The semiconductor variable capacitor includes a capacitor including an n-well 16 formed in a first region of a semiconductor substrate 10, an insulating film 18 formed over the semiconductor substrate 10 and a gate electrode 20n formed above the n-well 16 with the insulating film 18 interposed therebetween; and a p-well 14 of a second conduction type formed in a second region adjacent to the first region of the semiconductor substrate 10. The gate electrode 20n has an end which is extended to the second region and formed above the p-well 14 with the insulating film 18 interposed therebetween.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor variable capacitor and a method of manufacturing the same, more specifically, a semiconductor variable capacitor including a carrier removal terminal which, upon the application of an inversion bias, extracts carriers induced in an inversion layer formed below a gate insulating layer, and a method of manufacturing the semiconductor variable capacitor.
Semiconductor variable capacitors are incorporated in semiconductor integrated circuits as the oscillation frequency control devices of, e.g., voltage controlled oscillators (VOC). The semiconductor variable capacitors are junction capacitors, inversion mode MOS capacitors, accumulation mode MOS capacitors, etc. With the recent signaling speed increase, the semiconductor variable capacitors using the accumulation mode MOS capacitors, which are good in the high-frequency characteristics, are increasingly used.
FIG. 23 is a diagrammatic sectional view showing the structure of the conventional accumulation mode MOS type semiconductor variable capacitor.
In a semiconductor substrate 100, a device isolation film 102 for defining an active region is formed. In the semiconductor substrate 100 in the active region, an n-well 104 is formed. Over the semiconductor device in the active region 104, a gate electrode 108 is formed with a gate insulating film 106 interposed therebetween. In the active region on both sides of the gate electrode 108, an n-type source region 110 and an n-type drain region 112 are formed.
The semiconductor variable capacitor shown in FIG. 23 has a structure similar to that of the usual NMOS transistor but is characterized by being formed not in a p-well but in an n-well. The source region 110 and the drain region 112 are electrically connected to each other and operate as a two-terminal element of the gate electrode 108 and the source/drain regions 110, 112.
When a positive voltage is applied to the gate electrode 108, an electron accumulation layer is formed in the upper surface of the semiconductor substrate 100, and the capacitance between the gate electrode 108 and the source/drain regions 110, 112 increases. The usual NMOS transistor structure (inversion mode MOS capacitor), in which an inversion layer of electrons is formed in the upper surface of the semiconductor substrate, has the capacitance value equivalent to that of the accumulation mode, but has high channel resistance and high-frequency characteristics which are inferior to the accumulation mode. When a negative voltage is applied to the gate electrode 108, a depletion layer expands in the surface of the semiconductor substrate 100, and the capacitance between the gate electrode 108 and the source/drain regions 110, 112 becomes small.
FIGS. 24A and 24B are C-V characteristics of the accumulation mode MOS capacitor type semiconductor variable capacitor prepared under process conditions for the 3.3-voltage transistor. FIG. 24A shows the characteristics of all the sweep range of applied voltage, and FIG. 24B expands the characteristics of the negative voltage side. In FIGS. 24A and 24B, the ▪ marks indicate the case that the voltage was swept from the negative side to the positive side, and the ▴ marks indicate the case that the voltage was swept from the positive side to the negative side.
As shown in FIG. 24B, in the region where the gate voltage is not more than −1 V, the capacitance value varies depending on the sweep mode. That is, when the gate voltage is swept from negative to positive, the capacitance values tend to be a little large, and when the gate voltage is swept from positive to negative, the capacitance value tends to be a little small. This is due to that the inversion layer of holes is formed in the upper surface of the semiconductor substrate.
FIG. 25 is an energy band diagram given when a negative voltage is applied to the gate electrode, and the inversion layer of holes is formed in the upper surface of the semiconductor substrate. Because of no connection terminal for these holes, even when the gate voltage is changed, the hole concentration does not instantaneously change. The hole concentration slowly change over several seconds or several minutes by the generation of electrons and holes and the recombinations which spontaneously take place. When the hole concentration is low, the depletion layer of the n-well expands, and the capacitance decreases, and when the hole concentration is high, the depletion layer of the n-well reduces, and the capacitance increases, with the result that the capacitance value slowly change corresponding to the hole concentrations. Accordingly, the capacitance value has an uncertain component which depends on a history of a voltage applied to the gate, and the magnitude is even about 5-10% of the capacitance value as seen in FIG. 24B. The oscillation frequency of the VCO is determined by the capacitance value of the semiconductor variable capacitor, and the uncertain capacitance component is a large problem for the circuit design.
As means of solving this problem, it is proposed to provide a terminal for removing the holes.
FIG. 26 is a diagrammatic sectional view showing the structure of the semiconductor variable capacitor including a terminal for removing holes.
In a p-type semiconductor substrate 100, an n-well 104 is formed. Over the semiconductor substrate 100 in the region where the n-well 104 is formed, a gate electrode 108 is formed with a gate insulating film 106 interposed therebetween. In the semiconductor substrate 100 on both sides of the gate electrode 108, a p-type source region 110 and a p-type drain region 112 are formed. In the n-well 104, an n-type contact region 114 is formed. In the semiconductor substrate 100, a p-type contact region 116 is formed.
The semiconductor variable capacitor shown in FIG. 26 has the same structure as the usual PMOS transistor and uses as a variable capacitor a capacitor including the gate electrode 108/the gate insulating film 106/the N-well 104, and uses as a hole removal terminal the source/drain regions 110,112.
However, in the conventional semiconductor variable capacitor shown in FIG. 26, when the electron accumulation layer is formed in the surface of the semiconductor substrate 100 by applying a positive voltage to the gate electrode 108, the parasitic resistance becomes large because of the n-type contact region 114 being remote from the electron accumulation layer, and high-frequency characteristics are degraded.
In this structure, a p-type dopant is implanted in the gate electrode 108 of polycrystalline silicon in the usual processing, and the structure of the p+ polycrystalline silicon/the gate insulating film/the n-well is formed. Accordingly, to form the electron accumulation layer, a relatively high voltage must be applied to the gate electrode 108 in comparison with the structure of the usual n+ polycrystalline silicon/the gate insulating film/the n-well.

Semiconductor variable capacitor and method of manufacturing the same


This invention relates to an improvement in an ornament for buttons and in particular to one which includes a circular member formed with a U-shaped bracket having an upper edge and two lugs, a base plate provided two pin portions hingedly connected with the lugs of the circular member and a central resilient member between the two pin portions at an end, an intermediate portion concaving downwards, and two prongs extending upwardly from the intermediate portion and defining an elongated slot therebetween, and an ornamental member fixedly attached on said base plate, whereby the ornamental member can be conveniently and firmly engaged with the button.

It has been found that the conventional ornament for buttons sold in the marketplace consists of a cap 100 and a base plate 200 connected with the cap via a hinge 220 in which the base plate 200 is provided with a pair of prongs 210 for keeping a button in place, a center hole 230, and a slot 240 (see FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C). When in use, the base plate 200 is first slid beneath a button (not shown) and then covered with the cap 100 so that the button is enclosed within the ornament. However, the button is fixedly engaged with the ornament and so it can freely rotate with respect to the ornament thereby making it impossible to be oriented at a fixed direction. Hence, as to Ornaments with a design to be oriented at a certain direction, their utilization and beauty will be completely ruined and destroyed due to the fact that they cannot be correctly oriented at a predetermined direction.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,880,487 to T. R. Ryan, an interchangeable ornament for buttons is enclosed. Nevertheless, such an interchangeable ornament for buttons is not fixedly connected with the button and can freely rotate with the respect to the button thereby making it impossible to be oriented at a predetermined direction.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,316,601 to T. R. Ryan teaches an interchangeable ornament for button. However, as the previous U.S. Pat. No. 2,880,487, the ornament for buttons according to this reference is still rotatable with respect to the button and cannot be correctly oriented.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improvement in an ornament for buttons which can obviate and mitigate the above-mentioned drawbacks.


A hollow shaft is provided with torque transmitting structural elements, such as gear wheels, cams, disk cams, etc. At least one structural element has a noncircular opening for mounting on a discharge pipe (12) with a substantially identical wall thickness and with at least one support body (20) between the pipe (12) and each structural element (14) with noncircular opening. The discharge pipe (12) is so widened by internal pressure for frictional connection to the structural elements (14) that cover a portion thereof that the circumference of the pipe (12) engages on the inner wall of the structural elements (14) and another portion of the pipe circumference engages on the outer wall of the support body (20). Each support body (20) is constructed as a separate component from the structural elements.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates, in general, to the field of hollow shafts provided with torque transmitting structural elements, such as gear wheels, cams, disk cams, etc., and more particularly, to a hollow shaft providing a support body constructed as a separate component from the torque transmitting structural elements.


A method for monitoring a visual capacity modification parameter of a user of at least one display device, the visual capacity modification parameter being indicative of the modification of a parameter linked to the visual capacity of the user related to the use of the at least one display device, the method includes a display use data determining step during which display use data indicative of a use of the at least one display device by the user are determined, a visual capacity modification parameter determining step during which a modification parameter of the visual capacity of the user is determined based on said display use data, and an information generating step during which an information based on said modification parameter of the visual capacity of the user is generated.

Some studies shows that people spend more and more time watching screen displays, for example TV, computer screen, laptop, smartphone, tablet, and tomorrow augmented reality eyewear display, watch, etc.
Such screens require a lot of our near and/or intermediate vision, which can lead to vision performance loss, in short or long term, temporarily or permanently.
Furthermore these screens emit cold and aggressive light for the eyes.
Symptoms could appear, usually at the end of the day: for example blurred vision, eye dryness, headaches, mood, diplopia, strabismus, as well as an increase in myopia over the long term.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a method for monitoring a parameter linked to the visual capacity of the user related to the use of display devices.
An aim of the present invention is to propose such solution.

Monitoring component and method for monitoring a visual capacity modification parameter of a user of at least one display device


A boot assembly for use with a dry suit includes an external puncture resistant boot and a dual-layered insert. The dual-layered insert comprises a thermal sock worn over the foot of a diver and a water-proof, non-stretch over-sized outer sock worn over the thermal sock. The outer sock is over-sized so that it accommodates a wide spectrum of diver foot sizes but fits comfortably within the volume of the external boot.

Diving boots are often fixed to diving pants in a permanent combination. The diving boot will often experience greater wear than the pant because it is the base upon which diver stands. Furthermore, the diver will be placing fins on and off the boot which will cause additional wear. In situations where the boots are permanently fixed to the diving pant leggings, the boots cannot be replaced without cutting them off of the pant leggings and fixing a new pair of boots to the pant leggings. This is a costly and time-consuming process. Additional problems arise in trying to find a set of new boots of the proper size for the diver. Therefore, there is a continuing need for a diving boot assembly that can be used as replacements for worn boots and come in a size that is adaptable to most divers.


Efficient conversion between the LP.sub.01 and the LP.sub.11 modes in a two-mode optical fiber is realized in a fiber grating fabricated by forming a series of longitudinally-spaced cuts in the fiber cladding, and then annealing the fiber in the region of the cuts. The latter step uses the surface tension of the molten glass to transform the corrugation on the cladding into a sinusoidal deformation of the fiber core.

The ability to convert optical energy efficiently from one spatial mode to another has potential applications in optical fiber-based devices such as wavelength filters, sensors, and dispersion compensators. A variety of grating-based mode converters have been demonstrated using periodic stress, microbending, and photo-induced index changes. (See, for example, "Fiber-optic modal coupler using periodic microbending", by J. N. Blake et al., Optics Letters, March 1986, Vol. 11, pp. 177-179.)
The first two of these techniques have the potential for high conversion efficiency and low insertion loss, but suffer from poor long-term reliability. Mode converters based on photo-induced index gratings promise both high reliability and performance and, thus, have been the focus of research in recent years. (See "Intermodal coupler using permanently photoinduced grating in two-mode optical fiber", by H. G. Park et al., Electronics Letters, Jun. 8, 1989, Vol. 25, pp. 797-799.)

Optical fiber spatial mode converter using periodic core deformation


A system and method of measuring duct leakage in an HVAC system including an indoor unit assembly operably coupled to a processing device, wherein at least one supply air conduit, and at least one return air conduit are coupled to the indoor unit assembly by operating a blower system at a nominal airflow rate, restricting airflow in each of the at least one supply air conduits, and each of the at least one return air conduits; operating the blower system, within the indoor unit assembly, at a first airflow rate; and operating the processing device to calculate a duct leakage airflow and duct leakage measurement.

Generally, a duct leakage tester is a diagnostic tool designed to measure the airtightness of forced air heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) ductwork. A duct leakage tester consists of a calibrated fan for measuring an air flow rate and a pressure sensing device to measure the pressure created by the fan flow. The combination of pressure and fan flow measurements are used to determine the ductwork airtightness. The airtightness of ductwork is useful knowledge when trying to increase energy conservation within a building such as a residential home.
Generally, a basic duct leakage testing system includes three components—a calibrated fan, a register sealing system and a device to measure fan flow and building pressure. Supply registers or return air grills are sealed using adhesive tapes, cardboard, or non-adhesive reusable seals. One register or return is left unsealed. The calibrated fan is then connected to that unsealed register. Pressure is monitored in one of the branches of the ductwork while the calibrated fan delivers air into the system. As air is delivered into the ductwork, pressure builds and forces air out of any holes in the various ductwork connections or through the seams and joints of the furnace or air-handler. The tighter the ductwork system (e.g. fewer holes), the less air required from the fan to create a change in the ductwork pressure.
However, this method of duct leakage testing requires administration by a certified person; therefore, this method is time consuming, complicated, and increases the overall cost of installation. There is, therefore, a need for a method to measure duct leakage that is less complicated and reduces overall installation cost.

System and method for measuring duct leakage in a HVAC system


Provided is a method of generating a Device-to-Device Synchronization Signal (D2DSS) by a terminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method includes determining a service attribute for identifying whether the terminal is serviced by at least one base station; and generating a D2DSS for identifying whether the terminal is serviced by the base station, based on the determination result. In addition, provided is a method of configuring D2D synchronization by a terminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method includes receiving a signal from at least one base station or another device; determining whether a synchronization signal is detected from the received signal; and when the synchronization signal is detected, configuring synchronization with the another device based on the timing reference of the detected synchronization signal.

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the standards group for asynchronous cellular mobile communication, is studying the support for wireless communication between terminals or devices, namely, Device-to-Device (D2D) communication using the Long Term Evolution (LTE) system standards, as well as conventional wireless communication between a base station and a terminal. In particular, one important function which 3GPP requires of D2D communication is a public safety service support function. That is, even in the case of emergency (such as in a natural disaster) in which a normal network service cannot be provided, the D2D communication has to be able to support LTE based wireless communication within or between police, firemen, and government agents.
In general, for smooth communication service support in a wireless communication system, it is necessary to acquire a tinning reference to be used for signal transmission or reception of terminals in a system, namely, to acquire time synchronization. Also, in an LTE system, when a cellular network service is operating normally, terminals inside the service region of a base station can receive a Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS)/Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) transmitted through a downlink from the base station to acquire synchronization. However, in situations in which the cellular network service cannot be normally provided due to an emergency as described above, it is impossible to acquire synchronization from the base station.
Accordingly, there is a need for a synchronization acquisition means for supporting communication between devices even in situations in which cellular network service cannot be normally provided due to emergencies.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and device for detecting and generating synchronization signal for device-to-device wireless communication


A dry breakfast food portable storing and direct mouth feeding container apparatus has a detachable cap and integral pour spout for the easy dispensing of dry particulate food matter directly into a mouth of a user. The cap/spout has a dome-shaped, conical or pyramid-shaped surface extending from a large opening at one end which mates to the container to a smaller opening at the other end, which serves as a mouthpiece. The large opening has a threaded or snap-on/press-on type fitting for mating to a complementary opening of a food container. The smaller opening is equipped with a threaded or snap-on/press-on closure cap.

When in search of a healthy, nutritious dry snack food one has a difficult time locating such a product on the supermarket snack food shelves which are replete with fat and salt laden snacks such as potato chips, corn chips, corn puffs, pretzels, etc. However, one glance at the cereal shelves reveals a host of healthy vitamin, mineral and fiber filled products in the form of flakes, grains, oats, puffed rice, etc. The only problem is that these nutritious products are intended for use as a breakfast food and may only be effectively consumed with a spoon after being placed in a bowl with milk added. Trying to ingest these cereals away from the breakfast table, in dry form, from a cup or glass or from one's hand is difficult and frustrating as much of the product is spilled onto your shirt and the floor. Thus, aside from incorporating these cereals into cookies, snack cakes or puddings, one must be resigned to obtaining his daily fiber requirement at breakfast and mixed with milk which for some, such as dairy-product-free vegetarians, is not practical.
This dilemma can be overcome through the use of a container specifically designed to conveniently store, transport and dispense such cereal products directly into a person's mouth. Unfortunately, at this time, no such container exists on the market. There are a multitude of jars, cups, pitchers and containers available for the storage and dispensing of water or liquid drinks either directly into the mouth or into other dispensers. The military canteen is probably the best known of the direct drinking containers and is the forerunner to several plastic containers presently available that serve a similar function. There are also large plastic containers on the market designed to store and dispense dry food products into bowls or other containers but definitely not directly into one's mouth. Thus, the invented container apparatus will provide a product and service which is currently unavailable, and one which will prove to have significant value to the presently nutrition conscious public.

Dry breakfast food portable storing and direct mouth feeding container apparatus


A lifting device for lifting and releasing a compact disk. The lifting device including a pair of fins extended by a plunger and retracted by an O-ring contacting the fins at their outer edge.

Digital audio compact disks, more commonly referred to as compact disks or CDs, have gained wide acceptance in recent years. CDs in general have a translucent coating for protecting a digitally encoded optically read medium from damage. A problem experienced with CDs is a result of improper handling by the user. While the translucent coating protects the encoded medium from damage quite well, the coating has a tendency to pickup finger prints and smudges from the user's hands. Those smudges negatively affect the clarity of the translucent coating which in turn deteriorates the sound quality of the CD player unable to cleanly read the encoded music through the smudge.
In addition, if the CD is forced from its storage unit, the flexing of the CD over time may cause cracking of the translucent coating, exposing the encoded medium to the atmosphere, leading to oxidation and a deliniation of sound quality.


A system and method for controlling an internal combustion engine provide valve actuation that selectively couples an energy storage device to a launching coil to recover energy stored in the magnetic field and valve spring of the launching coil, decouples the energy storage device during a valve opening or closing event to control energy supplied to the catching coil, and couples the energy storage device to the catching coil to transfer energy from the storage device to the catching coil to provide a repeatable soft landing. A nonlinear feedback controller incorporates a feedforward system with an observer to control the rate of energy into the magnetic field of the catching coil while compensating for system losses and work to overcome gas forces within the combustion chamber. Feedback linearization techniques improve stability of the control system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for actuation of a valve, such as an intake and/or exhaust valve of an internal combustion engine.
2. Background Art
Conventional internal combustion engines use a camshaft to mechanically actuate the intake and exhaust valves of the cylinders or combustion chambers. The fixed valve timing of this arrangement, or limited timing adjustment available for variable cam timing systems, limits control flexibility. Electronic valve actuation (EVA) offers greater control authority and can significantly improve engine performance and fuel economy under various operating conditions. Electromagnetic actuators are often used in EVA systems to electrically or electronically open and close the intake and/or exhaust valves.
Electromagnetic actuators controlled by an associated valve controller, engine controller, and/or vehicle controller may use electromagnets or solenoids to attract an armature that operates on the valve stem. In a typical electromagnetic actuator, two opposing electromagnets and associated springs are used to open and close an engine valve in response to the signals generated by the controller. The upper and lower electromagnets are energized to assist the springs in closing and opening the valve, respectively, and to hold the valve closed or open against the associated spring force. The upper spring exerts a downward force that pushes the valve downward as the upper electromagnet is turned off, while the lower spring exerts an upward force that pushes the valve upward as the lower electromagnet is turned off. The opening, closing and landing speeds of the valve are functions of a number of parameters including the spring forces and the excitation currents of the electromagnets.
For many applications it is desirable to provide fast, controlled valve actuation to improve engine performance without a significant increase in actuator power consumption, which could adversely affect fuel economy. Power consumption is affected by the speed with which current is removed from the electromagnets when releasing the armature. During release of the armature from either the upper or lower electromagnet, current to the holding electromagnet should stop quickly. Otherwise, mechanical potential energy stored in the associated spring is not converted into motion, but instead into electrical energy that must be recycled through the associated electronic circuitry, with an inevitable loss. If excessive spring energy is converted to electrical energy during the launch because of slow current quenching, the spring/armature system may not have sufficient kinetic energy to reliably move the armature within the catching region of the opposing electromagnet during the subsequent valve landing to be reliably caught.
Similarly, energy supplied to the new holding coil (or catching coil) should be controlled and supplied at a rapid rate at the appropriate time to avoid electrical resistive losses during flight while still providing controlled and reliable valve landings for repeatability and durability.
Prior art EVA control strategies have incorporated one or more capacitors in the control circuitry for energy recovery. For example, Japanese patent application 10-282974 (Pub. No. 2000-110593) published Apr. 18, 2000 discloses the use of capacitors to store energy released during shut off of a coil Lo power the same coil and/or an alternate or following coil during a subsequent energization. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,896,346 discloses a parallel or shunting capacitor to store energy recovered from one coil during de-energization to subsequently energize another coil.
Some prior art EVA control strategies have employed dual "H" bridges to separately control the two electromagnets to control valve movement. Using "H" bridges without any other associated energy storage makes power supply voltage selection difficult. If low power supply voltage is selected, the low voltage would need to be applied for a considerable period of time before holding coil magnetic energy was removed and valve motion could begin. This limits valve timing control flexibility because the control action must be determined long before actual valve motion. Furthermore, because valve motion would begin with a considerable current in the holding coil, and current would remain longer because of the low voltage, considerable conversion of mechanical to electrical energy could occur during launch. In addition, the electrical energy needed for holding would need to be inserted into the attracting coil for a longer time while also inserting energy needed to compensate for losses to friction and gas forces resulting in large coil currents and high resistive losses. Although a high voltage supply could be used to apply a high voltage for a short period of time to remove holding coil energy and add the needed holding coil energy, the high voltage supply is needed only for a short time during the launch and landing phases of armature motion. However, complex circuitry to control the high voltage supply would be present at all times. As such, selection of either a high or low voltage supply with conventional "H" bridge circuitry results in wasted energy, because regenerated energy and current flows backward through various "H" bridge components to the power supply when reverse voltage is applied to the holding coil during launch. In addition, such an arrangement requires additional "H" bridge components to allow applied coil voltage to be reversed.


A method for manufacturing a thick oxide layer on a semiconductive substrate is presented. The method comprises the formation of at least one layer of dielectric material on said substrate, followed by formation of a plurality of trench regions of a predetermined width in the substrate. A plurality of corresponding walls of semiconductive material of a second predetermined width are delimited. Finally, the semiconductor is submitted to a thermal treatment to oxidize said walls.

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a thick oxide layer on a semiconductor substrate using a trenching method.
As is well known, a process for manufacturing a layer of thick oxide on a portion of semiconductive substrate of a wafer comprises the following steps: the formation of a thin layer of oxide; the formation of a layer of nitride, for protecting the portion of semiconductive substrate where the thick layer of oxide will not be formed; and the carrying out of a thermal treatment in wet oxidizing atmosphere (02 wet).
According to the prior art, in order to obtain a layer of oxide, for example, of 3 xcexcm it is necessary to carry out a thermal treatment in a wet oxidizing atmosphere of the wafer for about 15 hours at a temperature of 1100xc2x0 C. This is an example of a LOCOS (local oxidation of silicon) oxide process. Some of the problems with the LOCOS process are: formation of a xe2x80x9cbird beakxe2x80x9d structure, a lack of planarization of the structure, the requirement of a very high temperature, and a long oxidation time. Because of these problems, oxide layers are generally not grown more than 2-3 xcexcm thick.
FIG. 1 shows a portion of semiconductive substrate 1xe2x80x2 of wafer on which a thick layer of oxide 4xe2x80x2 has been formed according to the prior art. As is evident from the drawing, after having carried out the thermal treatment, the layer of oxide 4xe2x80x2 is also formed between the layer of nitride 3xe2x80x2 and the substrate 1xe2x80x2 connecting with the thin layer of oxide 2xe2x80x2. In particular, the layer of oxide 4xe2x80x2 extends itself under the layer of nitride 3xe2x80x2 by an amount which is substantially about its thickness Dxe2x80x2. This is the bird beak structure.
Furthermore, the surface of this layer of oxide 4xe2x80x2 is raised, with respect to the surface of the substrate 1, of an amount equal to half the thickness Dxe2x80x2 of the layer itself.
Therefore, after the formation of the layer of oxide 4xe2x80x2, the entire surface of the wafer is not planar.
A known technical solution for planarizing the surface of the wafer is described in the book: xe2x80x9cSILICON PROCESSING FOR THE VLSI ERA,xe2x80x9d VOL. II, page 42, hereby incorporated by reference.
Thermal treatment with high temperatures is also necessary in order to carry out this process of planarization.
Embodiments of the present invention are directed toward a method for manufacturing a thick layer of oxide, having such characteristics which allow the formation and subsequent planarization with a low thermal temperature that overcomes the limitations and/or the drawbacks which, at the moment limit the methods for forming thick layers of oxide according to the prior art.
Embodiments of the invention form, in the portion of substrate where the formation of a layer of thick oxide is desired, a plurality of trenches, before carrying out conventional thermal treatments.
Characteristics and advantages of the invention will be seen from the description, following herein, of an embodiment given as an indication and not limiting with reference to the drawings attached.

Manufacturing method for a thick oxide layer


An initiator apparatus (IA) for blasting, the IA including: a magnetic receiver configured to receive a through the earth (TTE) magnetic communication signal representing a command from a base station; a blasting controller, in electrical communication with the magnetic receiver, configured to generate response data in response to the command; and an electromagnetic (EM) transmitter system (ETS), in electrical communication with the blasting controller, configured to transmit the response data for the base station using a TTE electromagnetic (EM) signal.

Electronic blasting systems are widely used in mining and exploration to provide highly accurate controlled explosive blasts and blast patterns.
In blasting applications, conventional electronic detonators can communicate with a blasting control system, e.g., a blasting machine, using wired or wireless communication links. In existing blasting wireless systems, the wireless leg of the command path is often above the ground so that radio signals can be passed from the blasting machine to the above-ground wireless receivers and from there via a wire into the borehole to an electronic initiation device in the borehole. In such cases, two-way communication between the blasting machine and in-hole electronics allows diagnostic apparatuses external to the borehole to interrogate an in-hole device as to its condition. Such two-way communication may allow the condition of the in-hole device to be tested, and any instructions (e.g., a timing delay) that have been sent to the in-hole device to be confirmed (e.g., using a cyclic redundancy check).
A method of communication between an in-hole electronic initiation device and a blasting machine has been proposed using magnetic signals and magnetic sensors; however, magnetic-field-based systems for blasting typically need relatively large, high-powered transmission equipment to generate magnetic field fluctuations of sufficient strength to communicate with in-hole devices across a typical blasting field: for example, several hundred meters. It may be practical to provide sufficiently powerful transmitting equipment for a blasting machine above the ground or within underground access areas; however, it is not generally practical to provide an in-hole device with the necessary antenna and power to communicate back to a blasting machine using a magnetic signal. Accordingly, once an in-hole unit has been deployed, the above-ground portions of the magnetic system may not be able to discover the status or condition of the in-hole units, or confirm that an in-hole unit has correctly received information sent to it.
It is desired to address or ameliorate one or more disadvantages or limitations associated with the prior art, or to at least provide a useful alternative.

Apparatus, system and method for blasting using magnetic communication signal


An adjustment apparatus is disclosed which adjusts the resolution of a pulse encoder. The adjustment apparatus includes at least first and second pulley sets having different pulley ratios and having substantially equal belt perimeters. A pulley belt has a belt circumference substantially equal to the belt perimeters. The pulley belt is transferable from one pulley set to the other so as to adjust the resolution of the pulse encoder.

A typical pulse encoder has a mechanical input, and is arranged to provide output pulses having a pulse rate which is dependent upon the rate of rotation of the mechanical input. Such a pulse encoder may be used in any of a wide variety of applications. For example, in a process which includes a conveyor, the mechanical input of the pulse encoder can be coupled to the conveyor so that the pulse rate of the output pulses provided by the pulse encoder is a function of the movement of the conveyor. One or more devices of the process are supplied with the output pulses of the pulse encoder in order to synchronize such devices to the movement of the conveyor.
One such component, for example, may be an ink jet printer which prints information on the articles being transported by the conveyor of the process. Where such articles are mail, the ink jet printer may be arranged to print addresses and other information on the mail being transported by the conveyor. In order to insure that the ink jet printer discharges its ink at the time that an envelope or other article of mail is in a position to properly receive the ink, the ink jet printer must be synchronized to the conveyor.
This synchronization is often provided by a pulse encoder. The mechanical input of the pulse encoder is coupled to the conveyor so that the pulse rate of its output pulses is representative of the speed of the conveyor. Thus, as the speed of the conveyor increases, the pulse rate of the output pulses provided by the pulse encoder increases, and as the speed of the conveyor decreases, the pulse rate of the output pulses provided by the pulse encoder decreases. The ink jet printer is connected to the pulse encoder so that the ink jet printer receives the output pulses of the pulse encoder and, thereby, is operated in synchronism with the mail being transported by the conveyor.
An ink jet printer of such an arrangement requires a predetermined number of pulses per inch of conveyor travel so that the ink jet printer is properly synchronized to the conveyor. Moreover, different ink jet printers require different predetermined numbers of pulses per inch of conveyor travel. Even the same printer may require different predetermined numbers of pulses per inch of conveyor travel if, for example, different fonts are to be printed. As a result, if a process includes a first ink jet printer, which operates at a first pulse rate, and if the first ink jet printer is replaced by a second ink jet printer, which operates at a second pulse rate, the resolution of the pulse encoder, i.e. the number of output pulses provided by the pulse encoder per inch of conveyor travel, must be adjusted to accommodate the second ink jet printer; or, if a printer of a process is to be operated at a new number of pulses per inch so as, for example, to permit the printer print a different font, the resolution of the pulse encoder must be adjusted to accommodate the new number of pulses per inch. An adjustment apparatus, therefore, is needed so that the resolution of the pulse encoderscan be made easily and rapidly in order to avoid prolonged disruptions in the operation of the process.
Furthermore, some processes include plural devices, such as ink jet printers, each of which must be synchronized to a conveyor of the process. If each device requires a different number of pulses per inch of conveyor travel for proper synchronization to the conveyor, and if the number pulses provided to each device per inch of travel of the conveyor of the process requires adjustment, an adjustment apparatus must be provided which accommodates the plural devices and which is arranged so that the number pulses provided to each device per inch of travel of the conveyor can be independently, easily, and rapidly adjusted.

Pulse encoder resolution adjustment apparatus


A thin heat pipe structure includes a pipe body, a thin-sheet member, and a plurality of bosses. The pipe body internally defines a receiving space, in which a working fluid is provided. The thin-sheet member includes a plurality of open spaces, and the bosses are provided in the open spaces, so that the bosses and the thin-sheet member are disposed in the receiving space of the pipe body at the same time. A method of manufacturing thin pipe structure is also disclosed for manufacturing thin heat pipe structure with reduced time and labor, and protecting a wick structure formed in the thin heat pipe structure against damage. Therefore the thin heat pipe structure can be manufactured with increased good yield and at reduced manufacturing cost.

In the constant technological progress nowadays, the removal of cold or heat is still a big hindrance to the development in the electronic industry. Following the demands for high performance, increased integration and multifunctional applications, the whole electronic industry has to challenge the requirement for good heat dissipation and takes it as a major task to work out a way for upgrading heat transfer efficiency.
A heat sink is usually employed to dissipate heat produced by electronic elements or electronic systems into air. It has been found a heat sink with lower thermal resistance would provide higher heat dissipation efficiency. Generally speaking, thermal resistance consists of spreading resistance existed in the heat sink and convection resistance existed between the surface of the heat sink and the ambient air. In actual application, materials with high thermal conductivity, such as copper and aluminum, are frequently used in the manufacturing of heat sinks with reduced spreading resistance. However, the convection resistance still exists to limit the performance of heat sinks and thereby prevents the new generation of electronic elements from achieving the required heat dissipation efficiency.
Thus, heat dissipation mechanisms capable of providing higher heat dissipation efficiency have drawn consumers' attention in the market. For example, thin heat pipes and vapor chambers with high thermal transfer performance have been used with heat sinks in an attempt to effectively solve the present heat dissipation problem.
The currently available thin heat pipe structure includes a thin pipe body having a hollow space therein. Metal powder is put in the hollow space of the thin pipe body and sintered to form a wick structure on an inner wall surface of the thin pipe body. Alternatively, a metal net structure is arranged in the hollow space of the thin pipe body to serve as a wick structure. Then, the thin pipe body is vacuumed and filled with a working fluid before being sealed to complete a thin heat pipe structure. The conventional thin heat pipe structure does not include any internal supporting structure and is therefore subject to collapse or thermal expansion. When the conventional thin heat pipe structure is subjected to pressure, the wick structure, i.e. the sintered metal powder in the thin pipe body is compressed and damaged to peel off from the inner wall surface of the thin pipe body, which results in largely reduced heat transfer performance of the thin heat pipe structure. Further, with the sintered wick structure formed on the inner wall surface of the thin pipe body or with the metal net structure arranged in the hollow space of the thin pipe body, the working fluid condensed from vapor into liquid flows from the cold end of the heat pipe structure back to the hot end only with the help of gravity or the wick structure on the inner wall surface of the thin pipe body. Thus, the conventional thin heat pipe structure has relatively low vapor-liquid circulation efficiency.
Taiwan New Utility Model Patent Number M336673 discloses a vapor chamber and supporting structure thereof. The vapor chamber includes an enclosure defining a hollow space therein, as well as a wick structure and a supporting structure provided in the enclosure. The supporting structure includes a plate, on which a plurality of symmetrically arranged and spaced channels is provided. In each of the channels, there is formed a corrugated sheet. The corrugated sheets respectively have an upper and a lower end separately pressed against the wick structure, so that the wick structure is brought to bear on inner wall surfaces of the enclosure. With the corrugated sheets provided in the hollow space of the vapor chamber, the sintered wick structure is prevented from peeling off or collapsing in the vapor chamber and both of the vapor-phase change and the heat transfer speed are increased. However, the corrugated sheets do not provide any significant help in the back flowing of the liquidized working fluid to the hot end or enabling increased capillary limit.
Therefore, the supporting structure in the prior art vapor chamber or thin heat pipe structure still requires improvement. In brief, the prior art chamber and thin heat pipe structure have the following disadvantages: (1) low good yield in production; (2) low vapor-liquid circulation efficiency; and (3) poor internal supporting strength.

Thin heat pipe structure and method of manufacturing same


Low-profile antenna systems and methods to mount same. The system can include a low-profile antenna surface mountable to an exterior surface of a building, parking deck, or other suitable structure. Additional electronics can be remotely mounted to maintain the low profile of the system. The system can be color-matched, or otherwise camouflaged, to maintain building aesthetics. The low-profile antenna can include a transparent substrate to enable the system to mounted on windows and other clear surfaces. The low profile of the antenna enables the antenna to be mounted to existing structures without reinforcement, or other modification, to the structure. The system can also include one or more heating elements and heat sensitive adhesive to enable the system to be installed without fasteners and removed without damage to the structure.

Cellular and other wireless networks are capable of sending and receiving frequencies used for data and voice communications, among other things. These voice and data connections are generally sessions originated at a central switch center and transported via fiber optic cable to a radio base station (e.g., eNodeB, or eNB) for LTE or other wireless technology and propagated by the use of antennas. A majority of these antennas are mounted on traditional cell towers (also known as macro cells), but can also include other antenna shapes or be in the form of mini cells, micro wireless devices, and other technologies. In densely populated areas, such as large urban centers, the throughput required by users can outpace the throughput provided by large cell towers.
The number of conventional cell towers in a given location is often limited by local zoning codes, space availability, and the capital investment required to install a cell tower. Installing a standard cell tower, for example, can cost from several hundred thousand dollars to millions of dollars. In addition, many people do not want a cell tower installed near them because they believe them to be an eyesore, for example. Unfortunately, cellular devices, such as cellular phones, smart phones, and tablet computers, for example, have relatively limited ranges over which they can send and receive cellular signals. Thus, cell towers must be relatively close together to provide sufficient coverage and the desired throughput.
Almost by definition, however, in urban location, buildings, parking decks, and similar structures are plentiful, with buildings almost touching in many locations. Many of these structures could serve as installation sites for cell towers. Installing a large cell tower on existing structures, however, can require reinforcement of the structure, bracing, power upgrades, and other modifications, which increases costs and may affect the life of the building, among other things. As mentioned above, placing a cell tower on top of a building may be locally opposed for aesthetic, and other, reasons. In addition, in many locations, placing a cell tower on top of a building, for example, may provide reduced throughput simply because the signals are blocked by the building itself and surrounding buildings.


Hexene-1,6-dioic acids, e.g., hex-3-ene-1,6-dioic acid, are prepared by reacting carbon monoxide with at least one butenediol, in a polar, aprotic, basic solvent, in the presence of a catalytically effective amount of palladium values and at least one inorganic halide, the cation of which halide being an alkali or alkaline earth metal and the anion thereof being a chloride or bromide.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved process for the preparation of hexene-1,6-dioic acids, and, in particular, hex-3-ene-1,6-dioic acid. Hex-3-ene-1,6-dioic acid is a valuable intermediate that can facilely be hydrogenerated into adipic acid.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Adipic acid, one of the starting materials for the production of nylon 66, is currently produced in vast amounts per annum. By reason of this fact alone, any new route for the synthesis of this diacid and/or derivatives thereof would be of fundamental interest to this art.
Published French Patent Application No. 89/06,019 describes a process for the preparation of such diacids by contacting but-2-ene-1,4-diol with carbon monoxide in the presence of a palladium-based catalyst, at elevated temperature and under a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure, and wherein the reaction is also carried out in the presence of at least one quaternary onium chloride of a Group VB element of the Periodic Table selected from nitrogen and phosphorus, such element being tetracoordinated to carbon atoms, with the proviso that the nitrogen may be coordinated to two pentavalent phosphorus atoms.
This reaction can be carried out in N-methylpyrrolid-2-one.
The process of the '019 application, which provides appreciable results both in respect of its activity and in respect of its selectivity for a straight-chain dicarbonylated compound, however, presents the disadvantage of requiring the presence of at least one quaternary onium halide as indicated above. These onium compounds are promoters which are relatively expensive or not readily available and are susceptible to degradation during prolonged use.
Thus, need exists in this art for an alternate process that does not require a halogenated organic promoter, and particularly one wherein all or part of such organic promoter may be replaced by an inorganic halogenated promoter which is more readily available and relatively more stable over prolonged use.


A tool for forming a high strength reinforcing bar coupling driving self-locking wedge sleeves over each end of a contractible jaw assembly bridging the abutting ends of the bar to be joined. The sleeves are seated in collars engaged by the distal ends of arms driven for closure by a piston-cylinder power unit and a cam on at least one arm. In one form the cam on one arm is engaged by a roller connected by a tension link to the other arm. In another form cams are provided on each arm driven by rollers fixed with respect to each other. The collars include self-releasing collets seating the sleeves. The tool has other uses such as bar shearing or forming.

In a prior application there has been developed a reinforcing bar splice or coupling which involves driving a low angle self-locking wedge sleeve over each end of a contractabile jaw assembly causing the jaw assembly to close and engage or grip abutting bar ends to form a high strength splice or coupling. The jaw assembly includes teeth which may cold form, engage, and grip the bar ends penetrating the overall diameter of the bar but not the nominal bar diameter or core. In this manner a high strength connection is formed. When correctly assembled, the bar coupling forms a high compressive and tensile strength coupling qualifying as a Type 2 mechanical connection in all United States earthquake zones. The coupling has been developed by ERICO International Corporation of Solon, Ohio, U.S.A., under the trademark LENTON® LOCK™. LENTON® is a registered trademark of ERICO.
While forming such a high strength coupling is a relatively easy task in a lab or shop using elaborate power bench equipment such as presses, field forming these high strength couplings is an entirely different matter. Such couplings can be used horizontally or vertically in columns, or even diagonally. The installation may be at considerable height, in very limited space, and in all kinds of weather conditions. There is probably no work environment more confining, complex and difficult than the arduous installation and erection of steel reinforcing for concrete construction. Laboratory or plant equipment simply is not suitable in a field application. There is, accordingly, a need for a tool useful both in the field or shop for forming such high strength connections or couplings. It would also be desirable if the tool had other uses and applications in the steel reinforced concrete contraction industry.


During a sleep mode, if an input made via operation switches matches a resume condition, a portable game apparatus cancels the sleep mode and generates a resume window. Next, a timer which counts down a predetermined length of time is set off, and the resume window is displayed on an LCD. Then, if an instruction from a user instructs a resume from the sleep mode, the resume window is erased, and game data and a game image which existed immediately before entering the sleep mode are restored, and the normal game processing is resumed. On the other hand, if inactivity for the predetermined length or longer with respect to the operation switches is detected, or if an option of not choosing to resume has been selected by the user, the sleep mode is again entered.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic appliance and a power save mode management program to be executed by the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a game apparatus having a power save mode, and a power save mode management program to be executed by the game apparatus.
2. Description of the Background Art
In a portable electronic appliance running on an internal battery, e.g., a mobile phone terminal or a mobile information terminal, it has always been important to minimize power consumption in order to realize a operation duration. As a technique for minimizing power consumption, portable electronic appliances are typically equipped with a power save mode. For example, in a power save mode, supply of power to a display device may be stopped or the clock frequency for the CPU may be lowered when it is determined that no input has been made to the portable electronic appliance for a predetermined period of time, thereby reducing the power consumption of the overall portable electronic appliance. For the sake of users' convenience, a power save mode is typically cancelled in such a manner that, as soon as any input is made during the power save mode of the portable electronic appliance, the portable electronic appliance returns to a normal mode so as to be restored to a state which existed before the power save mode was entered.
Some non-portable type personal computers and the like also have a power save mode. As in the case of portable electronic appliances, in a power save mode, supply of power to a display device may be stopped or a screen saver may be displayed when it is determined that no input has been made for a predetermined period of time, and, as soon as any input is made during the power save mode, the personal computer or the like returns to a normal mode so as to be restored to a state which existed before the power save mode was entered.
However, there has been a difficulty in introducing a power save mode to a portable game apparatus. Firstly, due to its nature as a device for allowing a user to primarily play games thereon, a portable game apparatus is typically designed so that any operation buttons provided thereon have a profile which protrudes from the housing in order to facilitate operation by the user. Moreover, a portable game apparatus is likely to be carried around by a user in a bag or in a pocket. Therefore, if the above-described technique, where any input being made during a power save mode immediately results in the resumption of a game processing mode (i.e., a normal mode), is applied to a portable game apparatus, it might be possible for the game processing mode to be inadvertently resumed when any of the protruding operation buttons is pressed, since the portable game apparatus is likely to come into contact with surrounding objects as it is carried around by the user in a bag or a pocket. Furthermore, depending on the nature of the game, such an inadvertent resumption of the game processing mode during transportation may even allow the game to progress on its own from the state existing before the power save mode was entered, eventually to a game-over, before the user knows.
On the other hand, in order to prevent the portable game apparatus from inadvertently returning to the game processing mode during transportation in a power save mode, the portable game apparatus might be arranged so that the power save mode can only be cancelled based on a combination of a plurality of operation buttons. In this case, however, the user must remember the operation procedure concerning the plurality of operation buttons for canceling the power save mode. Hence, once the operation procedure is forgotten, it becomes impossible to return to the game processing mode. Moreover, in the case where the portable game apparatus is arranged so that the power save mode is canceled by simultaneously pressing a plurality of operation buttons, a user wondering why the portable game apparatus is not responsive to the pressing of a single operation button may be urged to turn the apparatus off.

Game apparatus and a power save mode management program executed by the same


This invention is a xe2x80x9cpowerxe2x80x9d toolbox for vehicles that charges power tools and batteries while the vehicle is driven. A preferred embodiment is intended to be placed in a pick-up truck bed. The toolbox is coupled to the vehicular automotive system, and electrical power is delivered through electrical contacts in the toolbox to modular compartments that hold power tools or batteries in a nested fashion. When the vehicle is running, any battery or tool coupled to a compartment is charged. The compartments may be of different shapes and sizes and may include electrical circuitry to modulate the voltage and current from the vehicular electrical system. An optional manual switch is provided to disengage the toolbox from the vehicular electrical system.

This invention relates generally to toolboxes, and more specifically to toolboxes designed for automotive vehicles.
Power tools are all the rage today for people who build things. The popularity of power tools comes from the time and physical effort that they save. For example, not too long ago, people used a brace and bit to drill a hole. The brace and bit required a worker to turn the bit in a circular motion by hand. Today, power drills bore holes in a manner than is both faster and less tiring. Similar accolades can be said for power screwdrivers.
Power tools are especially popular with people who work in the construction industry. For people building houses, tools are often used continuously during the day. A power drill or nail gun can save hundreds of hours and countless muscle aches in any given year. The main complaint that construction professionals have with power tools, however, is battery capacity. Nothing is more frustrating than getting positioned on top of a 50-story high rise only to find that the battery in your screwdriver is dead.
As batteries for power tools are typically large, nickel-cadmium (NiCd) batteries, they typically take several hours to charge. Typical prior art battery chargers connect a wall outlet to the tool with some form of power conversion. A primary drawback to these chargers is that a power tool user must have access to a conventional power grid. If he is working in a remote location, this may not be possible. A construction professional may lose valuable compensation if his work is delayed due to battery recharging.
Other prior art charging systems include cigarette lighter adapters, where a tool can be connected to an automotive cigarette lighter adapter. The problem with these systems is that most professionals have multiple power tools while most production vehicles have only one cigarette lighter. With the crackdown on tobacco, some vehicles now come with no cigarette lighter. Another problem is that many tools with many cables can become tangled and unwieldy.
There is thus a need for a better charging system.


A compound construction matrix harvests energy incident on all peripheries of a building by providing compound components having anterior and posterior portions with respect to radiation, the anterior portions being generally transparent and the posterior portions being selectively translucent, transparent or opaque, the compound components being arranged in communicating relation to form walls and roofs having multiple internal cavities and passages between cavities which permit light and air to flow freely within the matrix, allowing light incident form any angle to be reflected from cavity sidewalls toward posterior portions to form overlapping incidence on translucent conversion surfaces and to pass through tinted conversion means for direct gain, and allowing air in each cavity to expand freely in any direction from sunlit to shaded portions and through apertures toward shaded portions of adjacent cavities, to thereby form a dynamic airstream passing over translucent conversion surfaces and non-transparent conversion surfaces, seeking equilibrium surface temperatures throughout the matrix and removing energy developed in each cavity, the temperature of the air stream being modified by the thermal properties of the material of fabrication of the matrix and coatings and devices placed in matrix cavities, all cavities forming a single vessel, chambered manifold extending about the periphery of a building and performing all functions of a solar collector e.g. retention, conversion and distribution of incident energy while also providing the structural walls and light transmissive skin of the building.

Conservation of energy and the use of renewable energy sources have become increasingly urgent goals worldwide. Thus much research is being devoted to studying the means whereby naturally available solar radiation may be converted to thermal wavelengths at temperatures appropriate for direct use or storage. The conversion of light to heat, notably direct sunlight at wavelengths of 0.3 to 0.8 microns converted to infrared wavelengths of 0.8 microns to 3000 microns, has been accomplished in many endeavors.
Of these efforts, roof or wall-mounted collector panel systems, though highly successful in conversion by attaining high absorber temperatures, suffer from excessive loss to the exterior ambient as the temperature differential (.DELTA.t) between opaque absorber surfaces and outdoor temperature increases. These panel systems also require extensive manifolds, insulation and structural support against windloads.
Thus it has been considered desirable to integrate collector systems into the external walls of a building. This was first accomplished by the Trombe-Michel wall in Odeillo, France, 1967, wherein an exterior sheet of flat glass in frames, formed the outer transparent boundary of a planar air manifold in which the interior boundary of the manifold was provided by a monolithic 12" concrete mass. The concrete, by virtue of its natural absorptive and emissive characteristics, converts incident sunlight into thermal energy, part of which is transferred to the convective air current moving over the masonry surface and part moves thru the concrete mass in a heat wave with an 8 hour time lag for radiation benefits to the interior. The convective warming airstream expands naturally through the planar manifold and pushes its way out of the manifold at the top of the rise through exit vents into the interior living space, where it loses its heat and drops to the floor. The cool air layer at the floor drops into the entry vents of the Trombe manifold where the hot air thermosiphon repeats its natural collection cycle at a relatively slow air velocity.
The advantages of the Trombe lie in the natural expansion of the air in x and y directions through the planar manifold and its natural exit and entry in the z direction, thereby integrating the collector flow directly with the thermal loops of the interior ambient. The interior air volume to be heated exchanges directly through the Trombe manifold which is also the southern wall of the building thus integrating collection with the building skin and structure and thereby obviating the need for secondary manifolds.
However, the disadvantages of the Trombe are cited here for the purpose of introducing the present invention. First, the heat wave moving through the opaque mass of concrete has an 8 hour time lag before it reaches the interior surface. Thus the interior living/work space behind the Trombe is dark and the wall is relatively cool to touch during collection cycle. Further, the Trombe itself is opaque, and although windows may be located in the absorber mass for direct gain, it is not possible to see through the Trombe. Also, extensive framing is required to sustain the exterior glass panes. The entire wall configuration, to date, has been built by on-site assembly of flat glass placed over standard masonry units or poured in place masonry. Further, the surface area of the flat masonry wall available for absorption, limits the surface area available for convective transfer to air flowing over its surface. The thermal gradient between the warm concrete surface and the outdoor temperature is subject to the same loss to exterior ambient as are the typical metal collector panel systems.
To date Trombe walls have not been considered suitable for multi-story collection due to extensive structural framing required to support the exterior glass. Also, multi-story collection implies excessive overheating of the air flow and overheating of the absorber surfaces due to cumulative incidence over an extended rise or flow path. This overheated condition and consequent loss to exterior, is caused by conversion of incident energy and transfer from an absorber surface that is opaque or which has insulation between the absorber and the interior ambient.
Further, when heat mirror coatings are placed on surface 2 or 3 of the outer double pane glass, the temperature is increased in the multi-story airstream, thereby exacerbating the (.DELTA.t) temperature differential between the absorber masonry or other opaque conversion surface and the exterior ambient. Thus, because of opacity of the absorber surface, an excessive temperature build-up occurs in the collector air space which is not made available to the interior ambient or modulated by other means and thus loss occurs to the exterior due to high (.DELTA.t).
Therefore, the present invention proposes to provide a convective multi-story collector wall and roof system, with expanded Trombe-Michel flow patterns, that is easily assembled by combining a plurality of communicating building components and which has a low (.DELTA.t) loss by conductance to the exterior due to provision of transparent and semi-transparent interior boundaries for the planar manifold flow.
Thus an entirely transparent collector warm airstream bounded by alternating conversion and transparent planar manifolds is envisioned, made possible by multi-story cumulative incidence and the rise of the airstream through interspersed, adjacent, communicating absorber cavities and transparent cavities.
The planar manifold is comprised of building block components, transparent and opaque, which fit together to form multiple hollow flow cavities which communicate in x, y, z directions. The airstream thus passes over both primary absorber conversion surfaces and secondary convective transfer surfaces provided by internal cavities, or through multiple planes of flow separated by transparent boundaries.
All components of the proposed building system being modified to retain their load bearing or self-sustaining capacity while providing both the exterior transparent boundary for Trombe flow and also the interior absorber conversion boundary, which may be transparent for temperature control, semi-transparent for conversion, or opaque for conversion when loadbearing.

Compound solar collector building construction


The present invention is directed to methods and apparatus for processing check data, such as data stored using magnetic indicia. In one embodiment, a check transaction processing system receives an indication that a first check transaction from a first payor failed to clear because at least a portion of first MICR or other account data associated with the first check transaction is incorrect. The check transaction processing system reads a personal identifier associated with the first payor, wherein the personal identifier was provided in association with the first check transaction. MICR data or other account data associated with a previously processed check transaction associated with the personal identifier is located. At least a portion of the located MICR or other account data is compared with at least the portion of first MICR or other account data associated with the first check transaction, and based at least in part on the comparison, the check transaction processing system determines if the portion of the located data is at least a potentially correct version of the portion of first MICR or other account data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to processing magnetic indicia, and in particular, to methods and apparatus for processing misread or miskeyed magnetic indicia formed or stored on financial instruments.
2. Description of the Related Art
Checks are one of the most common forms of making non-cash payment. However, the processing of physical checks can be manually intensive and so it has become common for checks to be electronically processed. For example, when a customer makes a purchase at a merchant's point of sale terminal, the cashier scans the magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) characters printed at the bottom of a check using a check reader terminal. Alternatively, the customer or merchant may manually key in the MICR data. The MICR characters typically include the customer's checking account number. In addition, the MICR indicia can include the drawee bank's transit or routing number, and the check sequence number.
The cashier manually enters the check amount using the point of sale terminal. The cashier may also capture an image of the check. In addition, to provide greater security, some merchants obtain the customer's driver's license number or alternate ID by scanning the magnetic strip on the customer's driver's license or by keying in the driver's license or alternate number, or by having the customer key in their driver's license or alternate number. Alternatively, merchant's sometimes have websites, wherein the customer enters the MICR and ID data by keying in the data into an electronic form rather than via a point of sale store terminal.
The checking account number, other MICR data, the check amount, the driver's license number or alternate ID number, and other transaction related information may be sent to a check processing service. The check processing service then validates the information, and if the consumer authorized the transaction for automated electronic check processing, the check processing service submits the MICR data, including checking account number, check amount and other related information to a check clearinghouse, such as the Automated Clearing House Network (ACH). ACH provides for the inter-bank clearing of electronic payments for participating depository financial institutions. The customer's account is then debited for the amount of the check by the debited bank.
Unfortunately, the process of reading and decoding check MICR characters is often somewhat unreliable. In the case of manual entry, consumer and merchant input of the MICR line data can also be unreliable due to the transposing of numbers and/or the miskeying of the numbers. Indeed, it is estimated that about 10% of administrative check returns are the result of incorrect MICR readings or miskeying, also known as decoding errors. For example, if the MICR characters are misread or miskeyed, the check may be submitted to the wrong bank and will not be cleared. Alternatively, the check may be submitted to the correct bank, but with an incorrect account number, and so the check will not clear. The misreading or miskeying can be random, that is, it is not easy to predict the location or the character that will be misread or miskeyed, or how a misread or miskeyed character will be interpreted. Thus, even when check processors have attempted to research to resolve what the account number might be, the result is usually incorrect and the check fails to clear. Because the account number is not accurate, the check is simply never cleared, resulting in significant financial losses on the part of merchants or check processing company.

Apparatus and methods for processing misread or miskeyed magnetic indicia


A semiconductor device includes a nonvolatile memory cell and a current detecting type sense amplifier for detecting a current flowing through a data line into the memory cell. The semiconductor device is further provided with an element for outputting a first voltage detecting signal when a detected supply voltage exceeds a set value and outputting a second voltage detecting signal when the detected supply voltage does not exceed the set value. The sense amplifier includes an element for switching a dependent characteristic of a level sensing current upon the supply voltage to be higher in response to the second voltage detecting signal that in response to the first voltage detecting signal. Thus, error reading of a data from the memory cell, which can be otherwise caused under application of a low supply voltage, can be avoided.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device including a nonvolatile memory cell and its peripherals, and more particularly, it relates to a flash EEPROM.
Recently, there is increasing demand for a nonvolatile memory that is electrically writable under application of a low voltage. A sense amplifier is one of the important technique of such a low voltage operable nonvolatile memory. A conventional sense amplifier will be herein exemplified.
A circuit diagram for the sense amplifier shown in FIG. 40 will be described first. The sense amplifier receives a control signal SAE and a data line signal DL at its two input terminals, and outputs an output signal OUT through its output terminal.
In this sense amplifier, an inverter INV1 receives the control signal SAE at its input terminal and outputs a signal N1 generated by inverting the control signal SAE. A CMOS inverter including a P-channel MOS transistor Qp1 and an N-channel MOS transistor Qn1 inverts the output signal N1 from the inverter INV1. The output signal N1 from the inverter INV1 is applied to the gates of the transistors Qp1 and Qn1. The source of the P-channel MOS transistor Qp1 is connected to a terminal for supplying a supply voltage VDD, and the source of the N-channel MOS transistor Qn1 is grounded. The drains of the transistors Qp1 and Qn1 are connected to a common signal line, through which a signal N2 generated by inverting the signal N1 is transferred.
P-channel MOS transistors Qp2 and Qp3 receive the output signal N1 from the inverter INV1 at their gates, and N-channel MOS transistors Qn2 and Qn3 receive the output signal N2 from the CMOS inverter at their gates. The sources of the P-channel MOS transistors Qp2 and Qp3 are respectively connected to terminals for supplying a supply voltage VDD, and the sources of the N-channel MOS transistors Qn2 and Qn3 are connected to a common data line (a signal line L1). The drains of the transistors Qp2 and Qn2 are connected to each other, and the drains of the transistors Qp3 and Qn3 are connected to each other. A signal N3 is output through a signal line connecting the transistor Qp3 to the transistor Qn3.
A P-channel MOS transistor Qp4 receives a ground potential at its gate, an N-channel MOS transistor Qn4 receives the signal N3 at its gate, and an N-channel MOS transistor Qn5 receives the control signal SAE at its gate. The source of the transistor Qp4 is connected to a terminal for supplying a supply voltage VDD, and the drain thereof is connected to the drain of the transistor Qn4. The source of the transistor Qn4 is connected to the drain of the transistor Qn5, and the source of the transistor Qn5 is grounded. These three transistors Qp4, Qn4 and Qn5 together serve as an output unit. The output signal OUT of the sense amplifier is output through a signal line connecting the drain of the transistor Qp4 to that of the transistor Qn4.
An N-cannel MOS transistor Qn6 is disposed between the gate of the transistor Qn4 and the ground so as to release charge from the gate of the transistor Qn4. An N-cannel MOS transistor Qn8 is disposed between the gate of the transistor Qn2 and the ground, and the gate of the transistor Qn8 is connected to the data line (the signal line L1). An N-channel MOS transistor Qn7 is disposed between the signal line L1 and the ground, and the gate of the transistor Qn7 is supplied with the output signal N1 from the inverter INV1.
The operation of this sense amplifier will now be described.
When the control signal SAE is at a high level and no current flows from the data line (signal line L1) to the ground, the sense amplifier is operated as follows: Since the output signal N1 of the inverter INV1 is at a low level, the transistor Qp1 of the CMOS inverter is turned off and the transistor Qn1 is turned on, resulting in increasing the potential level of the output signal N2 from the CMOS inverter. This turns on the subsequent transistors Qp2, Qp3, Qn2 and Qn3, but the transistor Qn8 starts to be turned on because the potential level of the data line signal DL is high. Because the transistor Qn8 starts to be turned on, the potential level of the signal N2 is decreased and the transistors Qn2 and Qn3 start to be turned off. As a result, the potential level of the signal N3 becomes high. This makes the gate potential of the transistor Qn4 high, thereby allowing the transistor Qn4 to operate. Thus, an output signal OUT is output at a low level.
When the control signal SAE is at a high level and a current flows from the data line signal DL to the ground, the sense amplifier is operated as follows: Since the potential level of the output signal N2 from the CMOS inverter becomes high as in the aforementioned case, the subsequent transistors Qp2, Qp3, Qn2 and Qn3 are all turned on. Nevertheless, the potential of the data line signal DL becomes low because the memory cell connected to the data line (signal line L1) is in an on state, and the transistor Qn8 is kept in an off state. This results in a high potential level of the signal N2 and a low potential level of the signal N3, thereby turning off the transistor Qn4. Thus, an output signal OUT is output at a high level.
When the control signal SAE is at a low level, all the transistors Qp2, Qp3, Qn2 and Qn3 are turned off, resulting in turning off the transistor Qn5. Therefore, the output unit outputs the output signal OUT at a high level. In this case, since both the transistors Qn6 and Qn7 are on, charge is released to the ground from the gates of the transistors Qn4 and Qn8, resulting in keeping low the gate potential of the transistors Qn4 and Qn8.
For attaining a high speed operation, the sizes of the transistors Qp3 and Qn3 are made small so as to minimize the capacitance of the signal N3. Since the transistors Qp3 and Qn3 are disposed previously to the output unit, the load on the transistor Qn4 in the output unit is decreased. Since the transistors Qp2 and Qn2 are disposed previously to the transistors Qp3 and Qn3, the charge is rapidly supplied to the data line. This increases the operation speed of the circuit together with the operation of the transistor Qn8.
FIG. 41 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between a supply voltage VDD and a level sensing current in this sense amplifier. The level sensing current herein indicates a current that flows through the data line when the logical voltage of the output signal OUT of the sense amplifier undergoes a transition, i.e., when the transistor Qn4 is turned on/off. As described above, when a current with a level exceeding a predetermined level flows through the data line, the logical voltage of the output signal OUT undergoes a high transition, and when the current with a level exceeding the predetermined level does not flow through the data line, the logical voltage of the output signal OUT undergoes a low transition. In other words, a memory cell having a memory cell on current exceeding a level sensing current is in a low threshold state, and a memory cell having a memory cell on current not exceeding the level sensing current is in a high threshold state. As is shown with a curve VSALC1 in FIG. 41, the level sensing current increases as the supply voltage VDD increases in the conventional sense amplifier. In addition, the increase of the supply voltage VDD also causes the increase of the increasing ratio of the level sensing current.
FIG. 42 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between a supply voltage and a data line voltage. As is shown with a characteristic line VDLC1 in FIG. 42, the data line voltage increases as the supply voltage VDD increases.
FIG. 43 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship among a supply voltage VDD, a level sensing current and a memory cell current. A curve SALVO shows the variation characteristic of a level sensing current, and a curve MCON0 shows the variation characteristic of a memory cell on current. The memory cell on current herein indicates a characteristic against a supply voltage of a current, which flows between the source and the drain of an FET forming a nonvolatile memory cell when the floating gate is not charged negatively (i.e., in an erasing state). As is shown in FIG. 48, the characteristic curve SALEV0 of the level sensing current has a shape swelling downward similarly to the characteristic curve shown in FIG. 41. The memory cell current generally has a similar characteristic to a current flowing between the source and the drain of a MISFET, and hence, the characteristic curve MCON0 of the memory cell current increases as the supply voltage increases but eventually reaches a saturation state, i.e., has a shape swelling upward.
There exists a memory cell off current (or a memory cell off leak current) in contrast with a memory cell on current. A memory cell off current herein indicates a current that flows through a memory cell when it is not supposed to flow. Such a current is caused in the following two cases: First, when an FET forming a nonvolatile memory cell is negatively charged (i.e., in a writing state), namely, when the threshold value of a memory cell transistor is set to be high, the control gate of the memory cell is selected. In such a case, since the negative charge is insufficient and the threshold value is insufficiently high, a current flows through the memory cell. Secondly, although the control gate of the memory cell is not selected, a current flows through the memory cell because the memory cell transistor is of a depletion mode.
In a sense amplifier, the level sensing current is adjusted to have an intermediate value between the memory cell on current and the memory cell off current by adjusting the threshold values of the transistors.
Furthermore, a flash memory stores a data by setting the threshold value of a memory cell transistor within a predetermined range by charging (for a writing operation) or discharging (for an erasing operation) a floating gate. For example, when two kinds of data are desired to be stored using one memory cell, two kinds of threshold values, "H" and "L", suffice. When three kinds of data are desired to be stored using one memory cell, an intermediate threshold value is required to be set as well as "H" and "L". At this point, it is necessary to confirm whether or not the threshold value has been appropriately set, which operation is designated as verification. The verification is performed as follows:
In the verification of a memory cell in a writing state, i.e., having a high threshold value, it is determined whether or not a current flows through the memory cell using the level sensing current, with the word line of the memory cell selected. When it is determined that the level sensing current does not flow and the sense amplifier outputs an output signal OUT at a low level, it is confirmed that the desired high threshold value has been set in the memory cell.
In the verification of a memory cell in an erasing state, i.e., having a low threshold value, it is also determined whether or not a current flows through the memory cell using the level sensing current, with the word line of the memory cell selected. When it is determined that the level sensing current flows and the sense amplifier outputs an output signal OUT at a high level, it is confirmed that the low threshold value has been set in the memory cell. In the verification of the memory cell in an erasing state, however, it is necessary to further confirm that the level sensing current does not flow when the memory cell is not selected. The reason is as follows: An off leak current can flow through an unselected memory cell if the memory cell is of a depletion mode as described above. A plurality of memory cells are connected to one data line, and during the verification of one memory cell in a writing state, an off leak current can flow through another memory cell that is in an erasing state and is not selected. Such an off leak current can decrease the reliability of the verification.
A semiconductor device including the above-mentioned sense amplifier has the following problems:
First, the sense amplifier has a characteristic that, as the supply voltage VDD increases, the level sensing current increases and in addition the increasing ratio of the level sensing current also increases. This results in that the level sensing current is extremely small when the supply voltage is low. In, for example, a flash EEPROM that stores a data by varying the threshold voltage of a memory cell transistor, a slight current can flow through the memory cell transistor even when the threshold voltage thereof is set to be so high that a current is prevented from flowing therethrough. Accordingly, when the level sensing current is small under application of a low supply voltage as described above, it is difficult to distinguish from a current flowing through a memory cell transistor having a low threshold value from a leak current flowing through a memory cell transistor having a high threshold value, in reading a data from the memory cell. This can cause error discrimination of a data stored in the memory cell by the sense amplifier. Furthermore, when the supply voltage VDD is low, the memory cell on current is decreased, and hence, error discrimination can also be caused. There also arises a problem that a longer time is required for the discrimination by the sense amplifier.
Secondly, the data line voltage increases as the supply voltage increases. In, for example, a flash EEPROM that stores a data by varying the threshold voltage of a memory cell transistor, a current is allowed to flow through the memory cell transistor when a voltage is applied to the gate of the memory cell transistor whose threshold voltage is set to be low. In such a case, a high data line voltage can increase the threshold voltage of the memory cell transistor. The increase of the threshold voltage can decrease the current flowing under application of a voltage to the gate of the memory cell transistor. This also can lead to error discrimination by the sense amplifier as in the aforementioned case.
Thirdly, a value of the level sensing current is univocally defined with regard to one supply voltage value. Therefore, it is impossible to determine with margin included whether or not a memory cell current in an on state is larger than a level sensing current value during verification. Accordingly, in, for example, a flash EEPROM that stores a data by varying the threshold voltage of a memory cell transistor, it is impossible to determine whether or not the memory cell current in the on state has sufficient margin even when the threshold voltage is set to be sufficiently low to allow a current to flow. Furthermore, in such a flash EEPROM, there arises another problem that frequent change of the threshold voltage of the memory cell transistor can cause a failure of the flash EEPROM because the memory cell current in the on state decreases as compared with that in the initial state.
Fourthly, since a value of the level sensing current is univocally defined with regard to one supply voltage value, it is impossible to determine with margin included whether or not a memory cell current in an off state is smaller than a level sensing current value. Therefore, in, for example, a flash EEPROM that stores a data by varying the threshold voltage of a memory cell transistor, a slight off current (a leak current) can flow through the memory cell transistor when the memory cell transistor is turned off by grounding the gate thereof. Such an off current increases at a higher temperature, which can disadvantageously causes error discrimination and a failure in the conventional sense amplifier.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


This disclosure relates to a moxa treatment device which can be placed stabily on the surface of an affected part of a patient, requiring no adjustment of the ignited portion, and can efficiently concentrate the heat from the heat generating block towards the affected part over a long time, thus having a high heat efficiency. The device is provided with a hollow frustum of a cone or pyramid having a top opening and a bottom opening, a heat generating block installed inside the frustum of cone or pyramid, and a cover mounted on said top opening in such a way that the cover can be opened or closed as desired. Said heat generating block is comprised of a porous heat generator supporting block mounted near the top opening of said frustum of cone or pyramid and of a heat generator loaded in the supporting block.

The present invention relates to a moxa treatment device which warms and stimulates the surface of an affected area of a person's body so as to stimulate the body and relieve the pain of the affected area.
Moxa treatment, or moxibustion, has been practiced from ancient times as a folk remedy for relieving the pain of an affected part such as the shoulder, back, waist or knee. Traditionally, a cone of "moxa" in the size of a rice grain is placed on the skin surface of the affected part, then the cone of moxa is lit by a fire of a stick of incense, and its heat of combustion is used to relieve the pain of the affected part. Moxa is made from fibers on the back of dried leaves of mugwort, an herb.
When moxa treatment is given directly on the skin surface of an affected part, the heat of combustion of the cone of moxa may be excessive and cause blisters on the skin surface of the affected part. Accordingly, in recent years, moxa treatment through another substance has been practiced. A thin layer of garlic, leek, miso or the like is placed on the skin surface of an affected part, and moxa is placed and burnt on the top of this layer. Heat is thus transmitted indirectly to the affected surface.
Another method of moxa treatment has also been practiced. Moxa is formed in the shape of a cigarette, one end of the formed moxa is ignited, and this ignited piece is inserted into a cylindrical holder. The holder is held by a hand and placed at the skin surface of an affected part to stimulate the affected part with the heat of combustion of the moxa.
In the case of the former moxa treatment through a layer of another substance, it is not easy to control the combustion of the moxa when placed on the top surface of the substance such as garlic, leak or miso, and the skin may be burnt.
In the case of the moxa treatment device using a cylindrical holder (see, for example, H02-38751/Japan Utility-model Reg. No. 1869300), it requires much trouble to adjust the ignited portion of the moxa in the cylindrical holder and to shift the holder, while it is held in position, to a different point on the affected part. The reason is that the stability of the cylindrical holder is not good. Hence the heat of combustion cannot be concentrated onto the affected part, and the thermal efficiency is low.

Shima-machi, Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Pref.


An alkali metal/solid cathode electrochemical cell, particularly a Li/SVO cell, having an anode-to-cathode (A/C) capacity ratio of about 0.68 to about 0.96, is described. This provides the cell with negligible, if any, cell swelling during discharge.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the conversion of chemical energy to electrical energy, and more particularly, to an alkali metal electrochemical cell having an anode-to-cathode (A/C) capacity ratio specifically balanced to improve cell swelling without appreciably detracting from cathode efficiency. A preferred couple is an alkali metal/solid cathode active material and a most preferred chemistry is a lithium/transition metal oxide couple.
2. Prior Art
Lithium batteries have been successfully used to power implantable medical devices such as pacemakers, cardiac defibrillators, and the like. However, it is known that lithium batteries swell when they reach certain voltages during discharge. In the design of medical devices, this swelling must be accounted for so that enough void space is left for the battery volume change in order to prevent damage to the device circuitry. Consequently, the more swelling the battery experiences, the more void space that must be reserved, which directly impacts the device total volume. In the field of implantable medical devices, a smaller total device volume is desired. Thus, it is desirable to minimize or even eliminate the existence of swelling in lithium batteries, especially those used to power implantable medical devices, to provide a more efficient design and improve the safety characteristics of the implantable device.
A chemistry that provides high discharge capacity and high energy current pulses required for powering cardiac defibrillators and other implantable medical devices is the lithium/silver vanadium oxide (Ag.sub.2 V.sub.4 O.sub.11, SVO) couple. U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,997 to Crespi et al. describes an electrochemical cell having a lithium anode and a silver vanadium oxide cathode, wherein the cell is anode limited. This patent states that in the discharge of a conventionally balanced Li/SVO cell, the resistance increases as a function of time beginning at the second voltage plateau 310 on its discharge curve (FIG. 5 of Crespi et al.). In that respect, Crespi et al. rebalances the cell active components to include less of the lithium and electrolyte materials than would be used in a conventionally balanced cell. The rebalanced cell has the ratio of capacity (Q.sub.-) of the anode divided by the capacity (Q.sub.+) of the cathode between 0.45 and 0.70. This rebalancing allows discharge to occur only through the first voltage plateau and the first ramp to the start of the second voltage plateau, thus avoiding that portion of the discharge curve (the second voltage plateau region) in which resistance buildup occurs in conventionally balanced Li/SVO cells. The disadvantage of this approach is a loss of cell capacity by about 250 mAh (FIG. 6, line 370 vs. FIG. 7, line 385 in Crespi et al.).
Therefore, there is a need for a lithium/transition metal oxide battery that is dischargeable to deliver the high capacity needed for powering implantable medical devices and the like, but which experiences little, if any, swelling during discharge. The cell of the present invention fulfills this need by utilizing both voltage plateaus typical in the discharge of a Li/SVO cell for high discharge capacity while at the same time the effects of cell swelling are minimized through a rebalanced anode-to-cathode (A/C) capacity ratio. Thus, by using both voltage plateaus and both ramps and by rebalancing the cell active components, the cell swelling problem is controlled without detracting from the electrochemical reactions at the electrodes. Rebalancing the active components according to the present invention is also useful for decreasing swelling in a lithium/copper silver vanadium oxide cell as well.

Control of swelling in alkali metal electrochemical cells