shaping them into pre-formed taco shells and pre-formed tortilla-bowls.
Eating and cooking tortillas, corn or flour, in their various forms be that as a taco, an enchilada, a tostada, a burrito, or any combinations of those and other forms of Mexican foods, has become extremely popular. So popular that such is no longer limited to speciality Mexican restaurants. Many non-Mexican themed fast-food establishments have also embraced the tortilla in its many forms.
Many large-chain supermarkets stock and sell various forms of tortilla shells for the home shopper. Such tortilla shells may be of the relatively fresh uncooked or partially cooked variety, pre-cooked or pre-formed variety, crisp variety, and the like. Pre-cooked and preformed may take the shape of a conventional U-shaped taco shell to a fancy bowl-shape in which to place a salad, guacamole, frijoles, or any other such treats or combinations thereof.
Uncooked tortilla shells are not generally suited for most Mexican-related meals. The most well recognized means of cooking tortilla shells by a home user are by frying the soft tortilla shell in a frying pan having a suitable shortening in it. Frying for a short period of time will render the cooked shell pliable. Frying for longer periods will render the cooked shell crisp and brittle. How fried and for how long will all depend on the individual tastes of the end user. For those preferring the crisp shell over the softer shell, cooking the tortilla shells is difficult. One must cook them in the oil and shape them while cooking until the desired shaped is accomplished. All the while during this cooking process, the user must be careful to create and maintain the desired shape while cooking and not to break the tortilla shell in the process.
Many innovations in tortilla-cooking devices and utensils have been made over the years due in large part to the rising popularity of foods involving the use of tortilla shells. The Information Disclosure Statement accompanying this current application illustrates the more pertinent of such innovations.
Health-conscious dictates frying with shortenings and oils having lower fats and other unhealthy ingredients. Some have event taken to baking the tortilla shells to their liking thereby eliminating any undesirable qualities occasioned by use of any shortening or oil. Baking, however, is more time-consuming and consumes considerable energy in the process. Cooking tortilla shells in the microwave oven makes it extremely difficult to form and generally tends to render the cooked shell soggy and unappealing. If the tortilla shell is of the flour variety, in addition, it will blister and generally deform.
None of the innovations uncovered have been as innovative as the tortilla cooking device of this present disclosure which, by using the microwave oven, can cook any variety of tortilla shells into the most commonly desired shapes to produce a more healthy and edible tortilla shell than previously capable. All this while preventing deformation and in the process minimizing the blistering effect as many of the flour variety are prone to do if cooked with any other cooking device in the microwave oven.
The tortilla cooking device of this present disclosure directs microwave air flow in such a manner as to more evenly and fully cook the tortilla shell and limit blistering especially when cooking flour tortilla shells for tostada bowls. The mold for cooking tortilla shells into taco shells and the mold for cooking tortilla shells into tostada bowls are slightly different but are interchangeable for use with the same base. In short, the tortilla cooking device of this present disclosure is extremely easy to use, simple to manufacture, and extremely versatile.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the tortilla cooking device of this present disclosure. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the tortilla cooking device of this present disclosure. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed tortilla cooking device of this present disclosure in a different manner or by modifying the tortilla cooking device of this present disclosure within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the tortilla cooking device of this present disclosure may be had by referring to the summary of the tortilla cooking device of this present disclosure and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the tortilla cooking device of this present disclosure defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


A circuit substrate including a laminated layer, an embedded electronic device, at least a circuit structure, and a solder mask layer is provided. The embedded electronic device is disposed within the laminated layer. The circuit structure is disposed on a surface of the laminated layer and is connected between a reference plane and the embedded electronic device. In addition, the solder mask layer is disposed on the surface of the laminated layer and exposes a portion of the circuit structure. The circuit structure has a specific layout by which a circuit trace with an adjustable length can be formed by disconnecting or connecting the exposed portion of the circuit structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a circuit substrate and a method for fabricating the same. In particular, the present invention relates to a package substrate having a adjustable circuit structure and a method for fabricating said package structure.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, electronic devices are frequently installed in a circuit board for improving electrical properties of the electronic devices, which is known as a system-in-package (SIP) structure. The SIP structure is referred to as a system integration package. Namely, the electronic devices are compacted into a single package in which passive devices, memories, electronic connectors, and other embedded devices are included. A variety of manufacturing methods can be applied to the SIP structure made of various materials. As the electronic devices are configured within the circuit board, metal lines (conductive layers) are stacked on the circuit board through performing a build-up method, so as to assemble the circuit board having multiple layers.
Nevertheless, the SIP structure has a relatively complicated structure notwithstanding the fact that the SIP structure can effectively reduce package area and initially integrate the system. Moreover, in comparison with a single chip package, the SIP structure encounters more challenges with respect to its design for heat dissipation and maintenance of electrical reliability. In particular, the SIP structure contains a variety of embedded devices integrated in the circuit board, thus posing a limitation on the circuit layout of the SIP structure. During fabrication of the SIP structure, circuit patterns are not apt to be adjusted, and electrical performance of the entire device is relatively affected. Taking a common embedded band pass filter (BPF) as an example, the circuit acting as an inductor cannot be adjusted in a timely manner, and therefore a frequency shift is prone to occur, exacerbating the band-pass effect and deteriorating performance of the SIP structure.

Circuit substrate and method for fabricating inductive circuit

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc.


Debugging a program in an apparatus using a lockstep method are more efficiently performed and a semiconductor apparatus includes a first processor core, a second processor core, a first debug circuit, a second debug circuit, and an error control circuit capable of outputting an error signal for stopping execution of a program by the first processor core and the second processor core. The second debug circuit performs setting regarding debugging different from that of the first processor core with respect to the second processor core. Even if a first processing result of the first processor core and a second processing result of the second processor core do not coincide with each other, the error control circuit invalidates the output of the error signal when the first processor core executes the program and the second processor core stops execution of the program based on the setting regarding debugging.

The present disclosure relates to a semiconductor device and a debugging method, and can be suitably applied to, for example, a device using a lockstep method.
Conventionally, in a control device or the like for a vehicle, even if a failure occurs in a microcomputer which is a constituent element of the control device or the like, a function of securing minimum allowable safety by applying a functional contrivance is required. For example, even if a failure occurs, it is required to detect the failure within a predetermined period of time after the occurrence of the failure.
As an example of functional contrivance, a lockstep method using a plurality of processor cores is known. In connection with this technique, Japanese unexamined Patent Application publication No. 2014-132384 discloses a technique related to a microcomputer using a lockstep method.
The microcomputer according to the Japanese unexamined Patent Application publication No. 2014-132384 includes first and second CPU cores, a storage unit storing a table in which information of a plurality of flip-flops and a plurality of functional blocks is stored, and a control unit. In the normal operation mode, the control unit switches the mode from the normal operation mode to the inconsistent portion specifying mode when the inconsistency between the outputs of the first and second CPU cores is detected. In the inconsistent portion specifying mode, the control unit extracts a function block corresponding to the flip-flop specified on the basis of the comparison result of the outputs of the scan chains of the first and second CPU cores from the table, and stops the function of the function block.


A terminal device is operative to receive a broadcast message from a cellular network, the broadcast message including at least one bit associated with coverage enhancement, CE, operation of the terminal device. The terminal device is operative to control, when the terminal device is in CE operation, a radio interface to selectively delay, based on the at least one bit included in the broadcast message, a CE level dependent repetition of a random access preamble transmission.

With increasing popularity of mobile data communication, an ever increasing number of devices are equipped with a radio interface for communication with a cellular network.
In order to accommodate the ever increasing number of devices that can connect to a cellular network, machine type communication (MTC) is being developed. In order to improve the likelihood that terminal devices that are located close to the boundary of a cell of a cellular network can still connect to the cellular network, coverage enhancement (CE) can be used. Coverage enhancement is based on transmission repetition. Coverage enhancement is targeted to improve a radio link by using transmission repetition, leading to a higher accumulated received power because the accumulated energy of the repeated signals may be combined at the eNodeB.
Coverage enhancement may be implemented in such a manner that a plurality of different coverage enhancement levels is available. In evolved MTC (eMTC), up to 15 dB coverage enhancement may be available. In case of Narrow band IoT (NB_IoT) up to 20 dB coverage enhancement or even greater coverage enhancement may be attainable. The coverage enhancement might be useful for devices that are positioned outside the normal cell boundary or that may be located in a basement or in another location where attenuation of signals between the base station and the terminal device is large. The coverage enhancement levels may be divided in steps of a fixed dB-value, such as in steps of 3 dB. Each one of the different coverage enhancement levels may be associated with a different number of required transmission repetitions. For higher coverage enhancement levels, i.e. those levels that provide the largest coverage enhancement, the number of repetitions may be in excess of 10. The number of repetitions may be dependent on channel, e.g. different numbers of repetitions may be used for PRACH, PUCCH, PDSCH or PUSCH.
The repetition of transmissions that depends on coverage enhancement level will also apply to random access procedures. In particular, the transmission of the random access preamble, which is msg1 in a random access procedure, by a terminal device may be repeated for a number of times that depends on coverage enhancement level, until a random access response is received. This repetition of a transmission, that will be referred to as CE level dependent repetition in the following, must not be confused with the retransmissions of a random access preamble that occurs also in systems without coverage enhancement. The CE level dependent repetition of the random access preamble transmission is typically implemented in addition to, i.e. on top off, the repetition of random access preamble transmission that occurs without any coverage enhancement. This increased number of random access preamble transmissions, i.e. the higher number of repetitions that is caused by the combination of CE level dependent repetition and legacy retransmissions of random access preamble transmission, may give rise to congestion situations in a radio access network.
One approach to address such congestion situations could be preventing some terminal devices from performing the CE level dependent repetition of random access preamble transmissions altogether, barring off the device. Such approaches may, however, preclude terminal devices from performing random access even in cases in which the terminal device is sensitive to increased latency. This may be the case when the terminal device has a subscription level that should normally guarantee good service to the terminal device or if the terminal device can otherwise not accept increased latency, e.g. because it requires cellular access for specific purposes.

Terminal device, network node and method for random access in coverage enhancement operation


The invention relates to a safety tile, including a tile body of rigid material, such as concrete, and a cover plate provided with an enclosing edge and being of an elastically flexible material, such as rubber. The cover plate has ribs integrally formed therewith uniformly distributed at its bottom side directed towards the tile body, of which the bottom ends hang down and rest on the upper surface of the tile body. The ribs extend diagonally across the bottom side of the plate with main diagonals extending between two opposite corners of the cover plate. Near each of the two opposite corners, each main diagonal rib has a widened bearing face which forms the basis of a locking part connected therewith, which locking parts have been locked in the tile body.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a safety tile, consisting of a tile body of rigid material, such as concrete, and a cover plate provided with an enclosing edge and being of an elastically flexible material, such as rubber. The cover plate has ribs integrally formed therewith uniformly distributed at its bottom side directed towards the tile body. The ribs are spacing members, of which the bottom ends hanging down rest on the upper surface of the tile body. Also integrally formed therewith are locking parts, which are longer than the spacing members, and have their ends protruding beyond the spacing members locked in the tile body, and also locked to a cover plate to be used therewith.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
One example of a safety tile is known from a Dutch Patent Specification 181,881. This concerns a safety tile, consisting of a concrete tile, covered by a cover plate of rubber, in which spacing ribs have been made at mutually equal distances and parallel to the edges of the tile on a regular square pattern. A locking body is made in the cover plate and formed integrally therewith, and is situated near each corner of the square tile. These locking bodies consist of a thickened bottom part of the same height as the spacing ribs with a mushroom-shaped locking body protruding beyond it. In mounting these tiles, one uses prefabricated concrete tiles, which have a cavity near their four corner for receiving the mushroom-shaped locking means. These cavities are filled with cement or another suitable type of kit. The cover plate is then positioned onto the tile body with the locking means in the cement, which is still wet, and the ribs lying against the top side of the tile body. After drying and setting of the cement, the concrete tile and the cover plate form an inseparable unity, which represents an efficient safety tile.
Thanks to the regular pattern of the spacing ribs, a good distribution of pressure across the cover plate occurs with loading, while the air cavities enclosed between the ribs guarantee a good resiliency.
Of great importance with a safety tile, is the absorption of pressure on impact load, as can occur when, for example, a playing child suddenly falls, for example, from a climbing frame, and hits its head or another part of the body on such a safety tile. With such an impact load it is important that the locally applied pressure is distributed as much as possible across the entire tile surface. If such an impact load occurs in the middle of the tile, the ribs will be able to provide a sufficient diversion of pressure. However, this is different, if the impact load occurs at one of the corners of such a tile, where the locking part is situated. The impact pressure on such a locking part is primarily absorbed locally. The consequence is that no sufficient diversion of pressure can occur. In the exemplary situation that a child hits its head or another part of the body precisely in that place, it could get seriously injured.

Safety tile, as well as cover plate to be used therewith


A method of controlling a temperature of a semiconductor device during testing is used with a system including a heater and a heat sink and a temperature control system. The semiconductor device is thermally coupled to the heater, which is thermally coupled to a heat sink. The heat sink defines a chamber, and the chamber is adapted to have a liquid flowing through the chamber. The temperature control system is coupled to the heater and the heat sink. In the method, the temperature of the semiconductor device is moved to approximately a first set point temperature. The temperature of the semiconductor device is moved to approximately a second set point temperature, from approximately the first set point temperature, by changing a temperature of the heater and maintaining the liquid flowing into the chamber at a substantially constant temperature.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to temperature control systems which maintain the temperature of an electronic device near a given set point temperature(s) while the device is being operated or tested. Two specific examples of electronic devices which need to be operated or tested at a constant temperature are packaged integrated chips and unpackaged bare chips.
2. Description of the Related Art
Maintaining the chip temperature near a given set point is not difficult if the power dissipation of the chip is constant or varies in a small range while operating or testing. In such cases, it is only necessary to couple the chip through a fixed thermal resistance to a thermal mass which is at a fixed temperature. But if the instantaneous power dissipation of the chip varies up and down in a wide range while operating or testing, then maintaining the chip temperature near a constant set point is very difficult. When chips are being debugged or tested, it is advantageous to evaluate their performance at a variety of temperatures, ranging from cold to hot. Combining the ability to force temperature across a wide temperature range, while accommodating the temperature changes associated with varying instantaneous power dissipation, is very challenging.
Typical approaches to solve this problem involve forced air convection systems that extend well beyond the desired forcing temperature range at both the hot and cold ends. In this way, an attempt can be made to accelerate the chip""s temperature conditioning by overcooling or overheating. As the nominal power density of the chips continue to increase, the ability of forced air convection systems to overcool reaches practical limits, causing increases in the temperature error between the desired and actual temperatures relative to set point. Another problem is that chips fabricated in the latest processes have an increased sensitivity to high temperatures. The potential for chip damage due to overheating adds risk to the use of the overheating approach. Increased time to set point is the result, with lost utilization of expensive test equipment and engineering personnel as an expense.
Another approach is the use of dual liquid conduction systems, with one hot and one cold liquid. The proportion of the liquids are mechanically metered to affect the desired forcing temperature. To achieve fast response times, this approach requires that the metering occur very close to the chip. This imposes mechanical packaging constraints which limit the flexibility to bring the surface of the temperature forcing system control surface into contact with the chip or chip package. Even so, the mechanical metering of the dual liquids is much slower to affect a change in the forcing temperature when compared to the temperature changes induced by the chip""s instantaneous power dissipation. This also causes increased error between the desired and actual temperatures.
The present invention is directed to overcoming or at least reducing the effects of one or more of the problems set out above.
In one aspect of the present invention, a method of controlling a temperature of a semiconductor device during testing is used with a system including a heater and a heat sink and a temperature control system. The semiconductor device is thermally coupled to the heater, which is thermally coupled to a heat sink. The heat sink defines a chamber, and the chamber is adapted to have a liquid flowing through the chamber. The temperature control system is coupled to the heater and the heat sink. In the method, the temperature of the semiconductor device is moved to approximately a first set point temperature. The temperature of the semiconductor device is moved to approximately a second set point temperature, from approximately the first set point temperature, by changing a temperature of the heater and maintaining the liquid flowing into the chamber at a substantially constant temperature.

Apparatus, method and system of liquid-based, wide range, fast response temperature control of electric devices


A retrofit lamp is to be used with a ballast. A shunt switch is provided in parallel with an output load and is adapted to shunt input terminals of the lamp using pulse width control so as to tune the current through the lighting element. This current control is used to enable compatibility with different ballasts and to provide dimming control. A detection circuit is used to detect an abnormal drive condition of the retrofit lamp and the pulse width control of the shunt switch can then be overridden by holding the shunt switch at a stable state for a certain duration. This prevents overload conditions and avoids DC signals in the event of component failures.

HID or fluorescent lighting arrangements are commonly used to light industrial or domestic buildings. Typically, such lighting arrangements comprise fluorescent tubes or HID lamps comprising mercury, where current flowing through the lamp causes it to emit light.
Gas-discharge lighting arrangements typically comprise an electromagnetic (inductor-based) or electronic (semiconductor switch-based) ballast adapted to provide an alternating current to the gas-discharge lamp. The ballast regulates the current flowing through the gas-discharge lamp to ensure that a runaway current does not cause damage to the lamp.
Recently, it has been increasingly desirable to replace gas-discharge lamps with an LED arrangement. This may be for reasons such as increased lifespan, greater efficiency and reduced used of potentially hazardous materials (such as mercury). Accordingly, there is a need for arrangements which may convert an output of the electromagnetic ballast into a form suitable for the LED arrangement.
In the simplest case, an LED string can be connected to the ballast using a diode bridge for converting high frequency AC power to DC and a capacitor for smoothing out the ripple current. If the LED string voltage is chosen substantially close to the burning/discharging voltage of the fluorescent tube, the LED string will receive a similar power and current as the gas-discharge lamp.
However, sometimes the LED lamp has a power rating substantially lower than that of a traditional ballast. Furthermore, a dimming function in the LED lamp is desired. Therefore, LED lamps for use as retrofit lamps need to be compatible with the ballast. It is known, such as in US2013/221867A1, to provide this compatibility using a shunt switch that bypasses the LED arrangement from the ballast. In order to make the ballast work smoothly, this shunt switch short circuits the output of the ballast. In every half cycle, the shunt switch functions to provide a short, for a certain time, to regulate the output current. By adjusting the LED voltage and duty cycle, the LED current can be controlled. This enables compatibility as well as enabling a dimming function.
However, if there is an abnormal supply event, for example a disturbance to the mains, instability and saturation can arise. For example, if there is a half cycle voltage interrupt, an electromagnetic ballast will become unbalanced and will saturate. This may cause an uncontrolled high current in the lamp and a circuit breaker function of the power supply/ballast may be triggered. This problem is a result of the use of the shunt switch topology since the shunt switch, when conducting, has a very high impedance and causes the high current (while it is not a substantial problem for a conventional lamp since it always has a sufficiently high impedance).
Normally the ballast works with a balanced voltage over time so that the excitation current and demagnetizing current will always be equal. The interrupt disrupts this balance.
There is also a desire to prevent DC voltage levels remaining active in the event of a fault. In any single fault condition, the DC components of the input current and voltage in the ballast should for example be lower than 2% in order to meet some safety standards such as UL certification. For a shunt switch topology, when one of the rectifier bridge diodes is shorted, the voltage drop on the ballast again will be asymmetrical and have very high DC current component. This is another type of abnormal supply event. Thus, there are abnormal supply events resulting from the external supply to the lamp, and abnormal supply events resulting from component issues in the lamp.
To address this issue of rectifier diode failure, some proposed drivers use two diodes in series instead of one in each bridge arm, giving 8 diodes in total for a rectifier bridge. This increases cost, power loss, and needs more space. In a high lumen shunt switch driver, the diode power loss is significant so it becomes unacceptable to use double diodes.
Thus, the shunt switch driver topology introduces some difficulties in tolerating abnormal drive conditions, either resulting from external disturbances or internal component failures.

Retrofit lamp and a lighting system using the same


An electronic package incorporating a heat-generating element which is thermally coupled to a heat-sinking member, through the utilization of a predetermined thermally conductive material, and wherein all of these components are placed in compression during package operation so as to resultingly improve the thermal performance of the electronic package. A method is set forth of improving the thermal performance of an electronic package through the intermediary of compressive forces being generated between the package components during package operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic package incorporating a heat-generating element which is thermally coupled to a heat-sinking member, through the utilization of a predetermined thermally conductive material, and wherein all of these components are placed in compression during package operation so as to resultingly improve the thermal performance of the electronic package. Moreover, the invention is directed to a method of improving the thermal performance of an electronic package through the intermediary of compressive forces being generated between the package components during package operation.
In essence, the thermal performance of an electronic package, which may be constituted of a heat-generating element such as a semiconductor chip, and which is coupled to a heat-sinking member, such as a finned heat sink, or the like, may be implemented through the utilization of a specified thermally conductive material, and in which the thermal performance is governed by the highest thermal resistance present in the package. Quite frequently, this thermal resistance is encountered at the smallest area through which the heat which is generated must flow, and this typically occurs in a region or a gap between the chip dissipating the power and the heat sink, a cover plate or heat spreader. The resistance to heat flow in that direction is normally R=1/kA, where R represents the resistance in C/W, k is the thermal conductivity of the material present in the gap and 1 is the thickness of that material.
Pursuant to the inventive concept, compression between the various electronic package components can be provided through the use of a mechanical structure, such as springs or similar biasing elements imparting compression to the electronic package components, or through the employment of two adhesives possessing different coefficients of thermal expansion so as to, during operation of the electronic package, generate compressive forces improving the thermal performance of the electronic package.
2. Field of the Prior Art
The concept of employing compressive forces, and various methods of imparting such compressive forces to the components of electronic packages, is well-known in this technology.
Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 5,548,482, to Hatauchi et al., describes a module which is mechanically supported through the attachment thereof to a printed circuit board. The patent states that the supports for a card mounting the printed circuit board are attached by soldering, and thus, are able to support only limited stress above which the solder will tend to creep, especially at high operating temperatures. There is no clear disclosure of any method or structure to provide for the enhancement of the thermal performance of electronic packages analogous to that of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,602,719, to Kinion, describes a structure to provide for electronic package level cooling, and not for chip levels, as disclosed by the present inventive concept. There is no disclosure of providing for an improved thermal performance through the intermediary of an adhesive and applied pressure during electronic package operation. There is only a disclosure of a thermal grease and no suggestion of utilizing an adhesive, such as preferably a thermal adhesive, as contemplated herein. Thermal grease tends to come out during operation because of package movement.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,462, to Flint et al., describes a flexible finned heat exchanger and is adapted to provide structure to replace TCM-like, multi-chip modules. Thermal enhancement is provided through the use of a grease, and not through an adhesive material, as provided by the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,442, to Morosas, describes a spring clip for clamping a heat sink module to an electronic module, and does not disclose the particular use of an adhesive, such as a thermal adhesive analogous to the present invention.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,240, to Daikoku et al., also describes a cooling apparatus for electronic devices including a resilient spring structure located internally of a module, and there is no discussion of the effect of pressure acting on components of the electronic package to increase the thermal performance of the package through the use of an adhesive, such as a thermal adhesive.

Electronic packages and a method to improve thermal performance of electronic packages

Internatioinal Business Machines Corporation