The invention relates to a connecting rod-bearing combination comprising a bearing for a small connecting rod eye of a connecting rod which serves to receive a piston pin that supports a piston. The invention also relates to a method for producing a connecting rod-bearing combination of the aforementioned type. The aim of the invention is to be able to exert an influence on the connecting rod-piston combination whereby enabling a fine tuning of the oscillating masses. To this end, the invention provides a connecting rod-bearing combination, which is post-machined in the area of the small connecting rod eye during which material is removed form a mass that corresponds to the difference between the oscillating mass of the connecting rod-bearing combination and a stipulated oscillating mass. The method for producing the connecting rod-piston combination is characterized in that during the removal of material, it is determined how much material mass on the connecting rod-bearing combination is to be removed in order to obtain a stipulated connecting rod-piston combination of a specified mass and mass distribution. The connecting rod-bearing combination is subsequently post-machined in the area of the small connecting rod eye during which material is removed to the extent of the determined mass.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a connecting rod/bearing combination having a bearing (1) for a small connecting rod eye (6) of a connecting rod (5), which serves to accommodate a piston pin mounting a piston and a method of producing such a connecting rod/bearing combination.
2. Related Art
The background of the invention is the problem of the mass forces arising in a driving mechanism. In the context of the present invention, a driving mechanism should be understood to mean the system consisting of piston, connecting rod and crankshaft, as used for example as a crank mechanism in internal combustion engines.
Irregular movements of masses, i.e. accelerated and decelerated movements, involve mass or inertial forces. The piston of an internal combustion engine moves substantially in a straight line in the direction of the axis of the cylinder liner and effects an oscillating movement. In the process, it is exposed to constantly varying accelerations, which reach their maximum at the reversal points of the piston movement, the top and bottom dead centers. Corresponding to the rectilinear movement of the piston, the accelerations and with them the inertial forces are directed in the direction of the cylinder liner axis.
In contrast to the piston, the crank effects not an oscillating but a rotating movement. The inertial forces acting thereon are the centrifugal forces produced during rotary motion by the constant change in direction.
The most complex movement of the three components forming the crank mechanism is performed by the connecting rod. Movement of the connecting rod is a composite movement and comprises components of both oscillating and rotary motion.
FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a driving mechanism (20) having a piston (21), a connecting rod (22) and a crank (23). A counterweight (26) is shown in dash-dotted lines.
FIG. 2 shows an equivalent system for the driving mechanism (20) shown in FIG. 1, wherein the equivalent system is composed of two point masses (24, 25), of which one sub-mass mh (24) is arranged in the piston pin center and performs oscillating motion and one sub-mass mr (25) is arranged in the center of the cranked portion (23) of the shaft and effects rotary motion with the crankshaft.
The background to this equivalent system is that the connecting rod mass mP may be broken down relative to the mass action of the connecting rod into an oscillating mass mph and a rotating mass mPr. These equivalent masses are conventionally determined according to the following equations:mP=mPr+mPhmPr×11=mPh×12,wherein 11, 12 indicate the spacing of the center of gravity of the connecting rod from the equivalent point masses.
The oscillating equivalent mass mh (24) is obtained from the sum of the piston mass mK and the oscillating connecting rod mass mPh. Accordingly, the rotating equivalent mass mr (25) is obtained from the sum of the rotating connecting rod equivalent mass mPr and the shaft cranked portion mass mKur reduced to the crank radius r, which is calculated as:mKur=mKu r1/r
Here, r1 is the spacing of the center of gravity of the cranked portion (23) of the shaft from the axis of rotation of the crankshaft, mKu is the mass of the cranked portion of the shaft and r is the crank radius.
The mass forces, which are produced by the rotating mass mr (25), may be simply counterbalanced by an opposing counterweight (26). On the other hand, minimization or compensation of the inertial forces produced by the oscillating mass mh (24) is problematic.
In general, research and development work is aimed at reducing the masses of all oscillatingly moved parts, in particular the piston, since compensation of the mass forces produced thereby cannot be handled by the arrangement of counterweights. On the one hand, redesign of the reciprocating components using the smallest possible amount of material is necessary, while on the other hand the use of new materials of lower relative density will also achieve the objective.
However, this procedure is also subject to limitations due to strength requirements, such that it becomes ever more difficult to minimize the oscillating masses and the mass inertial forces caused thereby.
In the case of multi-cylinder engines, it is possible to influence the mass forces or the effect thereof by the number of cylinders, the cylinder arrangement, the crank sequence of the crankshaft and/or the ignition sequence.
If, for example, in the case of a multi-cylinder engine, it is intended to compensate the mass forces by means of a cylinder arrangement selected for this reason, this ideally requires the same driving mechanisms for all the cylinders, comprising the same weight or the same weight distribution. It is thus ensured that the driving mechanisms used in one and the same engine produce uniformly large mass forces, especially uniformly large oscillating or rotary mass forces.
For manufacturing reasons, the components used do not exhibit exactly the desired weight or the desired weight distribution, and thus nor do the driving mechanisms composed thereof.
The prior art has attempted to compensate the deviation, caused by manufacture, of the individual components with regard to mass and mass distribution as follows:                connecting rod and piston are subjected in each case individually to a selection process, in which they are divided into a large number of weight categories, and        connecting rod and piston are then grouped, with the objective of achieving similar connecting rod/piston combinations,        wherein the connecting rod comprises counterweights both at the connecting rod eye and at the connecting rod head, which are machined to achieve exact adjustment of the mass or mass distribution of the connecting rod/piston combinations.
In the process, it is necessary to take into account the fact that the counterweights which are provided at the connecting rod eye and at the connecting rod head and are also known as cams increase the total weight of the connecting rod and thus the total weight of the driving mechanism. This means that merely providing these counterweights for the purpose of adjusting the mass or mass distribution increases the weight and is thus inconsistent with the real objective of minimizing the masses of all the moving components.
For this reason, the attempt has been made to provide high-precision manufacturing methods with which low tolerances may be achieved. By reducing or decreasing the manufacturing tolerances, the differences between the components of a particular type are reduced at the same time, such that the size of the counterweights to be provided may likewise be reduced.
Production of the connecting rod with lower mass or mass distribution tolerances has been made possible by more recent methods, such that the number of weight categories necessary for selection has been greatly reduced and, in the case of maximally optimized processes, only connecting rods of one weight class remain.
When grouping these connecting rods with the associated pistons to form a connecting rod/piston combination, compensation of the connecting rod mass tolerances is effected by the piston. Nevertheless, there is a requirement for precision fine-tuning of the oscillating masses.

Connecting rod-bearing combination for adjusting and reducing oscillating masses of a connecting rod-piston-combination and method for producing a connecting rod-bearing combination of this type


The force on the electrodes of an electrostatic field is used so that lateral tensile or compressive forces result which can deform a deformable element or can strongly deflect a deflectable structure. For this, a micromechanical device includes, apart from an electrode and a deformable element, an insulating spacer layer via which the electrode is fixed to the deformable element, wherein the insulating spacer layer is structured into several spaced-apart segments along a lateral direction, so that by applying an electric voltage between the electrode and the deformable element lateral tensile or compressive forces bending the deformable element along the lateral direction result. Thereby, the problem that normally accompanies electrostatic drives, namely the problem of the pull-in effect, is overcome. The deflection of the deformable element can be much larger than the gaps of the two electrodes, i.e. the above-mentioned electrode and the deformable element. A usage as a sensor is also possible.

The present invention relates to a micromechanical device, such as a micromechanical actuator or a micromechanical sensor.
Micromechanically produced and actively deflectable beam and plate structures are used for a large number and variety of applications. The deflectable plates are frequently also referred to as membranes due to their low thickness. For the actively deflectable beams, the term cantilever is frequently used. Table 1 lists some examples of microsystems and the functional principle of the actively deflectable microstructures is explained.
TABLE 1Examples of microsystems and a description ofpossible functional principles of the deflectable microstructuresFunctional principle of the activelyExample/Microsystemdeflectable microstructuresreferenceActively bendableThin mirror plates firmly clamped at the 0, [2],mirror for focusedge are bent using an electrostatic field. [3], [8],variation of lightHere, the forces from the electrostatic field [9]beams or forare effective vertically at the bottom of the specificplate.correctionThin mirror plates are bent using an0, [4],of the phase of theactively adjustable lateral material strain[5], [11]wave front of lightwithin a material layer (bimorph ormonomorph principle). The activelyamendable lateral material strain can havea thermomechanical, piezoelectric,piezomagnetic, electrostrictive ormagnetostrictive origin.Actively bendableThin annular mirror plates firmly clamped[21]focusing mirrorat the edge are bent using an electrostaticarray for trans-field. Here, the forces from themissive displayselectrostatic field are effective vertically atthe bottom of the plateActively tiltableThe mirror plates are connected to a[6]mirrors for spatialstationary frame via spring elements and[7]deviation of lightare tilted using an electrostatic field. Here,beamsthe forces from the electrostatic field areeffective vertically at the bottom of theplate. This principle is also used for microtilting mirror arrays.The mirror plates are connected to a[10], stationary frame via thin bimorph or[12],monomorph beam structures. Tilting the[13]mirror plate is performed via an activelyadjustable layer stress and the associatedbending of the beam structures. The activeamendable lateral material strain can havea thermomechanical, piezoelectric,piezomagnetic, electrostrictive ormagnetostrictive origin.Actively adjustableThe mirror plates are connected to a[15]lifting or loweringstationary frame via spring elements andmirror for theare moved orthogonally to the mirror areaphase variation ofusing an electrostatic field. Here, the forceslight (e.g. in FTIRfrom the electrostatic field are effectivespectrometers)vertically at the bottom of the plate.This principle is also used for loweringmirror arrays for adaptive optics.The mirror plates are connected to a[14]stationary frame via thin bimorph ormonomorph beam structures. Deflection ofthe mirror plate is performed via anactively adjustable layer stress and theassociated bending of the beam structures.The actively amendable lateral materialstrain can have a thermomechanical,piezoelectric, piezomagnetic,electrostrictive or magneto-strictive origin.Atomic ForceA beam (=leaf spring or cantilever) isMicroscopy deflected either via an electrostatic field(AFM) in measure-between the measurement probe and the tipment modes withof the beam or via piezoelectricallydynamic excitationinduced strain within the beam.
Basically, the functional principles of the actively deflectable microstructures presented here can be divided into two classes:
In the first class, a force acts orthogonally to the structure 100 (=beam or plate) to be deflected.
FIG. 43 exemplarily shows a micromechanical actuator of this type. FIG. 43 shows a micromechanical device having a deflectable plate or a deflectable beam 100, which is cantilevered in the present case and where an externally effected force F is effective, which brings the plate or the beam 100 perpendicular to the extension direction out of its resting position, as is indicated by an arrow 100a between the resting position on the left and the deflected position on the right in FIG. 43. Here, it should be noted that in the overall document of the present application the included drawings and sketches include schematical coordinate symbols marked by x, y and z, and that here it has been consistently taken care that the x-y plane is parallel to the substrate plane or the chip plane, in the case that the shown devices are integrated in a chip, and that accordingly the z direction is orthogonally to the substrate plane in the case that chip integration exists.
Frequently, the vertically attacking force F is the force from an electrostatic field. Here, the electrostatic field E is generated using an electric voltage U between the beam (or plate) to be deflected and a stationary electrode 101 (also referred to as counter-electrode).
FIG. 44 shows a micromechanical actuator wherein the structure 100 to be deflected is deflected in that a voltage U is applied between the structure 100 to be deflected and an electrode 101 opposing the same, which has the effect that the structure 100 to be deflected and the electrode 101 are attracted toward each other. Thus, in the case of FIG. 44, the structure to be deflected, here a cantilevered beam or plate, is deflected by the force of an electrostatic field.
The reason for the dominance of the electrostatic drive in microsystem technology is the good scaling behavior of the forces (acting on the electrodes of an electrostatic field) in the dimensions common for microsystems. For simple, plane parallel electrode assemblies performing no or only very little movement, the force is inversely proportional to the square of the electrode gap (F˜1/d2). Thus, small electrode gaps result in a high force effect on the electrodes.
The deflection w of the microstructures (beams or plates) depends in an approximately square manner on the applied electric voltage U (for plane parallel electrode assemblies F˜1/d2). The basic curve is shown in FIG. 45.
The first region of this characteristic curve is characterized by a stable equilibrium between the forces of the electrostatic field and the restoring forces of the clamp. The second region is characterized by an unstable equilibrium. A small change of the electric voltage has the effect that the forces of the electrostatic field become larger than the mechanical restoring forces of the clamp (=holder of the microstructure). The beam (or the plate) 100 thus reaches an unstable area and is accelerated up to the counter-electrode 101. This behavior is known to a person skilled in the art as "pull-in effect":                The pull-in effect occurs in all electrostatically deflectable microstructures.        The maximum possible deflection wpull-in is limited (depending on the mechanical characteristics of the clamp) to a maximum of approx. ⅓ of the electrode gap d by the pull-in effect.        Large deflections can only be enabled by large gaps d of the electrodes. Large gaps, however, significantly increase the necessitated electric drive voltages (due to: F˜1/d2).
Due to the pull-in effect and the ratio F˜1/d2, a large deflection of electrostatically deflectable microstructures is combined with high electric voltages. Voltages in the range of 100 V are frequently common for deflections in the μm range (e.g.: [2] and [3]).
In a second class of microstructures, a lateral force acts within one or several layers of the structure 200 to be deflected.
FIG. 46 shows a structure 200 to be deflected composed of a layer stack of two or more layers 201 and 202. A lateral strain is generated in at least one of the layers, by the force of which the structure 200 to be deflected, here again for example a beam or a plate, is deflected, as is indicated by 200a.
This form of deflectable structures is known to a person skilled in the art as monomorph- or bimorph-deflectable cantilevers or membranes (beams or plates). The lateral force F (more accurately: lateral strain caused by the physical effect) can be caused by different physical effects:                Thermomechanical excitation (thermomechanical bimorph): Here, two materials 201 and 202 having different coefficients of linear expansion are firmly connected to one another. When this structure is heated (for example by an integrated electrothermal micro heating=usage of the resistive power), a lateral strain results and hence a lateral force of different intensities in both layers. Due to this, the microstructure is bent.        Piezoelectric and electrostrictive excitation (electroactive monomorphs, bimorphs and multimorphs using the transversal effect): Here, a lateral strain or force is generated within at least one layer 201 by an electrostatic field and by using an electroactive material. This material strain can be actively changed using the electric voltage or the electric field. As a result of this, the microstructure is bent.        Piezomagnetic and magnetostrictive excitation (magnetoactive monomorphs, bimorphs and multimorphs using the transversal effect): Here, a magnetic field and the usage of a magnetoactive material generate a lateral strain within at least one layer 201. As a result, the microstructure is bent.
For appropriate ratios of maximum deflection w to beam or plate thickness t (w<t), a spherical deformation profile results. This results in the fact that the maximum deflection w is proportional to the square of the length l of the microstructures (w˜l2).
The advantage of the bimorph- or monomorph-deflectable microstructures is that with relatively small actively adjustable material strains large deflections result with sufficiently large structure lengths l. The maximum possible deflections are not limited (as in the above case) by the characteristics of the drive principle.
A problem associated with thermomechanical excitation is that basically sufficiently high material strains for bending micromechanical cantilevers and plates can be generated by the thermomechanical effect and a suitable material selection (for 201 and 202) [1], but the generation of the temperatures necessitated for this is problematic for three different reasons:                The height of the temperatures that can be generated with a given power coupling depends on the thermal insulation (more accurately, heat flow balance) of the microstructures to be deflected with regard to their environment. Depending on the size of the beam or plate area to be heated, high thermal insulation of the structures to be deflected might not be realized. Thus, a relatively high power consumption of the microsystem is needed for generating the temperatures necessitated for deflection.        If a resistive micro heating (=usage of ohmic "power loss") is used, the operating range of the temperatures to be used for the target movement of the cantilever or the plate will have to be above the maximum environmental temperature of the target application. The reason for this is that a resistive micro heating can only increase temperatures. Thus, the microsystem has high power consumption even at low target deflections [5]. Basically, the temperatures could be both increased and reduced by using the Peltier effect, but due to the low efficiency a microsystem having low power consumption is not possible here either.        The amount of heat capacity (e.g. of the surrounding air) associated with the thermal insulation of the microstructures to be deflected limits the maximum possible velocity of the movement of the deflection. Due to the relatively high heat capacities, the thermal cut-off frequency is in the bottom Hz range [5], [16] even for the low dimensions of microsystems. This has the following consequences:                    If bimorph beams or plates having higher frequencies are to be moved in a quasi-static manner, a significant reduction of the deflection has to be accepted due to the low-pass behavior of temperature generation.            With step-like changes of the target deflection, the microstructure to be deflected reacts in a very slow manner (due to the low thermal cut-off frequency) and hence necessitates a lot of time until the target deflection is reached.
Due to the above-stated limitations (large power consumption, "constant preheating" and low cut-off frequency of deflection), the thermomechanical effect is used very rarely for actively deflecting plates or beams. A commercial microsystem using the thermomechanical effect for actively deflecting microstructures is not known on our part.
Problems accompanying excitation using electroactive or magnetoactive materials are, for example, the following. In microsystem technology, for example, primarily the usage of the inverse piezoelectric effect is common (see also [4]). A problem, however, is the usage of the common electroactive or magnetoactive materials within semiconductor-compatible production plants (frequently called "CMOS-compatible materials"): materials having a high electromechanical or magnetomechanical material coupling (such as the piezoelectric materials PZT, BaTiO3 or LiNbO3) cannot be used in semiconductor-compatible production plants or processes due to the possible contamination of the production plants or processes. Basically, there are semiconductor-compatible electroactive materials such as aluminum nitride or PVDF. However, either the electromechanical material coupling is very low (such as for aluminum nitride or gallium nitride) or these materials have no temperature or long-term stable behavior (such as zinc oxide). Optimizing the deposition conditions for high electroactive material coupling is very expensive, and in some case the materials have to be actively polarized afterwards. Magnetoactive materials basically have the problem of high power consumption of the microcomponent (similar to the thermomechanical principle), since a magnetic field having an alterable field strength has to be generated for actively deflecting the material. Generating a variable magnetic field can only be performed by a variable current flow of a coil assembly having sufficient current strength. Usage of permanent magnets is not possible here, since the same generate a "stationary magnetic field".
In summary, it would therefore be desirable to have an alternative drive principle for a micromechanical device uniting at least some of the advantages of the different drive principles briefly sketched above, and without having to accept all the accompanying disadvantages.

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.


The present disclosure relates to an implement with a boom, wherein the boom is pivotally mounted about a horizontal axis via a bolt connection on a basic unit of the implement, with the bearing of the boom on the basic unit being effected via three bearing plates with corresponding bearing points for the bolt connection.

For articulating the boom to the turntable, the two solutions shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are known. FIG. 1 shows a double-shear bearing of the boom 1 on the turntable 2. For this purpose, two bearing plates 3 with corresponding bearing points 4 for the bolts 5 are provided on the turntable 2. The bolt 5 connects the bearing points 4 on the bearing plates 3 with the bearing tube 7 on the boom 1 which here is shown as monoblock boom 6.
This design has the advantage that the boom fabricated as a closed box is extremely torsion-resistant. When the system is designed for greater loads, the double-shear bearing however leads to a number of disadvantages, such as for example to a long, heavy and hence hardly handleable bolt, to an increasing deflection of the bolt, and to a high bearing stress.
Furthermore, the four-shear bearing shown in FIG. 2 is known, in which two parallel bearing plates 3 each are provided to the left and to the right on the turntable 2, which each include bearing points 4 for one of the two bolts 5. The boom foot of the boom 1 is bifurcated far apart for articulation and includes two bearing sleeves 7 which via the bolts 5 are connected with the respective bearing points on the left and right bearing plates, respectively. This leads to the fact that short, lightweight and correspondingly easily handleable bolts can be used, which in addition have a low bolt deflection. Furthermore, the bearing stress is correspondingly lower. What is, however, disadvantageous in this solution is the lower torsional stiffness of the monoblock foot 6 due to the design being bifurcated far apart.
Despite the disadvantages of the respective solutions known for decades, an articulation which combines the advantages of the two articulations and avoids their respective disadvantages has not been found so far.
It is the object of the present disclosure to provide an improved articulation of a boom on the basic unit of the implement.
In accordance with the present disclosure, this object is solved by an implement comprising a boom which is pivotally mounted about a horizontal axis via a bolt connection on a basic unit of the implement. According to the present disclosure, the boom now is mounted on the basic unit via three bearing plates with corresponding bearing points for the bolt connection. Such three-shear bearing via three main webs combines the advantages of the double-shear and the four-shear bearing, without having its disadvantages.
Thus, after decades of stagnation in the field of the articulation of booms, the present disclosure for the first time provides a fundamentally improved new conception of such an articulation.
Advantageously, the bolt connection is effected via at least two bolt elements. This provides for using short and correspondingly lightweight bolts, which correspondingly are easily handleable and have a low bolt deflection.
Advantageously, the bolt connection is designed such that the at least two bolt elements each are inserted from the outside to the inside. In particular, the two bolts are put through the respective bearing points of the two outer bearing plates from outside and are secured at the two outer bearing plates.
When two bolt elements are used for the bolt connection, the same advantageously support on the middle bearing plate with their inner ends. The middle bearing plate therefore advantageously includes a correspondingly dimensioned bearing point. Advantageously, the bearing point on the middle bearing plate is prolonged on both sides beyond the thickness of the bearing plate.
Alternatively, the bolt connection also can be effected via three bolt elements, with the middle bolt element supporting on the middle bearing plate. Here as well, the bearing point on the middle bearing plate therefore advantageously is dimensioned correspondingly and furthermore advantageously is prolonged on both sides beyond the thickness of the middle bearing plate.
The middle bolt element can floatingly be mounted on the middle bearing plate and in turn solely be secured via the outer bolt elements, which are secured on the outer bearing plates. Alternatively, however, securing the middle bolt element on the middle bearing plate also is conceivable.
In the present disclosure, the bolt elements furthermore can be connectable with each other via plug connections. This provides for a positive connection of the bolt elements with each other. In particular, this allows a centering and/or support of the individual bolt elements on each other.
Advantageously, adjacent end faces of the bolt elements include a corresponding protrusion or a corresponding cutout, so that the protrusion on the one end face can be pushed into a cutout on the other end face.
Particularly preferably, such plug connections are employed when using three bolt elements, so that the middle bolt element is connectable with the two outer bolt elements via the plug connections.
According to the present disclosure, a bearing point furthermore can be provided on the middle bearing plate for articulating an energy recovery cylinder. The middle bearing plate thus allows a particularly easily realizable articulation point for the energy recovery cylinder, which advantageously extends from this bearing point towards the boom. The bearing point for the energy recovery cylinder can be arranged below the bearing point for the articulation of the boom.
Furthermore, on the outer bearing plates there can each be arranged bearing points for the articulation of hydraulic cylinders for moving the boom. The same substantially can be designed as known from the prior art, for which purpose corresponding additional bearing plates advantageously are provided, in order to each provide for a double-shear articulation of the two hydraulic cylinders.
Advantageously, the three bearing plates of the implement according to the present disclosure extend upwards in vertical direction from a support structure of the basic unit. In particular, the three bearing plates can be aligned parallel to each other and/or extend in longitudinal direction of the implement. In particular, the articulation axis is vertical to the three bearing plates.
Furthermore, the bearing plates and a supporting frame of the basic unit can form a welded construction. In particular, the bearing plates each are steel parts which are welded to a supporting frame of the basic unit or form part of such supporting frame.
The boom foot of the implement according to the present disclosure likewise can be designed as a welded construction. In particular, this is a closed box construction in accordance with the present disclosure.
Like in a four-shear bearing, the boom foot advantageously includes two bearing bushings which are welded to the box construction and through which the bolts extend for connection with the three bearing plates. Other than in a four-shear construction, the two bearing bushings can however be arranged very close to each other, so that the monoblock foot is bifurcated only little and has a correspondingly higher stiffness.
Advantageously, the distance between the two bearing bushings on the boom is smaller than their respective length. This results in a correspondingly high stability of the boom.
This dimensioning also is reflected in the dimensioning of the bearing points of the three bearing plates. In particular, the free distance between the respective bearing point on one of the outer bearing plates and the bearing point on the middle bearing plate is greater than the width of the bearing point on the inner bearing plate.
The novel articulation of the boom according to the present disclosure particularly advantageously is employed in implements with an undercarriage, with a traveling gear and an uppercarriage arranged on the undercarriage about a vertical axis of rotation, wherein the boom is articulated to the uppercarriage. Furthermore, the boom can carry a working tool. It can also be provided that the boom is movable via hydraulic cylinders.
In particular, the implement according to the present disclosure can be a mobile implement, for example a construction, earth-moving and/or material-handling machine. In particular, the implement according to the present disclosure is a hydraulic excavator.
Beside the implement, which consists of basic unit and boom, the present disclosure furthermore comprises a basic unit for such implement. Such basic unit includes the three bearing plates according to the present disclosure.
Advantageously, the basic unit is constructed such as it has already been described above.
Furthermore, the present disclosure also comprises a boom for an implement according to the present disclosure. The boom includes two articulation bushings which can be articulated to a basic unit of an implement according to the present disclosure via the three-shear bearing according to the present disclosure.
The present disclosure will now be explained in detail with reference to exemplary embodiments and drawings.


The transmitting device latches the time of the absolute clock when the V-sync signal of the video signal block is transmitted, adds to the latched time a predetermined delay time equivalent to the sum of the time required for the transmitting device to process the video signal block and the time required for the transmittance; and transmits the resulting sum value together with the video signal block. The receiver extracts the sum value and produces the V-sync signal delayed by said predetermined delay time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transmission apparatus for transmitting digital audio and video signals for application in, for example, digital VCRs that record and reproduce the audio and video signals as digital signals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Digital VCRs for recording digital audio and video signals to tape are currently being developed as a means of achieving high image and sound quality. Recording digital video signals, however, greatly increases tape consumption because of the extremely large amount of information the digital video signal carries. As a result, tape consumption is reduced in consumer digital VCRs by compressing the video signal before recording. Intra-frame video signal compression, whereby compression is completed within each frame, is used so that the tape can be edited frame by frame.
This intra-frame compression method compresses the video signal so that the compressed data quantity of each frame is the same in each frame. The rotary head is therefore controlled to record the data to tape synchronized to the frame cycle of the video signal. As a result, when a signal is dubbed between plural digital VCRs, the recording-side VCR must synchronize rotation of the rotary head to the frame cycle of the video signal output by the reproducing-side VCR. The reproducing-side VCR must therefore transmit the video signal frame information to the recording-side VCR.
The intra-frame compression method described above was developed for VCRs because compression must be completed within each frame to enable the user to edit the video signal on a per-frame basis. This method also enables both compression and decompression processes to be executed by the VCR using relatively small-scale circuitry. At the same time, however, compression methods intended for broadcasting applications, and not for the convenience of VCR recording/reproducing, are also being developed.
Broadcasting systems only need to sequentially output the compressed signals, and do not need to allow for inserting different data to the signal stream as do digital VCRs enabling editing by the end-user. It is therefore not necessary for broadcasting system compression schemes to complete compression within each video frame. The compression circuitry can also be relatively large because the compression process is only executed at the broadcasting station. Compression schemes used by broadcasting stations can therefore be relatively complex operations spanning plural frames as a means of also reducing the bandwidth of the broadcast signal. The decompression process, however, must still be executed by a consumer device, and the decompression circuitry must therefore be as small as possible. A protocol known as MPEG2 is thus being developed as a video and audio compression method suited to broadcasting applications.
Under the MPEG2 protocol, the video signal in particular is compressed in blocks of plural video frames, and the data quantity of the input video signal varies from frame to frame. Each frame of the compressed video signal in this method is either a frame (I-frame) in which compression is completed within one frame (intra-coded frames), or a frame containing only the difference data between two or more frames (predictive coded frames (P-frames) or bi-directionally predictive coded frames (B-frames)). Because the I-frames are intra-frame compression coded, the compression rate cannot be increased, and the data quantity after compression is significantly greater when compared with B-frames and P-frames. In addition, because the B-frames and P-frames contain only the data describing the difference between that frame and the adjacent frame(s) or the I-frame, the data quantity after compression is very small.
Thus, the data quantity of the video data compressed according to the MPEG2 protocol will vary from frame to frame. The compressed frames are then stored to MPEG2 transport packets having a constant packet length (size) for transmission or recording/reproducing. Each transport packet also contains a packet identifier (PID) used to discriminate whether the data stored to that transport packet is video data or audio data. When the data rate is low, dummy data is written to a transport packet, and a dummy transport packet is transmitted.
It is also possible to multiplex plural programs for transmission using a single transmission channel because the data rate of the MPEG2-compressed audio/video data is extremely low compared with the original data rate. Even in multiplexed transmissions, however, it is possible to determine to which program the audio/video data in each transport packet belongs by reading the PID contained in each transport packet.
Each transport packet is then input to a transport packet decoder, and the transport packet decoder selects and stores to a buffer memory the transport packets storing the audio/video data for the program to be reproduced. Note that timing information is also added to each transport packet. This timing information is generated on the transmission side based on a 27-MHz clock (the decode clock), and added to the transport packets.
The decode clock is generated on the receiver side based on the timing information added to a known position in each transport packet. The receiving apparatus comprises a 27-MHz oscillator and a counter for counting 27 MHz, detects the difference between the received timing information and the counter value of the receiver-side 27-MHz counter when a transport packet containing timing information is received, and changes the oscillation frequency of the receiver-side 27-MHz oscillator to minimize this difference. Therefore, to correctly reconstruct the decode clock on the receiver side, the timing at which each transport packet is received from the transmission medium must match the timing at which the transport packet was generated by the transmission apparatus. The compressed audio/video data is then decompressed at this reconstructed decode clock by the receiving apparatus to reconstruct an analog signal.
Digital VCRs and devices for recording or broadcasting audio/video data compressed according to MPEG protocols are currently available. Transmission apparatuses for transmitting video and audio data are now needed to enable digital signal dubbing between two digital VCRs, or to receive and record MPEG2-compressed audio/video data to a digital VCR.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc. (IEEE) is currently considering a next-generation high speed serial bus protocol, IEEE P1394 (see "High Performance Serial Bus"). It is possible by means of the IEEE P1394 protocol to transmit isochronous communications data, i.e., real-time data such as video and audio signal data, by isochronous communications using synchronization packets. P1394 enables constant data rate communications by always sending/receiving one isochronous packet every cycle (which is approximately 125 .mu.sec). The clock and cycle period used by the P1394 protocol have no synchronization relationship to the signal source clock. The data transmitted each cycle using the P1394 protocol is one isochronous packet, which can be transmitted at any particular timing within the cycle. The timing at which a packet is transmitted within the cycle is determined each cycle at the convenience of the P1394 bus (i.e., based on P1394 bus activity).
When transmitting audio/video data compressed by the intra-frame compression scheme used in digital VCRs, frame synchronization between the transmitting and receiving sides is necessary. The clock of the P1394 bus used as the transmission medium, however, has no synchronization relationship to the transmitted video signal frame cycle. In addition, the audio/video data is divided among plural transport packets for transmission, but the timing at which each packet is transmitted is determined at the convenience of the P1394 bus. It is therefore not possible, when transmitting intra-frame compression coded data using the P1394 bus, to obtain correct frame synchronization between the transmitting and receiving sides.
Furthermore, when MPEG2 data is transmitted using a transmission medium, such as the P1394 bus, whereby data is transmitted based on a transmission clock or cycle with no synchronization relationship to the signal source, it is not possible for the receiving apparatus to receive the transport packets at the same timing as the transport packets were output by the transmission-side signal source. As a result, the 27-MHz decode clock cannot be correctly reconstructed by the receiving apparatus.

Transmission apparatus and receiving apparatus

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


The present invention is a method for producing a wafer comprising, at least, a BMD forming step of subjecting a silicon single crystal in a state of an ingot to heat treatment thereby to form bulk micro defects (BMDs) inside, and a wafer processing step of processing the ingot in which the bulk micro defects (BMDs) was formed into wafers. Thereby, there can be provided a method for producing a wafer, wherein heat treatment for providing IG capability in production of wafer can be shortened and wafers with high IG capability can be produced in large quantity. Also, the present invention can further comprise a wafer heat-treating step of subjecting the processed wafer to heat treatment, or an epitaxial growth step of forming an epitaxial layer on the wafer. Thereby, there is improved productivity of annealed wafers or epitaxial wafers that are excellent in gettering capability.

A silicon single crystal wafer used as a substrate of a semiconductor integrated circuit device has mainly been produced by Czochralski method (CZ method). CZ method is a method that a seed crystal of silicon single crystal is immersed to a silicon melt melted in a quartz crucible at a high temperature of 1420° C. or more, the seed crystal is gradually pulled along with rotating the quartz crucible and the seed crystal, and thereby a columnar silicon single crystal is grown. At this time, a surface of the quartz crucible being in contact with the silicon melt is melted and oxygen is dissolved into the silicon melt and taken in the crystal during the growth. The oxygen atoms aggregate during the crystal growth and the cooldown to be oxygen precipitation nuclei. Therefore, if a silicon wafer obtained from the crystal grown as it is is subjected to heat treatment in a temperature zone from 700° C. to 1050° C., the nuclei are grown to form oxide precipitates and BMDs. The oxide precipitates have a beneficial role of capturing metal contamination caused by processes of integrated circuit device formation (device processes). This is so-called intrinsic gettering (IG).
That is, in the device processes, there is heavy-metal contamination as represented by Fe, Ni, and Cu in a heat-treating process at a high temperature and so forth. If by such heavy-metal contamination, defects or electrical levels are formed in the vicinity of a surface of the wafer, device characteristic is degraded. Therefore, because it is necessary that the heavy-metal contamination is removed from the vicinity of the wafer surface, there has been conventionally used a gettering technique of IG or various types of EG (Extrinsic Gettering). In particular, in the future device process, it is clear that still higher integration and temperature lowering of processes by using high-energy ion implantation will be promoted. In that case, it is anticipated that because of the temperature lowering of processes, it becomes difficult that BMDs are formed during the device processes. Therefore, in a low temperature process, it becomes more difficult to obtain sufficient IG effect than that in a high temperature process. Moreover, even if device processes are lowered in the temperature, it is difficult to avoid heavy-metal contamination by high-energy ion implantation and such, and therefore gettering technique is thought to be essential. Moreover, it is preferable that BMDs exist at high density for preventing generation of slip.
A general BMD formation has been performed by processing a silicon single crystal into wafers and then subjecting the wafers to heat treatment. For example, heat treatment referred to as DZ-IG heat treatment or the like is known. This is that by subjecting a wafer processed mirror-like to high-temperature treatment at a temperature of about 1100° C. to 1200° C., oxygen in the vicinity of the wafer surface is outward diffused to reduce interstitial oxygen to be nuclei of micro defects, and thereby a defect-free DZ (Denuded Zone) layer is formed in a device active region. Thereafter, BMDs are formed in the bulk of the wafer by low-temperature heat treatment at 600° C. to 900° C. As described above, two heat treatment steps of the high-temperature+the low temperature have been performed. Moreover occasionally, BMDs may be sufficiently formed first by performing low-temperature treatment, and then a DZ layer of the wafer surface may be formed by high-temperature heat treatment. Such a wafer in which a DZ layer and IG capability are given by performing heat treatment in a state of a wafer is referred to as an annealed wafer or the like.
On the other hand, in a silicon single crystal grown by CZ method, oxygen impurities are generally contained as described above. If the crystal as it is is used for device-producing processes, supersaturated oxygen is occasionally precipitated during the processes. There are some cases that the oxide precipitates secondarily cause dislocations, stacking faults, or the like, by strain due to expansion of volume. Such oxide precipitates and the secondary defects thereof have a great effect on characteristics of semiconductor device. Therefore, in the case that such defects exist in the wafer surface and the device active layer, there is occasionally caused increase of leakage current, fault of oxide dielectric breakdown voltage, or the like.
Moreover, as devices come to have higher integration and become finer, Grown-in defects introduced in pulling a silicon single crystal by CZ method, which haven't been historically seen as a problem, significantly degrade oxide dielectric breakdown voltage characteristic. Therefore, whether crystallinity in the vicinity of a surface of a silicon single crystal substrate is good or bad comes to have a great impact on reliability and process yield of the device.
As a measure against that, there is a technique that a wafer is subjected to heat treatment to annihilate defects on the wafer surface. As the heat treatment of a wafer, there is a method that a silicon substrate is heated in a hydrogen atmosphere or in an atmosphere containing hydrogen at 950° C. to 1200° C. for 5 minutes or more and thereby a DZ layer is formed in a silicon wafer surface part by promotion of oxygen out-diffusion, (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (kokai) No. 60-231365, No. 61-193456, and No. 61-193458).
Moreover, in recent years, it has been devised that nitrogen is doped in a wafer (ingot) and thereby defects originating in crystal such as COP (Crystal Originated Particle) are easily annihilated and oxide precipitates can be easily obtained. Thereby, it has become possible that annealed wafers with a wide defect-free region are effectively produced. Moreover, it has been possible that high-quality wafers are produced effectively in the case that after-mentioned epitaxial wafers are produced using such substrates.
Furthermore, there is known a crystal consisting of a region having excess atomic vacancies but no defects introduced during crystal growth (defects such as COP) and a region having excess interstitial silicon atoms but no defects introduced during crystal growth. This can be obtained by controlling pulling rate of a crystal and such, and can be wafers having very few crystal defects. Such a crystal consisting of a region having excess atomic vacancies but no defects introduced during crystal growth, and a region having excess interstitial silicon atoms but no defects introduced during crystal growth is referred to as nearly perfect crystal, hereinafter occasionally referred to as NPC. Also, using such a crystal, annealed wafers each having a wide defect-free region can be produced effectively (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (kokai) No. 11-199387). Moreover, if epitaxial growth is performed on the wafer that such a crystal is used, high-quality wafers can be produced effectively.
However, annealing as described above, which is referred to as DZ-IG heat treatment, requires much time because a wafer is subjected to two-step heat treatment having the different purposes of DZ layer formation and BMD formation. In particular, for forming BMDs at high density, it is necessary to subject a wafer to heat treatment at a low temperature for a sufficient time.
In the case that heat treatment is performed in a wafer state processed into a silicon wafer, a vertical heat treatment apparatus 30 is used as shown in FIG. 6, wafers W set in a heat treatment boat 40 are heated in a chamber 31 by a heater 32. Moreover, for setting the wafers, the heat treatment boat 40 is used as shown in FIG. 7, and wafers W are held in groove like wafer-placed parts 43 provided in a plurality of columns 42 connected by connection parts 41. However, the number of wafers able to be set therein is limited to at most about one hundred. Therefore, for producing annealed wafers in large quantity, it is necessary that many heat treatment apparatuses are prepared or annealing time is shortened.
However, as a wafer has a larger diameter, such an apparatus for performing heat treatment also becomes larger and a heat treatment boat used for it and such also become larger, and thus very expensive apparatuses become required in terms of equipment. Therefore, there is cost limitation for introducing many apparatuses, it is more important to effectively operate a heat treatment apparatus.
On the other hand, nowadays, an epitaxial wafer in which a single crystal layer is grown on its surface is occasionally used. There is an advantage that an epitaxial wafer has good crystallinity in the vicinity of the surface thereof. Moreover, according to the technique of epitaxial growth, it can be performed with relative ease that a sharp gradient of impurity concentration is formed inside a wafer or a layer with low concentration is formed inside a layer with high concentration. Therefore, an epitaxial wafer is an essential wafer for fabricating a bipolar transistor or a schottky barrier diode. In formation of such an epitaxial wafer, a high-temperature process at 1000° C. or more is performed.
The above-mentioned high-temperature process at 1000° C. or more includes the epitaxial growth in itself and a pretreatment performed before the epitaxial growth. The epitaxial growth of a silicon crystal thin film is typically performed by supplying a silicon compound gas such as SiCl4, SiHCl3, SiH2Cl2, or SiH4 and a dopant gas such as B2H6 or PH3 in H2 atmosphere in a temperature zone of 1000 to 1200° C.
On the other hand, the pretreatment is an operation for removing a native oxide film and particles which exist on a surface of the silicon single crystal substrate. In particular, before the epitaxial growth is performed, cleaning of the surface of the silicon single crystal substrate is an essential treatment. A method occasionally used for removing a native oxide film and particles is that of subjecting the substrate to heat treatment in a gas of H2 or a mixed gas of H2/HCl at a high temperature near 1100° C. Otherwise, as methods that are practicable near a room temperature, wet etching using a dilute solution of hydrofluoric acid, combination of a hydrofluoric gas and a water vapor, and Ar plasma treatment are known. However, there are problems such as regrowth of an oxide film immediately after the treatment, occurrence of surface roughness of a substrate, and corrosion of treatment equipment. Therefore, it is thought that the high-temperature treatment described above is most appropriate as it is now.
However, as for an epitaxial wafer as described above, there are some cases that gettering effect is not sufficient. This is because a substrate to be an epitaxial wafer goes through a high-temperature process of 1000° C. or more, almost all of oxygen precipitation nuclei and oxide precipitates are annihilated and gettering function comes not to be accomplished. In a conventional method, by the pretreatment before the epitaxial growth, it is difficult to sufficiently remove a native oxide film in a temperature zone of less than 1000° C. Therefore, the pretreatment cannot help but being performed in a temperature zone of 1000° C. or more. Accordingly, it was impossible to avoid lowering of gettering efficiency of an epitaxial wafer, conventionally.
In order to obtain gettering effect for such a substrate, it has been necessary that heat treatment for forming BMDs is performed before or after forming an epitaxial layer, and much time has been spent. In particular, in order to form the requisite BMDs for obtaining gettering effect, it is necessary to subject a wafer to heat treatment at a low temperature for a sufficient time.


A vehicle drive train for transferring torque to first and second sets of wheels includes a first driveline adapted to transfer torque to the first set of wheels and a synchronizing clutch. A second driveline is adapted to transfer torque to the second set of wheels and includes a power disconnection device and a friction clutch. A hypoid gearset is positioned within the second driveline in a power path between the synchronizing clutch and the power disconnection device. The friction clutch and the power disconnection device are positioned on opposite sides of the hypoid gearset. The hypoid gearset is selectively disconnected from being driven by the first driveline, the second driveline or the wheels when the synchronizing clutch and the power disconnection device are operated in disconnected, non-torque transferring, modes.

Typical power take-off units transfer power from a transaxle in receipt of torque from a vehicle power source. The power take-off unit transfers power to a propeller shaft through a gear arrangement that typically includes a hypoid cross-axis gearset. Other gear arrangements such as parallel axis gears may be provided within the power take-off unit to provide additional torque reduction.
Power take-off units have traditionally been connected to the transaxle output differential. Accordingly, at least some of the components of the power take-off unit rotate at the transaxle differential output speed. Power losses occur through the hypoid gear churning through a lubricating fluid. Efficiency losses due to bearing preload and gear mesh conditions are also incurred while the components of the power take-off unit are rotated.
Similar energy losses occur when other driveline components are rotated. For example, many rear driven axles include hypoid gearsets having a ring gear at least partially immersed in a lubricating fluid. In at least some full-time all-wheel drive configurations, the rear drive axle hypoid gearset continuously rotates during all modes of operation and transmits a certain level of torque. In other applications, the rear axle hypoid gearset still rotates but with out the transmission of torque whenever the vehicle is moving. Regardless of the particular configuration, churning losses convert energy that could have been transferred to the wheels into heat energy that is not beneficially captured by the vehicle. As such, an opportunity may exist to provide a more energy efficient vehicle driveline.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The technology relates to an apparatus, methods and applications to grow microorganisms on-site to treat contaminated environments. The apparatus is designed to function under a wide range of environmental conditions including extreme cold, extreme heat and direct exposure to sunlight. Such environments normally reduce the shelf-life of the organisms in the storage chamber that feeds the fermenter where they are being grown. These environments can also lower the growth rate of the organisms in the fermenter causing diminished cell output. Quite often the optimum point of application for the organisms is outdoor and too far from structures with appropriate protection from ultraviolet radiation from the sun or from excessive cold or hot weather. The technology in the application addresses these issues.

Bioaugmentation is the application of microorganisms to an environment to degrade contaminants through digestion. The biological degradation of such contaminants by the applied microorganisms is called bioremediation. Contaminated waters, soil or biosolids are bioremediated using microorganisms such as bacteria or fungi which digest contaminants. These products are sold as dormant or stabilized cultures. Such products are sold in powder, pellets, liquid or in gel form. In all cases, the cells have to be placed in a state of dormancy that is known by those in the arts of bioremediation. This dormancy process is necessary to provide shelf life to products sold in containers. The various dormancy processes kill a large percentage of the microorganisms. As much as half or more of the culture cells can be lost during the dormancy process.
In addition, commercially sold products have many high costs associated with them such as manufacturing, labor, process control, dormancy methods, dilution, standardization methods to maintain consistent viable cells, packaging and freight of diluted products. Even though powder products can contain desiccated microorganisms in spore form or in vegetative form (whole cells), these products have the additional cost of controlled dehydration of cells under rigorous conditions to reduce cell death. Pelletized products have the additional cost of pelletizing.
Liquid commercial products can be sold as spores or in vegetative form (whole cells). Liquid spore products normally have better shelf life than vegetative products because spores are in complete dormancy and the thick walls of the spores protect the cells. Liquid spore products are normally sold at concentrations that range from 0.1 billion cells per milliliter to 1 billion cells per milliliter (a.k.a. cell forming units or cfu). In addition to the costs mentioned before, liquid spore products have two significant disadvantages. The first disadvantage is that not all microorganisms used in bioremediation produce spores. A great number of microorganisms used in bioremediation exist in vegetative form only. This greatly limits the microorganism species that can be used and reduces the efficiency and scope to degrade contaminants in various types of environments. The second major disadvantage is that spores could take hours to come out of dormancy before they germinate into active vegetative cells. Conditions of the environment where the product is applied such as temperature, oxygen level, pH, types of nutrients etc. can slow germination. The spores can be washed away such as in the case of applications in the sewer or in wastewater treatment systems with short detention time. Even when they germinate, it takes time before they begin to reproduce themselves. Delay in germination may cause the microorganisms to reproduce themselves only a few times during the detention time in the contaminated environment.
There are commercial liquid products that contain vegetative cells. The vegetative cells can be cells that only can exist in vegetative form or hey can be cells from germinated spores which are used in the liquid-vegetative-cell product. These types of products also suffer from the same costly issues mentioned previously. Some products that are fully dormant in vegetative form need to undergo very severe dormancy methods that kill a large amount of the cells in the batch. Also, some of the chemicals used in the dormancy process can produce powerful-undesirable pungent odors. Other liquid vegetative products are in a semi-dormant state. These products are sold diluted and normally contain 0.1 to 0.2 billion cells per milliliter (cfu). The reason for this low cell concentration is that these semi-dormant bacteria are stored with some nutrients to keep them alive. The concentration of microorganisms and nutrients cannot be too high because the microorganisms would become active. If they become active, the container would become bloated with gases produced during metabolism and the microorganisms would die when nutrients run out reducing shelf life. Finally, care must be taken with these semi-dormant products during usage because if the container is opened and it is not fully used, it has the risk of becoming contaminated by pathogens from the environment which would grow at the expense of the nutrients in the product. This poses a danger for people handling a contaminated product.
Bioremediation products can also be sold in gel blocks or gel cylinders. These products dissolve gradually in the environment where they are used. The microorganisms in these products are in spore form because heat is needed to solidify the gel and if vegetative microorganisms are used, they would die with the heat. The gel also contains antimicrobial products to prevent the spores from activating and begin to grow prematurely inside the gel. Antimicrobial products would also kill vegetative cells in the gel if they were used. For these reasons, gel products suffer from the same disadvantages of other spore products such as limited available species and time needed to germinate. Finally, gel blocks or cylinders have additional costs of manufacturing and handling processes associated with them.
There are some applications where microorganisms are grown on the site of application using a bioreactor. A storage chamber for the microorganism and nutrients feeds a fermentation tank. The microorganisms multiply in the fermentation chamber many times before they are applied to the contaminated environment for bioremediation. This type of application offers the advantage that the microorganisms are not dormant when they are applied. It also offers the advantage that spores as well as vegetative species can be used. In addition, there are significant savings in manufacturing, process control, dilution, standardization, packaging, shipment etc. However, if the bioreactor is not inside a building or in an enclosure it is exposed to the environment. Direct sunlight can cause cell death in the storage chamber and in the fermenter. Excessive heat can also kill microorganisms in the storage chamber and in the fermenter. Normally the temperature on the surface of an object exposed to direct sunlight can be as much as 36 F or more than the recorded temperature for the area.
Additionally, when a bioreactor is exposed to outdoor environments, extreme cold weather can overpower the heating element of the fermentation chamber causing it to cool. Low temperature in the fermentation chamber can significantly reduce the cell count produced by the bioreactor. Quite often the ideal place to apply bioaugmentation is at the point where wastewater enters the plant (headworks) This point of application allows the entire plant to benefit from the application and permits the microorganisms to begin to work early on in the process. Often, space is limited at the headworks and there is not enough room to build an enclosure to protect a bioreactor from environmental temperature. For safety reasons there needs to be enough working space for employees to do their daily work. In other occasions bioaugmentation needs to be applied in a manhole in the sewer line to reach the desired portions of the sewer. Space can be limited depending on the location of the manhole where the application would take place and an enclosure with controlled temperature could be unsafe or not possible.
There is a need for an on-site bioreactor system that offers all the advantages of a bioreactor but that it can also be used outdoors exposed to the environment and function at its optimal potential without the need of an enclosure.

Outdoor apparatus and methods to treat wastes, wastewater and contaminated water bodies


An integrated circuit has a circuit part and a trimmable resistor, the resistance whereof may be modified by Joule effect. The trimmable resistor has first and second connection terminals coupled to the circuit part, and an intermediate terminal that divides the trimmable resistor into two portions. The first and the second connection terminals and the intermediate terminal are coupled to respective pads configured to receive electrical quantities designed to cause, in use, a respective trimming current flow in each portion. In this way, a substantially zero voltage drop is maintained between the first and second connection terminals while current is flowing in the resistor to change an electrical characteristic of the resistor, such as resistance or thermal coefficient.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an electrically trimmable resistor device and to the trimming method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is known, in many integrated circuits, some quantities of the integrated circuit are modified since, at the end of the manufacturing processes and because of the tolerances of its components, the function of the integrated electronic device is impaired or other than optimal. Such modifications are, for example, particularly beneficial in applications that employ a high precision in the performed functions.
For example, the need for precise regulation of biasing quantities is particularly felt in devices generating high-precision reference voltages that use supply voltages variable within a rather wide range of values.
This type of devices is used to generate, starting from the variable supply voltage, a voltage that is very precise and stable over time and that is largely unaffected by the changes in environmental temperature or in the manufacturing processes.
Even though some circuit configurations enable more or less effective compensation of temperature and input voltage changes, the final integrated circuit is unlikely to present, at the end of the production cycle, the desired voltage value. Therefore, currently it is common to intervene on some circuit components, modifying the values thereof, through a postproduction process, i.e., at the level of finished silicon wafer or, preferably, at the end of the assembly process. The assembly process, in fact, due to the involved thermal processes and the mechanical actions induced on the die by thermal expansion of the involved various materials, produces changes in the electrical circuit parameters, which can be compensated only after assembly.
Another example of devices where post-production modification is common is in devices having an offset. For example, in newly manufactured precision operational amplifiers, offset voltage that is typically present at the output is corrected.
The modulation and trimming of the electrical function performed by the integrated device may be obtained by modifying, for example, the value of one or more resistances of the circuit, selected so as to have the greatest impact on the electrical function to be performed and so as to be able to compensate the most common process imperfections.
In a prior solution (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,326,256), the resistance of a resistor is modified by making an incision on its surface, which is generally of metal. To this end, a laser beam performs the incision orthogonally and in the direction of the flow of current. The cut, which involves the entire thickness of the resistor, is made while controlling the electrical parameter that it is desired to modulate.
This procedure may be performed, for each single device, in the final manufacturing step of the wafer and in particular during EWS (Electrical Wafer Sorting). However, since the device is provided with a window transparent to laser light, it is problematical to apply the technique to devices closed within a package, since the latter, in general, is opaque to radiation. In addition, the costs for purchase and use of a machine dedicated to laser trimming may be rather high, and the trimming process may be time intensive.
Other techniques (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,757,264 and 7,422,972) envisage, for example, the use of a number of resistors that are selected through "anti-fuse" or "fuse" devices. Frequently, these techniques employ operations that may be electrically performed using appropriate pins of the assembled integrated circuit, and have as a main drawback the fact that the final value of the resistance can assume only discrete values. In addition, the resistance can be modulated only through discrete values, and any improvement of precision entails the addition of resistors, with consequent high occupation of area on silicon.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,009,011 describes a substantially alternative technique, which exploits changes in some physical properties of certain conductive materials, such as, for example, doped polysilicon or metal materials when these are subject to a thermal treatment.
Local heating of the resistive element can be, for example, performed by arranging close to it an electrical heating element that permanently induces the desired resistivity changes (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,635,893, 5,587,097, 6,960,744, 5,679,275, 5,466,484, and 7,249,409).
The problem of the above solution lies in the technical complexity of production linked to the provision of a heating element that is electrically insulated from, but in intimate thermal contact with, the resistive element to be modified, since the temperatures generated during the trimming phase may even exceed 500° C.
Alternatively, it has been proposed to heat the material of the resistor by self-heating (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,210,996, 4,870,472 and 5,808,197). To this end, an appropriate current pulse is supplied to the resistor so that it heats by Joule effect. The current is controlled so as to introduce a change in the physical properties of the material corresponding to the desired value of resistance.
It has also been proposed (U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,472) to modify the circuit, adding, for example, active components so as to protect electrical functionality of the other components during resistor trimming, but this technique does not have general validity and in some cases is not applicable.
A known solution (U.S. Application Publication No. 2012/0001679) consists in providing a trimming resistor arranged transversely to the functional resistor to be calibrated and flowed by a current that causes heating and resistivity change of the cross-over area.
This solution avoids the need to apply a potential difference across the two terminals of the functional resistor, but, in fact, enables heating only of a small portion of the functional resistor. In the case of resistances of a high value, i.e., when the length of the resistor R is particularly extensive, this solution may introduce only minor changes in the final value, which may not be sufficient.

Electrically trimmable resistor device and trimming method thereof


A funereal garment for use in providing a full and healthy appearance to a corpse lacking tissue necessary for such appearance. The garment includes a main garment body with compartments positioned to receive shaped inserts, wherein the compartments and shaped inserts are provided in sufficient number and location to provide a supplementary mass and enhanced physiological conformation to a corpse dressed in such garment, simulative of a full and healthy appearance of the corpse in relation to the corpse without such garment. The inserts may be inflatable articles or forms of predetermined shape, adapted for placement and retention in the compartments of the garment, so that the funereal garment provides the corpse with an aesthetic appearance for viewing and funeral/internment ceremonies.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to garments or clothing articles for dressing a deceased person for presentation at a funeral or burial service, a wake, or viewing of the corpse prior to burial, interment, cremation, or other final disposition of the body. The invention in one implementation relates to a funereal garment that is adapted to be worn by a decedent whose body at the time of death lacks significant tissue in relation to normal body conformation, such as may have resulted from a wasting illness or traumatic injury.
2. Description of the State of the Art
In contemporary society, many social practices and religions involve ceremonies following the death of an individual, in which the body of the decedent is presented during such ceremonies, and/or before and/or after they take place. For example, such traditions may include display of a body of the deceased for a period of time accommodating viewing by friends, family members and others who wish to pay respects or provide solace to survivors of the decedent. Some traditions involve a watch or vigil that is held over the body of the deceased prior to burial or cremation.
In many instances, the appearance of the body of the deceased has become substantially deteriorated in the period preceding death, as a result of disease, accident, or physiological decline involving loss of tissue, wasting, emaciation or other condition in which the body mass is significantly lessened, in relation to a prior full and healthy appearance of such individual. Under these circumstances, undertakers, embalmers and funeral directors generally strive to prepare the corpse so that such prior full and healthy appearance of the body is simulated. These efforts are rendered disproportionately more difficult when the loss of body mass is substantial in amount. If not able to be restored to a full and healthy appearance, the corpse of the decedent in an eviscerated condition may occasion shock and additional grief to mourners viewing the body, particularly those whose last memories and visual recollection of the decedent involved such a full and healthy appearance.


The present invention relates to a hydro-transformer including a hydraulic machine, a switching valve and a control means. A work port of the switching valve, which may optionally be connected hydraulically with a pressure port of the switching valve or a drain port of the switching valve, is connected with a first port of the hydraulic machine. The second port of the hydraulic machine is in hydraulic connection with a drive member. The switching valve is driven by the control means in response to a signal characterizing the volume flow into the hydraulic machine. Where the driver member is a cylinder, its extension may be carried out at a constant velocity and independently of a load, and energy may be recovered upon retraction. Due to the provision of a further switching valve between the second part of the hydrostatic motor and the drive member, a higher pressure may be generated at the drive member in the presence of a low pressure at the pressure port of the switching valve.

The present invention relates to hydro-transformers whereby one drive member or several drive members are supplied with fluid from means for outputting hydraulic energy.
From the prior art as represented in xe2x80x9cHydrostatische Antriebe mit Sekundxc3xa4rregelung, Der Hydraulik Trainer Band 6xe2x80x9d, Vogel-Buchverlag Wxc3xcrzburg, 1989, hydro-transformers are known to present a fixed displacement unit hydraulically connected with the drive member and a variable displacement unit hydraulically connected with the impressed-pressure system. The fixed displacement unit is a means having the function of fixed displacement pump/fixed displacement motor, whereas the variable displacement unit is a secondary-control means having the function of variable displacement pump/variable displacement motor. The shafts of the fixed displacement unit and of the variable displacement unit are mechanically coupled with each other.
If a cylinder with a unilaterally acting load is used as a drive member, use of a hydro-transformer has the purpose of realizing predetermined cylinder velocities upon extension and upon retraction of the cylinder independently of cylinder load, and the occurrence of lower losses.
In operation of a like conventional hydro-transformer, for extension of the cylinder the rotational speeds of the connected shafts of variable displacement unit and fixed displacement unit are therefore predetermined, and a rotational speed control is performed through adaptation of the stroke volume of the variable displacement unit. The fixed displacement unit herein operates as a pump, and the variable displacement unit as a motor. Upon retraction of the cylinder, on the other hand, the variable displacement unit operates as a pump and the fixed displacement unit operates as a motor, with rotational speed control concurrently also taking place. Moreover the variable displacement unit effects a recovery of energy which is fed into the impressed-pressure system. The rotational speed control may be carried out both hydraulically, such as in patent specification U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,429, or electronically during extension and retraction of the cylinder.
Conventional hydro-transformers have the drawback of necessitating high expenditure in terms of apparatus technology for their application, for which reason they are primarily employed in the upper power range such as, e.g., in large-size excavators.
The drawbacks of the prior art are to be overcome by the present invention.
The present invention thus has the object of furnishing a hydro-transformer whereby predetermined volume flows are achieved at a drive member independently of the load on this drive member, energy recovery from the drive member is possible, expenditure in terms of apparatus technology is lower than in conventional hydro-transformers, and a favorable efficiency is attained.
This object is achieved through a hydro-transformer in accordance with claim 1.
What is provided is a hydro-transformer including any type of hydraulic machine, one port of which may optionally be connected hydraulically with a pressure line through a work port of the switching valve and which preferably is a gear motor. The other port of the hydraulic machine is hydraulically connected with a hydraulic line leading to a drive member. The switching valve is controlled through a control means in accordance with a measured characteristic value which characterizes the volume flow of the hydraulic machine. Herein the work port is optionally connected with the pressure port or with a port at which a lower pressure prevails than in the hydraulic machine. In a case where the drive member is a cylinder, the latter may thus be extended in accordance with the volume flow. When the cylinder is retracted, on the other hand, fluid may be conveyed into the pressure line in accordance with the volume flow, resulting in energy recovery. On account of the low expenditure in terms of apparatus technology, the range of application of hydro-transformers may be expanded substantially.
It is advantageous if driving of the switching valve is performed in such a way that the characteristic value characterizing the volume flow is substantially constant. Thus a cylinder may be extended and retracted at a constant velocity independent of a load.
As a characteristic value for the volume flow it is possible to utilize the rotational speed of the hydraulic machine. Thus a measurement value must be determined which may be tapped simply and cost-effectively, whereby the cost for the hydro-transformer is influenced favorably.
It is furthermore advantageous to optionally connect the one port of the hydraulic machine via the switching valve, in a first switching position, with the pressure line or, in a second switching position, with a drain line, for the relatively high volume flow into the drain line results in short switching periods of the hydro-transformer according to the invention.
Although with the aid of the present invention it is possible to also effect extension of a cylinder as a drive member exclusively, it is favorable to use a hydraulic machine having two volume flow directions and two directions of rotation, for in this way energy transmitted to the fluid during retraction of the cylinder may be partly recovered.
If, e.g., a pressure present in the pressure line is twice as high as the one at the drive member, the switching valve should be actuated in such a way that the switching valve will remain in the first position for the same duration of time as in the second position.
Moreover between the other port of the hydraulic machine and the line leading to the drive member, another switching valve may be provided which is capable of optionally switching the hydraulic connection between hydraulic machine and drive member. Hereby it is possible to supply fluid through a pressure line having a lower pressure to a drive member having a higher pressure.
Preferably the further switching valve is switchable in such a way that the drive member will be in hydraulic connection either with the hydraulic machine or with the drain line. In order to avoid cavitation, it is sensible to bias the pressure in the drain line. For the same reason an anti-cavitation valve may be provided. The large difference between the pressure in the drain line and the one in the hydraulic machine brings about high responsiveness of the hydro-transformer in accordance with the invention.
A high clock frequency at a low volume flow in the pressure line reduces pulsation at the drive member, while the switching loss is kept low in the pressure line by means of a low clock frequency at high volume flow. Clock frequencies above or below a predetermined value should therefore be selected depending on an increase above or a drop below a predetermined volume flow.
The attenuation behavior of the hydraulic machine may be improved by rotation symmetrically attaching an additional mass to its shaft. Owing to the higher moment of inertia, a low clock frequency at a high volume flow is supported. In this way the switching losses are reduced.
The hydro-transformer according to the invention is preferably employed in mobile hydraulics. Thus a cost-efficient hydro-transformer is now also available in mobile hydraulics, thus rendering control of a drive member nearly independent of the presence of an accurately determined pressure level in the pressure line. As a result, lightweight and low-cost hydrostatic accumulators may be employed in mobile hydraulics to a larger extent.
Further developments of the present invention are the subject matters of the remaining subclaims.


Various embodiments provide techniques for direct manipulation of content. The direct manipulation of content can provide an intuitive way for a user to access and interact with content. In at least some embodiments, content manipulation is “direct” in that content displayed in a user interface (e.g., one or more Web pages in a Web browser interface) can be moved in and/or out of the user interface in a direction that corresponds to user-initiated physical movements, such as the user dragging or flicking the content with the user's finger or some other type of input device.

Many applications can keep a record of a user's navigation through content. For example, a Web browser can track Web pages that a user has navigated to and allow the user to navigate among the visited Web pages. The Web browser can track the Web pages in a temporal manner such that a user can view a Web page that the user has previously viewed by clicking back to the Web page. Also, if a user has navigated back to a previously-viewed Web page, the user can click forward to view return to a previously-viewed Web page.
While the ability to navigate through content can enhance a user's experience, many current content navigation techniques can be counter-intuitive and can require the user to learn new ways of navigation that may not make sense when compared to the user's real-world experiences.


A search engine comprising a crawler which crawls the WWW and stores pages found on the WWW in a database. An indexer indexes the pages in the database to produce a primary index. A document mapping section maps pages in the database into a plurality of tiers based on a ranking of the pages. The ranking may be based on portions of the pages which have a relatively higher value context. A processor produces a plurality of sub-indices from the primary index based on the mapping. The sub-indices are stored in a search node cluster. The cluster is a matrix of search nodes logically arranged in a plurality of rows and columns. Search nodes in the same column include the same sub-index. Search nodes in the same row include distinct sub-indices. A search query received by a user is sent to a dispatcher which, in turn, forwards the query to the first tier of search nodes. A fall through algorithm is disclosed which indicates when the dispatcher should forward the search query to other tiers of search nodes.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a search engine, and, more particularly, to a search engine which maps crawled documents into tiers and then searches those tiers in a hierarchical manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
The World Wide Web ("WWW") is a distributed database including literally billions of pages accessible through the Internet. Searching and indexing these pages to produce useful results in response to user queries is constantly a challenge. The device typically used to search the WWW is a search engine. Maintaining a working search engine is difficult because the WWW is constantly evolving, with millions of pages being added daily and existing pages continually changing. Additionally, the cost of search execution typically corresponds directly to the size of the index searched. To deal with the massive size and amount of data in the WWW, most search engines are distributed and use replication and partitioning techniques (all discussed below) to scale down the number of documents.
A typical prior art search engine 50 is shown in FIG. 1. Pages from the internet or other source 100 are accessed through the use of a crawler 102. Crawler 102 aggregates documents from source 100 to ensure that these documents are searchable. Many algorithms exists for crawlers and in most cases these crawlers follow links in known hypertext documents to obtain other documents. The pages retrieved by crawler 102 are stored in a database 108. Thereafter, these documents are indexed by an indexer 104. Indexer 104 builds a searchable index of the documents in database 108. Typical prior art methods for indexing include inverted files, vector spaces, suffix structures, and hybrids thereof. For example, each web page may be broken down into words and respective locations of each word on the page. The pages are then indexed by the words and their respective locations. A primary index of the whole database 108 is then broken down into a plurality of sub-indices (discussed below) and each sub-index is sent to a search node in a search node cluster 106.
In use, a user 112 enters a search query to a dispatcher 110. Dispatcher 110 complies a list of search nodes in cluster 106 to execute the query and forwards the query to those selected search nodes. The compiled list ensures that each partition is searched once. The search nodes in search node cluster 106 search respective parts of the primary index produced by indexer 104 and return sorted search results along with a document identifier and a score to dispatcher 110. Dispatcher 110 merges the received results to produce a final list displayed to the users 112 sorted by relevance scores. The relevance score is a function of the query itself and the type of document produced. Factors that are used for relevance include: a static relevance score for the document such as link cardinality and page quality, superior parts of the document such as titles, metadata and document headers, authority of the document such as external references and the "level" of the references, and document statistics such as query term frequency in the document, global term frequency, and term distances within the document.
Referring now to FIG. 2, a cluster 106 of search nodes is shown. For illustrative purposes, cluster 106 is shown in a matrix grouped in columns 122a, 122b, etc. and rows 124a, 124b, etc. In each column 122 of search nodes, the same set of indices is replicated for each respective search node. For example, the search node in column 122a, row 124a, includes the same subset of indices as the search node in column 122a, 124b. In each row 124 of search nodes, a different subset of indices is used. The indices are equally split so as to divide the amount of time for a search.
For example, the search node in column 122a, row 124a includes a different subset of indices than the search node in column 122b, row 124a. In each search node, "I" represents the index for the entire database 108, "S" corresponds to a search node, "Sn(In)" indicates that search node n holds sub-index n of the entire index I, and "Snm(In)" indicates that replication number m of search node n holds sub-index n of the entire index I.
Each query from dispatch 110 is sent to respective search nodes so that a single node in every partition is queried. For example, all the nodes in a row 122a, 122b, etc. are queried as the combination of these nodes represents that total index. That is, each row in cluster 120 is a set of search nodes comprising all the partitions of an entire index. The results are merged by dispatcher 110 and a complete result from the cluster is generated. By partitioning data in this way, the data volume is scaled. For example, if there are n columns, then the search time for each node is reduced basically by a factor of n—excluding the time used for merging results by dispatcher 110.
By replicating the search nodes, the query processing rate for each index is increased. In FIG. 2, all search nodes in each column hold the same index. This allows dispatcher 110 to rotate among the nodes in a column for each index partition when selecting a set of search nodes to handle an incoming query.
However, the inventors have determined that there is a highly skewed distribution of unique search queries in a typical search engine. For example, the top 25 queries may account for more than 1% of the total query volume. As a consequence, equally dividing a primary index into smaller sub-indices may not provide optimum results.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a search engine that organizes its documents and indices in light of the distribution of search queries.

Search engine with hierarchically stored indices


A hatch back construction (10) for the bed (101) of a pick-up truck (100) equipped with a camper shell (200) wherein, the construction (10) includes a hatch back member (20) provided with a step shouldered continuous peripheral skirt (21) having an outer portion (21′) with a minimum width of 3″ and further having an outwardly extending portal sleeve (22) equipped with a door element (30) wherein, the hatch back construction (10) expands the effective length of the bed (101) of the pick-up truck (100) by a minimum of 5″.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of vehicle end gate constructions in general and in particular to a cantilevered center door hatch back construction that is specifically designed to increase the useful space in the rear cargo area of the vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
As can be seen by reference to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,735,565; 6,554,340; 6,019,410; and, Des. 367,463, the prior art is replete with myriad and diverse truck bed extender arrangements to increase the usable space in the rear cargo area of a vehicles.
While all of the aforementioned prior art constructions are more than adequate for the basic purpose and function for which they have been specifically designed, they are uniformly deficient with respect to their failure to provide a simple, efficient, and practical arrangement for extending the rear cargo area of a vehicle.
As most tall SUV owners, and particularly those between 6′ and 6′ 5″, are all too well aware, the majority of SUVs have a standard length cargo bed that is exactly 6′ long, which makes it very uncomfortable for someone having a height in excess of 6′ to sleep in the cargo area of their vehicle particularly if that individual is accustomed to sleeping on their back with their legs stretched out in font of them.
Given the fact that the average height of an American male is in excess of 5′ 10″, there is a large segment of the male population of this country whose height falls in the targeted range of this invention (e.g., 6′ to 6′5″).
Furthermore, within that segment there is an equally large percentage of individuals whose outdoor activities such as hunting, fishing, camping, seasonal firefighting, etc., lend themselves to occasionally utilizing the cargo area of their SUVs for the purpose of sleeping in a dry environment out of the wind and elements.
As a consequence of the foregoing situation, there has existed a longstanding need among the aforementioned segment of the population for a new and improved cantilevered hatch back construction that will extend the useful length of the rear cargo area of an SUV by a minimum of 5″, and the provision of such a construction is a stated objective of the present invention.


A lock nut for connecting a joint having a threaded connector has a first nut member which is engageable with a threaded connector and is axially displaceable, a second nut member which is engageable with the first nut member and is rotatable about an axis, a third nut member which is non-rotatably but axially displaceably connected with the first nut member and has a substantially smooth surface over which the second nut member moves during rotation, so that when the second nut member is rotated about the axis against the smooth surface of the third nut member, the first nut member is displaced axially to apply a load to the threaded connector and to tighten the lock nut, and a locking element which non-rotatably connects the first and second nut members with one another after tightening of the lock nut.

The present invention generally relates to lock nuts.
Lock nuts are known in the art and widely utilized in industry. Some lock nuts require a firm connection of the nut with the bolt. Other lock nuts require a firm connection with the flange within which the bolt is screwed. Also, lock nuts that are provided with a two-piece washer slidable in one direction relative to one another and provided with rippled surfaces to abut against the flange surface on one side and against the nut bearing surface on the other side. Also, a lock nut is known which is designed so as to eliminate rotation of one of the nut members after tightening of the lock nut as disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,622,465. The above mentioned lock nut can be further improved.