An engagement pawl of a linear-movement guide ring engages with an engagement groove of a cam ring, and hence the cam ring is supported by the linear-movement guide ring non-movably in an optical-axis direction. When the cam ring is rotated, a cam pin of a second group moving frame moves in the optical-axis direction along a cam groove formed in an inner periphery of the cam ring. The cam groove includes a plurality of first cam grooves and a plurality of second cam grooves. The engagement groove of the cam ring intersects with the second cam groove. The engagement pawl has a width larger than a groove width of the second cam groove intersecting with the engagement groove.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lens barrel and an image pickup apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A lens barrel of an image pickup apparatus such as a digital still camera is provided, in which a zoom lens moves in an optical-axis direction for a zooming operation.
Such a lens barrel includes a moving frame which supports a lens and has a cam pin, a linear-movement guide ring which guides the moving frame non-rotatably around an optical axis of the lens but movably in the optical-axis direction, and a cam ring which has a cam groove in a peripheral surface of the cam ring and which is supported by the linear-movement guide ring non-movably in the optical-axis direction but rotatably around the optical axis, the cam pin of the moving frame engaging with the cam groove.
In the lens barrel, an engagement pawl (bayonet pawl) provided at the linear-movement guide ring engages with an engagement groove (bayonet groove) formed in the peripheral surface of the cam ring to extend in a circumferential direction of the peripheral surface, and hence, the cam ring is supported by the linear-movement guide ring. When the cam ring is rotated, the moving frame moves in the optical-axis direction via the cam groove and the cam pin.
Meanwhile, in recent years, a compact and high-performance image pickup apparatus is demanded. Thus, a lens barrel advantageous to providing a high zoom ratio and reducing the size is desired. It is therefore necessary to reduce the size of the cam ring while a moving amount of the moving frame is sufficiently provided.
Regarding the situation, a lens barrel has been suggested (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-94118), in which a cam groove of a cam ring intersects with an engagement groove, thereby reducing the size of the cam ring in an optical-axis direction.


The invention relates generally to an improved mop having A support arm having a handle, a mop head that is pivotally attached to said support arm, a pair of rollers disposed in said mop head, a cleaning pad rotatably carried by said rollers so that a first roller carries said cleaning pad and a second roller draws sections of said cleaning pad across a cleaning area defined by said mop head, a spray nozzle carried by said mop head that is fluidly connected to a cleaning solution container for allowing the user to select and spray a cleaning solution on the surface being cleaned, and an ultra violet light source disposed on said mop head for disinfecting said cleaning pad.

1) Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to a steamer mop having an improved cleaning assembly including a cleaning pad that allows for cleaning sections of the cleaning pad to come in contact with the cleaning area. The cleaning sections can be periodically changed so that the unused or clean portion of the cleaning pad contacts the cleaning surface. The cleaning sections can be changed a predetermined number of times before having to remove and/or replace the entire cleaning pad.
2) Description of Related Art
Steamer mops that have the capability of using steam to mop a floor are generally known in the art. The primary disadvantage with these mops is that the consumer is required to change the cleaning pads multiple times during use to ensure that a clean pad is being used. One of the reasons that the cleaning pad must be changed so frequently is that the prior art systems do not include any mechanism that is designed to help clean the cleaning pad in use.
Further, steamer mops traditionally have the disadvantage of dirt that is located on the cleaning pad is actually rubbed into the floor after a certain amount of use of the cleaning pad. As the cleaning pad is used, the efficiency of the pad diminishes. If used too long, based upon the volume of dirt involved, the cleaning pad can actually deposit more dirt to the floor that it removes. Typically, users do not remove and clean the cleaning pad in a sufficient interval to avoid this effect.
Another disadvantage of the prior art is that it does not include any mechanism that may be used to kill bacteria without the need for the use of a cleaning solution. Specifically, the prior art mops do not have any method of killing the bacteria trapped on the cleaning pad while the mop is being used.
While it is known that the prior art steaming mops may include a reservoir that allows a cleaning solution to be sprayed in front of the cleaning pad, the prior art fails to include a mechanism to allow the user to choose between two different types of cleaning solutions that may be sprayed in front of the cleaning pad.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved steamer mop that provides a cleaning pad having a plurality of cleaning sections that can automatically engage the floor at a cleaning area during use without the need for manually changing the cleaning pad.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved steamer mop that can clean one of said cleaning sections of the cleaning pad after use so that said cleaning section may be reused prior to manually changing the cleaning pad.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved steamer mop that uses a U-V light source to kill any bacteria that becomes trapped on the cleaning pad without the use of additional cleaning products.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved steamer mop that allows the user to shine a U-V light source on the floor to gauge the cleanliness of the floor.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved mop having a reservoir capable of containing two different types of cleaning solutions and allowing the user to select the desired cleaning solution to be sprayed in front of the cleaning pad.

Steamer mop having quick change cleaning pad


An ambient temperature, high density, rechargeable lithium battery includes a Li.sub.x Mg.sub.2 Si anode which intercalates lithium to form a single crystalline phase when x is up to 1.0 and an amorphous phase when x is from 1 to 2.0. The electrode has good reversibility and mechanical strength after cycling.

Advanced, high energy density batteries are required for use in space, military, communication and automotive applications. Certain jurisdictions such as California have mandated that an increasing percentage of automobiles must be powered by electricity within the next few years. The lead-acid battery, though reliable and capable of many recharge cycles, is too heavy and has too low an energy to weight ratio. Lithium-based batteries have high energy density and low weight.
Rechargeable batteries using lithium anodes and transition metal oxide or chalcogenide cathodes were extensively investigated as candidates for powering electric vehicles about ten years ago. These batteries have not proved to be acceptable for this use due to poor cycle-life performance and concerns about their safety. Lithium is a very reactive material. When freshly deposited, lithium is highly active and can react with most inorganic and organic electrolytes which results in lower cycling efficiency. Prolonged cycling of secondary lithium cells produces large quantities of finely divided, dendritic lithium increasing the risk of thermal runaway. Hence, ambient temperature secondary lithium cells are potentially unsafe after (1) extended cycling, (2) being subjected to overcharge followed by over discharge.

Anode for rechargeable ambient temperature lithium cells

The United States of America as represented by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration


A recirculation system for a power system is disclosed. The recirculation system may determine, according to a sequence for individually activating a plurality of turbochargers of an engine, that a designated turbocharger of the plurality of turbochargers is to be activated. The recirculation system may cause a recirculation valve of a recirculation line to open to increase an airflow between an intake manifold and a compressor of the designated turbocharger.

An electronic control module (ECM) of a power system may facilitate control of the power system according to certain operational conditions and/or limits of certain parameters of the power system. According to previous techniques, for a power system that includes a single engine and multiple turbochargers (e.g., a turbocharged engine), the ECM, according to the operational conditions, can sequentially activate the turbochargers. In such a case, when sequentially activating turbochargers, a designated turbocharger that is being activated (or turned on) to increase airflow through the power system tends to overshoot a rated speed (e.g., an operational speed or steady state speed of the designated turbocharger), reducing a useful life of the turbocharger(s).
One approach for a compressor active surge control system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,281,378 that issued to Gu et al. on Oct. 16, 2007 ("the '378 patent"). In particular, the '378 patent discloses a compressor inlet line that is connected to an ambient air source, such as an intake scoop beneath a hood of an automobile.
While the compressor active surge control system of the '378 patent describes reducing an incidence of surge, the compressor inlet is connected to the ambient air source and includes a dedicated air cooler for cooling recirculated air.
The turbocharger controller of the present disclosure solves one or more problems set forth above and/or in the art.

Recirculation system for a power system that includes a plurality of turbochargers


The present invention is directed to the use of perovskite manganite thin films and other magnetic films that exhibit both planar Hall effect and biaxial magnetic anisotropy to form the active area in magnetic sensor devices and in magnetic bit cells used in magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) devices. The manganite thin films of the invention are ferromagnetic manganites of the formula R1-xAxMnO3, wherein R is a rare-earth metal, A is an alkaline earth metal, and x is generally between about 0.15 and about 0.5.

Memory devices are an extremely important component in electronic systems. The three most important commercial high-density memory technologies are SRAM, DRAM, and FLASH. Each of these memory devices uses an electronic charge to store information and each has its own advantages. For example, SRAM has fast read and write speeds, but it is volatile and requires a large cell area. DRAM has a high memory density, but it is also volatile and requires a refresh of the storage capacitor every few milliseconds. This refresh requirement increases the complexity of the control electronics.
FLASH is the major nonvolatile memory device in use today. Typical FLASH memory devices use charges trapped in a floating oxide layer to store information. Drawbacks to FLASH include high voltage requirements and slow program and erase times. Also, FLASH memory has a poor write endurance of about 104-106 cycles before memory failure. In addition, to maintain reasonable data retention, the thickness of the gate oxide has to stay above the threshold that allows electron tunneling. This thickness requirement severely restricts the scaling trends of FLASH memory.
To overcome these shortcomings, magnetic memory devices are increasingly being evaluated. One such device is magnetoresistive random access memory (hereinafter referred to as "MRAM"). MRAM has the potential to have a speed performance similar to DRAM. To be commercially viable, however, MRAM needs to have comparable memory density to current memory technologies, be scalable for future generations, operate at low voltages, have low power consumption, and have competitive read/write speeds. For an MRAM device, the stability of the memory state, the repeatability of the read/write cycles, and the power consumption are some of the more important aspects of its design characteristics. A memory state in MRAM is not maintained by power, but rather by the direction of a magnetic moment vector. The magnetic moment is a physical property of ferromagnetic materials.
Current MRAM devices typically comprise a magnetoresistive tunneling junction (MTJ) memory cell that comprises two ferromagnetic layers separated by a thin, electrically insulating, tunnel barrier layer. The tunnel barrier layer is sufficiently thin that quantum-mechanical tunneling of charge carriers occurs between the ferromagnetic layers. The tunneling process is electron spin dependent, which means that the tunneling current across the junction depends on the spin-dependent electronic properties of the ferromagnetic materials and is a function of the relative orientation of the magnetizations of the two ferromagnetic layers.
In typical MRAM devices, storing data is accomplished by applying magnetic fields and causing a magnetic material in an MRAM cell to be magnetized into either of two possible memory states. Recalling data is accomplished by sensing the resistive state of the cell which depends on the magnetic state. The magnetic fields are created by passing currents through strip lines external to the magnetic structure or through the magnetic structures themselves.
The word line and digit line include conductive material through which a current can be passed. In one such system, described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,654,278 to Engel et al., the subject matter of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, the word line is positioned on the top of the MRAM device and digit line is positioned on the bottom of the MRAM device and is directed at a 90° angle to word line. It is not necessary that conductors such as word line and digit line be in physical contact with the other layers of the MRAM device for efficient reading and writing operation, the conductors only need to be sufficiently near the regions to which the magnetic field is to be applied such that the magnetic field is effective. Examples of other MRAM devices are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,714,442 to Nahas, U.S. Pat. No. 6,646,948 to Stence et al., and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,734,605 to Zhu et al., the subject matter of each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The MTJ cells in MRAM devices described by Engel et al. include a bit magnetic region, a reference magnetic region, and an electrically insulating material that forms a layer that acts as a tunneling barrier, as well as those portions of the word line and digit line that carry currents that affect the operation of the MRAM device. The bit magnetic region and reference magnetic region may each comprise more than one layer, some of which can have a magnetic moment associated therewith. Some conventional MRAMs have a bit magnetic region that is a single ferromagnetic layer, and other conventional MRAMs have a bit magnetic region that is a multilayered unbalanced synthetic anti-ferromagnetic region. The bit magnetic region and reference magnetic region are positioned adjacent to the tunneling barrier, on opposite sides thereof.
A resistance of the MTJ device is determined by the relative polarities of a bit magnetic moment and a reference magnetic moment. The bit magnetic moment is positioned where the bit magnetic region is adjacent to the tunneling barrier. The reference magnetic moment is positioned where the reference magnetic region is adjacent to the tunneling barrier. The bit magnetic region may be a free ferromagnetic region, meaning that the bit magnetic moment is free to rotate in the presence of an applied magnetic field. The bit magnetic moment has two stable polarities (states) in the absence of any applied magnetic fields along a magnetic axis, known herein as the "easy axis", determined at the time of deposition of the magnetic material and fabrication of the magnetic regions of the MRAM array. An axis orthogonal to the easy axis is known as the "hard axis."
MTJ devices also have potential applications as magnetic field sensors. In this instance, one ferromagnetic layer has its magnetization fixed, or pinned, and the other ferromagnetic layer has its magnetization free to rotate in response to an external magnetic field from the recording medium (the signal field). When an electric potential is applied between the two ferromagnetic layers, the sensor resistance is a function of the tunneling current across the insulating layer between the ferromagnetic layers. Since the tunneling current that flows perpendicularly through the tunnel barrier layer depends on the relative magnetization directions of the two ferromagnetic layers, recorded data can be read from a magnetic medium because the signal field causes a change of direction of magnetization of the free layer, which in turn causes a change in resistance of the MTJ sensor and a corresponding change in the sensed current or voltage. U.S. Pat. No. 5,650,958 granted to Gallagher et al., the subject matter of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, discloses an MTJ sensor operating on the basis of the magnetic tunnel junction effect. An example of another MTJ sensor is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,822,838 to Lin et al., the subject matter of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
One of the major drawbacks to the use of MTJ in MRAM devices and magnetic sensor devices is that MTJ's generally require a plurality of layers, which increases the cost and complexity of forming such devices. Thus, it would be desirable to achieve the benefits realized by MTJ in a more straightforward and streamlined fashion.
Ferromagnetic mixed valence manganites with a perovskite crystalline structure have received considerable attention because of their interesting magnetic and magnetoresistive properties and in particular the colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) effect. Magnetoresistance is a parameter that describes the percentage change in the resistance of a system in the presence of, and in the absence of, a magnetic field. Thin films of these ferromagnetic manganites generally have the formula R1-xAxMnO3, where R is a rare-earth ion and A represents an alkaline-earth ion. The rare-earth ions are typically lanthanides, although other rare-earth ions are also usable, and the alkaline earth ions are generally selected from calcium, barium, and strontium. In thin films of these materials, the magnetic anisotropy out of the film plane (op) as well as in plane (ip) plays an important role in potential applications. The anisotropy energy in single crystalline epitaxial films of these materials depends not only on doping, stoichiometry, temperature, and film shape, but also on strain and, therefore on the substrate material, film thickness and deposition parameters.
The CMR-effect is an intrinsic effect with a peak at the Curie temperature, TC. The "Curie temperature" is defined as the critical temperature, below which a spontaneous magnetization involving a parallel alignment of spin moments, which is also termed a "ferromagnetic alignment," occurs. At temperatures above TC, spins will be randomly oriented, and compounds that exhibit a CMR-effect will be typically insulators (semiconductors). At temperatures below TC, they will typically be ferromagnetic metals. Mixed valence (perovskite) manganite compounds have been studied intensively because of the colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) effects which are found at temperatures around the combined paramagnetic-ferromagnetic and insulator-metal (IM) transitions.
The negative MR that occurs in the case of CMR is attributable to the reduction in spin disorientation that occurs. The electrical conductivity that occurs is due to electrons "hopping" between Mn3+-sites and Mn4+-sites via the "double exchange" mechanism, and the "hopping" probability is at its maximum when the magnetic moments of the two Mn-atoms are aligned parallel to one another, as in the ferromagnetic case. In the presence of an applied magnetic field, the probability of "hopping" will increase as the degree of ferromagnetic alignment increases, and resistance will decrease. The effect is thus usually greatest at the Curie temperature.
Another factor that affects CMR materials is electron-lattice coupling. For the Mn3+, with three electrons in the energetically lower spin triplet state and the mobile electron in the energetically higher doublet state, a Jahn-Teller distortion of the oxygen octahedron can lead to splitting of the doublet; for the Mn4+, the energy of the (empty) doublet can be lowered by coupling to a breathing mode of the lattice. Both effects tend to trap the electron in a polaronlike state, which is in competition with band formation due to ferromagnetic correlations. When the temperature is lowered through the ferromagnetic transition at the Curie temperature (TC), the high resistance polaron state breaks up and changes into a lower resistive ferromagnetic metal state. A second important connection between crystal structure and insulator-metal transition lies in the dependence of the Mn—Mn electron transfer on the Mn—O—Mn bond angles, or equivalently on the orientation of the oxygen octahedra with respect to the main crystal axes. This results in a strong dependence of TC on either external pressure or mean A-site ionic radius, for which a universal phase diagram (at constant doping) can be constructed.
Despite progress in understanding the role of double exchange and electron-lattice coupling, a comprehensive understanding of the transport mechanism in manganites is still lacking.
For thin films of the perovskite manganite compounds, maximum magnetoresistive values in films are usually larger than in the equivalent bulk materials, which is generally believed to be due to structural disorder from, for example, nonepitaxial growth or partial strain relaxation. Many times, the film thicknesses are on the order of 100 nm or less, making strain relaxation likely. Very thin films (≈10 nm), however, can be uniformly strained by an underlying substrate, and it is possible to predict their physical properties. These properties may be different from the changes induced by hydrostatic or chemical pressure, since in-plane (epitaxial) strain leads to an out-of-plane strain of different sign. Strain can be used to induce properties outside the bulk phase diagram.
The inventors of the present invention have determined that the properties of such manganite thin films and in particular their giant planar Hall effect and the existence of biaxial magnetic anisotropy as well as of other films exhibiting similar properties make them good candidates for use in magnetic bit cells for MRAM devices and for use as the active area in magnetic sensor devices.

Magnetoelectronic devices based on colossal magnetoresistive thin films


An image device includes a movable member, a guide shaft, and a shaft bearing. The movable member moves back and forth inside the device along a guide shaft when reading or recording image information. The guide shaft includes an arc portion in at least part of a cross-section. The shaft bearing is penetrated by the guide shaft at two locations in the movement direction that differ from the center of gravity in the movable member. The shaft bearing includes two inclined faces contacted by the arc portion of the guide shaft in the cross-section. The respective two inclined faces of the shaft bearing are at an angle θf (rad) and an angle θr (rad) with the perpendicular direction. The angle θf (rad) and the angle θr (rad) satisfy the following inequality:cos {π/2−(θf+θr)}>0.

Among image devices including image recording devices such as printers and image reading devices such as scanners, there are image devices in which a movable body is moved back and forth within a predetermined range in the apparatus. For example, in inkjet printers, which are image recording devices, an ink head and ink cartridge, which are recording portions, are loaded on a carriage, which is a movable body, and that carriage is moved back and forth in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction of a recording medium such as paper. The carriage moves back and forth in a range that the ink head faces the entire image forming face of the recording medium in the direction perpendicular to the transport direction.
Thus, in the internal portion of the inkjet printer, a guide shaft is fixed whose longitudinal direction has been matched with the direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the recording medium. This guide shaft passes through a shaft bearing provided in the carriage. The movement direction of the carriage is prescribed to be the longitudinal direction of the guide shaft.
Ordinarily, in the carriage, the shaft bearing that the guide shaft penetrates is disposed in a position biased upstream or downstream in the transport direction of the recording medium from the center of gravity of the carriage, such that the guide shaft does not interfere with the ink cartridge or ink head loaded on the center portion of the carriage. Thus, a rotational moment centered on the guide shaft acts on the carriage. Also, forces that raise one end of the carriage in the direction of movement due to inertial force when accelerating or decelerating, and that rotate the carriage in a horizontal plane including the guide shaft, act on the carriage, which moves along the guide shaft. When the carriage is displaced in a direction other than the direction of movement along the guide shaft due to the action of these forces, the interval between the ink head and the image forming face of the recording medium changes, not only generating noise and vibration when the carriage moves, but also leading to a decrease in image quality because the image forming state is not fixedly maintained.
Consequently, in an ink jet printer, the carriage is fixed with respect to a direction of rotation centered on the guide shaft in order that rolling due to rotational moment in the carriage, and pitching and yawing due to inertial force when accelerating or decelerating, will not occur.
As an example of a configuration for this purpose, there are ink jet printers in which two guide rails are disposed parallel to the guide shaft, and a pressing member and a rotation stopping member that slide on each guide rail are provided in the carriage. Due to the pressing member pressing against one of the guide rails with a predetermined pressing force, rotational force in one direction that is centered on the guide shaft acts on the carriage. Due to the rotation stopping member contacting the other guide rail in the direction of this rotational force, the position of the carriage is fixed with respect to the direction of rotation centered on the guide shaft.
In this way, it is assumed that the guide shaft does not dislocate at the shaft bearing in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the carriage, in order to reliably prevent carriage rotation centered around the guide shaft by putting the rotation stopping member and the pressing member in contact with the two guide rails.
On the other hand, ink jet printers have been proposed in which, in order to make it unnecessary to strictly maintain machining accuracy with the guide shaft, as the shaft bearing provided in the carriage, at least two inclined faces that contact an arc portion that constitutes a cross-section of the guide shaft are provided that contact the guide shaft at only two points in the cross-section (for example, see Patent Document 1).
In the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1, by setting angles formed by a tangential direction and a perpendicular direction on the outer circumferential face of the guide shaft at the two contact points between the shaft bearing and the guide shaft such that frictional force generated between the guide shaft and the shaft bearing becomes larger than the force that attempts to slide the bearing shaft along the circumferential direction of the guide shaft during acceleration or deceleration of the carriage, the carriage is driven in a state in which a predetermined precision is maintained relative to the guide shaft.
Thus, in the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1, along with controlling rotation of the carriage around the guide shaft, a guide rail is further provided that guides the carriage such that it is driven back and forth in the direction of the intersecting direction, and the angles are set according to the weight of the carriage, the position of the center of gravity of the carriage relative to the guide shaft, the distance between shaft bearings respectively provided in approximately both end portions of the carriage, the coefficient of friction between the shaft bearing and the guide shaft, the position of a guide transmission portion of the carriage relative to the guide shaft, the position of the guide rail relative to the guide shaft, and the speed of acceleration or deceleration conferred on the carriage. Thus, the shaft bearing portion of the carriage is prevented from rising up from the guide shaft during acceleration or deceleration of the carriage, noise and vibration is suppressed when the carriage is accelerated or decelerated, and it is made possible to record an image quietly and with high precision.
It is also described that of the angles mentioned above, by adopting a configuration in which the angle formed by a tangential direction and a perpendicular direction on the outer circumferential face of the guide shaft at the contact point of the downstream side of the transport direction of the recording medium is smaller than the angle formed by a tangential direction and a perpendicular direction on the outer circumferential face of the guide shaft at the contact point of the upstream side of the transport direction, because the sliding load between the guide shaft and the shaft bearing diminishes, the amount of friction at the contact point of the shaft bearing can be suppressed to a minimum limit, and it becomes possible to improve the durability of the recording device.
However, according to the configuration disclosed in the aforementioned Patent Document 1, there is the problem that it is not possible to reliably control rolling, pitching, and yawing that is generated during acceleration and deceleration of the carriage that moves along the guide shaft. That is, with only the factors considered in the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is not possible to reliable determine the angle of the two inclined faces of the shaft bearing. Thus, vibration and noise are generated when the carriage moves, leading to a deterioration of the image forming state. This sort of problem occurs not only in image recording devices such as ink jet printers provided with a carriage that is loaded with an ink head and an ink cartridge and moves back and forth; it likewise also occurs in image reading devices such as scanners provided with a unit that is loaded with a lens and a light-receiving element and moves back and forth.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an image apparatus in which, by considering all of the factors that operate on a movable member that moves along a guide shaft, it is possible to reliably control rolling, pitching, and yawing generated when accelerating or decelerating the movable member. Patent Document 1: JP 2002-137481A


The present invention relates to a herbicidal composition that is in the form of solid water dispersible granules (WDG) containing the compound N-phosphonomethylglycine (glyphosate acid) in an admixture with a surfactant that is comprised of one or more polyglycolethers, each having a waxy consistency, and each polyglycolether having a linear saturated alcohol having from about 10 to about 15 carbon atoms, which is ethoxylated with from about 30 to about 40 moles of ethylene oxide per mole of alcohol. This composition provides a combination of manufacturing and weed killing (i.e., herbicidal) advantages that heretofore have been unattainable with the use of either glyphosate acid or glyphosate in salt form. The present invention also relates to methods of using this composition and a process for preparing the WDG composition that comprises mixing the glyphosate acid with the surfactant and then extruding the mixture.

The present invention relates to a novel herbicidal composition in the form of solid water dispersible granules (WDG) containing the compound N-phosphonomethylglycine (glyphosate acid) in an admixture with a particular non-ionic surfactant. This composition provides a combination of manufacturing and weed killing (i.e., herbicidal) advantages that heretofore have been unattainable with the use of either glyphosate acid or glyphosate in salt form. The present invention also relates to a novel process for preparing this novel WDG composition.
Glyphosate in the form of its salts, as opposed to glyphosate in its acid form, is the most common form of glyphosate that is used as an active agent in agriculture and industrial herbicidal liquid formulations (soluble liquids) or solid formulations (soluble powders or water dispersible). Glyphosate acid has the following structure: ##STR1## Glyphosate salts have been preferred because of glyphosate acid's relative lack of solubility in water and other solvents that are commonly used both to process glyphosate and to apply glyphosate in herbicidal applications. Thus, glyphosate salts have been chosen as the form to use in the vast majority of herbicidal applications because, before this invention, they were easier to use both when manufacturing the herbicidal formulations and when the end user makes the final herbicidal formulation that was applied to weeds and other undesired plants.
The glyphosate salt compositions are generally used in liquid formulations composed of glyphosate itself in the amount of from 2% to 40% by weight in a salt form and a suitable coadjuvant (i.e., surfactant) which enhances the absorption of the active agent in the undesired plants. The salt forms commonly contain glyphosate with amines or other cations. The amines and cations include isopropylamine in the case of liquid formulations (soluble liquids) and ammonium or sodium salts for solid type formulations such as WDG. The past work of others has largely focused on solving problems associated with making the glyphosate salt compounds easier to process and then apply as herbicides. These problems with using glyphosate salts include their hygroscopic nature which can lead to processing (e.g., clogging) and storage (e.g., deliquescence) problems.
The reported attempts to use glyphosate acid instead of the salt forms of glyphosate to avoid the aforementioned problems associated with using the salt forms have not been capable of producing a composition with the advantages of the present invention. These reported compositions have substantial disadvantages which include disadvantages in the manufacturing of the herbicidal composition, requiring the use of unfavorable processing conditions, or the addition of extra ingredients such as acid acceptors and extrusion aids. Other disadvantages arise in the final use of the composition to kill undesired plants.
Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 5,118,338 described a water soluble herbicidal formulation in the form of powder or granules which can include glyphosate acid and a non-ionic surfactant. This surfactant consists of a polyglycolether of a fatty alcohol having from 16 to 18 carbon atoms which is ethoxlyated with about 25 units of ethylene oxide per mole of fatty alcohol. The surfactant that was chosen is itself in a granular or powdery form and the disclosure explicitly excludes the use of waxy surfactants. This formulation does not allow the preparation of granules by direct extrusion in the absence of further extrusion aids.
EP-A-0 582 561 describes a herbicidal formulation containing glyphosate in admixture with a surfactant which is preferably liquid at ambient temperature with an extrusion aid added consisting of a polyalkyleneglycol. All of the formulations which are specifically disclosed in the working examples relate to glyphosate in a salt form with an alkali metal or ammonium. The use of an extrusion aid is described as essential in order to obtain anhydrous formulations in granular form by the extrusion process.
WO 92/12637 describes anhydrous formulations of glyphosate containing an acid acceptor and optionally a surfactant. Thus, this formulation requires the addition of an extra ingredient, the acid acceptor, in order to make the composition processable and useable as a herbicide.
In light of these problems, it would be desirable to provide herbicidal compositions and formulations containing glyphosate acid that do not have the substantial disadvantages of the compositions and formulations of the past.

Herbicidal compositions, methods of preparation and methods of use


Processes for fabrication of: an N-channel raised source/drain MOSFET transistor; an N-channel and P-channel raised source/drain MOSFET device; and an N-channel raised source/drain MOSFET in conjunction with a DRAM memory cell capacitor. The process deposits a layer of titanium nitride over the N-channel and P-channel source/drain areas which acts as a barrier to phosphorus or boron atom outdiffusion so that the junction doping levels remain low in the source/ drain areas, and N-channel and P-channel junctions will be shallow. The titanium nitride layer will serve as a dopant atom barrier in a capacitor storage node, an N-channel source/drain area, and a P-channel source/drain area.

It is desirable in semiconductor construction to reduce the area and volume of devices on the chip, i.e., N-channel MOSFETS, P-channel MOSFETS, storage capacitors, etc. Methods to reduce size include providing narrower channel areas, narrower conducting metal lines, stacked components, etc. There are certain problems that occur in downsizing, i.e., short channel characteristics where there is a subthreshold V.sub.t current leakage or shifting of V.sub.t with age, higher contact resistances, "hot electron" problems, ion diffusion in the FET channel area, additional masking steps, etc.
Raised source/drains are not new art since there are methods of forming the raised source/drain by selective epitaxial growth, over the source/drain areas, of silicon or polysilicon. This more expensive process also can create phosphorous ion diffusion problems in the channel areas under the transistor gate. It is the purpose of this invention to offer the following advantages:
eliminate a high-current source/drain ion implant step following formation of an oxide spacer; PA1 improve an N-channel MOSFET transistor subthreshold current characteristic; PA1 avoid the need for additional source/drain definition masking steps, such as N- and P-implants; PA1 reduce the outdiffusion of phosphorous ions in the channel area; PA1 reduce the source and drain junction contact resistance; and PA1 provide a simpler raised source/drain process that can be integrated with a capacitor or P-channel fabrication process. PA1 growing a second field oxide layer over the source and drain areas; PA1 selectively etching the silicon nitride barrier spacers, thereby exposing a narrow source and drain area between the oxide spacer and the second field oxide layer; PA1 depositing a titanium nitride layer over the MOSFET device; PA1 depositing a polysilicon layer over the titanium nitride layer; PA1 and simultaneously doping the polysilicon layer to create a conducting polysilicon layer, wherein the titanium nitride layer acts as a barrier to ion migration to the source and drain areas; PA1 etching the polysilicon layer to form an opening over the gate structure and a boundary over the field oxide layer wherein the titanium nitride acts as an etch barrier; PA1 etching the titanium nitride layer to form openings over the gate structure and a boundary over the field oxide layer thereby forming a raised source/drain electrical connection; PA1 depositing an oxide isolation layer over the MOSFET device; PA1 patterning a pair of contact openings in the oxide isolation layer over the conducting polysilicon wherein the titanium nitride acts as an etch barrier; PA1 depositing a thin titanium nitride layer within the contact openings; PA1 depositing and patterning a metal conductor within the contact opening; and then PA1 depositing and patterning a pair of bit line metal conductors over the metal conductor in the contact opening thereby providing a low-resistance electrical connection from the bit line through the raised source/drain electrical connection to the narrow source and drain areas. PA1 depositing sequentially over the semiconductor substrate, a thin gate oxide layer, a polysilicon layer, a refractory metal silicide layer, and a top layer oxide; PA1 patterning a gate structure over an N-channel area; PA1 implanting ions in a source and drain area adjacent the N-channel gate structure; PA1 patterning a barrier spacer on opposite sides of the N-channel gate structure; PA1 growing a field oxide adjacent the N-channel gate structure over the substrate wherein the field oxide is bounded by the barrier spacer; PA1 etching to selectively remove the barrier spacer thereby exposing the source and drain areas; PA1 depositing a photoresist layer over the N-channel and P-channel devises; PA1 patterning a P-channel gate structure while protecting the N-channel device with the photoresist layer; PA1 ion implanting a low-dose P-channel source and drain area; PA1 forming an oxide spacer on opposite sides of the N-channel and P-channel gate structures; PA1 depositing a titanium nitride layer over the N-channel and P-channel devices; PA1 depositing a polysilicon layer over the N-channel and P-channel devises; PA1 in situ doping the polysilicon layer to create a conducting polysilicon layer; PA1 selectively etching the conducting polysilicon layer over the N-channel and P-channel devices to form an opening over the N-channel and P-channel gate structures and a boundary over the field oxide layer of the N-channel and P-channel devices; PA1 selectively etching the titanium nitride layer to form openings over the N-channel and P-channel gate structures and a boundary over the field oxide layers thereby forming a raised source/drain electrical connection at the N-channel and P-channel devices; PA1 depositing an oxide isolation layer over the MOSFET device; PA1 patterning a plurality of contact openings in the oxide isolation layer over the conducting polysilicon of the N-channel and P-channel devices; PA1 depositing a thin titanium nitride layer within the contact openings; PA1 depositing and patterning a tungsten conductor within the plurality contact openings; and then PA1 depositing and patterning a plurality of bit line metal conductors over the metal conductor in the contact opening thereby providing a low-resistance electrical connection from the bit line through the raised source/drain electrical connection to the source and drain areas of both N-channel and P-channel devices. PA1 depositing and in situ doping a polysilicon layer over the TiN layer, wherein the TiN layer acts as a barrier to dopant atoms; PA1 simultaneously, patterning a pair of transistor raised source/drain electrical connections and a pair of capacitor storage node plates on the titanium nitride and polysilicon layers; PA1 depositing a thin dielectric over the capacitor storage node plates; PA1 depositing and patterning a pair of capacitor top plates over the dielectric and storage node plates; PA1 depositing an oxide isolation layer; PA1 patterning contact openings in the oxide isolation layer over the top capacitor plates; PA1 depositing and patterning a connection to the capacitor top plates at the end of the arrays to a ##EQU1## potential; depositing and patterning a metal bit line electrical conductor connecting the transistor source areas and the raised source/drain electrical connection thereby connecting the pair of N-channel MOSFET transistors to the pair of capacitor memory cells. PA1 depositing a titanium nitride (TiN) layer by a CVD process over the N-channel and P-channel transistors, and the gate oxide areas; PA1 depositing and in situ doping a polysilicon layer over the TiN layer, wherein the TiN layer acts as a barrier to dopant atoms; PA1 simultaneously patterning a raised source/ drain electrical connection on each transistor and a pair of capacitor storage node plates on the titanium nitride and polysilicon layers; PA1 depositing a thin dielectric over the capacitor storage node plates; PA1 depositing and patterning a pair of capacitor top plates over the dielectric and storage node plates; PA1 depositing an oxide isolation layer; PA1 patterning contact openings in the oxide isolation layer over the top capacitor plates; PA1 depositing and patterning a connection to the capacitor top plates at the end of an array to a ##EQU2## potential; and then depositing and patterning a metal bit line electric conductor connecting the transistor source areas to the bit line thereby forming a pair of N-channel MOSFET transistors and a pair of capacitor memory cells and a P-channel MOSFET transistor.

Integrated process for fabricating raised, source/drain, short-channel transistors


A catalytic composition useful for cracking and reducing the viscosity of heavy hydrocarbons. The catalytic composition comprises Portland cement, a volcanic ash component, titanium dioxide, and a transition metal salt. Optionally, a hydrogen source is added to the catalytic composition.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process for catalytic decomposition (cracking) followed by hydrogenation of high molecular weight hydrocarbons to produce lower molecular weight hydrocarbon products in both surface and subsurface applications at ambient temperatures and pressure with no CO or CO2 emissions.
This invention further pertains to the separation of inorganic solids, sands, clays, etc., from hydrocarbon compound substrates and mixtures or sludge derived from an originating petroleum source, subsurface or surface, or in the form of petroleum contaminated waste.
This invention also pertains to the complete or partial desulfurization by reduction of the sulfur-containing species.
This invention also pertains to the remediation of soils by the removal of hydrocarbon contaminants.
2. Description of Related Art/Prior Art
The generally accepted concept of the origination of oil and gas is that it was generated from the thermal degradation of kerogen, a fossilized material in shale and other sedimentary rock that yields oil upon heating. It is the most common source of carbon in the earth's crust. The major factors affecting the concentration of petroleum are the chemical nature of the kerogen, temperature, time, mineral composition, resident geological structure, etc.
Traditional technology for cracking and hydrogenation, such as catalytically cracking hydrocarbon, serve to form more valuable lower molecular weight products. Hydrocracking reactions between the initial hydrocarbon substrate and the catalytic agent may be carried out in a series of bed reactors or in a distillation column. Such reactions are endothermic and, as such, the reactors must be heated. Additionally, hydrogen is recycled through the system to ensure maximum hydrocarbon saturation to form the lower molecular weight hydrocarbon products and to remove excess hydrogen generated by the catalytic reaction. In these systems, polyaromatic rings are also opened and the by-products hydrogenated.
Substantial quantities of petroleum in the earth have proven difficult or impossible to recover because they are in the form of high molecular weight hydrocarbon mixtures which are distributed and intermixed in tar sands, shale, and various rock formations. Furthermore, hydrocarbon compounds cannot be economically extracted from "depleted" oil wells because they are not sufficiently concentrated to be extractable by drilling, have lost their original gas pressure, and/or have relatively high density and viscosity at the given location. The latter compounds will not flow unless heat energy is applied to the petroleum deposit, as, for example, by steam. Additionally, once extracted, these materials still require heat energy to remain as liquids and may be contaminated. Waste or contaminated materials (e.g., soil, rock, sludge, oil tars) containing hydrocarbons, crude or refined, cannot be economically extracted from naturally or man-made contaminated materials.
There are well known enhanced production techniques to obtain oil from depleted or under-producing wells. In situ combustion is a technique used to heat crude petroleum materials below the surface of the earth to reduce their viscosity. An oxidizing agent, such as air, is injected into the subsurface deposit at sufficiently high temperatures to initiate a combustion process or a phosphorous bomb or gas burner is lowered into the well. The lower molecular weight hydrocarbons generated then rise to the surface of the deposit. There are drawbacks to this procedure in that the high temperatures necessary for combustion, combined with the presence of oxygen, lead to undesirable side reactions of coking and the formation of phenols and ketones, which are difficult to process through other refining techniques.
Thermal recovery techniques from under-producing, depleted, and heavy oil wells and bitumen deposits may also comprise steam injection. The purpose of the injected steam is to heat the heavy hydrocarbon deposit, thereby significantly reducing the viscosity and making an economically acceptable level of recovery of the hydrocarbon deposit. In situ hydrovisbreaking and steam flooding are alternatives to the combustive techniques. Sometimes, in this process, a catalyst is suspended in the steam and circulated throughout a subsurface deposit. This heat permits the endothermic reaction to occur, causing lower molecular weight hydrocarbons rise to the surface of the petroleum deposit. This process may only be used in formations that have sufficient overburden thicknesses to withstand the injection of high temperature, high pressure materials.
Waterflooding techniques are also a frequently employed method to improve oil recovery from depleted or nearly depleted oil wells and can be expected to yield between 5% and 50% of the remaining petroleum products. The water to be injected must first be filtered to eliminate all potentially reactive particles. Then it is pumped into the well under pressure either from a group of strategically placed injection wells or from injection wells at the edge of the oilfield. Water rarely circulates evenly through the underground deposits. In most cases, the water permeates the deposits until it causes a breakthrough, creating a path of least resistance to the producing well along which the water will flow. The oil has a lower specific gravity than water and floats on top of the water. Such waterfloods are most effective in areas where there is little primary production. Variants of this technique include alkaline or caustic flooding, which involve the addition of basic agents to the water, such as sodium hydroxide.
Miscible gas drive for enhanced oil recovery involves injecting an inert gas, such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, or liquefied petroleum gas into the reservoir. The gas mixes with the petroleum deposits, making the oil less viscous, and pressures the fluid oil towards the producing well. Sometimes alternating between pumping gas and water through the well is employed. Solvent or chemical flooding comprises injecting a liquid with different chemicals in batches (slugs) into a deposit. A micellar-polymer flood will contain a polymeric surfactant to wash reservoir pore spaces clean of the heavy oils present within the earth formation. Other solvents can be used to mix with and reduce the viscosity of the petroleum deposits. Frequently used solvents include aromatic hydrocarbons, carbon disulfide, and carbon tetrafluoride, which are all capable of dissolving bituminous petroleum deposits. Water-based solvents have been used, with both heated and unheated water, to carry active ingredients throughout subsurface formations. Solvents or chemicals are frequently pumped through pipelines along with the treated oil. These must be separated out, e.g., by distillation to preserve both expensive solvents and the treated oil. Elimination of this refining step would reduce complications and cost.
It can be relatively difficult and economically unfeasible to separate hydrocarbon compound mixtures from some of the inorganic solid materials that are naturally intermixed.

Production of lower molecular weight hydrocarbons


A fault-tolerant clock generation circuit. First and second clock signal generators are provided to generate first and second clock signals. The second clock signal generator includes a locked loop circuit that, in a first operating mode, adjusts the phase of the second clock signal as necessary to maintain phase alignment between the first and second clock signals. A fail detect circuit is provided to determine whether a failure relating to generation of the first clock signal has occurred and, if so, to assert a hold signal. The locked loop circuit responds to assertion of the hold signal by transitioning to a second operating mode in which the phase of the second clock signal is not adjusted.

Fault-tolerance is designed into electronic systems by providing redundant capability for critical functions. In synchronous fault-tolerant systems, redundant clock generators are often provided to enable switchover from one clock generator to another in response to a failure detection. Unfortunately, switching between clock generators is not a trivial task. Even if two clock generators are identical in design and construction, they typically generate clock signals that exhibit at least a small frequency difference and therefore drift out of phase with each other. Consequently, an abrupt transition from one clock generator to another is likely to yield a shortened high or low pulse within the clock waveform, referred to herein as a runt pulse. If short enough, the runt pulse may violate settle- and hold-time constraints of circuit elements clocked by the clock signal, resulting in improper circuit operation and ultimately to the type of system failure sought to be avoided by the redundant clock generator in the first place.


The disclosed embodiments include a combination absolute pressure and differential pressure transducer that includes at least a first cavity and a second cavity, at least a first pressure port and a second pressure port, a first isolation membrane exposing the first cavity to a first fluid pressure applied to the first pressure port, a second isolation membrane exposing the second cavity to a second fluid pressure applied to the second pressure port, at least one absolute pressure sense element exposed to absolute pressure in one of the first cavity and the second cavity, and at least one differential pressure sense element exposed to differential pressure between two of the first cavity and the second cavity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to methods and systems for controlling the mass flow rate of a fluid, and more particularly to the operation of mass flow controllers and mass flow meters for gases and other compressible fluids.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Many industrial processes require precise control of various process fluids. For example, in the semiconductor industries, mass flow meters and controllers using them are used to precisely measure and control the amount of a process fluid that is introduced to a process chamber. A wide variety of techniques can be measured to mass flow rate in such devices, including thermal, ultrasonic time-of-flight, coriolis, and pressure-based techniques.
Pressure-based mass flow meters use a defined flow restriction to create a pressure drop responsive to the flow to be measured, and use measurements of temperature, the resulting pressure drop, and (for compressible fluids) absolute pressure, combined with knowledge of both fluid properties and the flow restriction, to calculate mass flow rate.
The term "fluid" is used herein to describe any type of matter in any state capable of flow. The term "gas" is used herein to describe any fluid for which density is substantially dependent on absolute pressure, such as ideal or non-ideal gases, vapors, and supercritical fluids. The term "liquid" is used herein to describe any fluid for which density is not substantially dependent on absolute pressure.

Absolute and differential pressure transducer


A method for determining the quantity of outgassing of a fuel from a lubricant located in an intake section housing of an internal combustion engine may include (a) setting a first coil current through the housing, (b) measuring a first output value of a lambda controller, (c) setting a second coil current through the housing, the second coil current having a different current strength than the first coil current, (d) measuring a second output value of the lambda controller and (e) determining the quantity of outgassing of the fuel based on the measured first and second output values. In addition, a method for adapting a lambda value for a fuel/air mixture to be burnt in an internal combustion engine during a lower load range may include the above-mentioned method of determining the quantity of outgassing of a fuel.

Modern spark ignition engines, in particular direct injection engines, exhibit increased input of fuel into the oil sector of the crank casing. The proportion of this input of fuel will increase further in future because ethanol is increasingly added to the liquid fuel to be used for refueling and is comparatively volatile and can also penetrate seals. At present, it is planned, at least in Germany, to increase the proportion of ethanol in the fuel from the current 5% to 25%.
This input of fuel has an adverse effect on the service life of the engine oil and also impairs the lubrication capability of the engine oil. For this reason, in addition to reducing the input, attempts are made, above all, to remove the fuel from the oil again as quickly as possible. This is done by means of a venting valve in the crank housing, which venting valve permits the fuel vaporized from the hot engine oil to flow directly into the intake section and therefore into the cylinder. This also prevents the vaporized fuel from being output unburnt into the surroundings. In order to increase the corresponding scavenging current, relatively large engines in particular have not only the venting medium but also a ventilation medium which sucks fresh air from the surroundings into the crank chamber. This air flows past the oil sump and then into the intake section. The proportion of fuel in this scavenging current flowing into the intake section will be referred to below as the outgassing of fuel.
High scavenging currents together with a high proportion of, to a certain extent, sudden outgassing of the fuel (depending on the temperature of the engine oil) can lead to errors in the composition of the fuel/air mixture. In the case of extremely large errors, misdiagnoses can occur in the fuel system diagnosis or even engine stallings. In this context, the risk of engine stallings is particularly high if the engine is in the idling mode or if the engine is changing from relatively high rotational speed into the idling mode. Even in the case of a so-called hot start, in which the engine is warmed up, shut down and started again with a warm engine, outgassing of fuel can lead to the engine not being able to be started.

Determining outgassing of a fuel from a lubricant within an internal combustion engine and lambda value adaptation based on the determined outgassing of fuel


A two-part connecting zipper pull includes a pull tab with receiving apertures therein and a connecting aperture, a loop member having ends to be fitted into the receiving apertures, and a securing pin for removably securing the ends of the loop member into the receiving apertures. The ends have apertures which align with the connecting aperture of the pull tab for allowing the securing pin to pass therethrough. The pull tab may have ornamental indicia thereon. The pull tab is particularly useful for the repair of existing zippered items such as luggage, handbags, clothing and the like, and can be marketed for repair purposes, or for cosmetic or appearance changes of the zipper.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to zippers, and in particular to a two-part connecting zipper pull for use with zipper sliders of zipper assemblies.
2. Description of the Related Art
Zipper pulls in the prior art are typically constructed as a monolithic element with a single loop member for attaching the zipper pull to the zipper slider of a zipper assembly. For example, zipper pulls are often fabricated from dye-pressed pot metals such as zinc and zinc alloys, or extruded plastic, as one-piece elements with the single loop member monolithically connected to the pull tab.
Typically, such zipper pulls are not removable from the zipper slider. Therefore, in the event that a portion of the pull tab breaks, the entire zipper pull may be inoperable to slide the zipper slider to fasten and unfasten the zipper assembly.
In addition, zipper pulls for use in luggage or clothing may have an ornamental pull tab to show a product logo. However, if the user desires self-expression or a change in appearance of the zipper pull of one's luggage or clothing, the user cannot change the ornamental pull tab of prior art zipper pulls, since such zipper pulls are integral with the loop member.
Two-part pull tabs or pulls attachable to slide fasteners are known, for example, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,497 to Jackson; U.S. Patent Publication Number US 2002/0069494 A1 to McCrum; U.S. Patent Publication Number US 2003/0079317 A1 to Oda; and U.S. Patent Publication Number US 2003/0079318 A1 to Oda. Each of these published U.S. patent documents are hereby incorporated herein by reference and made a part of this disclosure.
The two-part assemblies of the prior art present certain of disadvantages and leave room for improvement. For example, the zipper pull tab described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,497 to Jackson discloses a hook piece which is frangibly secured by an adhesive element to a zipper pull tab body, with the adhesive element being a breakaway pin on the hook piece oriented to engage an aperture located in an internally situated cavity of the zipper pull tab body. In addition to the relatively small dimensions of such breakaway pins and holes which present excessive manufacturing complexity, such securement between the hook piece and the zipper pull tab body is due to a frictional engagement between the breakaway pin and the hole in which the breakaway pin rests. Such frictional engagement is readily overcome by minimal forces, and repeated insertion and removal of the hook piece from the tab body wears the frictionally engaging surfaces. Accordingly, the zipper pull tab of the Jackson patent would have a limited lifespan before accidental disengagement of the hook piece from the tab body results in the zipper pull tab falling apart.
U.S. Patent Publication Number US 2002/0069494 A1 to McCrum describes a zipper pull with a U-shaped rod containing hooked ends which are inserted into a handle assembly having a rod passageway cavity and rod engagement cavities. The hooked ends are normally spaced apart by a biasing force of the material composing U-shaped rod. During insertion, the hooked ends are squeezed together by the user for insertion of the hooked ends into the rod passageway. Once inserted into the rod passageway, the resilient U-shaped rod responds to removal of the squeezing pressure, causing the hooked ends to separate and so to enter the rod engagement cavities internally located within the handle assembly.
In addition to the relatively small dimensions of such hooked ends and rod passageways and cavities, which present excessive manufacturing complexity, repeated squeezing of the U-shaped rod to counter its resilience will fatigue the U-shaped rod to lose its resilience, and so the hooked ends may inadvertently slide out of the rod cavities and passageways. In addition, the fatiguing of the U-shaped rod may cause the rod to break.
U.S. Patent Publication Number US 2003/0079317 A1 to Oda describes a pull of a slide including a pull attachment which frictionally engages a pull connecting ring by having an elastic attachment plate on each component interlock to removably attach the pull attachment to the pull connecting ring. To remove the pull attachment from the ring, the user must deform one of the elastic attachment plates in a vertical direction through a through hole.
In addition to the relatively small dimensions of such attachment plates and through holes, which present excessive manufacturing complexity, the frictional engagement causes strain on the elastic attachment plates, which may result in fatigue and wear preventing the attachment plates from maintaining securement between the attachment portion and the connecting ring, and so the attachment plates may inadvertently slide apart, causing the pull to come apart. In addition, the fatiguing of the attachment plates may cause one of the attachment plates to break, rendering either the pull attachment portion or the slider body useless.
U.S. Patent Publication Number US 2003/0079318 A1 to Oda describes a pull of a slider which has a pull connecting ring pivotally and removably engaging a pull main body. Due to the pivoting engagement, the pull may have different orientations, for example, the main body may bend at an angle either toward or away from the user which may obscure any indicia thereon, and so reducing the ornamental aspect of the pull.
Of greater concern, with the main body bent at an acute angle with the tip of the main body directed toward the user, sufficiently hard force on the pull due to a door or a hand hitting the pull may cause the tip of the main body to direct great pressure at the point of contact of the tip with the user, which may result in physical harm to the user.
In addition, known zipper pulls, such as the pivoting assembly in U.S. Patent Publication Number US 2003/0079318 A1 to Oda, do not provide a single uniform and compact appearance.
We have invented a two-part connecting zipper pull which can be readily detached from the zipper slider to repair or replace the zipper pull and/or to provide a different ornamental appearance as desired by the user, as well as providing a single uniform and compact appearance, while avoiding the disadvantages of using a pivoting configuration of the zipper pull.


A method is provided for the controlled formation of voids in integrated circuit doped glass dielectric films. The film can be formed of borophosphosilica glass (BPSG) or other types of doped glass. The method involves the steps of providing a substrate on which conductors are formed, depositing a first layer of doped glass to a thickness in a predetermined ratio to the size of the space between conductors, reflowing the first doped glass layer, applying one or more additional doped glass layers to make up for any shortfall in desired total doped glass thickness, and performing a high temperature densification to smooth each additional layer. The method provides for increased integrated circuit speed by controlled formation of voids which have a low dielectric constant and therefore reduce capacitance between adjacent conductors. The method can be performed using existing doped glass deposition and reflow equipment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor integrated circuits and methods for manufacturing the internal dielectric structure thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for controlled intentional formation of voids in an integrated circuit doped glass dielectric film in order to reduce capacitance between adjacent conductors and thereby enhance the circuit speed capability.
2. Description of Related Art
Semiconductor integrated circuits typically contain several different types of conductors, formed from materials such as aluminum alloy and polysilicon. A dielectric layer is used to separate and insulate the various conductors. Doped glass is commonly used as an integrated circuit dielectric because its melting point can be made significantly lower than that of regular glass or other dielectric materials. Borophosphosilica glass (BPSG) is one exemplary type of doped glass. After deposition over a pattern of polysilicon conductors, for example, a relatively rough BPSG dielectric layer can be put through a high temperature reflow process, usually at about 900.degree. C., which in effect melts the BPSG and thereby smooths its surface. Ordinary glass, however, does not melt until roughly 1400.degree. C., so reflow is more difficult and risks damaging other parts of the integrated circuit structure. The smoother BPSG dielectric layer simplifies subsequent processing steps and improves the reliability of the resultant device. Similar advantages result from the use of other types of doped glass.
As integrated circuit dimensions shrink in response to market demands for increased speed and reduced circuit size, the spaces between adjacent conductors also become smaller. However, adjacent conductors and the intervening dielectric material form a parasitic capacitance which limits the signal speed which the conductors can support. The amount of capacitance depends upon the distance between the adjacent conductors as well as the type of dielectric material separating them. This capacitance represents a significant limitation on integrated circuit speed enhancement and size reduction.
In order to minimize the effect of parasitic capacitance, one can either increase the separation between adjacent conductors or reduce the dielectric constant of the material between them. Since size constraints typically prevent sufficient separation of the conductors, the more desirable and practical approach is to reduce the dielectric constant of the separating material. The best dielectric material is a vacuum, which has a dielectric constant of 1.0. Air is also a very good dielectric, with a constant just slightly higher than that of a vacuum. A typical BPSG material, however, has a significantly higher dielectric constant of about 3.6 to 3.9. One technique which has been used to reduce the dielectric constant of the BPSG film between adjacent conductors is to allow voids to form in the film at appropriate locations. The voids can form during the chemical vapor deposition process, for example, in spaces between conductors. These voids are essentially air or vacuum filled and therefore constitute a low dielectric constant region between conductors. In this manner, the capacitance between adjacent conductors is reduced, and the speed performance of the integrated circuit can be improved without increasing device size.
Despite the speed improvements which voids in BPSG films can provide, their proper formation is presently very difficult to control. For example, voids between adjacent conductors are formed when a BPSG layer is deposited on top of a polysilicon conductive pattern. However, during the reflow process, the voids may disappear if the spaces between polysilicon conductors are large enough or the deposited film is thin enough. The voids formed when a BPSG layer about 7000 Angstroms is deposited over a circuit topography of conductors separated by about 1.0 micron are typically eliminated during reflow. It is not possible to forego the reflow process without losing the smoothness and related benefits which that process provides. Therefore, under current practice desirable properly placed BPSG voids are removed by the equally desirable reflow process.
Furthermore, the problem is not solved by simply increasing the thickness of the deposited BPSG film because the resultant voids may be improperly placed and create device yield and reliability problems. For example, voids may form close to the upper surface of the deposited BPSG film. In subsequent processing, it is common for the BPSG film to undergo etching after which a layer of aluminum is deposited from which additional conductors will be formed. If the BPSG is etched down to the level of a void, the void becomes an imperfection in the etched BPSG surface. The imperfection will run parallel to the underlying conductors between which it was formed. When the deposited aluminum layer is etched to form conductors, a portion of the aluminum filling the imperfection may remain and short out the etched conductors. Other problems can result from voids inducing imperfections elsewhere in the circuit structure. As a result, it would usually be better to completely eliminate void formation than to risk imperfections in the BPSG film. In order to obtain the speed advantages of the voids it is therefore essential that void formation be accurately controlled to ensure proper placement in the BPSG layer.
As is apparent from the above, there presently is a need for a method for controlled formation of voids in integrated circuit doped glass dielectric films. The method should permit formation of voids at desired points in the integrated circuit doped glass dielectric in order to obtain significant reductions in capacitance and resultant improvements in circuit speed. The method should also preserve the smoothness and associated benefits provided by the current doped glass reflow process, without risking potential imperfections in subsequent doped glass etching. Furthermore, the method should be compatible with existing deposition and reflow equipment.

Method for the controlled formation of voids in doped glass dielectric films


System and method for touch sensing and LED control for a touch screen. For example, the system comprises: a control chip including m first multiplexing terminals and n second multiplexing terminals, wherein m and n are integers greater than 2; k LEDs, wherein a rth LED of the k LEDs is connected to an ith first multiplexing terminal of the m first multiplexing terminals and to a jth second multiplexing terminal of the n second multiplexing terminals; wherein: the rth LED is in between the ith first multiplexing terminal and the jth second multiplexing terminal; r is an integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to k; i is an integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to m; j is an integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to n; and (m+n) touch-sensing capacitors.

Certain embodiments of the present invention are directed to the field of circuits. More particularly, some embodiments of the invention provide circuits for touch-sensing and LED-control. Merely by way of example, some embodiments of the invention have been applied to capacitive touch screens. But it would be recognized that the invention has a much broader range of applicability.
Capacitive touch screens are widely used in applications such as smartphones, tablets, and personal assistances. In most electronic devices, different software modules and/or different hardware circuits are utilized to implement touch-sensing function and Light Emitting Diode (LED)-control function, respectively.
However, utilizing different software modules to implement touch-sensing and LED-control functions respectively have drawbacks including: slow speed, complicated programming, uneven LED brightness, and high consumption of processor resources, which lead to reduced processing speed for other processor actions. Utilizing different hardware circuits to implement touch-sensing and LED-control functions respectively have drawbacks including: complicate circuit and excessively large space-take-up.
There is therefore a need for improved methods and systems for circuits for touch-sensing and LED-control for capacitive touch screens.

Systems and methods for touch-sensing and LED-control for use in capacitive touch screens

SYNCMOS TECHNOLOGIES INTERNATIONAL, INC.


The invention relates to a tactile sensor capable of obtaining information for a plurality of degrees of freedom at each point on a surface. An optical tactile sensor is provided with a sensing part and a photographing device, the sensing part comprising a transparent elastic body and a plurality of groups of markers provided inside the elastic body, each marker group being made up of a number of colored markers, with markers making up different marker groups having different colors for each group. The elastic body has an arbitrary curved surface. The behavior of the colored markers when an object touches the curved surface of the elastic body is obtained as image information of markers by photographing device. The sensor further comprises a force vector distribution reconstructing device for reconstructing forces applied to said surface from information as to the behavior of markers that is obtained from said image information of markers.

When considering understanding the contact state of a contact surface using a tactile sensor, there are vectors of three components representing magnitude and direction of force acting at each point of the contact surface. This is represented as f(x,y) in the coordinate system of FIG. 1. Here, f is a vector, and so actually has three components x, y and z at each point. When explicitly expressing each component, it is represented as f(x,y)=[fx(x,y), fy(x,y), fz(x,y)].
Some of inventors of the present invention et al. have proposed an optical tactile sensor that is capable of measuring three-dimensional force vector distribution. The optical tactile sensor is disclosed in WO02/188923 A1 and incorporated herein by reference. A principle of the optical tactile sensor will be explained based on FIG. 2. The optical tactile sensor comprises a transparent elastic body and a CCD camera. By photographing spherical markers embedded in the transparent elastic body by the CCD camera, internal strain information of the elastic body is measured when a force is applied on the surface of the elastic body, and force vector distribution is reconstructed from the information.
By taking an image of the spherical markers by a CCD camera from z-direction where an elastic body surface is taken as the x-y plane and an orthogonal direction to the x-y plane is taken as the z-axis, movement of a point to be measured when force is applied is measured as a movement vector in the x-y plane. However, it is difficult to reconstruct the force vector distribution from the strain information because an amount of information is insufficient. Therefore, N×N red spherical markers and blue spherical markers are arranged at different depths in the elastic body as points to be measured to obtain two sets of two-dimensional movement vectors with different depths as two pieces of different information, thereby increasing the amount of information to reconstruct the force vector distribution.
According to the above-mentioned optical tactile sensor, the optical tactile sensor having a flat surface is generally employed. Since the surface is photographed as two-dimensional image information, application of flat surface that corresponds to the two-dimensional image information may be a natural choice. Also, in case of a sensor with a flat surface, it is easier to reconstruct force vector distribution.
This type of optical tactile sensor has advantages in that it can measure three-dimensional force vector distribution and has an elastic body providing a flexible surface to be contacted by an object. For example, in a situation where the optical tactile sensor is provided at a robot hand of a humanoid, it is necessary to hold a glass without breaking and dropping. To prevent the glass from dropping, it is necessary to sense a force acting in the direction parallel to the surface of the glass. This is possible with the above-mentioned optical tactile sensor. Here, when considering applications of this type of optical tactile sensor for various purposes, it is necessary to construct a tactile sensor with an arbitrary curved surface not with a flat surface. However, it is difficult to reconstruct force vector distribution with an arbitrary curved surface. In this regard, a tactile sensor with an arbitrary curved surface is disclosed in "Development of arbitrary curved type tactile sensor using pressure conductive rubber", Shiinojo et al., Robotics Society of Japan, 1 G24, 2002. However, it is not possible to acquire force vector distribution by this sensor.
An object of the present invention is to provide an optical tactile sensor with an arbitrary curved surface.
Another object of the present invention is to reconstruct force vector distribution applied to an arbitrary curved surface from marker information.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an optical tactile sensor that is capable of being used as a tactile sensor for a robot hand or a computer interface.
Still further object of the present invention is to provide a method of obtaining a transfer function by which a force vector distribution is calculated by using marker information.

Optical tactile sensor and method of reconstructing force vector distribution using the sensor


Practical application of real-time (or near real-time) Adaptive Performance Optimization (APO) is provided for a transport aircraft in steady climb, cruise, turn descent or other flight conditions based on measurements and calculations of incremental drag from a forced response maneuver of one or more redundant control effectors defined as those in excess of the minimum set of control effectors required to maintain the steady flight condition in progress. The method comprises the steps of applying excitation in a raised-cosine form over an interval of from 100 to 500 sec. at the rate of 1 to 10 sets/sec of excitation, and data for analysis is gathered in sets of measurements made during the excitation to calculate lift and drag coefficients C.sub.L and C.sub.D from two equations, one for each coefficient. A third equation is an expansion of C.sub.D as a function of parasitic drag, induced drag, Mach and altitude drag effects, and control effector drag, and assumes a quadratic variation of drag with positions .delta..sub.i of redundant control effectors i=1 to n. The third equation is then solved for .delta..sub.iopt the optimal position of redundant control effector i, which is then used to set the control effector i for optimum performance during the remainder of said steady flight or until monitored flight conditions change by some predetermined amount as determined automatically or a predetermined minimum flight time has elapsed.

Aircraft efficiency is a critical factor for airline profitability. A one percent performance improvement (1% fuel use reduction) for a fleet of transport aircraft can result in great savings, as much as approximately $100 million per year for the United States fleet of wide-body aircraft at current fuel costs (55 cents per gallon) and an additional $20 million per year for each ten cents per gallon increase in fuel price.
Development of a significant amount of transport efficiency technology that started in the 1970's and 1980's has continued into the 1990's. An aircraft energy efficiency (ACEE) program explored maneuver load control, elastic mode suppression, gust load alleviations (J. F. Johnson, "Accelerated Development and Flight Evaluation of Active Controls Concepts for Subsonic Transport Aircraft--Volume I--Load Alleviation/Extended Span Development and Flight Tests," NASA CR-172277, 1984 ), relaxed static stability (W. A. Guinn, J. J. Rising and W. J. Davis, "Development of an Advanced Pitch Active Control System for a Wide Body Jet Aircraft," NASA CR-172277, 1984) and reduced-area horizontal tail design (J. J. Rising, "Development of a Reduced Area Horizontal Tail for a Wide Body Jet Aircraft," NASA CR-172278, 1984). An advanced F-111 fighter technology integration Mission Adaptive Wing (MAW) program developed and demonstrated variable-camber control for optimization of cruise and maneuver flight conditions ("Advanced Fighter Technology Integration F-111 Mission Adaptive Wing (ITAR), NASA CP-3055, 1990; E. L. Friend, "Flight Buffet Characteristics of a Smooth Variable-Camber Mission Adaptive Wing for Selected Wing Flap Deflections (ITAR), NASA TM-4455, 1993).
A member of the Airbus Industries team performed preliminary design work and wind-tunnel testing for implementing variable camber as a redundant effector in the A330/A340 aircraft. Benefits of variable camber include improved aerodynamic efficiency through improved lift-to-drag ratio (L/D), increased Mach number (M) capability, improved buffet boundary, increased operational flexibility, reduced structural weight and reduced fuel burn. Variable camber has also increased aircraft development potential. However, the proposed use of a variable camber design as a redundant effector did not include development of a real-time adaptive performance optimization methodology.
J. J. Spillman has provided an excellent dissertation relative to the fundamentals of variable camber as applied to transports ("The Use of Variable Camber to Reduce Drag, Weight and Costs of Transport Aircraft," Aeronautical Journal, Vol. 96, January 1992, pp. 1-9).
American manufacturers have also been actively involved in efficiency enhancement and have explored and implemented fixed-point rerigging of redundant control effectors to minimize airframe drag ("Long Live the Leviathan," Flight International, Sep. 15-21, 1993, pp. 30-31 and Guy Norris, "New MD-11 Update Revealed," Flight International, Dec. 21, 1994-Jan. 3, 1995, page 9).
The literature is replete with reports documenting trajectory optimization algorithms and their benefits relative to the economics of commercial transports. In fact, all large transports currently being produced have computer-based Flight Management Systems (FMS) that optimize the aircraft trajectory to minimize cost as a function of flight time and fuel price. However, the common basis for these algorithms are models of performance-related aspects of the particular aircraft model under specific flight conditions. As a result, the optimal trajectory is only as good as the onboard FMS models. In addition to the baseline onboard model having less than perfect accuracy, airframe and propulsion system degradation are factors which affect model accuracy.
NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC), at Edwards, Air Force Base, California is active in transitioning performance improvement technology to transport aircraft (Glenn B. Gilyard and Martin D. Espana, "On the Use of Controls for Subsonic Transport Performance Improvement: Overview and Future Directions," NASA TM-4605, 1994). Realizable performance benefits are smaller for transport aircraft than for high performance fighter aircraft. The designs of most transports have already been highly refined for good performance under a steady-state cruise flight condition. An algorithm developed on a Performance-Seeking Control (PSC) program was useful as an early demonstration of the benefits to be accrued on performance aircraft with detailed models available, though not suitable for implementing further performance optimization on transports primarily because of the fact that the algorithm was heavily based on a priori model data and absolute measurement accuracy (Glenn B. Gilyard and John S. Orme, "Performance Seeking Control: Program Overview and Future Directions," NASA TM-4531, 1993). Consequently, DFRC is exploring the application of measurement-based APO for performance improvement on transports using redundant control effectors.
Adaptive Control Background
Application of adaptive control to aircraft has been ongoing for more than 30 years with varying degrees of success. These applications have often centered on handling quality-related control system improvements, which often involve optimizing a very subjective, often ill-defined criteria typically involving handling qualities, for example, pilot ratings. Because of the subjective nature of handling qualities, adaptive control techniques are not necessarily well-suited approaches to the problem. Also note that in many flight control applications, use of adaptive techniques has led to safety concerns about gain and phase margin reductions. Such reductions have contributed to stability and control problems.
As such, adaptive control, as applied to flight control, has not found wide acceptance within the aerospace community. Lack of interest in adaptive control is partially caused by the satisfactory results that have been obtained using conventional design techniques and by lack of an overriding reason to obtain similar results by using more complex techniques.
Application of adaptive control is particularly advantageous when the optimization objective is well defined and there are significant unknowns about the aircraft and its operation. Application of adaptive optimal control to quasi-steady performance optimization has clear benefits that are not achievable in control design processes that are tailored to handling qualities issues. Quasi-steady performance optimization has well-defined objectives (i.e., minimize drag). For this reason, adaptive optimal control is well-suited to performance optimization. In addition, application of adaptive optimal control, using a measured performance metric, is insensitive to modeling inaccuracies and measurement biases. Because low frequency constrained maneuvers are proposed, stability- and control-related safety issues and affects on ride qualities are greatly minimized.
Regarding work of the Airbus Industrie team and Americans involved in exploring variable-camber performance optimization, neither side has devoted serious attention to a real-time Adaptive Performance Optimization (APO) algorithm. The Americans used either predetermined deflection schedules or a real-time, trial-and-error approach for camber control (Advanced Fighter Technology Integration F-111 Mission Adaptive Wing (ITAR), NASA CP-3055, 1990, and P. W. Phillips, and S. b. Smith, AFTI/F-111 Mission Adaptive Wing (MAW) Automatic Flight Control System Modes Lift and Drag Characteristics, AFFTC-TR-89-03, May 1989). In the case of the Airbus Industrie team, only model-based or experimentally determined scheduling was briefly mentioned as a means of camber control (J. Szodruch and R. Hilbig, "Variable Wing Camber for Transport Aircraft," Progress in Aerospace Sciences, Vol. 25. No. 3, 1988, pp. 297-328).
Application of adaptive optimal techniques to performance optimization does not require accurate models or absolute measurements. The adaptive optimal approach is based on real-time estimation of gradients of performance measures to control variables. These gradients are based on flight measurements and not based on predictions, except as noted herein below. In addition, because gradients are used, the approach is insensitive to measurement biases.
An adaptive optimal approach is ideally suited for use on operational "fleet" aircraft where there is uncertainty in the aircraft model and absolute measurement accuracy. Likewise, adaptive performance techniques have a valuable role for commercial aircraft where small benefits over a 20-30 yr service life can produce significant cost savings.
Many issues enter into the performance optimization problem for subsonic transport aircraft. Foremost, there must be the potential for optimization, which implies redundant control effector capability (i.e., more than one means of trimming out the forces and moments to maintain a steady-state flight condition). Most aircraft have significant capability in this area although taking advantage of this capability is a different issue. Performing optimization from a condition that is already fine-tuned (based on wind tunnel and flight testing) places increased demands on high-quality instrumentation to sense small differences in an unsteady environment.
APO compensates for all unique characteristics of the aircraft flight control system by continuously feeding back measurements of parameters that reflect the optimization objective, such as fuel flow (minimize) or velocity (maximize). A specific example is the use of symmetric aileron deflection in an algorithm applied to optimally recamber the wing for all aircraft configurations and flight conditions to optimize (maximize) lift-to-(drag ratio which can in turn be utilized to produce: minimum fuel flow, maximum Mach number, maximum altitude or maximum loiter time.
A feasibility study by Glenn Gilyard explored a prototype adaptive control law on a high-fidelity, nonlinear simulation of a first-generation wide-body jet aircraft that optimized wing-aileron camber for minimum aircraft drag at a given flight condition ("Development of a Real-Time Transport Performance Optimization Methodology," NASA TM-4730, 1996). This technology applies tc selected current generation aircraft and could be a requirement for future designs, such as proposed new large aircraft.
Challenge for Present and Future Aircraft
The APO of the present invention could play an important role in improving economic factors for the operation of aircraft. The challenge to in-flight performance optimization for subsonic and supersonic transport aircraft and fighters is the identification and minimization of very low levels of incremental drag. This is the key technological challenge because in order to provide an effective performance optimization algorithm, identification of incremental drag levels of one percent or less are required.

In-flight adaptive performance optimization (APO) control using redundant control effectors of an aircraft

The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration