Provided is a method of fabricating a recess transistor in an integrated circuit device. In the provided method, a device isolation region, which contacts to the sidewall of a gate trench and a substrate region remaining between the sidewall of the device isolation region and the sidewall of the gate trench, is etched to expose the remaining substrate region. Thereafter, the exposed portion of the remaining substrate region is removed to form a substantially flat bottom of the gate trench. The recess transistor manufactured by the provided method has the same channel length regardless of the locations of the recess transistor in an active region.

1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates to a method of fabricating an integrated circuit device, and more particularly, to a method of fabricating a recess transistor in an integrated circuit device and a recess transistor in an integrated circuit device fabricated by the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
As integrated circuit devices become highly integrated and the length of channels of MOS transistors shortens, punch-through errors may occur between a source and a drain in a flat-type transistor. Thus, a shortened channel in the MOS transistors causes the integrated circuits to malfunction. As a result, recess transistors have been developed to increase a channel length.
FIG. 1 is a plan diagram illustrating an active region pattern (A/P) and a gate pattern (G) for a unit cell in a conventional recess transistor. FIGS. 2A through 2C are cross-sectional diagrams illustrating the conventional recess transistor of FIG. 1. FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C are taken along the lines A-A′, B-B′, and C-C′ of FIG. 1, respectively.
Referring to FIG. 2A, a gate trench (90) is formed in an active region, which is defined by a shallow trench isolation (STI) (40a). Here, a recess transistor includes a recess gate (98) buried in the gate trench (90) and source/drain regions (50) formed at the both sides of the recess gate (98). In the conventional recess transistor, a channel is formed along the circumference of the trench (90), as shown in FIG. 2A. Accordingly, the channel length (Chc) of the recess transistor is larger than the channel length (Chp) of a conventional flat-type transistor, which is formed on a silicon substrate (10) in parallel. Accordingly, the generation of punch-through errors between the source region and the drain region is minimized.
However, when the recess transistor is formed by a conventional method, the STI (40a) and the gate trench (90) are not formed with completely vertical sidewalls but are inclined due to the limits of dry etching for forming the STI (40a) and the gate trench (90), as shown in FIG. 2C. Accordingly, portions of the silicon substrate (10) remain between the sidewalls of the STI (40a) and the sidewalls of the gate trench (90) as shown in the dotted circles of FIG. 2C. When the portions of the silicon substrate (10) remain at the lower parts of the source/drain regions (50), the channel length (Chc) of the recess transistor at the central portion of the active region, which will be referred to as TRc hereafter, and the channel length (Che) of the recess transistor at the edges of the active region, which will be referred to as TRe hereafter, become different, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, respectively. In other words, the channel length (Che) of TRe shown in FIG. 2B becomes shorter than the channel length (Chc) of TRc shown in FIG. 2A. When the channel length is reduced, the threshold voltage of the transistor is reduced so that subthreshold leakage current in TRe increases. Moreover, when the silicon substrate (10) remains in the source/drain regions (50), shorts may occur between the source region and the drain region. Accordingly, an improved recess transistor is required.
Embodiments of the invention address these and other disadvantages of the conventional art.

Method of fabricating recess transistor in integrated circuit device and recess transistor in integrated circuit device fabricated by the same


A panel-shaped formed product made of a metal sheet includes a top panel portion, an opening portion, and a vertical wall portion. The top panel portion is polygonal. The opening portion is provided in the top panel portion. The vertical wall portion extends from at least not less than two adjacent borders among the borders of the top panel portion. At least one pair of each vertical wall portion of pairs of adjacent vertical wall portions of the vertical wall portions has a stepped portion. As a result, the panel shaped formed product has fewer defects such as cracks and wrinkles even when it has a shape that is difficult to form.

A door of an automobile is produced by mainly combining a door inner panel and a door outer panel. The door of an automobile is attached with a window glass, a window driving device, an acoustic speaker, a handle, and the like. To accommodate these, a space is required between the door inner panel and the door outer panel. For that reason, for example, a vertical wall portion is provided on the door inner panel. Also, when the door of the automobile is closed, the vehicle interior needs to be sealed by the door. For that reason, for example, a step portion is provided in the vertical wall portion of the door inner panel. As a result of the step portion of the vertical wall portion facing a pillar of a vehicle body or the like, the tightness of the vehicle interior is ensured.
A door inner panel used for a side door of an automobile or the like is formed by subjecting a metal sheet such as a steel sheet to press working. In general, since the shape of the door inner panel is complicated, the metal sheet may be allowed to significantly deform. In such a case, cracks, wrinkles or the like may occur in the formed door inner panel. Therefore, a metal sheet with high workability is used for the starting material of the door inner panel. Since the metal sheet with high workability has low strength, the door inner panel has low strength as well. Accordingly, it is often the case that the door inner panel is attached with a reinforcing member (for example, a beltline reinforcement, a door impact beam, or the like).
A structure of a door inner panel is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-296953 (Patent Literature 1), Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-94353 (Patent Literature 2), and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2013-112133 (Patent Literature 3). A method for producing a door inner panel is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2013-189173 (Patent Literature 4), Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-38426 (Patent Literature 5), Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011-147970 (Patent Literature 6), and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011-50971 (Patent Literature 7).
A door inner panel disclosed in Patent Literature 1 includes a beltline reinforcement. The beltline reinforcement is joined along a vehicle body fore-and-aft direction in a beltline portion of the door inner panel. Patent Literature 1 describes that such configuration allows the beltline reinforcement to bear a collision load in the vehicle body fore-and-aft direction, thereby effectively reducing the bending moment acting on the beltline portion.
In a door inner panel disclosed in Patent Literature 2, when a collision load is applied from a side face of the vehicle body, the door inner panel and a beltline reinforcement are brought into contact with each other, and a load absorbing portion of the door inner panel is deformed. Patent Literature 2 describes that as a result of such arrangement, the load absorbing portion absorbs part of the load applied in a thickness direction of the door inner panel so that the rigidity of the door inner panel is ensured.
In a side door disclosed in Patent Literature 3, it is configured such that a rear end portion and a fore end portion of a beltline reinforcement formed by hot stamping have a lower strength and a lower rigidity than those of the main body portion. As a result, when a collision load is applied from the front face of the vehicle body, the rear end portion of the beltline reinforcement is plastically deformed, thereby increasing the contact area with a center pillar. Patent Literature 3 describes that such deformation of the rear end portion of the beltline reinforcement can absorb the energy of collision.
In a method for producing a door inner panel disclosed in Patent Literature 4, a first formed body having a vertical wall portion and a second formed body are welded together, and the welded formed body is processed by hot pressing or rolling. Patent Literature 4 describes that such arrangement makes it possible to provide a longer-length structural component for a vehicle body, which has excellent load bearing performance per unit weight thereof.
In a method for producing a door inner panel disclosed in Patent Literature 5, a wrinkle pressing force during press working of a high-strength steel sheet is specified. A relationship between a curvature of wall warping generated during forming and a wrinkle pressing force is obtained in advance. On the basis of this relationship, a wrinkle pressing force is applied such that the curvature of wall waring is reduced. Patent Literature 5 describes that such arrangement makes it possible to form a trapezoidal member of high-strength steel sheet with high dimensional accuracy.
In a method for producing a door inner panel disclosed in Patent Literature 6, a die and a holder of a hot press forming apparatus are operated together to press-work a sheet to be processed. This makes it possible to prevent breakage of the sheet to be processed and occurrence of wrinkles thereof during forming. Further, Patent Literature 6 describes that such arrangement can ensure dimensional accuracy of the formed product after forming.
In a method for producing a door inner panel disclosed in Patent Literature 7, in hot press forming, a spacing between a die and a holder is controlled during processing of a formed product. Patent Literature 7 describes that such arrangement makes it possible to suppress wrinkles of a formed product.

Panel-shaped formed product and method for producing panel-shaped formed product


A bi-stable magnetic switch assembly comprises a stator having an axis and first and second magnetic portions angularly disposed there around, and a rotor having at least one magnetic region attracted to the first and second portions. The rotor is configured for rotation about the axis between (1) a first latched position wherein the region resides proximate to, but is spaced apart from, the first portion; and (2) a second latched position wherein the region resides proximate to, but is spaced apart from, the second portion. A spring biases the rotor to a position where the region resides intermediate the first and second portions. A coil, which is associated with at least one of the first portion, the second portion, and the region, may be energized to reduce the force of attraction between the region and the first and second portions when in the first and second latched positions, respectively.

Optical switching systems designed to switch one or more optical elements (e.g., various lenses) into and out of an optical path are known and may be utilized in, for example, satellite applications. One relatively familiar type of optical switching system employs a processor, a motor, and a wheel mechanism having a plurality of optical elements disposed along its perimeter. The processor is coupled to the motor, which is, in turn, coupled to the wheel mechanism. An optical path passes through a portion of the wheel's perimeter such that the wheel may be rotated by the motor about the wheel's central axis to position a given optical element within the optical path. To move the optical element into the optical path, the processor first establishes the current rotational position of the wheel and subsequently determines the rotational adjustment required to move the desired optical element into the optical path. The processor then commands the motor to perform the required adjustment.
Unfortunately, in conventional optical switching systems of the type described above, the amount of time and energy required to move a newly selected optical element into the optical path may be undesirably high, especially when the newly selected optical element is disposed opposite the formally selected element, due to the sequential configuration of the optical elements around the perimeter of the wheel. Though the amount of time required for optical element switching may be improved by increasing the speed at which the wheel rotates, the rapid movement of the wheel may cause system disturbances (e.g., vibrations), which may blur the optical image and interfere with precise optical controls. To compensate for the disturbances that a rapidly moving wheel may cause, some systems provide for long settling periods after wheel movement; however, this solution involves undesirably long delays and is consequently less than ideal. Other known optical switching systems employ complex force compensation and/or isolation mechanisms to address system disturbances. However, such mechanisms increase system complexity and, in some cases, decrease system reliability.
To help mitigate the above-noted drawbacks, specialized optical element switch assemblies have been developed. Individual switch assemblies of this type may comprise a spring-biased pivot shaft coupled to an actuator arm having an optical element included thereon (e.g., coupled to one end thereof). The pivot shaft biases the actuator arm between first and second latched positions, which may position the optical element within and outside of the optical path, respectively. When the arm is held in one of the latched positions, the spring-biased pivot shaft exerts a rotational force on the arm in the direction of the other latched position. Thus, when released from a latched position at which it has been held, the actuator arm will swing under the influence of the pivot shaft toward the other latched position. Due to unavoidable system losses, the spring-biased pivot shaft will not provide enough energy to fully rotate the arm to the other latched position. Therefore, a latch mechanism is provided to help complete the arm's rotation and secure the arm at the other latched position against the force of spring-based pivot shaft. This mechanism may be mechanical, but is preferably magnetic. With reference to the later, a magnetic latch mechanism may comprise a permanent magnet configured to attract and physically engage a portion of the arm (e.g., a terminal end of the arm opposite the optical element), which may also be equipped with a magnet. This configuration is advantageous in that the arm may be held in a desired position for an indefinite period of time with little to no power consumption. To release the arm from a latched position, a control coil may be provided around a magnet disposed on the actuator arm or the magnet employed by the magnetic latch so as to form an electromagnet. When current is delivered to the coil, a magnetic field is generated counter to the field produced by the magnetic latch mechanism, and the actuator arm is released. The actuator arm then rotates under the force of the spring-biased pivot shaft toward the opposite latched position. A second magnetic latch mechanism, which again provides the additional energy required to fully rotate the arm, then physically engages the arm and secures it at the other latched position.
For the above described reasons, optical element switch assemblies employing spring-biased pivot shafts represent a considerable improvement over assemblies employing wheel-based mechanisms. However, even these improved assemblies present certain problems. For example, such assemblies may still produce physical disturbances when securing the actuator arm at a latched position. These disturbances occur because the field strength of the magnets employed by a magnetic latching mechanism must of a relatively high magnitude so as to overcome an opposing rotational force exerted on the arm by the pivot shaft in order to pull the actuator arm into a latched position resulting in significant impact between the arm and the switch assembly and, thus, a relatively high contact force being transmitted to the switch assembly upon actuator arm latching. This, in turn, results in unwanted shock and vibration throughout the switch assembly. Though secondary spring assemblies may be provided proximate either latched position to physically engage the actuator arm and oppose the force of the magnetic latch to soften the impact, these arrangements are complex, costly, and do not fully eliminate system disturbances.
In view of the above, it should be appreciated that it would be desirable to provide a switching assembly (e.g., of the type used to switch one or more optical elements into and out of an optical path) that minimizes system impact disturbances by employing a magnetic latching mechanism capable of securing a rotatable arm without physically contacting the actuator arm. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.


An apparatus for replacing a full cloth roll loaded on a pair of rollers of a weaving machine with an empty cloth roll, which apparatus includes a pair of oscillating members supported by the weaving machine to oscillate about an axis of a rod supported by the weaving machine and cylinders for having both the oscillating members to produce oscillating movement. Each oscillating member includes a contact portion exerting a pressing force to the full cloth roll to roll the full cloth roll while both the oscillating members are oscillating in one direction. Each oscillating member further includes a guide wall disposed behind the contact portion for catching the empty cloth roll in cooperation with the peripheral surface of the textile of the full cloth roll, and for directing, during the oscillating movement of both the oscillating members, the empty cloth roll to the upper position right above both the rollers in cooperation with the peripheral surface of the textile of the full cloth roll.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an exchange apparatus for exchanging a full cloth roll with a textile wound therearound for an empty cloth roll.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There is such a weaving machine as provided in its lower position with an exchange apparatus for exchanging a full cloth roll loaded on a pair of rollers for an empty cloth roll disposed at its upper position (See Japanese Patent Public Disclosure (KOKAI) No. 1-97241 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,970).
These exchange apparatuses consist of a reciprocating member for exerting pressing force to both end portions of the full cloth roll on the pair of rollers to deliver the full cloth roll onto a receiving table in front of the weaving machine, and a carrying device for carrying the empty cloth roll from a neighborhood of the position where the empty cloth roll is disposed to a neighborhood above the pair of rollers and then releasing the carried empty cloth roll onto the rollers.
The carrying device described in Japanese Patent Public Disclosure No. 1-97241 consists of a pair of elevating members each having an opening capable of receiving each end portion of the empty cloth roll, and a vertical guide covering the opening during elevating movement of the elevating member. After receiving in its opening the end portion of the empty cloth roll released from the position where the empty cloth roll is disposed at the highest position that the opening of the elevating member is not covered by the vertical guide, the elevating member descends down to the lowest position. During its descent, the each end portion of the empty cloth roll is held by the elevating member, since the opening of the elevating member is covered by the vertical guide. When the opening of the elevating member reaches the lowest position that the opening is not covered by the vertical guide, the empty cloth roll rolls down at a low speed onto the pair of rollers after the end portion thereof passes through the opening.
Also, the carrying device described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,970 consists of a damper arm which has one end portion supported oscillatably and provided with a receiving board for loading the empty cloth roll and which oscillates due to the empty weight of the empty cloth roll when the empty cloth roll is loaded on the receiving board, and a cam member fixed on a reciprocating (oscillating) member for regulating the oscillating movement of the damper arm.
When the oscillating member is oscillated forward and the full cloth roll is delivered onto the receiving table, the empty cloth roll released from its loading position is received for the time being by the receiving board of the damper arm waiting in the upper position. Though the damper arm which received the empty cloth roll would oscillate due to the empty weight of the empty cloth roll, the oscillating movement is prevented by the cam member of the oscillating member in the course of moving forward. Subsequently, when the oscillating member is oscillated in the opposite direction, the damper arm gradually oscillates along the cam surface, and when the cloth roll also gradually descends and reaches a neighborhood of the pair of rollers, the inclination of the receiving board becomes steep, so that the empty cloth roll drops from the receiving board onto the pair of rollers.
The vertical guide of the carrying device described in Japanese Patent Public Disclosure No. 1-97241is also used as the reciprocating member for delivering the full cloth roll, but it is difficult to make the exchange apparatus compact, because of the necessity for the elevating member and its drive member.
Also, in the carrying device described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,970, the damper arm is made to oscillate by the empty weight of the empty cloth roll because it dispenses with a drive member specific to drive the damper arm. However, since no measures are taken to prevent the empty cloth roll from falling down from the receiving board, it has such a defect as to fall down by vibration or the like before reaching a position right above the pair of rollers. Further, it requires a space for disposing the damper arm, besides that for disposing the oscillating member.

Apparatus for replacing full cloth roll on weaving machine with empty cloth roll


The present invention provides a system and method for providing remote controlling of a power device. In architecture, the service device comprises a receiver circuitry that receives operating status data of the power device, and a data input circuitry accepts control information from a user. In addition, the transmitter circuitry transmits the control information to the power device. The present invention can also be viewed as a method for providing remote controlling of a power device. The method operates by acquiring an operating status data of the power device, and transmitting control information to the power device.

Conventional voltage, current and power analyzers have required many connections to a physically large recording box. Typically, access is required to an electrical panel or transformer case where the connections to the analyzer equipment can be made. In addition, physical access to the analyzer is required to view real-time measurements and status, as well as to extract recorded data.
For instance, often a communications cable and power cable are also required. This creates serious safety concerns for both the technician user, and for the manufacturer. The need to attach the communication and power cables to the analyzer generally have requires the technician to be in close proximity with the analyzer.
Safety issues include proximity to hazardous high voltages, technician exposure to confined locations (e.g. underground vaults), explosive atmospheres, etc. Frequently high voltage electrical power to the power system device being monitored must be removed before a technician is allowed to enter a confined area where a power analyzer may be located. Since this may disrupt electrical service to a large area, this is often impractical.
In addition, the large size of existing recorders, and the necessity for physical access to it later, can make it difficult to enclose and lock such conventional analyzing equipment in an electrical panel, network protector or transformer case. The result is that the panel, protector or transformer cover must be left off during an analyzing recording session. Obviously, this creates unsafe conditions by putting the technician and others at great risk of electrocution.
Moreover, the technician must have the panel or cover, off the power device when making corrections or verifying corrections (i.e. operating) the power device. There is an extra danger when there are multiple power devices located in close proximity to one another and hazardous environments. The extra power devices increase the margin of error for servicing a power device.
Thus, heretofore an unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies quickly and efficiently.

System and method for providing for remote monitoring and controlling of voltage power transmission and distribution devices


A light-emitting device (LED) is described which exhibits high extraction efficiency and an emission profile which is substantially more directional than from a Lambertian source. The device comprises a light generating layer disposed between first and second layers of semiconductor material, each having a different type of doping. An upper surface of the first layer has a tiling arrangement of inverted pyramidal or inverted frustro-pyramidal indentations in the semiconductor material filled by a material of different refractive index and which together comprise a photonic band structure. The indentations and their tiling arrangement are configured for efficient extraction of light from the device via the upper surface of the first layer and in a beam that is substantially more directional than from a Lambertian source. An enhanced device employs a reflector beneath the second layer to utilise the microcavity effect. A method for fabricating the device is also described which employs anisotropic wet etching to produce the inverted pyramidal or inverted frustro-pyramidal indentations.

Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are based on a forward biased p-n junction and have recently reached sufficiently high brightness levels that they are now suitable for new solid-state lighting applications as well as replacements for projector light sources. Entry into these markets has also been enabled by the economical gains achieved through the high efficiencies of LEDs, as well as reliability, long lifetime and environmental benefits. In particular, applications in solid-state lighting require that LEDs exceed efficiencies currently achievable by alternative fluorescent lighting technologies.
Back Light Units (BLU) for liquid crystal display (LCD) panels are key elements in the performance of an LCD panel. Currently, most LCD panels employ compact cathode fluorescent light (ccfl) sources. However, these sources suffer from several problems, including poor colour gamut, environmental recycling and manufacture issues, thickness and profile, high voltage requirements, poor thermal management, weight and high power consumption. In order to alleviate these problems LCD manufacturers are implementing LED BLU units. These offer benefits in many areas, including colour gamut, lower power consumption, thin profiles, low voltage requirements, good thermal management and low weight.
Current LED BLU systems distribute LEDs across the back surface of the LED as demonstrated in U.S. Pat. No. 7,052,152. For small displays these are generally low cost designs. However, for larger LCD panels, for example greater than 32 inches, the number of LEDs required to distribute the light evenly across the back of the LCD panel no longer makes this approach cost effective. In U.S. Pat. No. 7,052,152 it is proposed that 124 LEDs are employed for a 32 inch LCD panel display.
For some applications, a more isotropic or Lambertian light distribution from an LED is desired and one technique used to achieve this is to roughen the surface through which the light merges. A certain degree of roughness is inherent depending on the LED fabrication process. However, by using techniques such as etching a controlled degree of increased surface roughness can be achieved to improve the scrambling and uniformity of light emerging from the LED.
US2006/0181899 and US2006/0181903 disclose an optical light guide or waveguide arranged to evenly distribute diffused light across the complete LCD panel surface. The light is coupled into the light guide by using side-mounted LED optical sources. Side mounting is beneficial as the number of LEDs required is dramatically reduced per unit area of backlit LCD, when compared with direct LED backlighting. It is proposed that a 32 inch LCD panel can be side lit with as few as 12 LED sources. However, to maximise the light diffused onto the LCD panel the most optimal coupling of the LED light into the light guide is required.
Another area for application of high-brightness LEDs is in light engines for front and rear projectors. Conventional High Intensity Discharge (HID) type projector light engines have always been hindered by low efficiency and short lifetime, resulting in slow adoption into consumer markets. In this particular application the Etendue value of the light source needs to be smaller or matched to the microdisplay Etendue value. This compatibility is very important for improving the overall system efficiency of the complete light projection engine. Additionally, high total luminous outputs and low power consumption are also very important, especially in applications where large rear projection screens (bigger than 50 inch) and front projection systems are required. Low power consumption is desirable in order to minimise thermal management issues. Light from a set of red, green and blue single-colour LED sources with small Etendue values are multiplexed to produce the desired colour in the projection system. This eliminates the need for colour wheels and the associated additional costs. The Etendue value E is calculated according to the following equation:E=π×A×n2×sin(α)where E is the Etendue of the light source, A is the surface area of the light emission device, and α is the half-angle of the light source Hence, it can be seen that for projection applications, the degree of collimation of the light emitting source is a key factor and that reducing the half-angle of the source dramatically improves the overall efficiency of the light engine.
The overall efficiency of an LED can be quantified by three main factors, namely internal quantum efficiency, injection efficiency, and extraction efficiency. One of the main limiting factors reducing the efficiency of light extraction from an LED is total internal reflection of the emitted photons and their trapping in the high refractive index of the epi-material forming the LED. These trapped waveguide modes propagate in the LED structure until they are scattered or reabsorbed. The thickness of the LED structure determines the number of modes that can be supported.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,779,924 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,955,749 both describe the use of photonic crystal patterns defined in the semiconductor layers of the LED to affect the way light propagates through the epi-structure. The photonic band structure formed allows the trapped modes to be extracted out and hence increase the extraction efficiency and ultimately the total external efficiency of the LED. The use of photonic crystal structures in an LED is advantageous over other light extraction techniques as they scale with the active surface area of the LED and hence provide an ideal means for improving the light extraction for a large-area high-brightness LED die. The scaling of the LED size is important for solid state lighting applications where absolute luminous output is required However, the total light extraction for many of these photonic crystal LEDs is not as high as for more conventional surface-roughened LEDs.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,831,302 and US2005/0285132 describe processes for fabricating light-emitting diodes with photonic crystal structures using Gallium Nitride (GaN) based materials. In both cases the processing involves many complex and expensive steps that ultimately affect the yield and cost of the LED wafers. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 6,831,302 describes a fabrication process that involves the following steps: growing an n-GaN layer on a lattice matched single crystal wafer, an active QW region, and a p-GaN layer, followed by eutectic bonding of a sub-mount or substrate on the top surface, wafer flipping, lift-off from the growth wafer (using a technique such as laser lift-off), surface polishing to provide an optically-smooth surface (using a process such as chemical mechanical polishing), definition of a photonic crystal pattern on the surface (by a process such as nano-imprinting, lithography, or holography), and finally photonic crystal pattern transfer into the GaN material using a suitable dry (egg. RIE or ICP) or wet etch of the GaN.
One of the complex processing steps involved is the polishing of the wafers, which can adversely affect the yield due to the difficulty in controlling the surface quality across the complete wafer. Small scratches across the surface may affect the current spreading across the LED wafer and ultimately provide a path to short circuiting the complete LED or adversely affecting the forward voltage. Additionally, the thickness of the GaN epi-structure is important for the effective design of the photonic crystal extraction pattern The high refractive index acts like a highly-multimode waveguide, whereby the thickness determines the number of modes residing in the LED heterostructure. By using a polishing process, poor control over the absolute thickness of the LED structure is achieved, which ultimately affects the overall output of the LED wafers from one processing batch to another. Another complex fabrication step is the definition of small-scale first-order photonic crystal features in the range of 300 nm to 500 nm for the pitch of the features and in the range of 200 nm to 400 nm for the diameter of the hole features. Such patterns are currently defined using either nano-imprinting or holography. The former technique is currently not a proven technique for such small-scale features on LED wafers and only low yields are achieved. In addition, the technique suffers from a higher cost for small manufacturing volumes. The latter lithography technique suffers from complex alignment and stability as well as low volumes.
There is therefore a need for a new type of surface patterned LED, which performs better than conventional surface-roughened or photonic crystal LED device and which can be fabricated in a simple and cost-effective manner.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Inverted-pyramidal photonic crystal light emitting device


Methods and apparatus for speculatively locking an object are disclosed. According to one aspect of the present invention, a method for acquiring use of an object using a current thread includes a determination of whether a first bit included in the object is set to indicate that the object is speculatively owned by a speculative owner thread. When the object is speculatively owned, the speculative owner thread is allowed to use the object without locking the object. The method also includes checking a stored identifier that is associated with the object and identifies the speculative owner thread, as well as determining whether the stored identifier identifies the current thread. When the stored identifier identifies the current thread, the current thread already has use of the object; i.e., the current thread is the speculative owner thread. Finally, the method includes locking the object using the speculative owner thread when it is determined that the stored identifier does not identify the current thread. In one embodiment, as for example when substantially all objects in a computing system are known to be suitable for speculative ownership, the stored identifier is checked before determining when the first bit associated with the object is set to indicate that the object is associated with the speculative owner thread.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to methods and apparatus for improving the performance of software applications. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods and apparatus for reducing the overhead associated with allowing a thread to effectively own an object.
2. Description of the Related Art
In object-based computing systems, objects are generally operated on by threads. An object typically includes a set of operations and a state that remembers the effect of the operations. Since an object has some memory capability, an object differs from a function, which has substantially no memory capability. A thread, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, is essentially a single sequential flow of control within a computer program. In general, a thread, or a xe2x80x9cthread of control,xe2x80x9d is a sequence of central processing unit (CPU) instructions or programming language statements that may be independently executed. Each thread has its own execution stack on which method activations reside.
During the execution of an object-based program, multiple threads may attempt to execute operations which involve a single object. Frequently, only one thread is allowed to invoke one of some number of operations, i.e., synchronized operations, that involve a particular object at any given time. That is, only one thread may be allowed to execute a synchronized operation on a particular object at one time. A synchronized operation, e.g., a synchronized method, is block-structured in that it requires that the thread invoking the method to first synchronize with the object that the method is invoked on, and desynchronize with that object when the method returns. Synchronizing a thread with an object generally entails controlling access to the object using a synchronization construct before invoking the method.
Since a thread, e.g., a concurrent thread as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, is not able to predict when it will be forced to relinquish control, synchronization constructs such as locks, mutexes, semaphores, and monitors may be used to control access to shared resources during periods in which allowing a thread to operate on shared resources would be inappropriate. By way of example, in order to prevent more than one thread from operating on an object at any particular time, objects are often provided with locks. The locks are arranged such that only the thread that has possession of the lock for an object is permitted to execute a method on that object.
With reference to FIG. 2, the steps associated with locking an object will be described. A process 104 of locking an object begins at step 108 in which object information associated with the object is obtained by the thread that is attempting to lock the object, i.e., the current thread. While the object information that is obtained may vary, the object information generally includes bits or pointers which identify whether the object is already locked.
After the object information is obtained, a determination is made in step 112 as to whether the object is locked by another thread, or a thread which is not the current thread. If the determination is that the object is locked by another thread, then process control moves to step 116 in which the current thread blocks itself. By blocking itself, the current thread may effectively put itself to sleep, or otherwise cease execution, until notification is received that the object is no longer locked. When notification that the object is available is received in step 120, then the current thread unblocks itself and obtains the object lock in step 124. By obtaining the object lock, the current thread becomes the owner of the object, and is allowed to operate on the object. Hence, the process of locking the object is completed.
Alternatively, when it is determined in step 112 that the object is not locked by another thread, then a determination is made in step 128 regarding whether the current thread has already locked the object. In other words, the current thread determines whether it holds the lock on the object. If it is determined that the current thread has not already locked the object, then the indication is that the object is not locked. Accordingly, process flow moves to step 136 where a locking record in the object information is updated to indicate that the object is locked, or owned, by the current thread. When there is no existing locking record, then a new locking record is created, and set to indicate that the object is locked by the current thread. Once the locking record is either updated or set, the process of locking the object is completed.
Returning to step 128, if the determination is that the object is already locked by the current thread, then in step 132 the locking record in the object information is updated to indicate the depth of the lock. Indicating the depth of the lock effectively identifies how many separate operations the current thread is either performing or attempting to perform on the object. The indication of the depth of the lock prevents the current thread from releasing the lock prematurely, e.g., before the current thread is finished operating on the object, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. After the depth of the lock is updated, the process of locking the object is completed.
In order to prevent a thread from acquiring ownership of an object while another thread is studying the object, e.g., attempting to lock the object, operations associated with locking an object are performed atomically. That is, the sequence of operations associated with locking an object is essentially performed all at once. The use of atomic operations is computationally expensive and, as a result, an object locking process is expensive.
Some objects or data structures, such as vectors and hash tables, are effectively implemented in a single-threaded manner. That is, ownership of such objects or data structures is rarely contested. However, despite the fact that some objects or data structures are substantially always used by the same thread, the objects or data structures still include locks. Therefore, whenever the thread wishes to operate on or use such objects or data structures, a locking procedure is performed. As previously mentioned, a locking procedure includes atomic operations which are computationally costly. The performance of an expensive locking procedure on an object whose ownership will generally not be contested may unnecessarily increase the overhead associated with the execution of an object-based program, since substantially only the owner thread will ever attempt to operate on the object.
Therefore, what is desired is a method for reducing the cost associated with locking an object whose ownership is not typically contested. That is, what is needed is an efficient method for allowing an object to be operated on by a thread when the thread has not actually locked the object.
The present invention relates to an object which may be speculatively locked such that a thread may operate on the object without acquiring the actual lock associated with the object. Enabling a thread to effectively possess an object without actually owning the object reduces the locking overhead associated with an overall computing system, thereby improving the performance of the computing system. According to one aspect of the present invention, a method for acquiring use of an object using a current thread includes a determination of whether a first bit associated with the object is set to indicate that the object is speculatively owned by a speculative owner thread. When the object is speculatively owned, the speculative owner thread is allowed to use the object without locking the object. The method also includes checking a stored identifier that is associated with the object and identifies the speculative owner thread, as well as determining whether the stored identifier identifies the current thread. When the stored identifier identifies the current thread, the current thread already has use of the object; i.e., the current thread is the speculative owner thread. Finally, the method includes locking the object using the speculative owner thread when it is determined that the stored identifier does not identify the current thread.
In one embodiment, as for example when substantially all objects in a computing system are known to be suitable for speculative ownership, the stored identifier is checked before determining when the first bit associated with the object is set to indicate that the object is associated with the speculative owner thread. In another embodiment, the current thread calls a safepoint during which the object is locked using the speculative owner thread. In such an embodiment, locking the object involves identifying at least one stack frame in the thread stack of the speculative owner thread that has an associated locking record and modifying, or otherwise setting, the locking record to identify the object as being locked by the speculative owner thread.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a computer-implemented method for acquiring ownership of an object in a threaded system includes assigning non-locked ownership, e.g., speculative ownership, of the object to a first thread. Assigning non-locked ownership of the object to the first thread enables the first thread to operate on the object without possessing an ownership lock associated with the object. The method also includes attempting to obtain the ownership lock associated with the object using a second thread. Attempting to obtain the ownership lock associated with the object using the second thread includes causing the first thread to acquire possession of the ownership lock. In one embodiment, assigning non-locked ownership of the object to the first thread includes setting bits, which are separate from bits associated with an ownership lock, in the object to associate the object with the first thread.
In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, an object-based computing system includes a speculative owner thread, which has an associated stack, and an object. The computing system includes a first determinator that determines when a first bit associated with the object is set to indicate that the object is associated with the speculative owner thread. The speculative owner thread may use the object without locking the speculative owner thread. The computing system also includes a checking mechanism that checks a stored identifier that is stored in the object and identifies the speculative owner thread. A second determinator in the computing system determines whether the stored identifier identifies the current thread, and a locking mechanism is arranged to lock the object with respect to the speculative owner thread when it is determined that the stored identifier does not identify the first thread.
These and other advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed descriptions and studying the various figures of the drawings.

Method and apparatus for speculatively locking objects in an object-based system


An electrographic recording apparatus having a memory for storing first and second images having different sizes and using an intermediate transfer member compares sizes of the input images of first page and second page with a size of a transfer area of the intermediate transfer member, and when a sum of the sizes of the images of the first page and the second page is less than the size of the transfer area, controls image forming means to transfer developed images of the first page and the second page to the intermediate transfer member in one process to reduce a time required for recording in a multiple sheet image recording mode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color image forming apparatus and a color image forming method in the color image forming apparatus.
2. Related Background Art
Recently, a printer has become colorized and used for presentations by users in various ways. Particularly, a color page printer is attracting interest because of its low noise, high print quality and high print speed. A color laser printer which is one of such color printers is explained below.
The color laser beam printer is characterized by a first step of forming a latent image of a first color component by scanning a light beam on a photo-conductive medium in a main scan direction to conduct first development and then transferring it on a carrier such as a transfer drum, followed by second, third and fifth steps to transfer toner images of respective colors, and a step of retransferring the toner images collectively onto a recording sheet which is a recording medium at a predetermined timing to make a record of multi-color image.
FIG. 1 shows a sectional view of a conventional color laser beam printer. In FIG. 1, C denotes a mechanical unit of the color laser beam printer. Numeral 1 denotes a photo-conductor drum, numeral 4 denotes a charger, numeral 5 denotes a semiconductor laser, numeral 6 denotes a scanner motor, numeral 7 denotes a polygon mirror rotated by the scanner motor 6, numeral 8 denotes a lens and numeral 9 denotes a mirror. A light beam L which is on/off modulated by an image signal S 110 (hereinafter referred to as a VDO signal) is outputted from the semiconductor laser 5. The light beam L emitted from the semiconductor laser 5 is deflected by the polygon mirror 7, passes through the lens 8 and the mirror 9 and is directed to the photo-conductor drum 1.
Numeral 12M denotes a developing unit for developing a latent image by magenta color toner (M toner) in the first step. Numeral 12C denotes a developing unit for developing the latent image by cyan color toner (C toner) in the second step. Numeral 12Y denotes a developing unit for developing the latent image by yellow color toner (Y toner) in the third step. Numeral 12BK denotes a developing unit for developing the latent image by black color toner (BK toner). Numerals 20 and 21 denote sheet cassettes for containing record sheets P which are fed one by one by a sheet feed roller 14 or 15 of the sheet cassette selected by an image control unit to be described later.
Numeral 16 denotes a transfer drum which comprises a support 17 and a film 18. Numeral 10 denotes a cleaner for scraping off the toner image which is left undeveloped on the photo-conductor drum 1 at each completion of the transfer process. Numeral 13 denotes a fixing unit and numeral 19 denotes a sheet elect tray. Numeral 11 denotes a charger. Numeral 2 denotes a shield plate for providing a reference to a print timing on the transfer drum 16. Numeral 3 denotes a photo-interrupter. In order for the shield plate to block a light path of the photo-interrupter 3, a reference signal (hereinafter referred to as a TOP signal) is sent from the photo-interrupter 3 to an engine control unit 60 and an image processing unit 50 (see FIG. 2) to be described later for each revolution of the transfer drum 16, and a print start signal and a reference signal to a print operation are generated based on the TOP signal.
An operation of the printer of FIG. 1 is explained. First, the photo-conductor drum 1 is charged to a predetermined polarity and a predetermined voltage by the charger 4 and a photo-conductor drum 1 is scanned by the light beam L modulated by the VDO signal S110 to form a first electrostatic latent image. Then, the first electrostatic latent image is developed by the developing unit 12M to form a first toner image of the magenta color on the photo-conductor drum 1.
On the other hand, a predetermined bias voltage of the opposite polarity to that of the toner is applied to the transfer drum 16 and the first toner image is transferred to the film 18 on the transfer drum 16.
A second electrostatic latent image is then formed on the photo-sensitive drum 1 by the light beam L and it is developed by the developing unit 12C to form a second toner image of the cyan color on the photo-conductor drum 1. The second toner image is transferred to the transfer drum 16 at the position to which the first toner image was transferred.
Similarly, third and fourth electrostatic latent images are formed on the photo-conductor drum 1 and they are developed by the developing units 12Y and 12BK, respectively, to transfer the toner images of the yellow color and the black color to the film 18 on the transfer drum 16. The record sheet P is fed at a predetermined timing so that the toner images of four colors are collectively transferred to the film 18 on the transfer drum 16 and the toner images of four colors are formed on the record sheet P. In this manner, one page of VDO signal S110 is sequentially outputted to the semiconductor laser 5 for each process.
Then, the charger which separates the record sheet P having the four-color toner image transferred thereon from the transfer drum 16 discharges the stored charges on the record sheet P to reduce in-the-air discharge in the retransfer/separation.
FIG. 2 shows a configuration of a print system comprising the color printer described above and a single host computer. Numeral 100 denotes a host computer which generates print information and sends the print information to the printer through a host interface S1. Numeral 50 denotes an image processing unit of the printer which is arranged in a printer mechanism C to store dot data sent from the host computer 100 to a memory to be described later or monitors and controls a print command to a mechanism control unit 60 to be described later. Numeral 60 denotes the mechanism control unit which controls a control module, not shown, necessary for the print operation in the printer mechanism C and supplies the VDO signal to the semiconductor laser 5.
FIG. 3 shows a configuration of the image processing unit 50. Numeral 51 denotes a host interface control unit for controlling an interface with the host computer 100, numeral 52 denotes a CPU (central processing unit) which as a control center of the image processing unit, numeral 53 denotes a memory for a working area of the CPU 52 and holding the four-color dot data, numeral 54 denotes an engine interface unit for exchanging data with the mechanism control unit 60 and numeral 55 denotes a signal generator for generating a reference signal for a second page in two-sheet simultaneous printing.
A control operation of the image processing unit 50 is now explained. One page of dot data inputted from the host interface S1 is temporarily stored in the memory 53 by the control of the CPU 52. When one page of dot data is stored in the memory, the CPU 52 commands the start of the print operation to the mechanism control unit 60 through the engine interface unit 54. In response to the command, the mechanism control unit 60 starts the print operation and sends the TPO signal from the photo-interrupter 3 to the image processing unit 50 as a print start timing signal and further sends a horizontal synchronization signal, not shown, to the image processing unit 50 for each predetermined timing. Each time the image processing unit 50 receives the horizontal synchronization signal through the engine interface 54, it sequentially sends the dot data stored in the memory 53 to the mechanism control unit 60 through the engine interface unit 54.
FIG. 4 shows a timing chart of a send timing of the dot data sent from the image processing unit 50. Particularly, FIG. 4 illustrates the printing on the print sheet P having a sheet length along the feed direction of the record sheet P is substantially equal to the circumference of the transfer drum 16.
In FIG. 4, T1 and T2 denotes first and second print periods, respectively, Q denote a period between the print periods T1 and T2, B denotes a sheet feed operation period for one of the two cassettes shown in FIG. 1 and T4 denotes a period from the start of TOP signal in the fourth step to the start of sheet feed for transferring the toner images of the first and second pages on the transfer drum 16 to the record sheet. The printing of the first page data is made during the period T1, and the development of the second page dot data is made during the period T2.
In the prior art, since only one sheet of toner image is transferred during the transfer process by one revolution of the transfer drum 16, a long time is required when the same image is to be printed on a plurality of sheets.
Further, when different dot data is to be printed for each page, the printing is stopped each time to exchange and store the dot data. Accordingly, the waiting time Q is long as shown in FIG. 4. Particularly, as shown in FIG. 8, when a plurality of host computers 100a, 100b, 100c, 100e and 100f are connected to the host interface, the waiting time is longer than the waiting time for connecting the single host computer shown in FIG. 2. Recently, as the network is advanced, the connection configuration as shown in FIG. 8 is increasing.
In order to solve the increase of the waiting time, a second memory may be added to the image processing unit 50 so that the dot data is stored in the second memory while the dot data in the first memory 53 is sent to the mechanism control unit 60. However, such addition of the memory is very expensive and a time corresponding to approximately one revolution of the transfer drum is required before the mechanism control unit 60 is started up once it is stopped. Thus, the waiting time increases.

Image forming apparatus and method using a transfer member for carrying a plurality of sheets


`TifEagle` is a dense fine-textured triploid (2n=3x=27 chromosomes) bermudagrass which has use on golf greens and other areas requiring mowing heights at 6 mm or less. The grass produces more shoots per unit area that are shorter with narrower and shorter leaves than `Tifdwarf`, the previous cultivar of choice for high quality putting greens mowed at 6 mm or less on golf courses where burmudagrass is preferred. `TifEagle` consistently produced better quality turf and color than `Tifdwarf` at mowing heights less than 6 mm. It shows more resistance than `Tifdwarf` to the tawny mole cricket after one year of establishment.

Burmudagrass, Cynodon spp. (L) Pers is a warm-season, perennial, sod-forming grass that spreads by stolons and rhizomes. Bermudagrass probably originated from Africa and South and Southeast Asia but it has been introduced to all tropical and subtropical regions of the world.
The genus has been observed to survive at 50.degree. N. in Europe and to 4000 m elevation in the Himalayas. It is also found in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
Roots and rhizomes of this genus can penetrate the soil to a depth of 1 m or more. A large amount of morphological variation exists in this species.
Both common and triploid hybrid types are used for turf. Common types have 2n=18 or 36 chromosomes and usually produce seeds. Triploid hybrids have 2n=3=27 chromosomes and are male and female sterile. Both can be propagated by stolons and/or rhizomes. Only common burmudagrass types can be propagated by seeds.
Burmadagrass can be used to produce an attractive wear-resistant turf if managed properly. `Tifway II.degree. (unpatented) is a medium fine 2n=3x=27 chromosome cultivar induced in `Tifway` (unpatented) with 9,000 rads of gamma radiation of dormant stolons and released by the USDA-ARS and the University of Georgia Coastal Plain Experiment Station in 1981 for use in USDA plant hardiness zones 8 and higher (USDA Agricultural Handbook 170). `Tifway II` has good pest resistance and wear tolerance. `Tifdwarf` (unpatented) is a fine 2n=3x=27 chromosome cultivar selected on a small patch about 460 mm in diameter growing on a golf green at the Country Club, Florence, S.C. It was evaluated and released by the USDA-ARS and the University of Georgia Coastal Plain Experiment Station in 1965 for use in USDA plant hardiness zone 8 and higher (USDA Agricultural Handbook 170). `Tifdwarf` is the cultivar of choice for high quality putting greens mowed at 6 mm or less on golf courses where bermudagrass is preferred (in general, 32.degree. north and south of the equator).
Although `Tifdwarf` is mowed down to 3 mm height on some golf courses for short periods of time, the density of the turf rapidly becomes thin contributing to weed and algae problems. There is an increased emphasis each year to mow bermudagrass greens at 3 mm for longer periods of time to produce faster ball roll on the greens. A burmudagrass is needed that will maintain good turf quality (affected by density) when mowed at 3 mm for long periods of time.
Mutagens have been used to induce dwarfness in numerous croops. An induced fine-textured mutant in `Tifway II` will combine good pest resistance, wear tolerance and high turf quality in another genotype.

The United States of America as represented by the Department of Agriculture


A method of recycling an image supporting material from an image supporting material comprising a non-absorbent substrate and an absorbent swelling layer that swells with absorption of liquids, which is overlaid on the non-absorbent substrate, includes the steps of: applying to an image-bearing side of the image supporting material a liquid in an amount which exceeds a maximum amount of the liquid that can be absorbed by the swelling layer; leveling the liquid applied to the image-bearing side of the image supporting material to form a liquid film layer on the image supporting material; heating the swelling layer or the liquid film layer; bringing a peeling member into contact with the image forming material with the application of heat and pressure thereto when at least part of the liquid reaches an interface between the swelling layer and the image forming material deposited on the swelling layer; and separating said peeling member from image supporting material, to remove the image forming material from the image supporting material, and a recycling apparatus for this method is proposed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of recycling an image supporting material on which images can be formed from an image supporting material which comprises (a) a non-absorbent substrate that absorbs no liquids and (b) an absorbent swelling layer that can absorb liquids and swells when absorbing liquids, which is overlaid on the non-absorbent substrate and on which images are formed, by eliminating from the image supporting material an image-forming material which constitutes the images which are formed by image formation apparatus such as copying machines, facsimile apparatus or printers. The present invention also relates to an apparatus for performing the above-mentioned method.
2. Discussion of Background
With the recent spread of printers and copying machines which employ various kinds of image formation processes such as electrophotography, thermal image transfer method, ink-jet printing method using a hot-melt ink, and other printing methods, an extremely large quantity of paper has been consumed. Papers used as the image supporting materials are generally made of wood pulp. The consumption of a large quantity of paper has caused the problems of environmental disruption of the earth due to deforestation. Furthermore, a large quantity of image supporting materials which bear images thereon formed by the above-mentioned image formation methods is discarded, so that the refuse disposal has become a serious problem.
A transparent sheet used as an image supporting material for an overhead projector (OHP) (hereinafter referred to as the OHP sheet) comprises as a base material a plastic film which is generally made of a polyester film or an acetate film. Raw materials for such plastics films are generally synthesized from fossil materials such as petroleum or produced from wood in the same manner as in the manufacturing of paper. Therefore, also with respect to the OHP sheets, a large quantity consumption thereof is not desirable in view of the protection of petroleum resources and global environmental conservation. When the OHP sheets are shredded by a shredder, the wearing of blades used in the shredder is considerable. When image supporting materials such as papers, and the OHP sheets are mixed and shredded, the recycling of the image supporting materials becomes almost impossible. Therefore conventionally the OHP sheets are often discarded without being shredded, which may cause a problem in the protection of secret image information recorded on the OHP sheets.
Conventionally, in order to solve the above problems, used papers or films are collected and beaten or melted again to recycle such image supporting materials. However, such a recycling method has the shortcoming that the efficiency of energy consumption thereof is so low that it occurs that recycled materials are more expensive, but poorer in quality than brand-new materials produced using new raw materials.
In order to solve this problem, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 4-300395 discloses a method of removing toner images from a toner-image bearing support material, that is, a toner-image bearing copy paper, by spraying or applying a solvent which is used in a copying machine for dissolving toner therein, and then removing the toner images from the toner-image bearing support material, using a cleaning blade or the like.
Many other methods of dissolving or swelling an image forming material to remove the image forming material from an image supporting material, which is similar to the above-mentioned methods, have already been proposed. In order to dissolve or swell the image forming material, an organic solvent such as toluene, xylene or tetrahydrofuran is usually employed. However, in view of safety, it is not desirable to use such organic solvents in a place where a special ventilator or solvent recovery apparatus is not provided.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 1-29729 discloses a method of peeling images away from an image supporting material which comprises a non-absorbent material which absorb substantially no liquids, such as plastics, metal, a paper into which liquids hardly penetrate, or ceramics, by superimposing a thermofusible releasing member on the image supporting material with the application of heat thereto.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 2-55195 discloses an image supporting material comprising a PET film which is subjected to a surface releasing treatment by coating the surface with a silicone seal agent.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 4-64472 discloses an apparatus for peeling images away from the above-mentioned image supporting material subjected to the surface releasing treatment.
The above-mentioned method and apparatus are advantageous over other conventional methods and apparatus in that no liquids are employed for removing image forming materials from the image supporting material.
The image supporting material employed in the above-mentioned method, however, significantly differs from paper which is in general use as an image supporting support material, for example, in terms of glossiness, surface properties and thickness, and gives a feeling of physical disorder to the users when actually used. Furthermore, this image supporting material includes the laminated releasing film which is expensive, and therefore the cost thereof is high. Furthermore, the image fixing performance of this image supporting material is not good, so that there is the problem that images are peeled off the image supporting material when touched with fingers or clothes, resulting in staining the fingers or clothes.
In order to solve the problems of the image fixing performance and the safety of the above-mentioned image supporting material, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications 6-222604 and 7-311523 disclose a method using an image supporting material comprising a non-absorbent substrate which absorbs no liquids and a swelling layer overlaid thereon, which swells with the absorption of liquids. Even with respect to images formed on a recycled image supporting material obtained from this image supporting material, the image fixing performance thereof can be appropriately maintained. When an image forming material which constitutes the images formed on the image supporting material is removed therefrom, a liquid which can swell the above-mentioned swelling layer is applied to the swelling layer so as to cause the swelling layer to swell, reducing the adhesion between the images and the image supporting material, whereby the removal of the images from the image supporting material is significantly facilitated. Furthermore, a liquid comprising water as the main component can be used as the above-mentioned liquid which can swell the swelling layer. Therefore, this method is also excellent in terms of safety. The image supporting material comprising (a) the non-absorbent substrate which absorbs no liquids, and (b) the swelling layer which is overlaid thereon and swells by the absorption of the liquid, hardly deteriorates due to the use of the non-absorbent substrate and therefore can be used repeatedly. In addition, this image supporting material has an advantage that the image forming material can be removed by use of a relatively small amount of the above-mentioned liquid.
From the image supporting material disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications 6-222604 and 7-311523, the image forming material which constitutes images formed thereon can be removed, for instance, (a) by immersing the image-bearing image supporting material in a liquid which swells the swelling layer, and vibrated in the liquid, (b) by applying ultrasonic waves to the image-bearing image supporting material, or (c) by rubbing the images off the image supporting material with a soft material such as sponge or felt. The image forming material can be easily removed from the image supporting material by any of the above-mentioned methods. However, the liquid in which the image supporting material is immersed is contaminated with the removed image forming material, so that some removing means for removing the image forming material from the liquid is required. As such removing means, a filter may be employed. However the filter is easily clogged with a relatively small amount of the image forming material. Therefore it is in practice difficult to eliminate the image forming material from the liquid by using the above-mentioned removing means.
Furthermore, there are many cases where the image forming material contains a dye which is soluble in the liquid. In such cases, if the dye is dissolved in the liquid, it is extremely difficult to make the liquid clear by removing the dissolved dye therefrom, using the filter only. It is time consuming to remove the image forming material from the liquid by a conventional apparatus and accordingly it is extremely difficult to remove the image forming material from the liquid at high speed.
As mentioned above, in the method disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 7-311523, the image supporting material which comprises a non-absorbent substrate which absorbs no liquids and a swelling layer which absorbs liquids and swells is employed. It is considered that in order to remove images from the supporting material, if the image forming material which constitutes the images is heated to the softening point of the image forming material, and is then transferred to a peeling member, there will be no problems as in the case where the image forming material is removed from the liquid. However, varieties of image supporting materials are used for commercially available varieties of image formation apparatus. Accordingly, varieties of image forming materials are used, which exhibit largely different physical properties with different melted and adhesion states, so that the above-mentioned method is not always applicable to all the image forming materials for the removal thereof at high speed. Furthermore, it is extremely difficult to remove the image forming material from a large solid image area formed on the image supporting material.
In Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 8-44260, the applicants of the present invention proposed a recycling method and a recycling apparatus, in which a liquid is applied to an image supporting material comprising (a) a non-absorbent substrate that absorbs no liquids and (b) an absorbent swelling layer that can absorb liquids and swells with absorption of liquids, which is overlaid on the non-absorbent substrate and on which images are formed, and at least part of the swelling layer is covered with a seal member through which water does not permeate, thereby substantially preventing the evaporation of water from the swelling layer, and the swelling layer is subjected to heat treatment, whereby an image forming material which constitutes the images is peeled away from the image supporting material.
However, preferable conditions for employing the above-mentioned recycling method and recycling apparatus are limited in that it is preferable that the amount of the liquid applied to the image supporting material be controlled so as not to exceed a predetermined amount in order to prevent the reduction of the rigidity of the image supporting material.

Method of recycling image supporting material and apparatus thereof


An actuator for a disk drive. The actuator includes an actuator body The actuator body includes a main body section defining a horizontal plane orthogonal to an axis of rotation. The actuator body further includes an actuator arm extending from the main body section. The actuator body further includes two parallel support extensions extending from the main body section opposite the actuator arm. The support extensions cooperatively form a channel between the support extensions. The actuator body further includes a coil support tab disposed adjacent the support extensions and extending orthogonal to the horizontal plane. The actuator further includes a vertical coil defining a coil plane disposed orthogonal to the horizontal plane. The coil is disposed in mechanical communication with the support extensions and the coil support tab for supporting the coil within the channel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to disk drives, and in particular to a disk drive including an actuator including an actuator body with parallel support extensions and coil support tab for supporting a coil and method of making the same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The typical hard disk drive includes a head disk assembly (HDA) and a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) attached to a disk drive base of the HDA. The head disk assembly includes at least one magnetic disk, a spindle motor for rotating the disk, and a head stack assembly (HSA). The spindle motor includes a spindle motor hub that is rotatably attached to the disk drive base and supports a lowermost one of the disks. The head stack assembly has an actuator assembly having at least one air bearing slider, typically several, for reading and writing data from and to the disk. Each slider includes a transducer head for reading and writing data. The printed circuit board assembly includes a servo control system in the form of a disk controller for generating servo control signals. The head stack assembly is controllably positioned in response to generated servo control signals from the disk controller. In so doing, the attached sliders are controllably moved relative to tracks disposed upon the disk for reading and writing operations.
The head stack assembly includes an actuator assembly, at least one head gimbal assembly, and a flex circuit assembly. A conventional "rotary" or "swing-type" actuator assembly typically includes an actuator having an actuator body. The actuator body is configured to rotate on a pivot assembly between limited positions about an axis of rotation. One or more actuator arms extend from one opposite side of the actuator body. A head gimbal assembly is distally attached to each of the actuator arms. A head gimbal assembly includes an air bearing slider that is attached to a suspension with a gimbal. The suspension resiliently supports the air bearing slider above the tracks of the disk during operation of the disk drive facilitating the slider to "fly" above the disk.
A coil is supported by a coil support that extends from an opposite side of the actuator body. The coil is configured to interact with one or more permanent magnets to form a voice coil motor. The coil is disposed in electrical communication with the disk controller through a flex circuit assembly. Controlled movement of the head stack assembly is achieved by selectively energizing the coil with the generated servo control signals.
The actuator arms are usually formed of aluminum which may be machined from a single piece of material. The actuator body is typically takes the form of plastic overmold disposed about the actuator arms. The plastic overmold may additionally be used to form the coil support. As can be appreciated, a reduction in the complexity of manufacturability and assembly with respect to the actuator would represent an improved actuator configuration in comparison to the prior art.

Actuator including an actuator body with parallel support extensions and coil support tab for supporting a coil and method of making the same


A welding fixture is disclosed for temporarily retaining two tubular workpieces relative to one another. The welding fixture includes a plurality of shoe assemblies, each of the shoe assemblies being radially movable between a contracted position and an expanded position. The welding fixture further includes an actuator operatively connected to each of the shoe assemblies for selectively moving each shoe assembly between the contracted position and the expanded position. Upon expansion of the shoe assemblies, the welding fixture is operative to reinforce and temporarily retain a joint formed between two tubular workpieces during a joining procedure, such as welding.

1. Technical Field
The present invention in general relates to a welding fixture. More particularly, the present invention relates to a fixture for supporting a joint between two tubular workpieces, and retaining the two workpieces relative to one another while the workpieces are being joined by a process such as welding.
2. Discussion
Welding fixtures are often employed during a joining operation of two workpieces, such as welding. The welding fixture serves to temporarily retain the workpieces relative to one another. Preferably, the welding fixture also functions to support the joint formed between the two workpieces during the joining process. Various tools have been devised over the years in an attempt to permit one workpiece to be temporarily aligned and supported with a mating workpiece while the two workpieces are fixedly secured together by a joining procedure. Such devices have proven to be commercially acceptable for a wide range of applications, either alone or in cooperation with additional clamping devices.
While prior devices have satisfactorily operated in most applications, disadvantages are inherent in these same devices under particular circumstances. In this regard, a need remains for a welding fixture adapted to temporarily retain a first tubular workpiece relative to a second tubular workpiece while the first and second workpieces are permanently joined. Previously developed tools are generally unsuited for supporting the joint between the two workpieces as the workpieces are rotated and exteriorly welded. For example, in such an application, prior welding fixtures required contact with the exterior of the workpieces, thereby interfering with the welding. Furthermore, many previously developed welding fixtures are weight prohibitive in that they are unsuitable due to the damage they would cause where the workpieces are constructed from light weight metals, such as aluminum, or very thin metal. Other previously developed welding fixtures are also unsuited to substantially continuously support the joint formed between two tubular workpiece sections by only engaging the interior perimeters of the sections.
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a welding fixture which is capable of temporarily securing two tubular workpieces relative to one another from the interior of the workpieces, without the aid of any other clamping mechanism or support device.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a welding fixture sufficiently light so as to not damage thin wall tubing.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a welding fixture which substantially provides continuous support about the perimeter of a joint formed between two axially aligned tubular workpieces.
Yet still another object of the present invention is to provide a welding fixture adapted to conform the perimeter of a generally tubular workpiece to a uniform radius of curvature.


A system, a GUI and a method are provided that allow intuitive, flexible and robust editing of individually editable instructions generated by conversion operations applied to a defined step-and-repeat programming element in a machine vision inspection system. The method includes: a) Converting a defined step-and-repeat programming element to generate N independently-editable code blocks including an independently-editable substantial replication of a repeated operation block of the step-and-repeat element, each of code blocks executed at a respective location corresponding to a step and repeat location; b) Representing the code blocks in an editing GUI; and c) Eliminating the defined step-and-repeat programming element as an editable element. The defined step-and-repeat programming element may be represented in the editing GUI. The conversion operations may be initiated by a user activating a step and repeat conversion command directed to the defined step-and-repeat programming element.

Precision machine vision inspection systems (or "vision systems" for short) can be utilized to obtain precise dimensional measurements of inspected objects and to inspect various other object characteristics. Such systems may include a computer, a camera and optical system, and a precision workstage that is movable in multiple directions to allow the camera to scan the features of a workpiece that is being inspected. One exemplary prior art system that is commercially available is the QUICK VISION® series of PC-based vision systems and QVPAK® software available from Mitutoyo America Corporation (MAC), located in Aurora, Ill. The features and operation of the QUICK VISION® series of vision systems and the QVPAK® software are generally described, for example, in the QVPAK 3D CNC Vision Measuring Machine User's Guide, published January 2003, and the QVPAK 3D CNC Vision Measuring Machine Operation Guide, published September 1996, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. This series of products, for example, is able to use a microscope-type optical system to provide images of a workpiece at various magnifications, and move the stage as necessary to traverse the workpiece surface beyond the limits of any single video image. A single video image typically encompasses only a portion of the workpiece being observed or inspected, given the desired magnification, measurement resolution, and physical size limitations of such systems.
Machine vision inspection systems generally utilize automated video inspection. U.S. Pat. No. 6,542,180 (the '180 patent) teaches various aspects of such automated video inspection and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. As taught in the '180 patent, automated video inspection metrology instruments generally have a programming capability that allows an automatic inspection event sequence to be defined by the user for each particular workpiece configuration. This can be implemented by text-based programming, for example, or through a recording mode which progressively "learns" the inspection event sequence by storing a sequence of machine control instructions corresponding to a sequence of inspection operations performed by a user with the aid of a graphical user interface (GUI), or through a combination of both methods. Such a recording mode is often referred to as "learn mode" or "training mode." Once the inspection event sequence is defined in "learn mode," such a sequence can then be used to automatically acquire (and additionally analyze or inspect) images of a workpiece during "run mode."
The machine control instructions including the specific inspection event sequence (i.e., how to acquire each image and how to analyze/inspect each acquired image) are generally stored as a "part program" or "workpiece program" that is specific to the particular workpiece configuration. For example, a part program defines how to acquire each image, such as how to position the camera relative to the workpiece, at what lighting level, at what magnification level, etc. Further, the part program defines how to analyze/inspect an acquired image, for example, by using one or more video tools such as edge/boundary detection video tools.
Video tools (or "tools" for short) and other GUI features may be set up manually to accomplish inspection and/or other machine control operations. Video tools' set-up parameters and operations can also be recorded during learn mode, in order to create automatic inspection programs, or "part programs," which incorporate measurement/analytical operations to be performed by various video tools. Video tools may include, for example, edge/boundary detection tools, autofocus tools, shape or pattern matching tools, dimension measuring tools, and the like. Other GUI features may include dialog boxes related to data analysis, step and repeat loop programming—as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 8,271,895, (the '895 patent) which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety—etc. For example, such tools and GUI features are routinely used in a variety of commercially available machine vision inspection systems, such as the QUICK VISION® series of vision systems and the associated QVPAK® software, discussed above.
The currently available features and GUI controls for step-and-repeat programming are limited. Briefly, in the context of machine vision inspection systems, step-and-repeat programming involves programming imaging/analytical operations to be repeatedly executed N times at N locations in an array of workpiece features (e.g. workpiece features arranged at locations in a regularly-spaced grid). For example, when a workpiece is supposed to have 8 instances of a circular hole arranged in an array, the step-and-repeat programming permits a user to define a single block of instructions to image/analyze the hole, which will then be executed 8 times, as opposed to having to separately define 8 sets of instructions. However, when a single set of instructions is to be executed multiple times, each time with the workstage shifted to image/analyze each of the features in the array, there currently is no convenient method for a relatively unskilled user (e.g. one that is not skilled in text-based computer programming in an underlying part program language) to edit or make adjustments to the instructions with respect to a particular one of the features.
The present invention is directed to providing a system, GUI and method as embodied in a computer-readable medium, which allow intuitive, flexible and robust conversion of step-and-repeat operation instructions to a more versatile editable form in part programs for precision machine vision inspection systems.

System, GUI and method for editing step and repeat operation instructions in a machine vision inspection system


A cooperative solving method for controlling a plurality of constraint problem solvers identifies complexity criteria, which provide direction for selecting and for transitioning between constraint problem solvers. The method includes randomly selecting a test point and determining whether the test point satisfies a first complexity criterion. A first constraint problem solver is selected, and an alternate test point is identified by the first solver if the complexity criterion has not been satisfied. If the alternate test point is a problem solution, it is transmitted to the system. If the alternate test point is not a problem solution or if the original randomly-selected test point satisfies the complexity criterion, a second constraint solver selects a new test point. If the new test point is a problem solution, it is transmitted to the system; if the new test point is not a solution, the cooperative solver is restarted.

This disclosure relates generally to the field of computerized problem solving and in particular to a system and method for controlling multiple problem solving algorithms for continuous constraint satisfaction.
In certain control system applications, there exists a significant need for systems which can provide satisfactory decisions in critically time-constrained situations for complex systems having subsystems consisting of many networked sensors and actuators, with each subsystem having control, monitoring and fault diagnosis capabilities. Advances in hardware technology, such as inexpensive processors, low-cost micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) actuators and sensors, and decreasing communication costs, result in systems with unprecedented reconfigurability, flexibility, and robustness. Such applications would benefit from the use of generic problem solvers, such as constraint solvers, to improve fault tolerance and reconfigurability. However, such problem solvers are typically not able to adapt their execution to or even execute within the resource bounds of the applications, such as time and memory limits.
However, most of these applications, such as control applications, pose problems that have exponential complexity, and a single constraint solving algorithm by itself is often not able to guarantee real-time performance and bounded memory use, or find the best result within a time bound, when faced with such problems.
Various forms of meta-heuristics have been proposed to combine global and local search heuristics, for both discrete and continuous optimization problems. For example, genetic algorithms for global search have been proposed using random local search, a conjugate gradient method, and stochastic approximation. GLO (Global Local Optimizer) software uses a genetic method as the global technique and variable metric nonlinear optimization as the local technique. LGO (Lipschitz-Continuous Global Optimizer) integrates several global (adaptive partition and random search based) and local (conjugate directions type) strategies as discussed in Pinter, J. D., "Global Optimization in Action", Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1996. In Kitts, B., "Regulation of Complex Systems", Proc. 1st Conference on Complex Systems, September 1997, Kitts presents an enumerative strategy (uniform random sampling) combined with a greedy strategy (hill-climbing). However, most of these approaches have been applied to unconstrained problems.
Similar work exists for combinatorial problems as well. For example, in Martin, O. C., "Combining Simulated Annealing with Local Search Heuristics", G. Laporte and I. Osman, editors, Metaheuristics in Cominatorial Optimization, pages 57–75. Annual of Operations Research Vol. 63, 1996, a meta-heuristic called "Chained Local Optimization" embeds deterministic local search techniques into simulated annealing for traveling salesman and graph partitioning problems. Genetic algorithms have also been combined with local searches for combinatorial problems, as shown in Muhlenbein, Georges-Schleuter, and Kramer, "Evolution Algorithms in Combinatorial Optimization", Parallel Computing, 7(65), 1988.
There is less work on cooperative solving of continuous constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs). Prior work by the inventors ("Method and System for Algorithm Synthesis in Problem Solving", to Jackson et al., U.S. application Ser. No. 09/874,552, and "Adaptive Constraint Problem Solving Method and System", to Fromherz et al., U.S. application Ser. No. 09/874,167) has been directed to cooperative solvers of various combinations of Adaptive Simulated Annealing, Nelder-Mead algorithm, Sequential Quadratic Programming, and the Interior-Point solving algorithm LOQO. However, none of these methods perform effort allocation for solvers systematically based on complexity analysis, nor do they explicitly take the time bound into account when selecting solvers and solver parameters. Also, none of them learn from on-line performance data to improve solver selection and transitioning between solvers. It would be useful to utilize adaptive strategies for transitioning between solvers for use with complex control applications.

Complexity-directed cooperative problem solving


An optical circuit device having a core supported on a substrate incorporates a wave guide being in a layer of the core. The structure is provided with a cladding layer by depositing by means of a PECVD process a cladding material on the wave guide core and maintaining a negative bias between the substrate or the core and earth while the deposition is proceeding.

In a typical arrangement, a channel or planar wave guide includes an elongated dielectric core, such as doped silica, deposited on a highly insulating buffer layer, e.g. undoped silica, which itself lies on a suitable elongated substrate, such as silicon. The cladding lies as a final deposited layer covering the length and width of the wave guide core, and also covering adjoining regions of the insulating buffer layer. Such wave guides are known either as channel or planar wave guides, and will be hereinafter referred to as "planar".
Ideally the cladding should conform well to the topography of the wave guide and there should be consistency of the deposited cladding layer especially with regard to refractive index homogeneity throughout its volume, both to provide good performance in the transmission of signals and for longevity. In practice however, the presence of voids, particularly those resulting from a failure to cover adequately the "corners", where the core and buffer meet the cladding, are difficult to avoid and can seriously reduce the production yield when such structures are manufactured commercially.


A motorized tilt actuator assembly comprises one or more threaded jack screws attached to a mirror glass case and traveling along one or more threaded actuator shafts with rotation of the motor. When a jack screw reaches its limit of travel, relative movement between the actuator shaft and the glass case can occur through a slip clutch mechanism during such time as the motor continues to operate. In one embodiment, the relative movement is accommodated by a spherical actuator head rotating in a compressively spring-biased socket. In another embodiment, the relative movement is accommodated by slippage along a friction surface interposed between the actuator shaft and the motor. Manual repositioning of the mirror can be accommodated by slippage of the jack screw threads past the actuator shaft threads, or by a coarse threaded interconnection of the jack screw and the actuator shaft.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to mirrors for automotive vehicles. In one aspect, the invention relates to an improved assembly for mounting a mirror actuator jack screw to a mirror carrier for controlling the vertical and horizontal tilt of the mirror. In one embodiment, the invention relates to a slip clutch applied between each jack screw and the mirror carrier to allow slip between these components when the mirror has reached the end of travel but a drive motor continues to run.
2. Description of the Related Art
Rearview mirrors are standard equipment on automotive vehicles. Frequently, the rearview mirrors can be adjusted by the operator from inside the vehicle through a motorized tilt adjustment mechanism, or tilt actuator, mounted within a mirror system. Via a motor, or a pair of motors, the horizontal and vertical tilt of the mirror is controlled by the threaded engagement of an actuator shaft, also called a jack screw, within a drive nut for each of the horizontal and vertical axes.
Frequently, when the actuator shafts reach their limit of movement, the motor will continue to operate for a period of time. The threaded engagement of the jack screw and the drive nut is therefor configured with a "ratchet" mechanism to allow for relative slippage between the jack screw and the drive nut so that the motor can turn without damage to the motor or the jack screw/drive nut assembly. However, this slippage is typically accompanied by a "clicking" sound as the ratchet mechanism is engaged. This clicking sound is frequently interpreted as a performance defect or the result of poor quality, or it can be interpreted as a failure of the actuator, motivating the vehicle owner to seek maintenance that may be unnecessary. Additionally, in mirrors having a positional memory feature for returning the mirror to a preselected orientation for a particular driver, the slippage between the jack screw and the drive nut will disrupt the memory setting, necessitating the resetting of the preselected orientation for each driver using the vehicle.
A clutch mechanism or release mechanism is frequently incorporated into the tilt actuator to accommodate the continued turning of the motor without damage to the motor or the actuator shafts. This slip clutch is typically provided at the base of the actuator shaft, distal from the interconnection of the actuator shaft to the mirror carrier (which carries the mirror element). The actuator shaft is typically mounted to the mirror carrier in a non-rotatable manner. The slip clutch at the base of the actuator shaft can be complex, and generally requires the actuator shafts to be fixedly incorporated into the tilt actuator, thereby restricting their ready removal from the tilt actuator assembly. The complex mechanism adds cost and inhibits the ready installation and removal of the tilt actuator from the mirror system for replacement or repair.

Vehicular mirror with slip clutch for jack screw actuator