Fatty acid esters of which the fatty acid constituents are fatty acids containing a total of 12 to 22 carbon atoms and of which the alcohol constituents are saturated and/or mono- or polyolefinically unsaturated monoalcohols containing a total of 1 to 22 carbon atoms, with the additional proviso that the fatty acid constituents of the esters contain saturated and/or mono- or polyolefinically unsaturated fatty acids and have a branched structure, isostearic acid being excluded as the fatty acid constituent of the esters, are suitable as solvents for printing inks.

Various printing processes are used to produce various types of printed products and may be divided into three main categories:                letterpress printing        planographic printing (or even offset printing) and        gravure printing.
In letterpress printing, the printing ink is transferred to the substrates from hard raised letters which are covered with a thin layer of ink by rubber rollers. The printing ink has to be formulated in such a way that it dries relatively slowly and does not begin to harden prematurely. Viscous slow-drying printing inks are required for modern high-speed newspaper printing machines using the rotary letterpress process.
In offset printing, the image to be reproduced is fixed on printing plates in the form of zones of opposite polarity. The hydrophobic viscous printing ink only wets the hydrophobic areas of the printing plates.
In gravure printing, the motif is engraved into the printing plate. After the printing plate has been wetted with the relatively low-viscosity printing ink, the surface is stripped so that printing ink is only left in the engraved depressions from which it is then transferred to the substrate to be printed.
The described examples show that printing inks have to meet a large number of requirements. The principal constituents of a printing ink are pigments, binders, solvents and additives with which the required properties of the printing inks are modified. Depending on the application envisaged for the printing ink, its viscosity, flow behavior and tack, for example, can be adjusted in this way.
The various requirements which the physical properties are expected to meet, particularly in the case of large-run printed products, impose stringent demands on the solvent used in the printing ink. On the one hand, it must be able to dissolve or disperse various binders (resins) and various additives; on the other hand, it should enable the viscosity of the printing ink to be adjusted to the required range.
In the past, mineral oils were originally used to a large extent as solvents for printing inks, mainly on cost grounds. This was unsatisfactory for a number of reasons so that there has long been a need to use mineral oil substitutes as solvents for printing inks. For about a decade now, certain fatty acid esters have often been proposed as solvents for printing inks. However, there is still a permanent demand for new developments in this field.
WO-A-90/03419 (Aarhus Oliefabrik) describes the use of C1-5 esters of aliphatic C8-22 monocarboxylic acids for removing grease, inks and other soils from printing machines.
JP-B2-3,317,512 (Nisshin Oil Mills) describes solvents for planographic and letterpress printing inks which contain as their principal constituent fatty acid monoesters of which the fatty acid component contains 6 to 22 carbon atoms and the alcohol component 1 to 4 carbon atoms.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,567 (A/S Alaska Gruppen) describes cleaning fluids for removing printing inks from printing machines, these cleaning fluids containing a vegetable oil and an emulsifier in the form of a surfactant.
WO-A-96/34920 (Henkel KGaA) describes solvent compositions for printing inks. The compositions contain (a) dearomaticized mineral oils, (b) esters of C8-22 fatty acids and/or (c) C6-36 fatty alcohols.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,357,164 (Sakata Shokai Ltd.) describes printing ink compositions containing high-boiling solvents in combination with esters based on C4-10 fatty acids, oleic acid and elaidic acid.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,188 (The United States of America) describes printing inks based on heat-treated oils, the heat treatment leading to polymerization products with a molecular weight above 26,000.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,493 (R. J. Principato) describes cleaning compositions for removing printing inks from machine parts used in the printing industry. The ternary compositions contain esters of tall oil fatty acids, organic solvents and surfactants.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,672 (Canadian Fine Color Company) describes a carrier medium for paste-form printing inks, this carrier medium containing esters based on vegetable fatty acids and simple alcohols or glycols as solvent. The vegetable fatty acids are understood to be those which occur naturally in oils of vegetable origin, i.e. which have not been subjected to further chemical modification. The main representatives of the described class of fatty acids are mentioned in column 2, lines 32–37. They are saturated and olefinically unsaturated linear fatty acids.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,615 (Arizona Chemical Comp.) describes a process for the production of a gel-form printing ink composition, a fatty acid ester being used as solvent (step B). The fatty acid constituent of the ester comprises C8-24 fatty acids while the alcohol constituent comprises alcohols or glycols containing 1 to 10 carbon atoms, with the proviso that the fatty acid emanates from oils which occur in linseed oil, soybean oil and rapeseed oil.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,173,113 (Topez Comp.) describes printing ink compositions which contain di- or oligoesters of olefinically unsaturated fatty acids and di- or polyfunctional acrylate esters as functional constituents.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,990 (The United States of America) describes printing ink compositions based on a ternary mixture: (1) a resin or heat-treated (and hence polymerized) oil, (2) a non-heat-treated vegetable oil and (3) at least one fatty acid ester based on unsaturated fatty acids, more particularly linoleic acid and linolenic acid. Component (3) is present in minor amounts.

Fatty acid esters based on branched fatty acids and their use as printing ink solvents


A detector for detecting diffracted radiation which has been diffracted by a regular structure; said detector comprises: a sensor for sensing at least a portion of said diffracted radiation, said sensor having a first region and a second region; a first coating configured to allow transmission of radiation with wavelengths within a first range of wavelengths; and a second coating configured to allow transmission of radiation with wavelengths within a second range of wavelengths; wherein said first coating coats said first region of said sensor, and said second coating coats said second region of said sensor, and wherein said first and second regions are different regions.

A lithographic apparatus is a machine that applies a desired pattern onto a target portion of the substrate. A lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of logic and/or memory chips, termed integrated circuits (ICs) herein. In that instance, a patterning device, which is alternatively referred to as a mask or a reticle, may be used to generate a circuit pattern to be formed on an individual layer of the IC. This pattern can be transferred onto a target portion (e.g., including part of, one, or several dies) on a substrate (e.g., a silicon wafer). Transfer of the pattern is typically via imaging onto a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist) provided on the substrate. In general, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent target portions that are successively patterned. These target portions are commonly referred to as "fields".
In lithographic processes, it is desirable frequently to make measurements of the structures created, e.g., for process control and verification. This may be termed metrology. Various tools for making such measurements are known, including scanning electron microscopes (SEMs), which are often used to measure critical dimension (CD), and specialized tools to measure overlay, the accuracy of alignment of two layers in a device. Recently, various forms of optical tools or scatterometers have been developed for use in the lithographic field. These devices direct a beam of radiation onto a target and measure one or more properties of the scattered radiation—e.g., intensity at a single angle of reflection as a function of wavelength; intensity at one or more wavelengths as a function of reflected angle; or polarization as a function of reflected angle—to obtain a measurement signal from which a property of interest of the target can be determined.
At the same time, known inspection techniques employ radiation in the visible or ultraviolet waveband (e.g. greater than 200 nm). This limits the smallest features that can be measured, so that the technique can no longer measure directly the smallest features made in modern lithographic processes. To allow measurement of smaller structures, it has been proposed to use radiation of shorter wavelengths similar, for example, to the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wavelengths used in EUV lithography. Such wavelengths may be in the range 1 to 100 nm, for example, or 1 to 125 nm. Part or all of this wavelength range may also be referred to as soft x-ray (SXR) wavelengths. Some authors may use SXR to refer to a narrower range of wavelengths, for example in the range 5-50 nm or 10-20 nm. For the purposes of the methods and apparatus disclosed herein, these terms SXR and EUV will be used without implying any hard distinction. Metrology using harder x-rays, for example in the range 0.1-1 nm is also contemplated.
Broadband soft x-ray light can be used for scatterometry as well. Short wavelength radiation is used to illuminate a target, and the scattered light (diffraction pattern) is captured. In addition, the 0th order reflected beam is sent into a spectrometer. The diffraction pattern and the 0th order signal is used to obtain a parameter of interest (CD, OVL, etc) for example using a reconstruction algorithm.
Compact sources of SXR radiation include HHG sources, in which infrared pump radiation from a laser is converted to shorter wavelength radiation by interaction with a gaseous medium. HHG sources are available for example from KMLabs, Boulder Colo., USA (http://www.kmlabs.com/).
Since the SXR photons of interest have a very short penetration depth in any medium, the gaseous medium may take the form of a gas jet located in a low-pressure (near vacuum) environment. The gas jet may be freely ejected from a nozzle, or confined within a waveguide structure that prolongs its interaction with the pump radiation.
FIG. 1 shows a block schematic sketch of an apparatus 100 for use as an HHG source 100. The apparatus 100 comprises a pulsed high power infrared or optical laser 102, a chamber 104 comprising a radiation input 106 and a radiation output 108, and a vacuum optical system 110. The laser 102 emits driving radiation, which enters the chamber 104 through the radiation input 106 and is incident on a gas target 112 located at an interaction region 114 within the chamber 104. The gas target 112 comprises a small volume (typically several cubic mm) of a particular gas (e.g., a noble gas, nitrogen, oxygen or carbon dioxide). Other media, such as metallic plasmas (e.g. aluminium plasma) may be used.
Due to interaction of the driving radiation emitted by the laser 102 with the gas atoms of the gas target 112, the gas target 112 will convert part of the driving radiation into emitted radiation, which in this case comprises radiation at a plurality of wavelengths in the range from 1 nm to 100 nm (termed SXR herein). The emitted radiation typically consists of odd harmonics of the drive laser, i.e. the frequencies are an odd multiple of the drive laser frequency. This so-called "high harmonic" radiation is emitted in a direction collinear with the incident driving radiation.
The SXR beam passes through the radiation output 108 and is subsequently manipulated and directed to a wafer to be inspected by the vacuum optical system 110.
Because air (and in fact any gas) heavily absorbs SXR radiation, the volume between the gas target and the wafer to be inspected is evacuated or nearly evacuated. The driving radiation is directed into the chamber 104 through the radiation input 106, which is a viewport typically made of fused silica or a comparable material. Since the driving radiation and the emitted radiation (SXR beam) are collinear, the driving radiation typically needs to be blocked to prevent it passing through the radiation output 108 and entering the vacuum optical system 110. This is typically done by incorporating a filter into the radiation output 108, which is placed in the emitted beam path and that is opaque to the driving radiation (e.g. opaque to infrared or visible light) but at least partially transparent to the emitted radiation beam. The filter may be manufactured using zirconium or aluminium.
In known HHG sources, a significant proportion of the emitted radiation beam is absorbed by the laser blocking filter used at the radiation output 108 to block the driving radiation. This leads to a loss of emitted radiation output power of typically 50%.
Current state of the art IR blocking schemes rely on the transmission filter to suppress IR by ˜6 orders of magnitude, typically in combination with another element (pinhole or reflective filter) that takes the bulk of the heatload away first (and adds a few more orders of magnitude of suppression). Zirconium (Zr) is a typical choice as it has a transmission window from about 6-19 nm. Aluminium (Al) is another common choice, which transmits about 20-70 nm. These filters are ultrathin, freestanding metal films, ˜100-500 nm thick. The transmission filter is placed upstream, close to the source, hence it limits the wavelength range of the entire tool to one of those transmission windows. In order to perform metrology on targets with very small pitches (e.g. smaller than 20 nm), in practice wavelengths below 20 nm are required to get diffraction orders at convenient incidence and diffraction angles. Hence Zr has to be used for filtering, which limits the tool to 6-19 nm wavelength.


A device may include an input cable for receiving optical signals from a feeder cable, output cables for transmitting optical signals to a distribution cable, and a housing. The housing may include an optical splitter for splitting an input beam into a plurality of output beams, an input fiber segment for conveying the input beam from the input cable to the optical splitter, the input fiber segment excluding fiber loop slack, and output fiber segments for conveying the output beams from the optical splitter to the output cables using MT-APC connectors.

Many fiber distribution hub vendors offer preconfigured fiber distribution hubs with space to hold splitter modules of specific sizes. A splitter module is a component used within a fiber distribution hub to split an optical beam from an optical fiber (e.g., a fiber in a feeder cable from a service provider) into multiple optical beams, and output the split beams to multiple optical fibers (e.g., fibers that connect to cables that provide the service to consumers). Since a splitter module from one fiber distribution hub vendor may not fit in a fiber distribution hub from a different vendor, a purchaser may be compelled to procure both a fiber distribution hub and splitter modules from the same vendor.


A modular acetabular reinforcement system includes a substantially cup-shaped reinforcement body having a peripheral flange portion. One or more fixation wings, of various sizes and shapes, are selectively and separately attachable to the flange portion of the reinforcement body. The system is mountable within the acetabulum of a patient to reinforce the acetabulum and to serve as a platform for other prosthesis components such as an acetabular shell.

The invention relates to implantable prostheses, and more particularly to components of hip joint prostheses.
The hip joint is a ball-and-socket type joint in which the ball-shaped femoral head is engaged with and articulates with a cup-shaped socket known as the acetabulum. Injury and/or disease may damage the hip joint to the extent that it must be replaced by or augmented with a prosthetic joint. Deterioration of the acetabulum, and particularly the cartilage within the acetabulum, requires that a prosthetic acetabular shell be mounted within a prepared area of the acetabulum. The acetabular shell receives and articulates with a prosthetic femoral head which is installed on a proximal portion of a patient's femur.
In some instances, degenerative bone conditions deteriorate the acetabulum, and particularly its medial wall, to the extent that the acetabulum does not have the integrity to serve as a mounting platform for a prosthetic acetabular shell. This condition requires a reinforcement prosthesis which is implanted within the acetabulum before the acetabular cup, and at least a portion of which receives the acetabular cup. Such a reinforcement body, sometimes known as a protrusio cage, includes a main body that is at least partially cup-shaped and which includes two or more integral radially extending flanges. The protrusio cage is first stabilized within the acetabulum using bone cement or bone screws. Thereafter, the flanges are joined to the ilium, ischium and pubis to further secure the cage and to distribute forces away from the medial wall of the acetabulum. An exemplary protrusio cage is further described by Oh et al., Clin. Orthopaedics and Related Research, No. 162, pp. 175-184 (1982) and by Schatzker et al., Arch. Orthop. Traum. Surg., Vol. 103, No. 1, pp. 5-12 (1984). U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,437,193 and 4,623,352 also describe exemplary protrusio cages.
While known protrusio cages can be useful, they are often difficult to install in an ideal manner due to natural anatomical differences among patients as well as anatomical differences resulting from different disease and/or injury conditions. Because of these anatomical differences, the fixed flanges of known protrusio cages must be manipulated and/or altered, during surgery, to properly install the protrusio cage. Even with such manipulation and alteration, the protrusio cages still may not be optimally implanted within some patients.
Accordingly, there is need for protrusio cages, or similar acetabular reinforcement bodies, that can be more easily installed by surgeons during hip arthroplasty procedures to accommodate the varying anatomies of patients.


A toner container for containing toner includes a first side wall and a second side wall opposite to each other; a toner discharge hole; an agitator for agitating the toner, the agitator rotatable around an agitating shaft bridged between the first side wall and the second side wall; a bearing portion for supporting one end of the agitating shaft; a swing prevention portion for preventing the container from swinging; and a toner charging hole for charging toner into the container. The first side wall is formed with the bearing portion, the swing prevention portion, and the toner charging hole. The bearing portion is between the toner charging hole and the swing prevention portion on an outer surface of the first side wall.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toner container and a developer replenishing device to be detachably installed in an image forming apparatus in order to replenish a developing device built-in the image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, and the like with toner.
2. Description of the Related Art
A toner container disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2003-280344 is known as prior art. This toner container is to be detachably installed in a developing device in order to replenish the developing device built-in an apparatus main body of an image forming apparatus with toner. More specifically, the toner container replenishes the developing device with toner when an amount of toner within the developing device becomes less than the preliminary set amount.
Such a toner container includes a box-like container to be charged with toner, a toner conveyance screw provided at a bottom of this container in order to replenish the container with toner to further replenish the developing device, an agitating member for agitating toner within the container, and a cylindrical shutter member rotationally provided at an appropriate location of the toner container along an outer peripheral surface of the toner conveyance screw. The shutter member is rotatable around the cylinder axis between a closed position where the shutter is closed and an open position where the shutter is open. The agitating member includes an agitating shaft provided in parallel with the toner conveyance screw and an agitating blade integrally rotatably mounted to the agitating shaft.
Toner within the container is conveyed to the shutter member by the toner conveyance screw while it is agitated by a rotation of the agitating blade around the agitating shaft to be replenished in the developing device through the open shutter.
In the above described toner container, a toner charging hole is provided at an appropriate position for charging toner to the container. After toner is charged into the container through this toner charging hole, a given stopper is mounted to the toner charging hole. Such a toner charging operation to the container is generally performed using a funnel-shaped charging member by manual or automatic operation. In other words, a tip of the funnel is inserted into the toner charging hole of the toner container to allow the toner flow into the funnel through a wide opening at a base end. The toner, as described above, is smoothly charged into the container from the tip of the funnel through the toner charging hole.
The toner container is attached to/detached from an apparatus main body of the image forming apparatus from a top or a side thereof. However, if a cylindrical toner charging hole is provided on a surface extending parallel to an attachment/detachment direction, it obstructs the attachment/detachment of the toner container since a projection is created when the toner charging hole is closed with a stopper. Therefore, typically, it is less likely to form a toner charging hole in a surface along the attachment/detachment direction.
In the case where the toner charging hole is formed in a top surface of the toner container, a vertical dimension of the toner container when it is provided with the stopper in the toner charging hole becomes large, and thus the apparatus main body needs more height in order to accommodate the dimension which prevents down-sizing and increases the cost of the apparatus. Consequently, the toner charging hole is not generally provided on the top surface of the toner container. In the case where a toner container extends in a longitudinal direction, further, it can be seen to be advantageous in the charging efficiency to charge toner from an end of such a long toner container.
In view of the above, the toner charging hole is always formed in an end surface of the container orthogonal to the attachment/detachment direction of the toner container. However, there is little space at the end surface of the container and the space includes therein various members for operating the shutter member, resulting in obstacles when inserting the tip of the funnel into the toner charging hole.

Toner container and developer replenishing device


A light-source mechanism for an optical scanner includes a chassis, a lamp, a lamp holder and a buffering device between the chassis and the lamp holder. If the buffering device is subjected to an external force of impact and vibration, the buffering device may effectively absorb the influence of the external force, such that the lamp generally will not be damaged.

Accordingly, the development of computer industry is so rapid, not only has the CPU (i.e., Central Processing Unit) processing speed of a computer exceeded 2 GHz, but also computer accessories have progressed toward the goals of lightness, thinness, shortness, and smallness. In the meantime, because of the prevalence of the computer internet or Local Area Networks (LAN); the requirement for making a home page has increased significantly and, when making a home page, a scanner is an indispensably important instrument. The action principle of a scanner is first to place a document into the scanner, wherein the image data of the document is transferred to a lens and CCD (i.e., Charge-Coupled Device) through a specific length of an optical path, then the image of the document is converted into electronic data, which is stored in a storing device of a computer (such as hard disk, optical disc, . . . , etc.), such that after scanning the electronic data may be edited, processed, and applied, so the scanner is an indispensable device for a computer accessory in the business of making a home page or editing a document.
Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a prior art that applies a fixing structure 25 in the two sides of a lamp holder 2 for directly fixing a lamp 3 and the lamp holder 2 into the bucking hole (not shown in the figure) of a chassis 1 (a portion of which is shown in the figure). The interior of the chassis not only may accommodate the lamp 3, but also has a plurality of reflection mirrors, a lens, and a CCD. Because the internal components of the chassis 1 belong to the prior arts of a common scanner, they will not be repetitiously described herein. Additionally, the lamp holder 2 not only has the function of fixing the lamp 3, but also a reflection surface (not shown in the figure) is arranged in the concave accommodating groove of the lamp for providing a specific direction and area of the emission of the light source of the lamp 3, which enhances the intensity of the light source.
However, it is impossible for above-said fixing structure to provide a buffering structure for the lamp 3 and the lamp holder 2 so, in a moving procedure of the scanner, when the scanner is dropped down to the ground because of carelessness, all the vibrating force will be concentrated upon the lamp 3 and the lamp holder 2. Since the technique for making the lamp 3 is quite precise—the specification of the diameter of some lamp 3 is only around 0.16 cm and its hardness and toughness are relatively weak—so it is easy for the lamp to break. Therefore, the invention is a solution for this problem, wherein a buffering device is provided between the chassis and the lamp holder, such that the lamp generally will not break because of the vibration of an external force.

Light-source mechanism for optical scanner


A dummy substrate is obtained by covering a silicon substrate with a resin coating. This increases the strength of the dummy substrate, prevents pieces and particles of the silicon substrate from scattering, and even when the dummy substrate is damaged during processing, prevents them from contaminating a processing apparatus. The use of a chemical-resistant resin for the resin coating restrains the dummy substrate from being etched by a cleaning process using a chemical solution and increases the number of times that the dummy substrate can repeatedly be used.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to processing of a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer, and more particularly relates to a dummy substrate used for cleaning and drying and to a semiconductor processing method using the dummy substrate.
(2) Description of Related Art
Basic processes for fabricating a semiconductor integrated circuit device include a cleaning process and a drying process of the semiconductor wafer. A cleaning method using a basin has been widely used in a cleaning process step. In this method, a semiconductor substrate is soaked into a chemical solution which contains acid or alkali and with which a chemical-resistant basin is filled, thereby removing contaminants on the surface of the semiconductor substrate.
A chemical-solution-circulation-type cleaning apparatus with a basin cleans each of lots of semiconductor substrates (for example, a set of twenty-five semiconductor substrates that will be fabricated together) by circulating, through a pump and a filter, a chemical solution filling in a basin. This apparatus has a problem in saving the chemical solution because a large volume of the solution is used for cleaning. Furthermore, since the cleaning by the apparatus is a batch treatment, there also exists another problem that the states of cleaned surfaces of semiconductor substrates are varied in each production lot.
In order to solve the above problems, drum-type spin cleaning apparatuses using rotating drums have been developed. Such an apparatus requires only a small volume of chemical solution for cleaning and provides stable cleaning so that cleaning is rapidly completed and a solution is not left after cleaning. This can reduce variations in the states of cleaned surfaces of semiconductor substrates in a lot. Therefore, drum-type spin cleaning apparatuses are now used frequently (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-52358).
A drum-type spin cleaning apparatus, a known art, will be described hereinafter with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an internal structure of a drum-type spin cleaning apparatus when viewed from side.
As shown in FIG. 5, a turntable 11 is placed inside a cylindrical chamber 10, and a shaft 12 is coupled to the lower surface of the turntable 11 at the site of a rotation axis of the turntable 11 and furthermore is connected to a motor 13 located below the chamber 10. The rotation of the motor 13 allows the turntable 11 to rotate through the shaft 12 at a high speed of, for example, 1000 rpm or more.
Bar guides 15 are placed on the turntable 11 to fix cassettes 14 into which a plurality of substrates including a plurality of to-be-processed substrates 16, such as semiconductor substrates, and at least one dummy substrate 17 are inserted. The use of the guides 15 allows the cassettes 14 to be placed symmetrically about the rotation axis of the turntable 11. The arrangement of the cassettes 14 and guides 15 will be described later in detail with reference to FIG. 6.
The dummy substrate 17 represents herein a substrate on which an electronic device for providing an actual product is not formed, for example, a silicon substrate or the like on which an oxide film or a silicon nitride film is formed.
A spray nozzle 19 protrudes from the middle part of a top lid 18 of the cleaning apparatus to be perpendicular to the top lid 18. The closure of the top lid 18 allows the spray nozzle 19 to be located above the rotation axis of the turntable 11. During cleaning, a chemical solution for cleaning 20 containing acid or alkali can be horizontally sprayed from the spray nozzle 19 onto the to-be-processed substrates 16 or the dummy substrate 17. The chemical solution 20 is supplied from the outside of the cleaning apparatus to the inside of the cleaning apparatus through a chemical solution supply pipe 21.
Cleaning is carried out by spraying the chemical solution 20 onto the to-be-processed substrates 16 and the dummy substrate 17 and rotating the cassettes 14 together with the turntable 11. This makes uniform cleaning possible.
Not only a chemical solution but also pure water can be sprayed by the spray nozzle 19. At least one side spray nozzle 22 for supplying additional pure water during the cleaning is also mounted in the vicinity of and with a certain distance from the turntable 11. Pure water is supplied through a pure water supply pipe 23.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the internal structure of the drum-type spin cleaning apparatus when viewed from above.
FIG. 6 illustrates a turntable 11, cassettes 14 placed on the turntable 11, guides 15 through which the cassettes 14 are fixed, a plurality of substrates including a plurality of to-be-processed substrates 16 and at least one dummy substrate 17 and put into each cassette 14. The other components are not shown. As illustrated in FIG. 6, four sets of (eight) guides 15 are placed on the turntable 11, and the cassette 14 is fixed by the associated sets of guides 15. These guides 15 allow two or four cassettes 14 to be placed symmetrically about the rotation axis.
The dummy substrate 17 is often used for cleaning or drying process by the above-mentioned drum-type spin cleaning apparatus. The dummy substrate 17 is used mainly for two purposes.
One of the purposes is to prevent particles from being deposited on the to-be-processed substrates 16.
As seen from FIG. 5, the cassettes 14 are longitudinally fixed in the chamber 10 of the drum-type spin cleaning apparatus. Spin drying is carried out immediately after cleaning. During this drying, some of particles in the chamber 10 are raised with the rotation of the turntable 11 and floats in the chamber 10. Such particles are deposited on the to-be-processed substrates 16 or the like put into the cassettes 14, leading to reduced production yields. Particles are likely to be deposited, in particular, to the uppermost one of the plurality of to-be-processed substrates 16 put into each cassette 14.
To cope with this, not the to-be-processed substrate 16 on which an electronic device is formed but the dummy substrate 17 is placed in the uppermost part of each cassette 14. This allows particles to be deposited almost intensively on the dummy substrate 17. Therefore, particles are much less likely to be deposited on the to-be-processed substrates 16. This can prevent reduction in yields.
The other purpose is to achieve balanced rotation.
As long as the gross mass of a combination of each cassette 14 and the plurality of substrates including the to-be-processed substrates 16 and the dummy substrate 17 and contained in the cassette 14 (hereinafter, referred to as "cassette gross mass") does not vary from cassette to cassette, the cassettes 14 are placed on the turntable 11 symmetrically about the rotation axis of the turntable 11. This makes balanced rotation possible. However, if at least one of the plurality of cassettes 14 has a different cassette gross mass from that of each of the other cassettes, this makes balanced rotation impossible. To avoid this, the cassette gross masses of all the cassettes 14 are allowed to coincide with one another by adding a necessary number of dummy substrates 17 to the cassette 14 having a different cassette gross mass. Dummy substrates 17 are used for this purpose.
This will be described below in detail by citing a specific example.
Four cassettes 14 can be provided for the drum-type spin cleaning apparatus shown in FIG. 6. Therefore, if the number of the to-be-processed substrates 16 to be cleaned or dried at the same time is a multiple of 4, the same number of the to-be-processed substrates 16 can be contained in each cassette 14. In this case, each cassette 16 has the same cassette gross mass. Therefore, the masses of the cassettes 14 are balanced, resulting in balanced rotation kept.
However, if the number of the to-be-processed substrates 16 to be processed at the same time is not a multiple of 4, more to-be-processed substrates 16 will be contained in at least one of the cassettes 14 than in each of the other cassettes 14. As a result, the at least one of the cassettes 14 has a different cassette gross mass from that of each of the other cassettes 14. Thus, if cleaning and drying are carried out by rotating the cassettes 14, eccentric rotation is caused.
Furthermore, only two cassettes 14 may be used for the drum-type spin cleaning apparatus shown in FIG. 6. In this case, if the number of the to-be-processed substrates 16 to be processed at the same time is odd, eccentric rotation is caused likewise.
If the turntable 11 is allowed to rapidly spin with such eccentricity, the drum-type spin cleaning apparatus itself vibrates due to centrifugal force. The increase of the vibrations of the drum-type spin cleaning apparatus might cause the drum-type spin cleaning apparatus itself, the to-be-processed substrates 16 and the dummy substrate 17 to be broken.
The drum-type spin cleaning apparatus usually has an interlock. Thus, if eccentricity is caused, the apparatus will stop. However, in order to perform cleaning, electric rotation itself must be prevented. Therefore, each cassette 14 need have the same cassette gross mass. A necessary number of dummy substrates 17 are added to the cassette 14 having less to-be-processed substrates 16 than the other cassettes 14. This allows the total number of substrates in any one cassette 14 including the to-be-processed substrates 16 and the at least one dummy substrate 17 (hereinafter, referred to as "the total number of contained substrates") to be the same as that for any other cassette 14. This provides balanced mass, because the mass of the to-be-processed substrate 16 is substantially the same as that of the dummy substrate 17.
Lots often have different numbers of the to-be-processed substrates 16. Therefore, the number of the dummy substrate to be used is adjusted for each lot, thereby balancing rotation.
An electronic device fabricating process includes 100 or more individual process steps. Substrates on which electronic devices are not formed are used also in process steps other than the above-mentioned cleaning and drying process steps. Such substrates on which electronic devices are not formed are referred to as "dummy substrates" herein. For example, the dummy substrates include substrates used to determine electronic device fabrication conditions for each process step and dummy substrates used to stabilize conditions on which an electronic device is fabricated in a dry etching process step and a CVD process step.
More dummy substrates are required with increase in the production of semiconductor devices or the like. This leads to increased cost. Therefore, inexpensive dummy substrates that can repeatedly be used have been desired (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-272910).
Conventional dummy substrates have the following problems.
The conventional dummy substrates used in a semiconductor fabricating process include a silicon substrate, a silicon substrate whose top surface is covered with an insulating film, such as a silicon oxide film or a silicon nitride film, and the like.
The dummy substrates repeatedly used for semiconductor fabricating process steps are highly chemical-resistant. In spite of this, in a cleaning process step using a high-temperature chemical solution with etching ability, such as a mixed solution of NH4OH and H2O2, the dummy substrate is etched little by little with increase in the number of electronic device fabricating processes, leading to the decreased thickness of the dummy substrate. Since a mechanical strength of the dummy substrate is consequently deteriorated, the dummy substrate that has been used for a certain period must be exchanged.
If the dummy substrate with the deteriorated strength keeps being used, this increases the possibility that it will be broken in the cleaning apparatus during process steps requiring high-speed rotation. The breakage of the dummy substrate will produce broken pieces and particles of the dummy substrate. The produced broken pieces and particles contaminate substrates on which electronic device products are formed and which are processed in the same batch, leading to the reduced yields. Furthermore, they also contaminate the chamber of the drum-type spin cleaning apparatus.
Such a state provides the necessity for cleaning the inside of the chamber to recover the particle level to the extent that an integrated circuit can be fabricated. Since this cleaning is nevertheless very difficult, the chamber itself is usually not cleaned but exchanged. It is expensive to repair a drum-type spin cleaning apparatus in this manner, and the spin cleaning apparatus cannot be operated during repair.
As seen from the above, the known method using dummy substrates has a problem that production cost becomes high.

Dummy substrate processing method with chemical resistant resin layer coating plate surface

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


The insulated beverage housing provides an aperture for receiving a heat transfer body. Similarly, the heat transfer body provides an aperture for receiving a container. The heat transfer body stores a heat transfer material including but not limited to a fluid, gel, or other substance that can be heated or cooled depending upon the desired effect on the beverage. The removable heat transfer body may be easily removed and/or installed from the housing to heat or cool the heat transfer material for use in affecting the temperature of the beverage.

I. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a beverage holder, and, more particularly, to a beverage holder having a housing, a heat transfer unit disposed within the housing for cooling and/or heating a beverage within the housing. People use insulated beverage holders to provide insulation to a beverage in order to maintain the temperature of the beverage. People either heat or cool their beverages to a desired temperature.
Placing the beverage within an insulated beverage housing insulates the beverage from the environment during consumption of the beverage. One type of insulated beverage holder is constructed from suitable foam configured to receive a beverage can. The foam insulation assists in maintaining the desired condition of the beverage.
Certain problems exist with the aforesaid prior art beverage holders. The beverage must initially be cooled or heated to the desired temperature. Once the beverage container is removed from its chilled environment, the beverage will adjust to the temperature of the environment. The insulated beverage container slows this result. It is an object of the present invention to provide a beverage holder that maintains a proper environment for sustaining the desired temperature of the beverage to allow a user to consume a beverage at the desired temperature over an extended period of time.
II. Description of the Known Art
Patents and patent applications disclosing information relevant to beverage systems are disclosed below. These patents and patent applications are hereby expressly incorporated by reference in their entirety.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,183,226 issued to Moore on Jan. 15, 1980 ("the '226 patent") teaches a means for chilling and insulating a canned or bottled beverage such as beer including a cylindrical sleeve of reusable refrigerant disposed within an insulative beverage can holder and displacing the annular "dead air" cavity between a beverage can situated therein and the side walls of the holder. The lining 24 taught by the '226 patent is formed of thin walled material such as plastic and may be slidably removable from the holder 10.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,782,670 issued to Long on Nov. 8, 1988 ("the '670 patent") teaches an insulated beverage container having both hot and cold retention capabilities designed for the purpose of maintaining, increasing, or decreasing the temperature of the contents in the container. The plastic structure of the container taught by the '670 patent, an insulating sleeve between duel walls of the container, and encapsuled between the dual walls, a thermoplastic gel capable of retaining heat as well as cold, produces a multi-action container which can be heated in a microwave oven, a conventional oven, or can be frozen in a freezer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,154 issued to Christoff on May 30, 1995 ("the '154 patent") teaches a beverage container provided for use with a golf cart or the like having a support member. The container taught by the '154 patent includes a body having a central beverage receiving cavity which extends from the closed bottom of the body to the open top end of the body. The container taught by the '154 patent also includes means for receiving a freezable gel, the means being disposed within the beverage receiving cavity. The '154 patent also teaches a cap that is provided to be releasably attached to the open top end of the body.
The '154 patent teaches that inwardly from the bottom wall 20a is a cavity 122 which in the form of the invention illustrated in FIG. 10 of the drawings, extends across the bottom surface and up along the side walls of the container body 20. This cavity taught by the '154 patent is intended to be filled with a freezable gel 27. The '154 patent teaches that interposed between the walls of the cavity 122 and the exterior wall of the body 20 is an insulator wall 126 which, once the gel is frozen, will maintain that condition for a fixed period of time.
A hollow gel receiving chamber 128d is adapted to be filled with a freezable gel. This gel filled insert may be placed in a freezer apart from the cap 125 and the body 20 to be frozen. After the insert 128 is frozen, it may be matingly threaded into the female boss 126 on the top cap 125. The body 20 is then filled with an appropriate beverage and the top cap installed as previously described.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,368 issued to Schneider on Dec. 14, 1993 ("the '368 patent") teaches a reusable cooling and insulating device for bottles and the like that is provided in the form of a jacket having a single or plurality of flexible compartments which are interconnected having an inner chamber and an outer chamber therein. The '368 patent teaches that a heating and cooling temperature conditionable liquid is housed in the inner chamber which enables the inner diameter of the jacket formed by the inner chamber to confirm with the surface of the object on the which the jacket is positioned for heating or cooling. A flexible insulator of air or air and flexible plastic taught by the '368 patent is positioned in the outer chamber of each compartment for directing a greater temperature transfer from liquid to the object and less heat exchange from the liquid to the environment.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,134,894 issued to Searle on Oct. 24, 2000 ("the '894 patent") teaches a container for a beverage that has a conventional external configuration with a cylindrical wall closed by a top member. The '894 patent teaches that the contents of the container can be cooled, heated, or kept hot, or kept cold by the insertion of an insert into the external cavity. To ensure good heat transfer, the insert taught by the '894 patent is push fitted into the external cavity. The insert taught by the '894 patent may be heated or cooled before it is inserted, or it may be actuable to heat up or to cool down.
The can 10 taught by the '894 patent with its contents, but without its insert 30, is stored in a refrigerator, and the insert 30 is kept in a freezer until the material 31 therein is frozen solid. When it is required to use the can 10, the '894 patent teaches that it is removed from the refrigerator and the frozen insert 30 is inserted in its cavity 20. The insulating cap 28 taught by the '894 patent is put in place.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,128,915 issued to Wagner on Oct. 10, 2000 ("the '915 patent") teaches a portable food and beverage cooling device that includes a flexible cooling pouch having outer and inner faces. A cooling pack taught by the '915 patent is provided in the cooling pouch. A flexible insulating panel taught by the '915 patent is provided in the cooling pouch. The '915 patent teaches that the insulating panel has a central region interposed between the outer face of the cooling pouch and the cooling pack. Before use, the invention taught by the '915 patent is stored in a freezer to allow the coolant cells to freeze and be ready for use at a moments notice.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,094,935 issued to Stein on Aug. 1, 2000 ("the '935 patent") teaches a drinking container having a removable, freezable member. The drinking container taught by the '935 patent has a cylindrical inner receptacle and a surrounding cylindrical outer receptacle. The '935 patent teaches an annular chamber that is formed between the inner and outer receptacles. A refrigerant member taught by the '935 patent comprising a plastic envelope containing a freezable gel is dimensioned to fit into the annular chamber, and is readily removable therefrom. A cap taught by the '935 patent engages the drinking container to retain the refrigerant member once placed in the annular chamber. The '935 patent teaches that the refrigerant member is preferably an annular sleeve which slips between the inner and outer receptacles, and folds flat for storage and freezing. The '935 patent teaches that the drinking receptacle includes a removable cap which closes only the open chamber which receives the refrigerant member. The cap taught by the '935 patent both retains the refrigerant member, assists in insulating the same, and excludes condensate from the refrigerant chamber.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,604 issued to Pier on Nov. 8, 1994 ("the '604 patent") teaches a portable and hand-held beverage chilling device, having water utilized as a coolant that can be frozen between non-permanently sealed walls of the device, that is intended for chilling and subsequent maintenance of a canned or bottled beverage at its coldest liquid state, while providing direct consumption from its container. The beverage cooler taught by the '604 patent features two cylindrical receptacles that are enclosed on one end. These receptacles, called shells, taught by the '604 patent are of different diameter and height such that the inner is placed within the outer and a coolant is contained in the spacial void created.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,149 issued to Riche on Dec. 27, 1988 ("the '149 patent") teaches a cooling and insulating holder for a container such as a beverage can or the like that has a plurality of hollow arcuate reservoir pieces which fit together to form a ring with a receiving opening therein to receive the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,668 issued to Williamson on Aug. 23, 1983 ("the '668 patent") teaches a flexible, multilayer thermal wrap for beverage containers. The wrap taught by the '668 patent has an inner coolant layer for wrapping about the container which conforms to the container's shape and leaves an opening at the container's top to expose the pouring end. The coolant layer taught by the '668 patent is externally surrounded by an insulative layer.
The beverage holder of the present invention is especially adapted for maintaining the desired condition of the beverage for an extended period of time. The present invention overcomes many of the disadvantages of known insulated beverage holders by providing a heat transfer unit therein which cools or heats the beverage.
Therefore, the present invention is needed to improve the ability to heat or cool a beverage and to maintain the desired temperature of a beverage. The present invention is also needed to allow a user to replace the heat transfer unit with another heat transfer unit to continue to cool or heat the beverage as desired. The heat transfer unit may be removed from the housing when either heating or cooling the unit to reduce the insulating effect of the housing to reduce the time and energy required to adjust the temperature of the heat transfer unit.

Insulated beverage housing with temperature maintenance


A static random access memory (SRAM) system includes a plurality of SRAM storage cells, each of the plurality of SRAM storage cells coupled to a respective read bit line, and a dynamic keeper coupled to the read bit line. The dynamic keeper includes a first keeper to support a read operation at a first temperature range, and a second keeper to support the read operation at a second temperature range, and a temperature-sensitive control circuit to select the first keeper or the second keeper based on temperature.

A typical six transistor (6T) SRAMs may experience operational failures at low voltages due to degradation in various design parameters such as static noise margin (SNM), poor read and write margins, and exponentially increased sensitivity to process, voltage, and temperature (PVT) fluctuation. State-of-the-art ultra-low voltage SRAM design techniques circumvent these limitations of the conventional 6T SRAMs by using an eight transistor (8T) SRAM cell with a separated read port for decoupling read operations and write operations. However, 8T SRAM cells suffer data dependent Read Bit Line (RBL) leakage through their read port, which deteriorates the read sensing margin in terms of voltage and time window caused by small ratios of currents for on and off states (ION-to-IOFF) at ultra-low voltages.
Typical solutions to this issue include the use of a fixed-strength keeper or bigger bit cell (10T cell). A fixed-strength keeper introduces issues at low voltage/low temperature or high voltage/high temperatures. The use of a bigger bit cell increases the area and thus is not a practical solution.
FIG. 1 shows a typical 8T SRAM organization. Each row of cells 110A/110C and 110B/110D has a Read Word Line (RWL) 120A/120B attached to the read ports and a Write Word Line (WWL) 130A/130B attached to the write ports of the 6T (6 transistor) SRAM cells 110A-110D. Each column has a pair of complementary Write BitLines (WBL and WBLB) 125A, 125B and 135A, 135B for writing into the cell 110A-110D and Read BitLines (RBL) 140, 145 for reading from the cells 110A-110D. The write operation of the 8T SRAM is the same as that of a 6T SRAM, whose read operation is performed through the read port. The data is read from the cell 110A through transistors MO and M1, providing a decoupled read port.
One way of addressing this issue is by inserting a keeper into the SRAM. A keeper is configured to maintain a voltage level on read bit line during a read operation. The use of keeper circuits, or keepers, is a common technique for 8T SRAM single bitline read architecture. The keeper is a feedback circuit that helps the read bitline maintain at the full rail to compensate the leakage current of unselected bitcells during the read1 operation. However, there is a risk that the keeper over-compensates. In a read1 operation (reading a value "1" from an SRAM cell 110A-110D), read bit-line must not discharge below the trip point on inverter. If the current on the Read bit line falls due to the leakage path, then the inverter trips and false data is captured at the output. Read1 failure occurs at higher temperatures as higher temperatures contribute higher leakage.
FIG. 2 depicts signal sensing through a Sense_INV inverter and a weak PMOS keeper 240 (N series PMOS) for 8T SRAM cell 210. This scheme suffers from difficulty performing a Read '0' at SF (Slow NMOS Fast PMOS) corner and low temperature that limits the lowest operating voltage and degrades performance at a normal operating range.

Temperature tracked dynamic keeper implementation to enable read operations


An optical laminate includes a support and an antistatic layer formed from a composition containing the following (A) to (C) and having an average thickness of from 0.03 to 0.40 μm: (A) a hydrophobilized conductive polymer composition containing a π-conjugated system conductive polymer and an anion group-containing polymer dopant; (B) an inorganic particle having an average particle size of from 1 to 300 nm; and (C) an ionizing radiation curable compound.

In various image display devices such as a liquid crystal display device (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), an electroluminescent display (ELD) and a cathode ray tube display device (CRT), an optical laminate is disposed on the surface of the display for the purpose of imparting various functions. For that reason, the optical laminate is required to have high physical strengths (for example, scar resistance, etc.), transparency, chemical resistance, weather resistance (for example, resistance to moist heat, resistance to light, etc.) and the like. Also, in order to prevent the attachment of dusts (for example, motes, etc.) which are liable to lower the visibility onto the surface of the optical laminate from occurring, antistatic properties are also required.
In order to impart the antistatic properties, there is known an antireflection film containing a conductive metal oxide (see, for example, JP-A-2005-196122). In the case of using a metal oxide as the conductive material, it is necessary to increase a density of the metal oxide in a conductive layer (antistatic layer) for the purpose of bringing about conductivity. In that case, there is a concern that the transparency, hardness or durability is affected by an influence of excessive addition of the metal oxide.
On the other hand, there is known a laminate using a conductive polymer as the conductive material (see, for example, JP-A-2005-96397). However, in this laminate, a conductive layer was formed of the conductive polymer singly, and this was very inefficient from the standpoints of costs and manufacturing steps. For that reason, it was desired to add a conductive function to a layer having other function.
In the case where a conductive polymer is added in a layer to be provided on the outermost surface of an optical laminate (for example, a low-refractive index layer, a hard coat layer, etc.), or a conductive functional group is introduced into a binder constituting the layer, when the amount of the conductive material is increased until sufficient conductivity is obtained, curing of the binder is impaired, and the necessary physical strengths of the layer (for example, scar resistance, etc.) are lowered. Therefore, it was difficult to provide the layer to be provided on the outermost surface of the optical laminate with an antistatic function. Also, when the conductive polymer is used for a hard coat layer having a thickness of several μm, the use amount of a curable binder increases, and the necessary physical strength is easily obtainable. However, in order to ensure the contact between conductive materials necessary for revealing the conductivity, the use amount of the conductive material increases, and there were involved such problems as coloration and an increase of costs.
In the case of coating a volatile solvent-containing composition containing only a conductive polymer composition and an ionizing radiation curable compound as a binder to prepare a thin film of not more than 1 μm, the liquid viscosity is low so that surface properties of the coating film become non-uniform. In the case where a polymer is added as a thickener to such a composition until the resulting composition has a proper viscosity, the polymer and the conductive polymer composition cause phase separation, resulting in causing such problems as deterioration of surface properties and a lowering of the physical strength or conductivity.
JP-A-2007-185824, JP-A-2005-316425 and JP-A-2007-293325 disclose an embodiment in which an ion-conducting or electron-conducting conductive material is added in a low-refractive index layer.
However, the materials specifically disclosed in the working examples of JP-A-2007-185824, JP-A-2005-316425 and JP-A-2007-293325 are an ion-conducting material, and there was the case where the conductivity is not always sufficient depending upon the environmental moisture. Also, JP-A-2007-185824, JP-A-2005-316425 and JP-A-2007-293325 disclose organic conductive polymer compounds such as polyaniline and polythiophene, both of which are a conductive polymer, as illustrative compounds. However, in the case where such a compound is merely introduced into a coating film as it is, it does not substantially have conductivity and is required to be partially oxidized by doping.
However, when anion doping which is generally used is applied, since the resulting conductive polymer is high in hydrophilicity, it is low in affinity with a hydrophobic material, and it was difficult to form an antistatic layer with excellent surface properties using such a material. European Patent No. 328,981 discloses that an organic solvent-soluble thiophene derivative can be synthesized by electrolytic polymerization in an organic solvent system using a thiophene derivative and an organic solvent-soluble monomer dopant. However, though there is a tendency that this organic solvent-soluble polythiophene derivative is improved with respect to the affinity with a general-purpose curable monomer, it has become clear that when used for an antireflection film for a protective film of a polarizing plate, the monomer dopant elutes by an alkali treatment (saponification treatment), resulting in causing a problem that the conductivity is remarkably lowered.


Mechanisms for dynamically integrating content with a web page are disclosed. Statistical data that identifies a plurality of metrics associated with viewership of a web page of a plurality of web pages on a web server is received. Based on the statistical data, the web page is predicted to meet a future viewership metric. Based on the prediction, the web page is identified as a web page predicted to meet the future viewership metric. A web page identifier that identifies the web page is received from a client device. The client device is provided with a high-viewership ad content descriptor from a plurality of ad content descriptors for use in conjunction with presenting the web page to a user.

Many online publishers rely heavily on advertising for revenue. Advertisers are willing to pay more to advertise in conjunction with a highly popular article than in conjunction with an unpopular article. It is possible, over time, to determine that an article is popular and to increase an advertising rate associated with the article. However, the sooner it can be determined that an article is popular, the sooner the advertising rates for the article can be appropriately increased, thereby increasing advertising revenue. Under alternative sales strategies, popular articles can be sold in bulk to advertisers ahead of time, resulting in a lower effective rate for the advertiser and a greater number of impressions.


The comparator circuit includes an amplifier amplifying a voltage signal inputted from outside, a voltage dividing circuit dividing down a power supply voltage supplied from outside, thereby producing a reference voltage, a waveform dull circuit dulling the reference voltage, and a comparator comparing a voltage of the input voltage signal amplified by the amplifier with the reference voltage dulled by the waveform dull circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a comparator circuit.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, a vehicle-installed rotation detector used as a crank angle sensor, a cam angle sensor, a wheel speed sensor and the likes is configured to detect rotation of a detecting gear on the basis of changes of the direction of a magnetic flux flowing between the detecting gear and a bias magnet by use of magneto resistive elements utilizing the fact that the direction of the magnetic flux when the bias magnet faces one of the tooth roots of the detecting gear is different from that when the bias magnet faces one of the tooth peaks of the detecting gear.
Such a rotation detector has a comparator circuit as shown in FIG. 3. In this drawing, an input voltage signal supplied from the side of magneto resistive elements (not shown) is amplified by an operational amplifier OP, and then applied to a signal input terminal Cs of a comparator CP. On the other hand, a reference voltage input terminal Cr of the comparator CP is applied with a reference voltage produced by dividing down a power supply voltage Vc by a first voltage dividing resistor R1 and a second voltage dividing resistor R2. The comparator CP outputs a high-level signal when the voltage of the amplified input voltage signal is lower than the reference voltage. Such a comparator circuit is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 10-293044, for example.
However, the above described comparator circuit has a problem in that it tends to erroneously output a pulse-like signal when it is used in a vehicle, because large noise emitted from a high-tension code supplying a high-tension voltage to a spark plug easily enters a power line connected to a vehicle battery.
Furthermore, the above described comparator circuit can erroneously output a pulse-like signal also when several of turn-on timings of large-power consuming units such as headlights, an air conditioner, and a power steering unit overlap, and thereby the voltage of the power line momentarily drops greatly because of control delay of a vehicle generator.
Explanation as to how the comparator circuit outputs a false pulse is made below with reference to FIG. 4A.
Assume a case where the power supply voltage (the voltage of the power line) falls from 5V to 1V at time t1, and subsequently rises from 1V at time t2 as shown in (A) in FIG. 4A. In this case, as shown in (B) in FIG. 4A, each of the reference voltage represented by a broken curve and the voltage of the amplified input voltage signal outputted from the operational amplifier OP represented by a solid curve starts to fall at time t1, and starts to rise at time t2.
However, since the operational amplifier OP includes capacitors therein and accordingly has an integral characteristic, the falling and rising slopes of the voltage of the amplified input voltage signal become gentler than those of the reference voltage. As a result, the voltage of the amplified input voltage signal becomes lower than that of the reference voltage for a certain time period starting from time t2. This causes the comparator CP to output a false pulse at time t3 which is behind time t2 by a certain delay time (19 μs, for example) as shown in (C) in FIG. 4A.
The comparator circuit can output such a false pulse also when the power is turned on as explained below with reference to FIG. 4B. When the power is turned on, and the power supply voltage rises from 0V at time t4 as shown in (A) in FIG. 4B, each of the reference voltage represented by a broken curve and the voltage of the amplified input voltage signal outputted from the operational amplifier OP represented by a solid curve starts to rise from 0V at time t4 as shown in (B) in FIG. 4B.
However, since the operational amplifier OP has integral characteristic as described above, the falling and rising slopes of the voltage of the amplified input voltage signal become gentler than those of the reference voltage. As a result, the voltage of the amplified input voltage signal becomes lower than the reference voltage for a certain time period starting from time t5. This causes the comparator CP to output a false pulse at time t6 which is behind time t5 by a certain delay time (19 μs, for example) as shown in (C) in FIG. 4B. The comparator circuit can output a false pulse also when the power is turned off. Such a false pulse causes reduction of accuracy in detecting the crank angle, cam angle, or wheel rotational speed, for example.

Comparator circuit and rotation detector


A downhole tool apparatus for use in a well includes a housing having a cylindrical chamber defined therein. A power piston is slidably disposed in the cylindrical chamber and divides the cylindrical chamber into first and second chamber portions on opposite sides of the power piston. First and second explosive charges are contained within the housing and communicated with the first and second chamber portions on opposite sides of the power piston. Firing of the first explosive charge moves the power piston in a first direction. Firing of the second explosive charge moves the power piston back in a second direction opposite the first direction. Thus, the operating power for a downhole tool is provided by selective firing of explosive charges which provide the operating pressure to move the power piston of the tool.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a system for actuating downhole tools by firing an explosive charge to generate an operating pressure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The basic function of most downhole tools involves surface manipulation of a downhole operating system to accomplish a task such as opening a valve, for example, the opening and closing of a tester valve or circulation valve.
This process usually involves a linear actuator, i.e., a power piston, which works off a differential pressure acting across a hydraulic area.
There are several ways in which this pressure differential can be achieved to operate such a linear actuator.
One technique is the use of a nitrogen-charged system in which the nitrogen acts as a spring which supports hydrostatic well annulus pressure, but which can be further compressed with applied pressure at the surface allowing linear actuation across a hydraulic area down hole. An example of such a tool is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,305 to Ringgenberg.
Yet another system provides first and second pressure-conducting passages from either side of the power piston to the well annulus. A metering orifice type of retarding means is disposed in the second pressure-conducting passage for providing a time delay in communication of changes in well annulus pressure to the second side of the power piston. Accordingly, a rapid increase or rapid decrease in well annulus pressure causes a temporary pressure differential across the piston which moves the piston. An example of such a system is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,506 to Beck.
Still another approach is to provide both high and low pressure sources within the tool itself by providing a pressurized hydraulic fluid supply and an essentially atmospheric dump chamber. Such an approach is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,375,239 to Barrington et al.
Another approach is to utilize the well annulus pressure as a high pressure source, and to provide an essentially atmospheric pressure dump chamber as the low pressure zone within the tool itself. Such an approach is seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,796,699; 4,856,595; 4,915,168; and 4,896,722, all to Upchurch.
The prior art also includes various downhole devices which utilize explosive charges. Explosive charges have not, however, been utilized to power a reciprocating linear actuator type of operating system of a downhole testing tool.

Pyrotechnic charge powered operating system for downhole tools