A method for tailoring properties of high k thin layer perovskite materials, and devices comprising such insulators are herein presented. The method comprise the steps of, first, substantially completing the manufacture of a device, which device contains the high k insulator in a polycrystalline form. The device, such as a capacitor, or an FET, went through the typically high temperature manufacturing process of a fabrication line. In the next step, the device is in situ ion implanted with such a dose and energy to convert a fraction of the polycrystalline material into an amorphous material state, hereby tailoring the properties of the insulator. The fraction of polycrystalline material converted to amorphous material might be 1. This process can be applied to many electronic devices and some optical devices. The process results in novel perovskite thin layer materials and novel devices fabricated with such materials.

The present invention relates to insulating layers consisting of a mixture of crystalline and amorphous material states, and to devices that use such insulators. More specifically, this invention teaches a method for using ion implantation to amorphize insulators, thereby tailoring the insulator properties to optimize device performance. The invention also teaches the resulting mixed crystalline/amorphous perovskite materials, and the devices made with such materials.
Insulating layers in the thickness range of 1 to 1000 nm have found wide use in integrated circuits. Almost all devices that make up today""s integrated circuits, such as field effect transistors (FET), capacitors, decoupling capacitors, filters, and varactors, to name a few, are critically dependent on insulator properties. Also, one finds on a typical chip many non-device components with needs regarding dielectric properties of insulators that may be just as specific as those guiding the considerations for devices. Such might be the case for some passivation layers. When the circuits and the corresponding dielectrics are built on silicon wafers, the insulators of choice, almost universally, have been the oxides and nitrides of Si. These materials have relatively low dielectric constants, about 4 and 7 respectively. As circuits shrink and become more specialized, dielectrics with high dielectric constants (high k materials) also have become desirable alternatives. For instance, the need for high k materials is apparent for the case of the storage node of a DRAM cell. The cell needs high capacitance to store as much charge as possible, and there is a limit how thin the insulating layer can be made. Using a thin layer of SiO2 as an example in a capacitor in a DRAM memory circuit, there is a limit to the minimum thickness that the SiO2 can have. For example, at thicknesses below about 3 nm tunneling current starts to come into play, resulting in leaky capacitors, which are unable to store charge for sufficiently long times. The gate insulator in the FET""s encounters similar limitations as miniaturization progresses. High k materials help miniaturization in general, since the area of any device can be made smaller if capacitance per unit area increases.
The object of the present invention is to overcome the deficiencies described, which result from the use of low dielectric constant insulating materials. The central idea of the present invention is to replace such materials by suitably tailored high k materials, and specifically how to achieve the exact desired value of dielectric constant with appropriate leakage current and stress/strain parameters.
If one can make use of a high k perovskite material, such as barium strontium titanate (BSTO), which can have a dielectric constant of about 300 at 30 nm thickness, one obtains high capacitance with low leakage due to the thickness of the film. Similar arguments are valid for many other capacitor dielectrics applications as well, where thicker films with less defects can be used when the dielectric constant is suitably high. However, often the properties of such high k dielectrics, apart of the high value of the dielectric, are not otherwise optimized for the intended use.
The as-deposition material structure of the typical perovskite is generally crystalline, almost exclusively polycrystalline. The object of this invention is to teach that after the manufacture of the devicexe2x80x94incorporating the insulatorxe2x80x94has already been essentially completed, one can in-situ controllably vary the dielectric constant of the insulator material. This is done by using ion implantation to convert the crystalline material of the insulator in part, or fully, to an amorphous material state. The amorphous material has a very different dielectric constant value than the crystalline material. A mixture of the crystalline and amorphous material exhibits a dielectric constant value which is in the range between the values of the fully crystalline and the fully amorphous material states. In this manner, depending on what fraction of the insulator is converted into the amorphous state, one can smoothly vary the dielectric constant of the final material from a value corresponding to the as deposited crystalline state, all the way to the dielectric value of the fully amorphous material. The parameters of the ion implanting, such as implant species, implant energy, implant dose, or possibly several species in combination at several energies and several doses, are chosen to achieve, or tailor, the insulator properties in a manner that the insulator properties match the operational requirements of the device.
It is important to emphasize the advantage that the conversion to amorphous material is done after the device manufacture is substantially completed. The dielectric at this stage is usually covered by a conducting electrode and possibly other layers commonly used in integrated circuit technology. Thus, for instance, in an array of capacitors if some, or even one of the capacitors has a very different value from the rest, it is possible to trim that capacitor even after the fabrication is complete.
It important as well, that while one is adjusting the dielectric constant by ion implantation, one can also get a lowering of the leakage current, and a relieving stress and strain at layer interfaces.
Different values of dielectric constant are needed for different applications. DRAM capacitors need the highest k for charge storage and the lowest leakage for charge retention. A 1 GBit DRAM will have 109 storage nodes with capacitors storing the charge at each node. Uniformity among the array is also desirable. FET gate dielectrics need not have such high dielectric constants and the leakage currents can be much higher. However, low leakage is also desirable for FETS, particularly for portable applications. Filters, decoupling capacitors, and varactors need to have dielectric values somewhere in between the values used for DRAMS and for gates. Thus, in modern integrated circuitry applications, it will be necessary to have available for circuit designers materials in thin layer form whose dielectric constant can be controllably varied.
In another embodiment the possibility to vary the dielectric constant of an insulator in a broad range, with the spatial precision of ion implantation, lends itself for use in optical devices, such as dielectric mirrors, filters and gratings.
We have shown that the electrical properties of perovskite materials in thin film form can be controllably altered by amorphizing the material with such implant species as Cr, Cl, Ti, Mn, and Nb. Also lighter ion species like F, H and D have their useful points, such as deeper penetration at lower energies.
Typical perovskite materials for use in this invention include strontium titanate (STO), barium titanate(BTO), and the compound barium strontium titanate (BSTO). Similar materials of use include lead titanate, lead bismuth titanate, strontium bismuth titanate and those materials in which Nb and Ta atoms substitute for the titanium atom. Typically the perovskite formula is ABO where for the case of STO Axe2x95x90Sr, Bxe2x95x90Ti and Oxe2x95x90O. While for BSTO, A=a combination of Ba and Sr, typically given by a ratio x whereby Axe2x95x90Ba(1xe2x88x92x)Sr(x). In the experimental descriptions that follow BSTO is used as the prime embodiment, with x=0.3
The as deposited thin layers of perovskite materials are either fully crystalline or fully amorphous. Which of the two states one ends up with depends on the mode of deposition, and importantly, on the temperature. One obtains as deposited amorphous material only at low temperatures, typically below few hundred degrees C. The perovskite layers that one deposits during the fabrication process of integrated circuits, where temperatures range in the 1000xc2x0 C., are crystalline. Consequently the mixed crystalline/amorphous perovskite layers in integrated circuits are novel materials by themselves. The devices made with these mixed state perovskite insulators are novel devices.
The general invention which is directed toward any device in need of special insulators, will be now discussed in detail for a few selected embodiments.

Tailored insulator properties for devices

International Business Machines Corporation


A wavelength conversion element is provided with a substrate including a nonlinear optical single crystal having a periodically poled structure, wherein a visible light transmittance of the substrate is 85% or higher when ultraviolet light is irradiated to the substrate. Further, a laser light having an average output of 1 W or more is outputted by shortening a wavelength of inputted laser light having a wavelength of 640 nm to 2000 nm. By improving visible light transmission characteristics when the ultraviolet light is irradiated in this way, a breakdown of crystal can be prevented and a stabilization of output characteristics at high output can be realized. As a result, an absorption of green light induced by ultraviolet light can also be suppressed and a saturation of output and the breakdown of crystal can be avoided.

High-output laser light sources are attracting attentions as light sources used in laser processing systems or laser displays. In an infrared region, solid-state lasers such as YAG lasers, fiber lasers using fibers doped with rare earths such as Yb and Nd and the like are being developed. In red and blue regions, semiconductor lasers using GaAs, gallium nitride, etc. are being developed and higher outputs are also being studied.
On the other hand, in a green region, it remains still difficult to directly generate green light from a semiconductor and it is a general practice to generate green light by wavelength-converting infrared light generated from the aforementioned solid-state laser or fiber laser by means of nonlinear optical crystal. Before the development of gallium nitride, there exists virtually no method for obtaining lights from a visible region to an ultraviolet region other than wavelength conversion using a nonlinear optical crystal. Various nonlinear optical materials such as lithium niobate (LiNbO3), lithium tantalate (LiTaO3), lithium triborate (LiB3O5: LBO), β-barium borate (β-BaB2O4), potassium titanyl phosphate (KTiOPO4: KTP), cesium lithium borate (CsLiB6O10: CLBO) have been developed.
Particularly, in the case of using lithium niobate crystal as nonlinear optical crystal, it is known that high conversion efficiency can be obtained by a large nonlinear optical constant. Since the construction of a device can be simplified, a quasi phase matched (QPM) wavelength conversion element formed using this crystal and poling technology is frequently used in devices having outputs of about 200 to 300 mW. Further, in a device capable of obtaining several W (Watts) output, nonlinear optical crystals such as LBO and KTP are used.
The above LBO crystal has a feature that breakdown and deteriorations due to fundamental wave and generated second harmonic are less likely to occur, whereas it is necessary to construct a resonator and arrange the crystal in the resonator in order to obtain high conversion efficiency, which necessitates a complicated device construction and precise adjustments since it has a small nonlinear optical constant. On the other hand, the KTP crystal has a larger nonlinear optical crystal than the LBO crystal and can obtain high conversion efficiency even without constructing a resonator, whereas it has a disadvantage that breakdown and deteriorations due to fundamental wave and generated second harmonic are likely to occur.
An example has been reported in which, by the crystal growth of lithium niobate and lithium tantalate by a method for doping additive in crystals as in patent literature 1 or approximating the crystal composition to an ideal composition (stoichiometric composition) as in patent literature 2, a refractive index change by light, i.e. optical damage as one of crystal deteriorations can be suppressed.
As described above, nonlinear optical crystals have advantages and disadvantages, and it is being studied to reduce the power density of fundamental wave per wavelength conversion element in order to suppress deteriorations by determining crystal to be used based on tradeoff between the advantages and disadvantages or by using a plurality of wavelength conversion elements as in patent literature 3. The construction of a wavelength converter disclosed in patent literature 3 is shown in FIG. 30.
As shown in FIG. 30, fundamental wave emitted from a fundamental wave light source 101 has second harmonic (green light) 105a split by a separation mirror 103a after being wavelength-converted by a wavelength converting portion 102a, the fundamental wave having passed through the separation mirror 103a has second harmonic (green light) 105b split by a separation mirror 103b after being wavelength-converted by a wavelength converting portion 102b and the remaining fundamental wave becomes residual fundamental wave 106. In this case, there were problems of having a complicated structure and doubling the number of parts since the number of wavelength conversion elements is increased.
The above-mentioned patent literature 1 and 2 disclose methods for doping magnesium oxide to avoid a phenomenon called optical damage. Patent literatures 4 to 7 and nonpatent literature 1 also describe methods for doping magnesium oxide to avoid a phenomenon called optical damage. For example, in the case of lithium niobate, it is generally well-known that this optical damage can be avoided if 5 mol or more of magnesium oxide is added. Besides, an example of realizing the generation of green light of 1.7 W by heating lithium niobate crystal doped with 5 mol of magnesium oxide to 140° C. is reported in nonpatent literature 2.
Specifically, the above-described optical damage is referring to a light induced refractive index changing phenomenon (photorefractive) in which electrons are excited by an optical electric field and refractive indices around a position, where a laser beam passed, change due to the electro-optic effect of a crystal. More specifically, the optical damage is caused only by green light (second harmonic) having a low output in the order of several hundreds mW if infrared light to become fundamental wave is converted into the green light (second harmonic) and is also caused even if magnesium oxide is not doped.
In order to suppress the photorefractive as one of the above crystal deteriorations, proposals have been made to control such that the absorption end of transmittance is located at a shorter wavelength by adding magnesium oxide or zinc oxide and/or to improve the transmittance of a general visible region (not transmittance when light having a specific wavelength is irradiated) in order to compensate for holes formed even after impurities forming an absorption peak in a crystal are maximally removed and electric charges generated by antisite defects where an element constituting a crystal is located on a site different from the original one.
However, crystal breakdown and deteriorations cannot be completely suppressed at present even if magnesium oxide is doped within the above range. Particularly, in the case of obtaining harmonic having a high output in the order of several W, crystal breakdown and deteriorations could not be suppressed.    Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent No. 3261594    Patent Literature 2: Japanese Patent No. 3424125    Patent Literature 3:
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication NO. H11-271823    Patent Literature 4: Japanese Patent No. 2720525    Patent Literature 5:
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication NO. H06-242478    Patent Literature 6:
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication NO. 2003-267799    Patent Literature 7:
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication NO. 2003-267798    Nonpatent Literature 1:
Applied Physics letters, 44, 9, 847-849 (1984)    Nonpatent Literature 2:
Applied physics letters, 59, 21, 2657-2659 (1991)

Wavelength conversion element, laser light source, two-dimensional image display and laser processing system


An apparatus for retaining guide pulleys for load cables of a building front cable lift in a housing stationarily arranged at the top of a building, from which housing said guide pulleys are outwardly pivotable from ground. In the housing which is open at its face there are supported two beams which are outwardly pivotable horizontally and carry the guide pulleys for the load cables. The beams are retained releasably by means of an interlocking device arranged in the interior of the housing. The interlocking device is releasable by means of auxiliary cables guided on the guide pulleys, said auxiliary cables depending from an edge cutout in the base of said housing.

This invention relates to an apparatus for retaining guide pulleys for load cables of a building front cable lift in a housing stationarily arranged at the top of a building, from which housing the guide pulleys are outwardly pivotable from ground.
Such apparatus find application in particular for building front cable lifts for rescuing for instance people in fire emergency, in order to protect the guide pulleys constituting fixed components of the building in their housing against weather effects and in order to thereby insure that the guide pulleys are ready for use in case of an emergency. In a conventional apparatus, cable drums are supported at the internal sides of two wings outwardly pivotable horizontally, on which drums the load cables are wound up. The load cables are provided with weights at their one ends. The wings are locked in the lock position by a latch. Said latch is able to be drawn out of its lock from ground by means of a remote control cable, the result being that the wings with the cable drums are pivoted into the open position via spring-loaded pivot levers and are retained in this position. Furthermore, the load cables unwind in the open position of the wings subject to the action of the weights from the cable drums to ground. Such an apparatus in which the load cables are wound up prior to operating the lift is not able to be employed for a building front cable lift provided for high buildings alone in view of the required size of the cable winding capacity of the cable drums. Furthermore, such an apparatus is relatively complicated as a result of the spring-loaded pivot levers, it thereby not being able to be precluded with the degree of safety required for rescue cable lifts that as a result of rusting or contamination the outward pivoting of the guide pulleys from the housing and thus the use of the lift is uncertain.

Apparatus for retaining guide pulleys for load cables of a building front cable lift in a housing stationarily arranged at the top of a building

Kombi-Lift Montage- und Handelsgesellschaft mbH


A rubber vibration insulator comprising a boss member as one fitting, a tubular body, an annular elastic member interposed between the boss member and one end of the tubular body, a plate member as the other fitting surrounding fixedly the opposite end of the tubular body, thus forming together with the aforesaid elements a sealed chamber having variable volume, and a capsule housed in the sealed chamber, in which a damping liquid is filled. The capsule comprises an external shell consisting of a rubber plate having an orifice and a plate body joined together and a diaphragm disposed transversely in the shell, thereby dividing its internal chamber into an air sub-chamber on the rubber plate side and a liquid sub-chamber on the plate body side. The rubber plate of the shell may be defined with recesses on both sides in a vertical symmetry and dispersedly to form thin film portions or be in the form of a thin rubber plate which is interposed between two porous plates at a clearance and play between them. With the arrangement of the capsule, the spring rate of the diaphragm can be lessened and the liquid pressure in the sealed chamber can be prevented from rising in the high frequency region. Thus, muffled sounds and transmission sounds are insulated.

In supporting engines suspended on motor vehicles in a vibration-isolating manner, the number of revolutions per minute of the engines themselves varies over a wide range and consequently, vibration-absorbing mounts that are capable of fulfilling the two requirements are indispensable: for one thing, the damping coefficient must be large during high-amplitude oscillations, low-frequency oscillations occurring at low speed and for the other thing, vibration insulating ability is high against high frequency oscillations occurring at high speed. However, noises due to low frequency oscillations and noises due to high frequency oscillations are contrary to each other in characteristics, hence it is very difficult to solve both at the same time.
There have been heretofore provided rubber vibration insulating devices of a type in which a damper material such as rubber is used for a sealed annular elastic body and a damping liquid such as a non-freezing liquid is enclosed within the sealed annular body whereby a damper effect through an orifice is imparted. Some of them now find commercial acceptance.
However, existing devices of this type are constructed so that a partition wall provided in a damper liquid chamber formed by one mounting bracket and a diaphragm having an orifice in the lower part thereof has generally a high rigidity and is secured to the other mounting bracket. Hence, these have serious drawbacks in that dynamic spring rate in the high frequency oscillation region becomes large and the liquid pressure of the damper liquid chamber becomes high, which causes muffled sounds to be generated that impair quietness of the vehicle room. Here, if a partition wall having the function characteristic of absorbing small amplitude oscillations in the high frequency vibration region is used instead, then such function characteristics of it in the medium and low frequency regions will be poor.


The present invention is for producing stably a second pressure ring which both keeps a lubricant-scraping property and prevents the cylinder side from being longitudinally scratched. According to the invention, a second pressure ring made of iron without plating thereon, of which the outer peripheral sliding surface is downwardly divergent and slanted, is provided in which the lower end of the outer peripheral sliding surface is worked upwardly divergently so as to slant in a range of less than 0.15 mm in its axial direction. The junction between the outer peripheral sliding surface and the slanted worked portion is lapped cylindrically for finishing.

In prior art techniques, as disclosed in Japanese laid-open Patent Gazette Nos. 246087/1996 and 19757/1997, as cylinder liners of reciprocating internal combustion engines, cylinder liners made of hyper-eutectic aluminum-silicon alloy by an aluminum alloy casting method (hereinafter, called A1 cylinders) have been developed. Such liners are excellent in anti-abrasion property, have less consumption of lubricant and less abrasion on the piston, and promote light engine weight, and thus are increasingly being used.
A piston for such an A1 cylinder is normally provided with a set of three piston rings. The three piston rings include a top ring (pressure ring) with a surface which is nitriding-treated, a second pressure ring of which the outer peripheral sliding surface is chromium-plated, and an oil ring forming a third ring (oil scraping ring). Incidentally, as opposed to an A1 cylinder such as, for example, one made of A390 alloy, a pressure ring made of acicular cast iron without plating thereon could be employed as the second pressure ring.
The second pressure ring needs to be airtight for backing up the top ring and to provide a degree of scraping for scraping a little lubricant that the oil ring may possibly leave unscraped.
As for the second pressure ring, therefore, the outer periphery thereof should slant so as to be downwardly divergent or slant with an undercut, and the lowermost portion of its sliding surface should be formed with a sharp edged shape. On the other hand, in order to prevent the cylinder from being scratched, the sliding surface should be chromium-plated and the slant shaped surface should be polished to make the edged portion sharply and smoothly finished. Therefore, it has been hard in practice to satisfy requirements for both providing the scraping property and preventing longitudinal scratching of the bore (cylinder side).

Second pressure ring for Al cylinders and its producing method


A memory programmer interface for an electronic demand register includes conductive pads on a circuit board within a housing of the electronic demand register and spring-pin connectors which fit through slots in the housing of the electronic demand register into resiliently urged contact with the conductive pads. In the preferred embodiment, the conductive pads are enlarged solder pads associated with a non-volatile memory in the electronic demand register. A pair of alignment pins on the memory programmer guidingly enter alignment holes in the housing and/or the circuit board of the electronic demand register to provide alignment between corresponding ones of the conductive pads and the spring-pin connectors. The memory programmer includes a power source sufficient to energize at least selected portions of the electronic demand register and a control signal generator for generating control signals including a signal for maintaining a microprocessor in the electronic demand register in the reset condition. The electronic demand register includes a circuit for permitting a microprocessor therein to be held in a reset condition while the non-volatile memory therein is being read from or written to.

The present invention relates to electronic demand registers for electric meters and, more particularly, to cooperating physical and electrical constructions of electronic demand registers and non-volatile memory programmers which enable reading of data and programmed constants from, and writing of data and programmed constants to, non-volatile memories in such electronic demand registers.
Conventional electric meters employ an aluminum disk driven as a rotor of a small induction motor by an electric field at a speed which is proportional to the electric power being consumed by a load. Geared dials, or cyclometer discs, integrate the disk motion to indicate the total energy consumed, conventionally measured in kilowatt hours (one kilowatt hour equals one thousand watts of power consumption for one hour).
In addition to the above measurement of consumption, some electric meters contain means for separating the consumption into those parts of consumption occurring during predetermined peak and off-peak hours and for recording maximum demand during a predetermined period of time in order to adjust billing according to such parameters. In one such demand meter disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,586,974, a mechanical demand register records the power usage during a predetermined period of time and stores the value for later reading. The predetermined period of time may be, for example, the time between meter readings, or a period of time corresponding to the billing period of the utility providing the power. A clockwork mechanism restarts the demand register at the ends of regular demand intervals of, for example, a fraction of an hour, so that, at the end of the predetermined period, the stored value represents the highest value of power usage occurring during any one of the regular demand intervals in the predetermined period.
Mechanical demand registers, such as disclosed in the above U.S. Patent, have limited flexibility. The design of particular meter physical configuration, is not transferrable to another meter having a different physical configuration. In addition, the demand-measurement functions of a particular demand register cannot be redefined without major mechanical redesign. Greater flexibility may be obtained using electronic acquisition, integration and processing of power usage. An electronic processor such as, for example, a microprocessor, may be employed to manage the acquisition, storage, processing and display of the usage and demand data. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,179,654; 4,197,582; 4,229,795; 4,283,772; 4,301,508; 4,361,872 and 4,368,519, among others, illustrate the flexibility that electronic processing brings to the power and energy usage measurement. Each of these electronic measurement devices includes means for producing an electronic signal having a characteristic such as, for example, a frequency or a pulse repetition rate, which is related to the rate of power usage. The electronic processor is substituted for the mechanical demand register of the prior art to keep track of the power usage during defined periods of time.
Various aspects of an electronic demand register which may benefit from the packaging technique of the present invention is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 599,684 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,571,692; 599,685; 599,736, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,591,782; 599,744; 599,683, now Pat. No. 4,573,141,; 599,735, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,248; 599,743, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,545; 599,742 all filed on Apr. 12, 1984 and Ser. Nos. 550,407; 550,142 both filed on Nov. 10, 1983 the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference. For present purposes, it is sufficient to state that one desirable characteristic of an electronic demand register should be ease of manufacture using snap-together assembly techniques. In addition, since the electronic demand register is called on to perform many functions, it necessarily requires the inclusion of a large number of parts when compared to the number of parts in the electro-mechanical portion of the electric meter. As a consequence, it can be anticipated that an electronic demand register of an electric meter may require field service more often than the remainder of the electric meter. Thus, a second important desirable characteristic of an electronic demand register is ease of troubleshooting and service.
The mechanical kilowatthour register of an electric meter must accommodate a plurality of different voltages and loads. The line voltage available for driving the aluminum disk of a particular installation is accommodated by a suitable choice of a voltage coil in the electric meter. Different loads are accommodated by selecting a desired relationship between disk rotation and mechanical dial readings through the use of scaling by mechanical gearing. In this way, a single basic electro-mechanical design electric meter is adaptable to a large number of installation-specific applications.
It is desirable to provide an improved electronic demand register having corresponding, or greater, universality of use of an electronic demand register in installation-specific situations. Such universality is achieved in the referenced demand register through the use of programmed constants which perform scaling corresponding to that performed by the mechanical gearing, and perform other functions for adapting a universal electronic demand register design to a particular installation. The programmed constants reside in the volatile memory of a digital processor during normal operation and are transferred to an on-board, non-volatile memory upon the occurrence of a real or apparent power outage, as well as upon a limited number of other types of occurrences. Removal of the electronic demand register from the electric meter is recognized as an apparent power outage triggering the non-volatile storage of the programmed constants. In addition, existing billing data is also stored in the non-volatile memory.
A favored technique for field service on an electronic demand register includes substitution of a known-good demand register for one that is apparently in a failed condition. In order to avoid the need to reprogram the programmed constants for a particular application, and to avoid losing stored billing data, a method was disclosed in the referenced patent applications for copying the contents of a non-volatile storage in one electronic demand register to a non-volatile storage in another electronic demand register which may then be substituted for the original electronic demand register. It is desirable that the package and the physical and electronic design for an electronic demand register provide suitable interface means for cooperation with a non-volatile memory programmer which is capable of reading and temporarily storing the contents of a non-volatile storage in an electronic demand register which is to be replaced and of writing the thus-acquired data into a non-volatile storage in a replacement electronic demand register.

Memory programmer interface for electronic demand register


A liquid pump dispenser has a stationary spout, a fixed piston and a reciprocating cylinder therewith defining a variable volume pump chamber. The dispenser has container venting and pump priming features, and includes an inlet/discharge valve housing. The dispenser has a reduced number of parts for simplicity and economy.

This invention relates to a liquid pump dispenser having a minimum of constituent parts and including a stationary spout, a stationary piston, container venting and pump priming features, and an inlet/discharge valve housing. More particularly, such dispenser is of the throttle pump variety having a positive leakproof vent control.
Known is a liquid pump dispenser disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,402,432 having a pump priming feature and a positive container vent control for a pump of the pressure built-up variety having a reciprocable plunger defining a variable volume pump chamber with a fixed piston, and requiring a plunger head slidable relative to the plunger for controlling the discharge in response to accumulation of pressure within the pump chamber. The discharge passage reciprocates with the plunger head.
Also known is a pump dispenser from U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,198 which has a stationary spout and a fixed pump cylinder for the reception of a reciprocating piston. A circular discharge flap valve is located between the pump chamber and the discharge passage, and a separate vent seal defining a passive vent is provided.
It is desirable to provide an improved pump dispenser of the throttle variety having a minimum number of parts for economy and simplicity yet avoiding the performance and operational drawbacks of the known pump structures.

Liquid pump dispenser having a stationary spout


The tension roller device provides a support shaft, a securing plate that is fixed on the support shaft, an eccentric hub that is free to rotate relative to the shaft, and a spring that is arranged axially between the eccentric hub and the securing plate. The support shaft includes a stop surface, against which the securing plate is axially supported, and which is delimited radially on the outer side by a circular outer edge. At least one opening is formed in the securing plate, in order to delimit a tongue for radial centering of the spring. The opening is situated radially on the outer side relative to the circular outer edge of the stop surface of the support shaft.

Tension roller devices of this type are generally used to maintain tension permanently on the distribution belt within a specific range.
A first type of tension roller device is known from document FR 2 920 851, comprising a pulley, a roller bearing on which the pulley is fitted, and an eccentric hub which supports the bearing. The device also provides a shaft to support the eccentric hub, a securing plate for fitting of the device on the associated engine block, and a torsion spring which is fitted between the securing plate and the eccentric hub. The device also comprises a spring support which is interposed axially between the torsion spring and the securing plate. The support makes it possible to ensure radial centring of the torsion spring.
A second type of tension roller device is differentiated only by the absence of the spring support for reasons of axial compactness, or cost. However, with this type of device, the radial centring of the torsion spring relative to the securing plate is not ensured. Radial displacement of the spring can then take place and give rise to premature wear.
The objective of the present invention is to eliminate this disadvantage.


An embodiment of the present specification provides a method for receiving a downlink control channel by a machine type communication (MTC) device. The method comprises: a step of receiving, by the downlink control channel, setting information about the maximum number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) which can be transmitted by a base station; a step of receiving, by the MTC device, setting information about a set of control channel monitoring PRBs which should monitor the downlink control channel; and a step of monitoring the downlink control channel on the PRBs according to the setting information about the set of control channel monitoring PRBs, wherein if the number of sets of control channel monitoring PRBs exceeds the maximum number of PRBs, the downlink control channel may be monitored only on the sets of PRBs equal to or less than the maximum number of PRBs.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mobile communication.
Related Art
3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) long term evolution (LTE) evolved from a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) is introduced as the 3GPP release 8. The 3GPP LTE uses orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) in a downlink, and uses single carrier-frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) in an uplink. The 3GPP LTE employs multiple input multiple output (MIMO) having up to four antennas. In recent years, there is an ongoing discussion on 3GPP LTE-advanced (LTE-A) evolved from the 3GPP LTE.
As disclosed in 3GPP TS 36.211 V10.4.0 (2011-12) "Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Physical Channels and Modulation (Release 10)", 3GPP LTE/LTE-A may divide the physical channel into a downlink channel, i.e., a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), and an uplink channel, i.e., a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) and a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH).
Meanwhile, in recent years, research into communication between devices or the device and a server without human interaction, that is, without human intervention, that is, machine-type communication (MTC) has been actively conducted. The MTC represents a concept in which not a terminal used by human but a machine performs communication by using the existing wireless communication network.
Since MTC has features different from communication of a normal UE, a service optimized to MTC may differ from a service optimized to human-to-human communication. In comparison with a current mobile network communication service, MTC can be characterized as a different market scenario, data communication, less costs and efforts, a potentially great number of MTC devices, wide service areas, low traffic for each MTC device, etc.
Meanwhile, it is recently suggested to restrict a bandwidth for a downlink channel for low-cost or low-complexity MTC devices.
In this case, the MTC devices may have difficulty in receiving a downlink channel on a restricted bandwidth.

Method for receiving downlink control channel by MTC device, and terminal


A chemical vapor deposition (CVD) system is provided for processing a substrate 110. The system 100 includes a heated muffle 115, a chamber 120 having an injector assembly 130 for introducing chemical vapor to process the substrate 110, and a belt 105 for moving the substrate through the muffle and chamber. The belt 105 has an oxidation-resistant coating 175 to reduce formation of deposits thereon. The coating 175 is particularly useful for resisting formation of chromium oxides on belts made from a chromium-containing alloy. In one embodiment, the oxidation-resistant coating 175 comprises a securely-adhered oxide layer 185 that is substantially free of transition metals. Preferably, the oxidation-resistant coating 175 comprises aluminum oxide. More preferably, the coating 175 comprises an aluminum oxide layer 185 securely adhered over a nickel aluminide layer 180.

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) systems or reactors are well known and widely used to deposit or grow thin films of various compositions upon surfaces of substrates. For example, CVD systems are commonly used to deposit dielectric, passivation and dopant layers upon semiconductor wafers. CVD systems operate by introducing a process gas or chemical vapor into a deposition chamber in which a substrate to be processed has been placed. The gaseous source chemicals pass over the substrate, are adsorbed and react on the surface of the substrate to deposit the film. Various inert carrier gases may also be used to carry a solid or liquid source into the deposition chamber in a vapor form. Typically, the substrate is heated from 200 to 900.degree. C. to initiate the reaction.
One type of CVD system used in semiconductor manufacturing is an atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition system (hereinafter APCVD system). APCVD systems are described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,020, to Bartholomew et al., which is incorporated herein by reference. In an APCVD system, a deposition chamber is maintained at atmospheric pressure while gaseous source chemicals are introduced to react and deposit a film on the substrate. A common embodiment of the APCVD system uses a belt or conveyor to move the substrates through the deposition chamber during the deposition process. Because this design allows uninterrupted processing of substrates, and because APCVD systems generally provide a higher rate of film growth than, for example, low pressure CVD systems in which the chamber must be evacuated prior to each deposition process, belt-driven APCVD systems typically provide a much greater substrate throughput.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional belt-driven APCVD system 20 typically includes an endless wire belt 25 for transporting substrates 30 at elevated temperatures through a process muffle 35 having a series of chambers 40, each chamber having a process gas injector 45 for depositing a layer (not shown) on the substrates. The substrates 30 on the belt 25 are heated by heaters 50 below a floor 55 of the process muffle 35. To provide a film having a uniform thickness across a substrate 30, and from substrate to substrate, the substrates must be heated uniformly during the deposition process. Thus, there must be good thermal contact between the substrates 30 and the belt 25, and between the belt and the muffle floor 55.
A shortcoming of conventional APCVD systems is that deposition occurs not only on the substrates, but also on components of the system itself. One problem caused by deposits on the APCVD system components is that they tend to chip or flake, generating particles that can contaminate the substrates. To ensure uniform and repeatable processing of the substrates, these deposits must be periodically removed from the system components. In particular, to uniformly heat the substrates in order to obtain consistently uniform films, the deposits must be removed from the belt and the muffle floor to provide flat contact surfaces between the substrates and the belt and between the belt and the muffle floor. Furthermore, the floor of the muffle directly below each deposition chamber typically includes a number of perforations through which a purge gas is introduced to inhibit film deposition on the back sides of processed substrates. If these perforations become clogged over time by CVD deposits, there is an insufficient flow of purge gas through the perforations and backside deposition on the substrates can occur.
Thus, there is a need for an APCVD system that reduces the generation of particles and reduces the accumulation of deposits on the APCVD system components generally and in particular on the belt and the muffle floor.
An additional liability of conventional APCVD systems constructed from chromium-containing alloys including stainless steels and many nickel-based alloys is associated with the tendency of these alloys to form protective chromium oxide surface layers that give these alloys their desirable oxidation resistance. The chromium oxide surface layer that forms on these alloys after extended service is known to generate gaseous chromium-containing compounds when employed in APCVD systems; these compounds condense on processed substrates resulting in chromium contamination.
Several approaches have been attempted to reduce the build up of deposits on the belt. One generally known approach, shown in FIG. 1, uses a belt cleaning mechanism 60 to continually clean the belt 25 during operation of the APCVD system. The belt cleaning mechanism 60 has an etch muffle 65 below the process muffle 35. After exiting the chambers 30 and the process muffle 35 the belt 25 enters the etch muffle 65 in which gaseous hydrous hydrogen fluoride (HF) in a nitrogen carrier gas (typically an azeotropic concentration) is passed through the belt, to react with and etch deposits on the belt. The belt 25 is then passed through an ultrasonic bath 70 of flowing deionized water, in which agitation removes etch products and particles from the belt. Finally, before reentering the process muffle 35, the belt 25 passes through an air knife 75 and an infrared dryer 80 to dry the belt.
Although the above approach keeps the belt relatively free of built-up deposits, the muffle floor 55 eventually accumulates deposits to such a degree that nonuniform heating of the substrate occurs, causing poor film uniformity on substrates, and/or the purge perforations to become clogged. When this occurs, the muffle floor must be cleaned, and an HF cleaning procedure, commonly referred to as muffle etch, has been developed for this purpose. This procedure requires cooling the process muffle to near-room temperatures and dismantling the system to gain access to the muffle floor region. Typically, the procedure requires the replacement of the injector assemblies by HF dispensing tanks. These tanks expose the muffle floor to aqueous or gaseous hydrous HF that removes the accumulated material. The frequency of these muffle etches is dependent on several factors including the type and amount of chemicals used and the temperature of the deposition chamber. Typically, for conventional APCVD systems used to process semiconductor wafers the mean time between muffle etches (MTBME) is on the order of every one to two hundred hours. This need for frequent, invasive and time consuming cleaning limits the otherwise excellent substrate throughput capabilities of APCVD systems.
Accordingly, there is a need for an APCVD system, and a method of operating the system, that reduces the formation of deposits on the system components in general, and in particular on the belt and the muffle floor. There is also a need for an APCVD system that increases the MTBME, thereby increasing substrate throughput. There is a further need for a method of reducing the generation of gaseous metal-containing compounds from the interior surfaces of the metal components in APCVD systems.
The present invention provides a solution to these and other problems, and offers other advantages over the prior art.

Chemical vapor deposition system and method


An automatic document handler employing a bottom vacuum sheet separator in conjunction with an air knife, a single blower with a cyclically operated air valve being utilized to provide sub-atmospheric air for the separator and pressurized air for the air knife to provide enhanced feeder performance and automatically compensate for variable paper weights.

With the advent of high speed xerographic copy reproduction machines wherein copies can be produced at a rate in excess of three thousand copies per hour, the need for a document handler to feed documents to the copy platen of the machine in a rapid, dependable matter was recognized to enable full utilization of the reproduction machines potential copy output. A number of document handlers are currently available to fill that need. These document handlers must operate flawlessly to virtually eliminate the risk of damaging the originals and generate minimum machine shutdowns due to uncorrectable misfeeds or documents multifeeds. It is in the initial separation of the individual documents from the document stack where the greatest number of problems occur.
Since the documents must be handled gently but positively to assure separation without damage through a number of cycles, a number of separators have been suggested such as friction rolls or belts used for fairly positive document feeding in conjuction with a retard belt, pad, or roll to prevent multifeeds. Vacuum separators such as sniffer tubes, rocker type vacuum rolls, or vacuum feed belts have also been utilized.
While the friction roll-retard systems are very positive, the action of the retard member, if it acts upon the printed face can cause smearing or partial erasure of the printed material on the document. With single sided documents, this does not present a problem as the separator can be designed so that the retard mechanism acts upon the underside of the document. However, with documents printed on both sides, there is no way to avoid the problem. Additionally, the reliable operation of friction retard feeders is highly dependent on the relative frictional properties of the paper being handled. This cannot be controlled in a document feeder.
In document hanlers where the document set may be circulated a plurality of times, the document handler is normally provided with a bottom sheet separator-feeder to allow feeding of documents while documents which have already been copied to be returned to the top of the document stack. In this way after all the documents have been copied, they are in the correct order for recirculation if necessary.
One of the major problems with bottom sheet feeders is that without knowing how large a stack of documents is to be placed in the feed tray or the paper weight of the individual documents, it is difficult to design a sheet separator that is gentle enough for small stacks of light weight paper and still be capable of handling large stacks of heavy weight paper.
It is therefore the object of this invention to provide a document handler that automatically compensates for variable weight sheets without complicated controls or mechanisms.


A device for selectively routing coins moving edgewise on to either of two paths is described. The device contains a flap lying generally in the plane of movement of a coin, the flap being pivoted such that its upstream end is selectively movable between two positions to cause the coin to go either to one side or to the other side of the flap depending upon the position of the flap, a coin support arranged to support a coin going to the one side of the flap, so that the coin continues edgewise past the flap, and an opening into which a coin going to the other side of the flap will fall edgewise.

In goods vending machines, gaming machines, and other applications it is well known to provide a coin mechanism which includes an electronic coin validator which can determine the authenticity and denomination of inserted coins, storage means, normally in the form of respective tubes for storing accepted coins of respective different denominations, a coin routing apparatus controlled by signals from the validator indicative of the denomination of each coin and operable to cause the coin to be delivered to the correct tube, and a payout system for paying out coins stored in the tubes, either as change or as prize money.
The present invention is concerned with devices and apparatus which may be utilised in routing coins, for example from the validator to the coin tubes of a coin mechanism such as that just referred to.
It has been common for such coin mechanisms to have four or perhaps more coin tubes standing vertically and arranged in a row. Different coin denominations have been separated from each other by means of a plurality of solenoid-operated gates which define different routes for different coin denominations when they are actuated in different combinations.
The passageways along which coins travel in such coin mechanisms are almost always arranged so that the coins travel edgewise at least through the validating and coin routing parts of the mechanism. One type of gate which has been used frequently in routing the coins is often referred to as a "flipper" gate and comprises a flap which is pivoted such that its upstream end (relative to the direction of travel of coins) is selectively movable between two positions to cause the coin to go either to one side or to the other side of the flap depending on the position of the flap. This is a very simple arrangement and it is easy to move the flap between its two positions using a solenoid.
Because of the nature of that type of gate, coins leaving the flap on one side of it will be on a path only a few millimetres, or a few coin thicknesses, away from coins which leave the other side of the flap the two coins then travelling in planes generally parallel to each other but not spaced far apart. The coin tubes, into the tops of which the coins need to be routed, are of necessity on centres spaced apart by distances of the order of at least a typical coin diameter. It has therefore been necessary to provide, in addition to a gating arrangement which causes initial separation of the coin paths, a manifold section which spreads the paths further apart so as to match them to the positions of the tops of the coin tubes. The need for both separation and manifolding requires a substantial amount of vertical space within the coin mechanism. The overall size of a coin mechanism is constrained by industry standards and machine design requirements, and it is desirable within that constraint to maximise the space available for coin storage and consequently to minimise the space occupied by the other components of the system, including the coin routing and manifolding arrangements.


This invention relates to poly(vinyl chloride) injection molding compositions which contain novel additive polymers which modify the rheology characteristics of the composition, and to the novel additive polymers themselves.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) compositions, especially those suitable for injection molding, and to novel additives which modify the rheological properties of the PVC composition.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known that processing of rigid poly(vinyl chloride), that is, polymers containing at least 80 weight percent vinyl chloride units and containing little or no plasticizer, is extremely difficult to accomplish without the use of polymeric processing aids. Such processing aids when used at levels of from about 0.1 to about 10 parts per 100 parts of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC), more usually from about 0.5 to about 10 phr (parts per 100 parts of PVC), cause the PVC to flux under heat into a thermoplastic leathery state on a mill roll or other similar mixer. The processing aids further allow the PVC to be processed in an extruder into a molten thermoplastic state without the need for high shear forces and temperatures. They further impart to the processed product smoother, uniform surfaces.
A thorough description of processing aids for PVC may be found in "Thermoplastic Polymer Additives, Theory and Practice," Edited by John T. Lutz, Jr., Marcel Deckker, Inc., New York and Basel, 1988 (chapter by R. P. Petrich and John T. Lutz, Jr.) and "History of Polymer Composites," Edited by R. B. Seymour and R. D. Deanin, VNU Science Press BV, Netherlands, 1987 (chapter by D. L. Dunkelberger).
Particularly useful as processing aids have been high molecular weight polymers which are predominately composed of units derived from methyl methacrylate, which have been commercially available for about 30 years. These additives are especially useful in that they do not detract from the important physical properties expected from the final processed PVC object, such as heat distortion temperature, tensile strength, and impact-resistance properties.
One deficiency that the acrylic processing aids of commerce have is that the high molecular weight polymers, even at the low levels used, either maintain or increase the melt viscosity of the resultant blend. This is especially undesirable in injection molding applications, where it is desired to have a melt of low viscosity for ease in mold-filling. Lowering of the molecular weight of the processing aid will decrease the melt viscosity of the blend, but sometimes at the sacrifice of the heat distortion temperature of the final processed object.
Similar effects, i.e., improved flow at the expense of lowered heat distortion temperature, are found with other non-polymeric additives, such as plasticizers, or when a lower molecular weight PVC or a PVC copolymer is used.
Several polymeric additives based on polymers of (meth)acrylate esters have been disclosed as flow improvers for PVC. Simple homopolymers and copolymers, although effective, may delay fusion of the PVC, which is undesirable for rapid processing of the blend and for avoidance of overheating of the blend. Further, such single-stage materials are generally soft, difficult to isolate from their preparative media, and difficult to blend with the PVC. Further, when the additive is immiscible with the PVC and of significantly differing melt viscosity at processing temperatures, orientation effects may be seen in injection molding, and delamination of the processed blend may occur.
Multistage structures, often known as core-shell polymers, usually specifically described as graft polymers, have been described as useful for this purpose. However, the combination of relatively high molecular weight for the various stages and the chemical combination of the stages (grafting) make such materials less suitable for flow improvement in PVC formulations based on low molecular weight PVC, such as those of potentially commercial interest for injection molding. Further, when the molecular weight of the first stage is decreased and the compatibility with the PVC lessened to produce an additive which does not increase the melt viscosity of the blend with PVC, then delay of fusion is noted.
There has thus been a long-felt need for an additive which will allow PVC to be processed in injection molding to useful objects which maintain the physical properties of a medium- to high-molecular weight PVC, such as heat distortion temperature and toughness, while being capable of being molded under commercially practical and safe conditions of temperature, time, and pressure, which will further produce uniform, non-delaminated blends with PVC, which does not detract from, and preferentially enhances, the impact strength of the PVC blend, and which produces minimal deleterious effects on the fusion properties of the blend.

Poly(vinyl chloride) blends and additives therefor


Provided are a metformin hydrochloride osmotic pump tablet and a preparation method therefor. According to the preparation method, a hetero-type stamping-prepared metformin hydrochloride tablet core is used, and a controlled-release coating is wrapped outside the stamped metformin hydrochloride tablet core, such that the metformin hydrochloride osmotic pump tablet is prepared.

With the development of pharmaceutical science, therapeutic advantages of oral sustained-release preparations over ordinary immediate-release preparations have been recognized. The sustained-release preparation has longer drug release time, and more stable drug release, so that the fluctuation in plasma drug concentration is reduced in patients, which can reduce the times of medication and improve therapeutic effects, while also reduce the occurrence of side effects. Therefore, in the research & development of pharmaceutical preparations, more and more drugs are designed as sustained-release preparations.
In practical applications, in order to achieve the purpose of controlling drug release, it is often necessary to use more adjuvant materials that control drug release. However, the use of a large amount of adjuvant materials inevitably leads to a larger weight and volume of the final preparations, thereby causing difficulties for patients to swallow.
According to statistical data from the Food and Drug Administration, 16 million people in the United States have difficulties in swallowing. Among them, 8% have experienced cases where the preparation is too large to be swallowed and the medication is not strictly taken as prescribed, even 4% give up the treatment with a certain preparation as it is unable to be swallowed. Therefore, it is a subject closely related to therapeutic effects of a drug in terms of controlling the weight and volume of a pharmaceutical preparation to make it easy for patients to swallow.
For example, metformin hydrochloride framework sustained-released tablets have two commonly used specifications of 500 mg and 1000 mg. A framework controlled-release mechanism is used by the metformin hydrochloride sustained-released tablets sold at the pharmaceutical market in China to control drug release, and a framework sustained-released tablet with a specification of 500 mg has a weight of more than 1 gram (about 1.1 grams). For convenience of administration by patient, tablets are made into capsule-shaped ones to reduce their cross-sectional area through the esophagus when swallowing. If a framework sustained-released tablet with a specification of 1000 mg is produced by way of framework sustained-release method, the weight will reach more than 2 g. Even if the capsule-shaped design is used, the volume is too large, which will make it difficult for patient to swallow. Therefore, the metformin hydrochloride sustained-released tablets sold at the pharmaceutical market in China only have a maximum specification of 500 mg, rather than a specification of 1000 mg.
Among metformin hydrochloride controlled-release preparations sold at the American market, there are metformin hydrochloride osmotic pump tablets with a specification of 1000 mg (trade name: FORTMET) manufactured by Andrx Labs. Since in an osmotic pump preparation, a coating film is used as controlled-release means, a controlled-release effect can be achieved with less adjuvant materials, so that the total weight of such preparation is only about 1.2 grams, which is much lower than the weight of the framework sustained-released tablet (more than 2 grams). A circular-shaped punch is adopted for the FORTMET osmotic pump tablet to press a tablet core, and the punch used for preparing the osmotic pump tablet is a circular-shaped punch for the reason that the tablet core pressed via a circular-shaped punch is isotropic, the tumbling of the tablet core in the coating pan is random in the process of coating, and the probability of receiving the coating liquid in each direction is the same, therefore, the coating film on the entire surface of the tablet is relatively uniform, so that the coating film has good integrity and is not easily broken to cause burst release. However, a circular-shaped punch with a diameter of 13-14 mm is adopted for the FORTMET osmotic pump tablet to press the tablet core, although the weight of the tablet is significantly lower than that of the framework sustained-released tablet, the cross-sectional area is still large and it is still inconvenient to be swallowed.

Metformin hydrochloride osmotic pump tablet and preparation method therefor

ELITE PHARMA TECHNOLOGY (SHANGHAI) CO., LTD.


The center frequency of each of the analog filters with different selectivities each other installed in an automatic adjusting circuit is automatically adjusted in accordance with a bias input signal which is generated by the phases detectors respectively associated with the analog filters in accordance with a frequency difference, so as to be equal to the reference frequency of an input signal applied to the two analog filters. The bias input signal is fed to an analog filter to be controlled, which is formed on the same chip as that of the above two filters. A coarse adjustment is based on the output signal of the phase detector associated with the analog filter with a low selectivity. A fine adjustment is based on the output signal of the phase detector associated with the analog filter with a high selectivity. An accuracy of matching the center frequency to the reference frequency is determined by both the selectivity of the analog filter with a high selectivity and the ratio of the output signals of the two phase detectors in the automatic adjusting circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic adjusting circuit for an analog filter used in an analog signal processing, and, more particularly, to an automatic adjusting circuit for automatically adjusting a center frequency of an analog filter with a high accuracy to be exactly equal to a reference frequency of an input signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional automatic adjusting circuit for an analog filter used in an analog phase synchronization loop circuit in a color sub-carrier signal system at 3.58 MHz of a color television receiver, for example, is arranged as shown in FIG. 1. In a semiconductor integrated circuit shown, reference numeral 41 designates an analog filter of a variable gain type, which receives an input signal Si of a reference frequency fs. The center frequency "fo" of the analog filter 41 is varied by controlling its gain (gm) in accordance with a bias input signal. The analog filter 41 is a low-pass filter, for example. A phase detector 42, which is made up of a multiplier, for example, phase detects an output signal of the analog filter 41 with reference to the input signal Si that is fed through a signal line 45, and outputs a component signal which depends on a phase difference. A smoothing capacitor 43, which is externally coupled with the integrated circuit, is for smoothing the output signal of the phase detector 42 to thus convert it into a DC signal. The phase detected output signal as the DC signal is fed back as a fine adjusting bias input signal to the analog filter 41 through a feedback loop 46. A variable resistor 44, which is externally coupled with the integrated circuit, is for applying a coarse adjusting bias input to the analog filter 41.
In the automatic adjusting circuit for the analog filter, in order to adjust the filter characteristic of the analog filter 41 s that the center frequency "fo" of the analog filter 41 is equal to the reference frequency "fs" of the input signal Si, first a coarse adjustment is made so that the center frequency "fo" of the analog filter 41 falls within a predetermined range with respect to the reference frequency "fs", by manually adjusting the external variable resistor 44. Then, the phase detector 42 automatically executes a fine adjustment of the analog filter 41 by its output signal.
However, the manual operation for the filter characteristic adjustment is attendant with many drawbacks. In particular, the adjusting work is very troublesome. Further, in case that the filter characteristic of the analog filter after adjusted is deviated from the correct one, it is often impossible to adjust such filter characteristic. Furthermore, since the variable resistor 44 is the part externally coupled with the integrated circuit, an operator will feel inconvenient in using the integrated circuit.
To make an automatic adjustment of the filter characteristic of the analog filter 41 over a broad frequency band, the frequency band must be broadened by lowering the selectivity Q of the filter. Therefore, it is impossible to make an exact fine adjustment of the filter characteristic.
In case where the analog filter 41 is a filter of a high selectivity Q, it is necessary to previously adjust and set the center frequency "fo" of the analog filter 41 in the vicinity of the reference frequency "fs" before an automatic fine adjustment. Also in this case, there still exist the drawback of the troublesome manual adjustment work and the drawback of frequently failing to take a countermeasure for the deviation of the adjusted filter characteristic.
As described above, the conventional automatic adjusting circuit for an analog filter has the following drawbacks. 1) Since the filter characteristic must be manually adjusted, the adjusting work is delicate and troublesome. 2) When, after adjusted, the filter characteristic is deviated from the correct one, there is a case that no measure can be taken for the deviated filter characteristic. 3) Since the variable resistor 44 is needed as the part externally coupled with the integrated circuit, a designer will feel inconvenient in circuit design using the integrated circuit. 4) To make an automatic adjustment of the analog filter over a broad frequency band, the frequency band must be broadened by lowering the selectivity Q of the filter. Accordingly, it is impossible to make a fine adjustment of the filter characteristic with a high accuracy.

Automatic adjusting circuit for an analog filter


Systems and methods are provided for effectuating a basis for implementing services capable of self-creation, self-evolution and/or substantive personalization without direct intervention from, e.g., a service provider. The resulting services are flexible and user-friendly, as a basic set of service primitives can be updated and extended at any point. Additionally, new and/or improved service functionality that is adapted to a user's behavior is done so in a non-intrusive manner. Additionally, implementation of service families, meta-service and readdressing as described above in accordance with various embodiments allows for the maximization of, e.g., a community training effect, when some interesting service finding of one community user can be easily shared and utilized by other users. Moreover, the systems and methods described herein for implementing/providing a basis for a flexible architecture minimizes resource consumption on the client side.

This section is intended to provide a background or context to the invention that is recited in the claims. The description herein may include concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the description and claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
BIONETS refers to the framework of a European Union (EU) project that seeks to promulgate networks and services that are modeled after, e.g., bio-inspired, self-evolving, ecological, and/or socio-economic communities. It is desired that such types of networks and services further the trend towards pervasive communication environments, where distributed networks can replace "fully-connected" networks. For example, autonomic networks or systems can comprise mobile devices, referred to as user nodes (U-Nodes) and embedded sensing devices referred to as tiny nodes (T-Nodes), where the T-Nodes are capable of sensing environmental/contextual data that can be utilized by the U-Nodes to, e.g., enhance services.
One desired characteristic identified in BIONETS involves evolution, where autonomic networks, systems, services, protocols, etc. continuously undergo self-optimization to provide increasingly "better" service to the U-Nodes. It is foreseen that services may also die out from, e.g., obsolescence and failure to satisfy the needs of users. Evolution in BIONETS can comprise a variety of different and/or inter-related processes, such as transformation operations, fitness evaluations, competitive selection, and communication, where communication can be utilized to, e.g., exchange information for the transformation operations, fitness evaluation feedback, etc.
Additionally, evolution can be considered in terms of at least two perspectives, for example, micro/microscopic-evolution and macro/macroscopic-evolution. Micro-evolution refers to the evolution of smaller operations, such as individual programs or service blocks that may implement a particular service, and transformation operations related to such individual programs, for example, self-tuning parameters. Macro-evolution refers to the global impact or evolution that the smaller operations or service blocks have on a larger network or system, such as the interaction between the individual programs and how certain individual programs may replicate and/or propagate throughout a network, cooperation between individual programs, etc.
One issue in service development is that, while oftentimes it is possible to recognize a user's dissatisfaction with a service, it is difficult to formally crystallize the user's problem in a manner that would allow for the resolution of the problem. Moreover, a user may, for example, misinterpret the existing dissatisfaction. Hence, a developer seeking to address the user's dissatisfaction attempts to create a remedy by following a "false path" based upon the user's misinterpretation. As a result, the user's dissatisfaction can go unresolved or unaddressed.
Services deployed and used in conventional networks are strongly focused or oriented to completing a certain task, but do not provide enough flexibility for self-evolution, customization, and/or personalization to the specific needs of different users. Furthermore, even when generalized service development is properly focused to completing a task, a lack of self-evolution capability remains a limiting factor to the completion of that task. For example, scenarios can exist where a service can provide 95% of a user's needs and requirements, but the remaining 5% defines overall success of the service. In addition, service adjustment conventionally involves a plethora of human resources, which may result in inefficient service adjustment. Even when a problem is properly identified, oftentimes, too much time is spent in modifying the service to address the problem and in deploying a new version of the service throughout a network. This is turn can often result in the loss of one or more business opportunities.

Bionets architecture for building services capable of self-evolution


A combined multiple memory array is disclosed which includes at least two differing types of memory arrays located next to and aligned to one another. The individual memory cells of the differing memory arrays are designed wherein the x pitches may vary in order to allow the y pitches to be substantially equal. A common set of row decoders provide common wordline decoding to the differing memory arrays. The memory arrays need not have the same number of words or bits to share the common row decoders. The column decoders may be separate for each array to account for different word sizes. A common set of column decoders is possible with equal word lengths from each array. A significant savings in silicon area may be saved by combining the multiple arrays.

Many electronic circuits, typically microprocessor based circuits, are required to store digital information either temporarily or permanently, and must further access the information quickly. Furthermore, it is common for many electronic circuits to require both temporary and permanent data storage in the same system. The number of bits required for storage and thus the number of memory cells may vary considerably from system to system. Because the number of storage bits required may be large, it is advantageous to increase the density of memory bits for a given area.
Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) is an example of an application that often requires different combinations of memory, and each type of memory in different amounts. The memories are typically each placed in separate locations on the chip, each being a stand alone memory system. Typically each memory consists of memory cells arrayed in an x-y array having row decoders located along the y axis to provide word decoding and having column decoders located along the x axis for providing bit decoding. The memory cells of each memory array each have an x and y pitch (width and height of each cell, respectively) which are typically matched to the y pitch of the row decoders and to the x pitch of the column decoders, respectively.
Since the array of the memory cells normally takes up the majority of area, the memory cell is designed first to be as compact as possible both in the x and y pitches. The row and column decoders are then designed to match the already determined x and y pitches of the memory cells. This is an efficient and effective method of design, especially in large memories. In ASIC applications, where the number of memory cells generally are not large, the row and column decoders take a proportionately larger amount of area. Furthermore, Random Access Memories (RAM) cells are typically larger than Electrically Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM) cells which in turn are larger than Read Only Memory (ROM) cells.
ASIC applications which require differnt types of memories in varying amounts, often are not required to access the different memories on the same clock cycle (or asynchronously). The different types of memories may then be accessd individually, usually putting their addressed contents onto a bus. In effet the row decoders, and in some cases the column decoders of each memory array are redundant and moreover require a significant amount of area. If the smaller memory cells were designed to be pitched matched to the largest memory cell, then the row and/or column decoders could be shared. This is especially efficient when there are smaller amounts of the smaller memory cells.
Pitched matched arrays may be configured using conventional Computer Aided Design (CAD) techniques. However hierarchical structured design methods, and more particularly, silicon compilers, having made it more efficient in laying out such an integrated circuit design. The silicon compiler may take a high level description of the system and convert it into a parameterized layout of the circuit. Although the initial preparation of the design software may consume a lenghty time period, subsequent circuit design for multiple circuits requires substantially less time. Once the x and y pitches of the largest memory cell are determined, these parameters may be used to quickly layout other pitch matched memories.
Thus, what is needed is a combined memory system which merges pitched matched arrays of different types of memory, for example, Random Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), Electrically Programmable ROM (EPROM), or some combination thereof.


The present disclosure provides a compound of formula (I) and the use thereof for the therapeutic treatment of human cancers including B-cell lymphoma and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and multiple sclerosis.

Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk) is a non-receptor cytoplasmic tyrosine kinase belonging to the Tec family of kinases, members of which also include Tec, Itk, Txk, and Bmx. Most of these kinases are predominantly expressed in hematopoietic cells and play important roles in relaying signal transductions from cell surface receptors to direct cell development, differentiation, and other functions (Berg J J et al. Annual Review of Immunology, 2005; 23:549-600). Btk is critical for B cell development, differentiation, maturation, and signaling (Mohamed A J et al. Immunological Reviews, 2009; 228:58-73). Loss-of-function mutations of Btk cause X linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) in humans and X linked immunodeficiency in mice (Thomas J D et al. Science 1993; 261:355-358). Patients with XLA have normal pre-B cell populations in their bone marrow but these cells fail to mature and enter the circulation. Therefore, these patients essentially have no circulating B cells and are incapable of producing antibodies.
BTK plays pivotal roles in B cell proliferation and activation mediated by B cell receptor (BCR). Upon BCR activation, Btk is translocated to the plasma membrane where it is phosphorylated and subsequently initiates a cascade of signaling events including activation of phospholipase Cγ2 (PLCγ2) and eventually leading to calcium mobilization and transcriptional regulation involving nuclear factor kappa B (NF κB) (Mohamed A J et al. Immunological Reviews 2009; 228:58-73). Because of the indispensable roles in BCR signaling pathway, it is believed that the kinase activity of Btk is critical for development and maintenance of a wide variety of B cell malignancies, including chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and a number of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) subtypes, mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), and diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) (Ponader S. et al. Blood 2012, 119:1182-1189; Honigberg L A et al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2010, 107:13075-13080). In addition, the role of B cell in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, and other immune disorders has been clinically demonstrated (Edwards J C et al. The New England Journal of Medicine, 2004, 350:2572-2581; Favas C et al. Nature Review Rheumatology, 2009, 5:711-716; Hauset S L et al. The New England Journal of Medicine, 2008, 358:676-688). Therefore, targeting Btk with small molecule inhibitors may provide therapeutic benefit for the treatment of B cell malignancies and autoimmune diseases.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Aminopyridazinone compounds as protein kinase inhibitors


Flexible integrated circuit (IC) modules, flexible IC devices, and methods of making and using flexible IC modules are presented herein. A flexible integrated circuit module is disclosed which includes a flexible substrate and a semiconductor die attached to the flexible substrate. An encapsulating layer, which is attached to the flexible substrate, includes a thermoplastic resin and/or a polyimide adhesive encasing therein the semiconductor die. The encapsulating layer may be an acrylic-based thermally conductive and electrically isolating polyimide adhesive. Optionally, the encapsulating layer may be a B-stage FR-4 glass-reinforced epoxy thermoplastic polymer or copolymer or blend. The die may be embedded between two flexible substrates, each of which includes a layer of flexible polymer, such as a polyimide sheet, with two layers of conductive material, such as copper cladding, disposed on opposing sides of the layer of flexible polymer.

Integrated circuits (IC) are the cornerstone of the information age and the foundation of today's information technology industries. The integrated circuit, a.k.a. "chip" or "microchip," is a set of interconnected electronic components, such as transistors, capacitors, and resistors, which are etched or imprinted onto a tiny wafer of semiconducting material, such as silicon or germanium. Integrated circuits take on various forms including, as some non-limiting examples, microprocessors, amplifiers, Flash memories, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), static random access memories (SRAMs), digital signal processors (DSPs), dynamic random access memories (DRAMs), erasable programmable read only memories (EPROMs), and programmable logic. Integrated circuits are used in innumerable products, including personal computers, laptop and tablet computers, smartphones, flat-screen televisions, medical instruments, telecommunication and networking equipment, airplanes, watercraft and automobiles.
Advances in integrated circuit technology and microchip manufacturing have led to a steady decrease in chip size and an increase in circuit density and circuit performance. The scale of semiconductor integration has advanced to the point where a single semiconductor chip can hold tens of millions to over a billion devices in a space smaller than a U.S. penny. Moreover, the width of each conducting line in a modern microchip can be made as small as a fraction of a nanometer. The operating speed and overall performance of a semiconductor chip (e.g., clock speed and signal net switching speeds) has concomitantly increased with the level of integration. To keep pace with increases in on-chip circuit switching frequency and circuit density, semiconductor packages currently offer higher pin counts, greater power dissipation, more protection, and higher speeds than packages of just a few years ago.
Conventional microchips are generally rigid structures that are not designed to be bent or stretched during normal operating conditions. In addition, most IC's are typically mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB) that is as thick or thicker than the IC and similarly rigid. Processes using thick and rigid printed circuit boards are generally incompatible for applications requiring stretchable or bendable circuitry. Consequently, many schemes have been proposed for embedding microchips on or in a flexible polymeric substrate. This, in turn, enables many useful device configurations not otherwise possible with rigid silicon-based electronic devices. However, many of these schemes are based on the assumption that the embedded chips are considerably thicker than the individual layers of flexible polymer that make up the PCBs. Such schemes are not compatible for "thin chip" configurations. In addition, available processes for making flexible circuits oftentimes require multiple layers of expensive materials, which not only increases material and manufacturing costs but also results in a composite structure that is undesirably thick.

Flexible electronic circuits with embedded integrated circuit die


A semiconductor accelerometer having a sensor element supported by a pedestal coupled to a substrate. Coupling between the pedestal and the sensor element includes opposing torsion beams along the axis of flexure coupled through a spring to the pedestal. The spring includes a pair of beams extending in a direction perpendicular to the torsion beams so that thermal expansion applies a tensile force to the torsion beams.

There are known various very small, solid state accelerometers which can be used in acceleration sensors. Applications for such sensors include missile arming devices and actuators for airbags in automobiles Other known accelerometers for use in actuating airbags in motor vehicles are relatively complex devices which depend upon the movement of balls within the cylinder which is affected by fluid pressure and traveling friction.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,585 issued to Boxenhor teaches a planar inertial sensor with a sheet member having one inner planar element adapted for angular motion. A base member supports the peripheral region of a sheet member in a plane perpendicular to the Z axis. The sheet member encloses a first pair of opposed C shaped void regions disposed symmetrically about the Y axis and a common point where the X, Y, and Z axes intersect. The portions of the sheet member between the opposed ends of the void regions are flexible The portion of the sheet member interior to the void regions has a mass imbalance across the Y axis, i e , one side has more mass than the other.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,194 issued to Rudolf teaches an integrated accelerometer having a flap fixed to a carrier by two beams which are disposed symmetrically and in line with one side of the flap. An electrode deposited on a plate permits acceleration to be measured by measuring the corresponding variation in capacitance between the flap and the electrode. The two symmetrical attachment means operate in a torsion mode. The accelerometer is a semiconductor with a semiconductor carrier substrate and a semiconductor flap member The flap member in the attachment means is formed of a single thin piece of monocrystaline silicon.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,498,138 issued to Stewart teaches an accelerometer with a sensing member having a nonconductive wafer divided, by a slot, into radially interior and exterior portions. The exterior portion is support for rotation relative to the interior portion by a pair of flexible hinge members. Translation of the outer portion results in restoring forces tending to produce only translational displacement thereof. A servo system positions the exterior portion to a neutral position and includes magnetic means for super-imposing a permanent magnet's unidirectional field with a field produced by an electromagnet, to apply a restoring torquing force couple to the sensing member. The working air gap of the permanent magnet circuit is varied to compensate for changes in the characteristic of the magnet due to temperature variations.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,478,604 issued to Evans teaches a tapered cantilever beam composed of P type silicon which is mounted to lie on a plane substantially at a right angle to the direction of motion of a body and receives stress or pressure at its tip end which is applied by a moveable ball weight. On each face side of the beam is an N type epitaxial resistor wired into a circuit configuration to form a unijunction transistor. The flexing of the beam serves to vary the resistors in an opposite sense and to control a transistor connected into a relaxation oscillator circuit.
Further, various silicon accelerometers are known wherein a pedestal suspends a surrounding sensor member through two opposing torsion bars. However, if the longitudinal stress along a torsion beam becomes compressive instead of tensile the behavior of the beam can change, allowing the beam to bend more under load and perhaps even buckle. Such a structure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,629. It would be desirable to avoid a compressive force in the torsion beam and, indeed, to build in tensile stress These are some of the problems this invention overcomes.
Referring in particular to FIG. 4 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,629, the illustrated structure isolates the torsion arms from substrate/pedestal stresses, but it does not, by itself, create a tension in them. Thus, if the electroplating process produces beams in compression, they will remain in the state. Further, the structure is asymmetric and under acceleration upward out of the plane of the page (referring to FIG. 4), the ring structure 116, being held only at the left side through beam 114, will bend downward toward the right, tilting the plate 128 with respect to the substrate. This will reduce the linearity of the device, i.e., the linearity of the change in capacitance with acceleration. Under some circumstances one corner of the plate could deflect enough to touch the substrate. Tilting can also increase the sensitivity of the device to acceleration in the plane of the device perpendicular to the axis of the torsion arms (though both rotation of the plate around the torsion arms and symmetric bending of the torsion arms will also tend to increase off-axis sensitivity).
Referring to prior art FIG. 1, the beams, (10,11) supporting the deflection plate (12) of a torsion beam accelerometer (13) should not be under compressive stress, since this can cause the beams to deflect or even buckle under acceleration. Compressive stress can be introduced either in the manufacturing process, or as a result of differential thermal expansion between the supporting pedestal and the substrate on which it rests. For example, assume that as a result of temperature changes, the material comprising the substrate (14) shown in FIG. 1 expands relative to the material forming the pedestal (15), torsion beams (10,11) and deflection plate (12). The pedestal (15) (assumed thin in relation to the substrate), being bonded to the substrate (14), will expand relative to the deflection plate (13), thereby compressing the torsion beams (10,11).
If the expansion coefficient of the substrate material is less than that of the deflection plate structure material, at ambient temperatures above the bonding temperature the beams will be in tension, and for ambient temperatures below the bonding temperature, they will be in compression. At temperatures above the bonding temperature, the plate will expand relative to the pedestal, which is constrained from expanding freely by the lower thermal expansion coefficient material forming the substrate. Therefore, the beams will be Placed in tension. At temperatures below the bonding temperature, the opposite will be true. If the bonding is done at high temperature, then the beams will always be in compression. This will be the case, for instance, in an embodiment where a patterned, boron-doped silicon wafer is anodically bonded to a glass wafer at 400.degree. C., cooled, and then the undoped portion of the silicon etched away to leave behind the accelerometer structure (See L. Spangler and K. D. Wise, "A New Silicon-on-Glass Procedure for Integrated Sensors", IEEE Sensor and Actuator Work Shop, Hilton Head, pp 140-142, June 1988, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference).


Systems for operating on an internal combustion engine coupled to an exhaust conduit and an intake conduit include an exhaust gas recirculation conduit in fluid communication with the exhaust conduit, a heat exchanger coupled to the exhaust gas recirculation conduit to cool at least a portion of the amount of exhaust, a liquid accumulator adapted to accumulate liquid from at least a portion of the amount of exhaust, and a condensate conduit coupled to the liquid accumulator. Methods of operating an engine include: receiving an exhaust gas recirculation stream from a main exhaust stream, cooling the exhaust gas recirculation stream, removing at least some condensate from the exhaust gas recirculation stream after cooling, and adding at least some of the condensate removed from the exhaust gas recirculation stream to the main exhaust stream and/or to an inlet charge of the engine.

One method of reducing emissions from internal combustion engines is exhaust gas recirculation. In internal combustion engines implementing exhaust gas recirculation, at least some of the exhaust gases are directed back into the engines. Thus, a portion of the exhaust makes a second pass through the combustion chamber(s). In some instances, exhaust gas recirculation is implemented on internal combustion engines provided with a turbocharger.