Thermoplastic articles, preferably of polycarbonate, are advantageously stabilized by selected bisbenzophenone UV absorbers concentrated in the outer surface or coating layers of the article prepared by coextrusion techniques.

The use of various types of UV absorbers in the stabilization of polymers is well known. These stabilizers function by absorbing incident UV radiation and dispersing the absorbed energy in a nondestructive manner. Concentration of the UV absorber near the surface of the polymer to prevent penetration of UV light is, therefore, considered to be more efficient and economical than dispersion of the UV absorber throughout the bulk of the polymer.
The protection of aromatic polycarbonates from UV light is a particular problem as the polymer itself absorbs significant amounts of high energy light and is known to become quickly yellow and hazy. Aside from their strength and toughness, polycarbonates derive much of their value from their excellent optical properties, i.e. low color and high clarity. Therefore, protection against UV radiation at the surface of a polymer like polycarbonate, where most of the light would be absorbed, becomes vital.
It is of course obvious that any color imparted to the polymer composition by the stabilizer itself must be as little as possible.
A number of methods have been developed to concentrate UV absorbers near or at the surface of polymeric materials. These include surface impregnation (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,309,220, 3,043,709, 4,861,664 and 4,937,026) and coating a plastic article with solutions containing thermoplastic resins and UV absorbers (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,668,588 and 4,353,965). Both techniques suffer from significant drawbacks including requiring additional processing steps(i.e. applying, drying or curing), and encounter the difficulties associated with the handling of large processed articles. An additional drawback, particularly relevant to polycarbonate sheet production, is the detrimental effect such post addition treatment would have on the surface of the polymeric substrate.
Coextrusion is a well recognized method of producing laminated thermoplastic materials by simultaneously extruding various numbers of layers which form a single composite material. U.S. Pat. No. 4,540,623 describes coextruded materials of at least forty layers. Other methods produce as few as two or three different layers.
The resins employed in each layer may be the same, different e.g. polypropylene on polyacrylate on polycarbonate or be different types of similar resin such as two different aromatic polycarbonates.
Likewise, the types and amounts of additives employed in each layer may vary significantly. Typical additives include dyes, pigments, antioxidants, processing and UV stabilizers and glass fillers.
The use of coextrusion to produce a photo-stable article by incorporating a light absorbing layer at or near the surface of the laminate has received attention. Of particular importance is the protection of a polycarbonate core layer via such a process.
In EP 110,221, a polycarbonate core layer is protected with a thin polycarbonate layer which contains a high concentration of UV absorber. However, the UV absorbers used are volatile, especially under extrusion conditions, and loss and migration from the polymer composition may occur.
To prevent additive exudation, a third capping or barrier layer is incorporated which contains little or no volatile additive. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,707,393 a permanent layer of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) or PMMA composite is coextruded on top of the two polycarbonate layers. EP 345,884 describes the use of a removable barrier layer.
Recently, U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,835 teaches that the exudation problem of EP 110,221 can be overcome by incorporating certain low volatility bisbenzotriazole UV absorbers into the UV absorbing layer. These non-migrating UV absorbers make the capping layer of U.S. Pat. No. 4,707,393 or EP 345,884 unnecessary. This process claims the advantages of simplified production and perhaps more importantly, improved UV and weather stabilization of the thermoplastic moldings produced.
Canadian Patent Appl. 2,002,177 discloses a special polymethacrylate coating for aromatic polycarbonate which may be applied via coextrusion. This coating could contain a wide variety of UV absorbers for photostabilization of the polymers. However, the focus of this patent is to provide polycarbonate compatible polymethacrylate and provides no guidance toward the selection of UV absorber. The specific class of bisbenzophenones of the instant invention is not discussed.
Many of the UV absorbers corresponding to the formula of the present invention are known. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,580,927 and 3,666,713; Czechoslovak Patent Appl. 135,115; Japanese Patent Applns. Sho 47-48888 and Sho 44-26456; and British Patent 1,396,240 describe the preparation and general use as UV stabilizers of a variety of compounds where Z in the formula of the instant bisbenzophenones is hydrogen. Instant compounds where Z is halogen, alkoxy or alkyl are described in Japanese Patent Appl. Hei 1-245046 and alluded to in Japanese Patent Appl. Sho 45-12852.
Other, more specific uses for some of these bisbenzophenone compounds are described in Japanese Patent Applns. Sho 44-3962; Sho 57-12643; Sho 56-24418; Sho 52-93462 and Hei 1-245046. These uses include stabilizing polypropylene, but deal mainly with specific polyester applications.
Nowhere in the existing prior art is the use of the instant bisbenzophenones in a UV absorbing layer of a laminated article contemplated nor is any coextrusion process involving said compounds disclosed.
In only one case, Japanese Sho 57-12643, is any type of laminated article discussed. However in this case the core layer is stabilized with a xylylene bridged bisbenzophenone and the protective coating layer is a non-absorbing water resistant copolyester-ether. A vague reference is made within this document to the core layer being a "composite film". However, the disclosure states and shows that the core layer must be a biaxially stretched UV stabilized film which is further coated. Such a coated film clearly cannot be produced via coextrusion.
Further, it was not obvious to apply these bisbenzophenone stabilizers to UV absorbing surface layers via coextrusion, or any other method. None of the prior art references foresaw the advantages that the use of these instant compounds provides in terms of better weathering and color development over the UV absorbers previously described. Specifically and most significant is the improved weathering performance obtained by the use of these bisbenzophenone stabilizers over the bisbenzotriazoles described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,835 which is the current state of the art process.
The present invention offers an improvement over the existing prior art in that it not only provides the same simplification in production of photostabilized double walled thermoplastics found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,835, but also provides a laminated thermoplastic article with improved weathering resistance and lower color development than is currently available with the use of other classes of UV absorbers such as the bisbenzotriazoles.
This improvement in color and performance is particularly surprising since the bisbenzophenones of the instant invention and the bisbenzotriazoles of U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,835 demonstrate very similar color and weathering performance when incorporated via conventional bulk stabilization techniques into 125 mil (3.2 mm) thick plaques.

Preparing laminated thermoplastics stabilized with bisbenzophenones


A semiconductor device has a field insulating film formed on a semiconductor substrate, a resistor and a fuse formed on the field insulating film, a first interlayer insulating film formed on the fuse, a second interlayer insulating film formed on the first interlayer insulating film, and a third interlayer insulating film including an SOG layer and formed on the second interlayer insulating film. A passivation oxide film is formed on the third interlayer insulating film. A fuse opening is formed above the fuse and extends from the passivation oxide film to a midpoint in the second interlayer insulating film. A passivation nitride film covers the passivation oxide film and is disposed on a side surface and a bottom surface of the fuse opening. The passivation nitride film disposed on the bottom surface of the fuse opening has an opening exposing the second interlayer insulating film at the midpoint thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device including a CMOS transistor, a resistor, and a fuse for laser trimming.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a highly accurate analog IC used for a voltage detector or the like, a transistor and a resistor are combined in order to obtain desired characteristics. To accomplish this, a measure generally taken involves blowing out a fuse for laser trimming formed of, for example, a polycrystalline silicon thin film by laser radiation. By this measure, the combination pattern of resistors is adjusted in order to adjust variations in characteristics during a pre-process stage of the manufacture of the analog IC, such as during processing of a semiconductor wafer or adjustment of a target value.
Such a fuse for laser trimming in an analog IC is described with reference to FIG. 4 to FIG. 6. FIG. 4 is a plan view, FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view taken along the line C-C, and FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view taken along the line D-D. A fuse 206 formed of a polycrystalline silicon thin-film resistor is provided on a field insulating film 203 formed on a surface of a P-type semiconductor substrate 201. A nitride film 220 and an oxide film 219 as protective films and interlayer insulating films 216 and 214 among multilayer wirings are partly etched from the surface thereof to form a fuse opening 222 so that a laser can be radiated to the fuse 206. In the fuse opening 222, side walls of the nitride film, the interlayer insulating films, and the like are exposed. In a multilayer wiring process which is a double or more metal process, as a technology for planarization, for example, a technology is used in which, after coating an SOG layer formed of spin-on-glass (SOG), etching back is performed. SOG has excellent characteristics as a material used for etching back, but, generally, has the feature of being high in hygroscopicity. Because of that, when, after the etching back, an SOG layer 217 between the stacked interlayer insulating films remains, moisture enters through the SOG layer, which may cause fluctuations in element characteristics of the IC, resulting in occurrence of a problem related to the long-term reliability. In particular, in a PMOS transistor, it is known that negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) which is caused when a negative gate bias is applied in a high temperature state causes a shift of the threshold voltage of the transistor.
The fuse opening is further described below. By adjusting the thickness of an interlayer insulating film above the fuse by patterning by photolithography and then etching the fuse opening 222, prevention of defective trimming such as insufficient cut in the laser trimming is sought. In a related-art structure, after the passivation nitride film 220 as the final protective film is deposited, the passivation nitride film 220 in the fuse opening 222 and a pad portion (not shown) is partly removed, and then, etching is performed again so that the interlayer insulating film above the fuse has a predetermined thickness.
It is noted that rings 221 formed of first and second metal wirings for preventing entry of moisture are provided between the fuse opening 222 and an IC chip. The guard rings 221 are provided, and the SOG layer 217 used as an interlayer insulating film is cut so as to be prevented from reaching the inside of the chip as illustrated in FIG. 5.
However, an oxide film as an insulating film is exposed at the side walls of the interlayer insulating films in the fuse opening. In the insulating film layer in which etching back of the SOG is performed, the SOG layer is exposed. It follows that entry of moisture occurs, which may result in not only NBTI but also corrosion of metal wiring or the like, leading to deterioration of characteristics of the IC.
For example, Japanese Published Patent Application Hei 05-63091 and Hei 07-22508 disclose measures for preventing entry of moisture by forming a guard ring using a metal as a barrier from the fuse opening to the inside of the IC, in order to prevent deterioration of the long-term reliability owing to such entry of moisture through the fuse opening.
In an analog IC, size reduction of each component is indispensable for reducing the chip size. If the distance from the fuse opening is secured for the purpose of inhibiting fluctuations in element characteristics and corrosion of metal wiring owing to entry of moisture through a fuse portion, the chip size is increased to lose competitiveness.
Further, with regard to a measure of forming a guard ring as a barrier using metal wiring for the purpose of preventing entry of moisture through the SOG, a shift of characteristics caused by NBTI or the like is effectively inhibited, but, because the SOG layer is exposed in the fuse opening, the guard ring of metal wiring may cause corrosion of wiring.


The present invention is generally directed to a multi-stage epi process for forming semiconductor devices, and the resulting device. In one illustrative embodiment, the method comprises forming a first layer of epitaxial silicon above a surface of a semiconducting substrate, forming a second layer of epitaxial silicon above the first layer of epitaxial silicon, forming a third layer of epitaxial silicon above the second layer of epitaxial silicon, forming a trench isolation region that extends through at least the third layer of epitaxial silicon and forming a portion of a semiconductor device above the third layer of epitaxial silicon within an area defined by the isolation region. In one illustrative embodiment, the device comprises a substrate, a first layer of epitaxial silicon formed above the substrate, a second layer of epitaxial silicon formed above the first layer of epitaxial silicon, a third layer of epitaxial silicon formed above the second layer of epitaxial silicon, a trench isolation region that extends through at least the third layer of epitaxial silicon, the trench isolation region defining an active area, and at least one component of a semiconductor device formed in or above the third layer of epitaxial silicon within the active area.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the fabrication of semiconductor devices, and, more particularly, to a multi-stage epi process for forming semiconductor devices, and the resulting device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Manufacturing semiconductor devices is a very complex, cost-intensive, and competitive industry. Manufacturing a semiconductor device may involve performing hundreds of individual process steps, such as forming layers of materials, selectively removing portions of those layers of materials, implanting dopant atoms into various structures on the substrate and performing various heat treatment processes. Such steps are combined in any of a vast variety of different process flows to produce semiconductor devices that function in the desired manner.
The semiconductor manufacturing industry is very competitive in that there is a constant drive to reduce the unit cost of semiconductor devices and to increase product yields. Thus, there is constant pressure to develop new and improved processes for manufacturing semiconductor devices so that product yields may be increased and/or costs may be reduced. For example, in the case of high voltage bipolar devices that are isolated by trench isolation regions, the manufacturing of such devices can be quite complex. Such processes typically involve performing an ion implant process into a bulk substrate to thereby form a buried sub-collector layer. Subsequent fabrication involves performing multiple epitaxial deposition steps to form multiple layers of epitaxial silicon at various stages during the course of the manufacture of the device.
Moreover, in some cases, trench isolation regions used to isolate a semiconductor device have very high aspect ratios, i.e., the ratio of trench depth to trench width, for example on the order of approximately 25–30. In forming such trench isolation regions, it is often necessary to perform a so-called channel stop implant step in an effort to introduce dopant materials into the substrate adjacent the bottom of the previously formed trench. The channel stop implant serves a variety of purposes, e.g., preventing latch-up, tub-to-tub leakage, cross-talk, etc. However, in modem devices that have isolation trenches with very high aspect ratios, e.g., high voltage devices, it is very difficult to properly introduce the desired dopant material at the bottom of such a trench. More specifically, two problems may arise. First, there may be inadequate dopant material placed in the substrate adjacent the bottom of the trench, thereby leading to the problems identified above, e.g., latch-up, cross-talk, etc. If the dopant dose of the ion implant process is increased to insure that dopant material is present in the substrate adjacent the bottom of the trench, then, due to the high aspect ratio, excessive amounts of dopant material penetrate the sidewalls of the trench leading to other problems, e.g., increased consumption of plot space, poor electrical performance, etc.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for an improved methodology for forming semiconductor devices that may improve product yields, reduce costs and increase overall manufacturing efficiency. The present invention is directed to a method that may solve, or at least reduce, some or all of the aforementioned problems.

Multi-stage EPI process for forming semiconductor devices, and resulting device


A basally adhered, self-recovering traffic lane delineator has a cylindrical post made of flexible material, having the air outlet and inlet on the center of its upper surface, and a supplementary support panel placed and adhered underneath the post. The support panel supports a lower part of the post and is adhered on the ground. Owing to its small package volume, the delineator is easy to move and safeguard.

This invention relates to the traffic delineator, in particular, a traffic lane delineator which is adhered at its base to the pavement, and is arranged to self-recover to an upright position, so as to be more effective for drawing the attention of drivers, thereby improving safety. The delineator is so built as to get squeezed when impacted and to recover it's own shape after lapse of impact, so that it's product life span is fully extended and the vehicle collided therewith is substantially unharmful from the impact.
Generally, a delineator that is normally made of metal pipe or P.V.C. pipe and has a reflection sheet is attached thereon has been used for the purpose of drawing the attention of drivers and having the drivers recognize the traffic lanes more accurately, specially at an airport, on a road or in a parking place, thus guaranteeing safety driving.
However, having been made of solid material such as metal or P.V.C. pipe and the like as above describes, the conventional delineator is not only easily broken upon even slight impact, but also the vehicle collided therewith may be damaged, as well as personal injury occur.
For the reasons above stated, the coventional delineator must be exchanged from time to time and therefore significant economic losses have been experienced.
Further, when installing the conventional delineator, since the post and support panel and supplemental support panel are formed in one body, the installation work that is absolutely needed to place the bottom part of the post on the ground with no gap and then bolt it in position is very much troublesome. Furthermore, for the same reason as above stated, it occupies the broad space so that safeguarding and moving it is difficult.

Self-recovering, basally adhered traffic lane delineator

Bokgee Apt. 1-402, Kweian-Dong, Sosa-Gu, Buchun-Si


A system and method to deliver a voice advertisement to a cellular device over a cellular telecommunication network prior to connection of a voice call. The system, within a cellular telecommunications network, includes two units, a first unit that determines whether a call is subscribed to receive an advertisement and makes a request for delivery of the advertisement before connecting the call, and a second unit that delivers the advertisement to the cellular device. First, the first unit identifies if the call is subscribed for delivery of an advertisement. Second, the first unit routes a request to the second unit for delivery of the advertisement. Third, the second unit delivers the advertisement to the cellular device. Fourth, the first unit connects the call to the network.

The present subject matter relates to delivery of advertisements to a cellular device over a cellular telecommunications network. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system for delivering advertisements to a device prior to connecting a voice service call and without the use of specialized equipment or auxiliary devices to facilitate the delivery. Such a system may be implemented to reduce the overall cost of service for users of cellular telecommunication devices.
Traditionally, the cost for cellular telecommunication service has been high, especially in the United States, placing such service out of the reach of many people. The high cost still remains if not increased by the cost to obtain new devices compatible with a provider's technology and system, which is not always the same as other providers' systems. Additionally, over the past few years, cellular telecommunications providers have experienced a decline in the average rate per user (ARPU) for voice service over cellular telecommunications networks. The decline can be attributed to the increase in use of data service (i.e., Short Messaging System (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging System (MMS)) over the same network.
Service providers have attempted to alleviate these problems seeking ways to reduce the cost for voice service to attract more customers and increase revenue. For many years, providers have offered devices at little or no cost with the requirement to sign a long-term contract, which for many people translates to an additional or higher cost for service given the early termination fee and length of financial commitment. Moreover, providers have offered more affordable service but the reduction in cost has been incremental and has extended to those customers who are willing to commit to higher monthly plans, requiring higher usage of the service. This provides a lower unit cost based on usage however the aggregate cost of plan still makes the service unaffordable and undesirable to those who are unable to reach a high usage rate that would make the financial commitment worthwhile. Providers have offered a special bundle services combining both voice and data to attract customers to larger voice plans based on the cost for favorable data service. Again, these solutions only attract certain customers and do not reduce the cost for all customers.
Recently, the development of prepaid cellular services and plans has attracted more customers, providing them with an option to receive cellular service at a lower rate as needed and without special features. With this solution, providers have achieved higher levels of usage rate in some demographical groups, but not all. However, many customers forgo cellular service for non-cellular telecommunication service, which is predominant and very affordable.
Providers have also turned to advertising on cellular devices to increase revenue and gain more customers. The more common advertising systems have been implemented through SMS and mobile internet/Wireless Access Protocol (WAP), where advertisements are distributed through videos, text messages, search and banner displays. Systems have also been implemented where advertising is tied to the voice service on a cellular network however these implementations require the use of special equipment or auxiliary devices for delivery. Although the advertisement generates additional revenue and provides a voice message directly to the customer, these previous attempts suffer because the overall cost to the customer is often not reduced due to the need for special equipment or devices. Thus, prior solutions have fallen short.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system that enables the delivery of advertisements to the user of a cellular device without the need for a specialized cellular device or other specialized equipment.

Delivery of advertisements over voice network


Systems and methods for delivering a buffer fluid to a shaft seal of a gas turbine engine are provided. An exemplary system includes, a buffer fluid source, one or more first conduits providing fluid communication between the buffer fluid source and the shaft seal along a first route, and one or more second conduits providing fluid communication between the buffer fluid source and the shaft seal along a second route different from the first route. A heat exchanger is also disposed along the first route to facilitate heat transfer between buffer fluid in the one or more first conduits and a cooling fluid.

Some of the pressurized air generated by a compressor of a gas turbine engine may be extracted before the combustion process and used to service pneumatic loads. Such pneumatic loads may, for example, include buffered shaft seals (e.g., labyrinth seals) of the gas turbine engine that require buffer air to prevent leakage of oil therethrough. The pressurized air extracted from the compressor can be an energy draw from the gas turbine engine. A labyrinth seal can provide a non-contact sealing interface between a stator and a rotor and some labyrinth seals can withstand high-temperature conditions exhibited in parts of the gas turbine engine. However, labyrinth seals can require a significant amount of pressurized buffer air during operation, which can contribute to the overall fuel consumption of the gas turbine engine. Improvement is desirable.

Buffer fluid delivery system and method for a shaft seal of a gas turbine engine


Application of a communication signal, RF (radio frequency) or microwave signal to a modified optical fiber for modulating or switching-off the optical signal propagating within the optical fiber. The passive cladding material of an ordinary optical fiber is removed from a small region and replaced with active multilayer materials including at least three layers of cladding surrounding the core. These layers are the inner metallic electrode coated on the surface of the optical fiber core, the electrooptic active material layer placed on the top of the inner electrode, and the outer metallic electrode coated on the top of the electrooptic material. A communication signal applied to the electrodes will result in optical modulation so that the modulated intensity and phase of the optical signal at the receiving end of the fiber can be detected, and demodulation of the signal can be achieved.

Because of the importance of integrated optics in the telecommunication industry, a great deal of effort has been expended to reduce insertion loss associated with coupling a light between integrated optical components, such as modulators and switches, and fiber links, to the lowest possible level and with reasonable expenses. Such components are generally known as multiplexers, modulators, couplers, switches and sensors. There is a particular need for improved optical modulation in some or all of these components and in the systems using them. This invention is an improvement on U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,307.
I have invented such components, which use a modified ordinary optical fiber. Wherein the fiber has a small area from which the cladding material has been removed and replaced with an active multilayer of materials structure, i.e. the modified cladding, which is sensitive to electromagnetic fields and should satisfy the conditions: in the presence of an external electromagnetic field, the optical properties of the active multilayer materials should change as well as the transmission characteristics of optical signals propagating within the modified region. The modified cladding is constructed of at least three layers; an inner metallic electrode coated directly on the core of the optical fiber, a layer of electrooptic material coated on the top of the first electrode, and a layer of a second electrode (outer electrode) covering the electrooptic material. Additional coating layers may be used between each two layers of the basic three layer structure to improve the interface properties. My device can be used as a modulator or switch. Also it can be used as an electromagnetic field sensor for determination of the applied external signal.
One important advantage of this invention is that it provides an optical modulation of the signal propagating within an optical fiber, which employs optical intensity, phase and/or polarization modulation by the continuous changing of the optical properties of the multilayer modified cladding resulting from external communication signals applied to the fiber modified region, e.g. RF or microwave signals, and can be used for the long distance transmission of these communication signals.
In addition, the device can be used as a high speed switch for switching off optical signals propagating in a communication link. The switching on-off is controlled by a high speed electric signal applied to the modified region of the fiber.
Other advantages will appear hereinafter.

On-fiber microwave modulator and high speed switch for telecommunication applications


A plurality of reference memory cell units are arranged to be connected to rows of matrix-patterned information memory cell units. Each of the reference memory cell units comprises a selection cell of an NMOS transistor, and three reference memory cells of depletion type NMOS transistors, and each of the information memory cell units comprises a selection cell of an NMOS transistor, and three information memory cells of NMOS transistors, one of which is of a depletion type. The selection cells are connected between the reference and information memory cells by a common selection line. The reference and information memory cells are connected by common word lines. Current mirror type sense amplifiers are connected to the columns of information memory cell units by digit lines. This arrangement avoids the occurrence of the unevenness of characteristics resulting from the fabrication process.

One type of a conventional memory device with current mirror type sense amplifiers comprises a reference memory cell unit, a plurality of information memory cell units arranged in matrix a pattern, a plurality of sense amplifiers connected to columns of the information memory cell units, and a plurality of address decoder units connected to rows of the information memory cell units. The reference memory cell unit comprises a selection NMOS transistor, and three NMOS transistors for reference memory cells, one of which is a depletion type transistor connected at a gate to ground. Each of the information memory cell units comprises a selection NMOS transistor, and three NMOS transistors for information memory cells, one of which is a depletion type, and each of the address decoder units comprises a selector connected through a selection line to the selection NMOS transistors at each row, and a three-bit address decoder connected through three word lines to the three NMOS transistors for information memory cells. Each of the sense amplifiers is connected through a common reference voltage line to the reference memory cell unit and through a digit line to the information memory cell units in each column.
In operation, a reference voltage is applied through the reference voltage line to the sense amplifiers by the reference memory cell unit. At the same time, one of the selection lines is selected by receiving a signal of "1" from a selector of an address decoder unit belonging to a selected row. In this situation, a three-bit word line signal of, for instance, "1", "0" and "1" is applied to three word lines of the selected row. In one of the information memory cell units of the selected row, if the signal of "0" is applied to an NMOS transistor of the depletion type among the three information memory cell NMOS transistors, a content of "1" is read from the memory cell through a digit line to an output signal line by one of the sense amplifier. On the other hand, if the signal of "0" is applied to one of the NMOS transistors (non-depletion type) for information memory cells, a content of "0" is read from the memory cell.
In the conventional mirror type memory device, however, there is a disadvantage in that unified characteristics are difficult to obtained between the reference memory cells and the information memory cells of a matrix pattern, because the reference memory cell unit and the information memory cell units are arranged with considerable distances in a semiconductor integrated circuit to result in the unevenness among those cells, as long as an ordinary fabrication process is adopted. In this conventional mirror type memory device, the unevenness of the characteristics becomes more remarkable due to the difference of gate signals applied through independent signal lines to those cells.

Memory device with current mirror type sense amplifiers for comparing units of reference cells and information cells


A memory device is provided. The memory device includes a bit cell having a first invertor connected between a first node and a second node and a second invertor connected between the first node and the second node. The first invertor and the second invertor are cross coupled at a first data node and a second data node. The memory device further includes a pull down circuit connected to the second node. The pull down circuit is operative to pull down a voltage of the second node below a ground voltage in response to an enable signal.

A common type of integrated circuit memory is a static random access memory (SRAM) device. A typical SRAM memory device includes an array of bit cells, with each bit cell having six transistors connected between an upper reference potential and a lower reference potential. Each bit cell has two storage nodes where information may be stored. The first node stores the desired information, while the complementary information is stored at the second storage node. SRAM cells have the advantageous feature of holding data without requiring a refresh.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


A rotational beverage holder including a support member that has a back plate with a ring and a bottom portion with a base member projecting therefrom. Included is a rotatable locking mechanism. The locking meachnism has a first member and a second member. The first member is mounted to a rear face of the back plate. The second member has a generally rectangular projection with a receiving hole extending therefrom. The first member and the second member are resiliently coupled by a spring. A clamping mechanism with an adjustable member and a stationary member, is provided. The adjustable member has a self locking rachet release. The stationary member has a vertical projection extending therefrom positioned through the receiving opening and the adjustable member. The adjustable member is movable up and down the vertical projection.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rotational beverage holder and more particularly pertains to providing an apparatus that can be releasably mounted to various objects for holding a beverage container in a upright orientation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of a beverage holder is known in the prior art. More specifically, beverage holders heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of supporting a beverage container are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
By way of example, the prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,612 to Manfre discloses a rail mate. U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,784 to Kayali discloses an adjustable drink holder. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 350,456 to Linder discloses a cup holder. U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,156 to Allen discloses a holder for a beverage container. U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,611 to Longo discloses a beverage container support. Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,642 to Kirby discloses an object support for attachment to a cylindrically shaped support member.
In this respect, the rotational beverage holder according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing an apparatus that can be releasably mounted to various objects for holding a beverage container in a upright orientation.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved Rotational beverage holder which can be used for providing an apparatus that can be releasably mounted to various objects for holding a beverage container in a upright orientation. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


A system and method is disclosed for providing real time signal to noise computation for a 100 Mb Ethernet physical layer device. A slicer module obtains a slicer error signal in the physical layer device and generates a signal that represents a square of the slicer error signal. A variance computation unit uses the signal that represents the square of the slicer error signal to calculate a value of variance of a histogram of the physical layer device by continuously accumulating a plurality of values of the square of the slicer error signal for a selected period of time. A real time signal to noise ratio is then computed using the calculated value of the variance of the histogram of the physical layer device.

In many networking applications, such as industrial Ethernet, computing the value of the signal to noise ratio of a data link is an important issue. It is very desirable to know when a digital signal processor that recovers data in an Ethernet physical layer device is operating within its proper parameters. Changes in the signal to noise ratio could indicate a degradation in the quality of the data link. Notifying the system of potential issues in the cabling may allow network administrators to detect potential issues before they become critical and cause failure of the network.
The present invention will be described with reference to an exemplary Ethernet physical layer device. It is understood, however, that the principles of the present invention are not limited to the exemplary network embodiment described in this patent document.
The operation of a physical layer device is described in an IEEE publication entitled "IEEE Standards for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks: Media Access Control (MAC) Parameters, Physical Layer, Medium Attachment Units, and Repeater for 100 Mb/s Operation, Type 100BASE-T." The short name of this standard is IEEE Standard 802.3. The Physical Medium Dependent (PMD) sublayer for 100BASE-TX is defined in "Fibre Distributed Data Interface (FDDI)-Token Ring Twisted Pair Physical Layer Medium Dependent (TP-PMD)" (ANSI X3.263: 1995). The TP-PMD document provides the specification for receiving signaling on the physical medium and converting it to the digital representation required by the Physical Medium Attachment (PMA) and Physical Coding (PCS) sublayers. A commonly used method of implementing the Twisted Pair PMD sublayer utilizes a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) to recover the data and clock from the physical layer signaling.
There is a need in the art for a system and method that is capable of performing a computation of the signal to noise ratio of a data link in a 100 Mb Ethernet physical layer device. In particular, there is a need in the art for a system and method that is capable of performing a real time computation of the signal to noise ratio in a digital signal processor that recovers data in an Ethernet physical layer device.
In order to better understand the advance in the art that the present invention provides, a prior art Ethernet system will first be described. FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram 100 of a prior art Ethernet system. FIG. 1 shows the basic components of a single Ethernet capable device connected to a physical cable. The device comprises a Media Access Controller ("Ethernet MAC 120") that is capable of sending and receiving packetized data through an Ethernet physical layer device 150 ("Ethernet PHY 150") to a physical medium such as a Category 5 Cable ("Cat5 Cable 140"). The Ethernet MAC 120 sends and receives packetized data across the MAC Data Interface. The MAC Data Interface may be either a Media Independent Interface ("MII") or a Reduced Media Independent Interface ("RMII"). The Ethernet MAC 120 controls the Ethernet PHY 150 and monitors its status though a Management Interface (designated "Mgmt Interface" in FIG. 1).
The Ethernet PHY 150 also requires a clock source 130. The clock source 130 comprises a twenty five megaHertz (25 MHz) clock when an MII interface is used. The clock source 130 comprises a fifty megaHertz (50 MHz) clock when an RMII interface is used. In addition, the Ethernet PHY 150 may comprise status light emitting diodes 160 ("Status LEDs 160") in order to externally provide visible indication of the status of the Ethernet PHY 150.
The Ethernet PHY 150 is connected to the Cat5 Cable 140 through a Magnetics unit 170 and an RJ-45 Connector 180. For simplicity and clarity, the Magnetics unit 170 and the RJ-45 Connector 180 will not be shown in subsequent figures.
FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a prior art Ethernet Receive Phy 150 and Receive Mac 120. The data that is received from Category 5 cable 140 is provided to a Receive (RX) Physical Media Dependent (PMD) block 200. PMD block 200 comprises analog front end 205 and digital signal processor 210. Analog front end 205 converts the analog signals from Category 5 cable 140 into a digital form and provides the digital form of the analog signals to digital signal processor 210. Digital signal processor 210 processes the digital form of the data and recovers the transmitted data and clock signals.
As described in the IEEE Standard 802.3, the data is then sequentially provided to a Physical Medium Attachment (PMA) sublayer 215, a Physical Coding Sublayer (PCS) 220, and Media Access Controller (MAC) data interface unit 225. The MAC data interface unit 225 is capable of operating either in Media Independent Interface (MII) mode or in Reduced Media Independent Interface (RMII) mode. The MAC date interface unit 225 provides the received data to the Media Access Controller 120. As indicated in FIG. 2, Media Access Controller 120 may comprise a microprocessor unit (MPU) or a central processing unit (CPU).
The Ethernet Receive Phy 150 comprises a set of management registers in Register Block 230. The management registers are used by the Media Access Controller 120 to control the Ethernet Receive Phy 150 and to monitor the status of its operation. The management interface is commonly provided through a serial management interface defined in Clause 22 of the IEEE 802.3 specification. In addition, the Ethernet Receive Phy 150 shown in FIG. 2 is capable of providing an interrupt signal to the Media Access Controller 120.
The Ethernet Receive Phy 150 is designed to work on random (or pseudo-random) data that is encoded using a three level signaling method known as MLT3 as defined in the TP-PMD specification. A prior art digital signal processor 210 comprises modules (e.g., equalizer module, automatic gain control module, base line wander module) (not shown in FIG. 2) that operate to remove artifacts that are introduced into the transmitted data stream (e.g., by the channel and transformer). A timing recovery module (not shown in FIG. 2) is then used to lock onto the received signal to recover the clock and the data. A slicer module (not shown in FIG. 2) maps the output of the digital signal processor 210 into three types of data output, representing the three levels in MLT3 signaling. The three types of data output are minus one, zero, and plus one. The three types of data output are represented by the expression {−1, 0, 1}.
The slicer is implemented such that each possible output of the digital signal processor maps to one of the three slicer data values with an associated error value. The ideal values of the digital signal processor outputs are defined to be minus twenty four, zero, and plus twenty four {−24, 0, 24} and map to the slicer outputs minus one, zero, and plus one {−1, 0, 1} respectively with a slicer error of zero.
The error value is the difference of the actual value minus the ideal value. For example, a digital signal processor data output of minus twenty (−20) would result in a slicer output of minus one (−1) and a slicer error of plus four (4). FIG. 3A shows the slicer decision and error values of the prior art based on the input value from the digital signal processor. The slicer error is restricted to a maximum value of plus or minus seven in the prior art example.
Because the nature of the data is effectively a random distribution, an assumption may be made that on average the minus one (−1) data output will appear twenty five percent (25%) of the time, the zero (0) data output will appear fifty percent of the time (50%), and the plus one data output will appear twenty five percent (25%) of the time. FIG. 3B illustrates a histogram of received data. The peak at the left centered on the minus twenty four (−24) value represents the minus one (−1) data output. The central peak centered on the zero value (0) represents the zero (0) data output. The peak at the right centered on the plus twenty four (24) value represents the plus one (1) data output.
Based on the expected distribution, if there were no noise or distortion of the received signal, the effective signal (ES) would be given by:ES=(0.25)(−24)2+(0.50)(0)2+(0.25)(24)2=288  (1)
The effective variance (EV) of a received signal (with or without noise or distortion) is given by:
                    EV        =                              [                                          Variance                                                  (                                      -                    1                                    )                                            +                              Variance                                                  (                  0                  )                                            +                              Variance                                                  (                  1                  )                                                      ]                    SymbolCount                                    (        2        )
The Variance values in Equation (2) are the sum of the square of each error value for the associated data value. Because the data values are assumed to have a random distribution, the numerator in Equation (2) could be expressed as the sum of the error squared, independent of the data value.
The signal to noise ratio (SNR) for a received signal is calculated from the expression:
                    SNR        =                              10                                                                                log              10                                                  EffectiveSignal              EffectiveVariance                                =                      10                                                                                log              10                                                  288              EffectiveVariance                                                          (        3        )
A prior art digital signal processor (such as digital signal processor 210) may comprise software that is capable of calculating a signal to noise ratio (SNR) for the received data by periodically polling the Ethernet Receive Phy 150. The prior art software uses an error signal from digital signal processor 210 to compute the values of effective variance and the signal to noise ratio (SNR).
One major drawback of the prior art approach is that the polling rate is much lower than the data rate. This means the polling method is very likely to miss high rate error data. The slow polling rate also results in a very long period of time to gather enough data for a statistically significant result. Therefore, the prior art polling method does not give sufficiently complete information. Another major drawback of the prior art approach is that the polling method is computationally intensive and makes extensive demands on the computing resources of the digital signal process 210.
For these reasons there is a need in the art for a system and method that is capable of performing an efficient real time computation of the signal to noise ratio of a data link in a 100 Mb Ethernet physical layer device.
Before undertaking the Detailed Description of the Invention below, it may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this patent document: the terms "include" and "comprise," as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation; the term "or," is inclusive, meaning and/or; the phrases "associated with" and "associated therewith," as well as derivatives thereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the like.
The term "controller" means any device, system, or part thereof that controls at least one operation. A controller may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or combination thereof. It should be noted that the functionality associated with any particular controller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely.
Definitions for certain words and phrases are provided throughout this patent document, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many, if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior uses, as well as to future uses, of such defined words and phrases.

System and method for providing real time signal to noise computation for a 100Mb Ethernet physical layer device


A valve for controlling the rate of fluid flow therethrough by rotating a rotor about a spindle having an inlet bore in communication with an eccentrically oriented o-ring set into an eccentrically oriented slot formed in the rotor. The perimeter of the eccentric slot is modified to provide customized unique fluid flow response curves.

Almost all valves consist of a fixed body containing a hole or port covered by a sealing element. This sealing element (valve) can uncover the port to varying degrees and allow fluid to flow. The arrangement of these elements generally takes the form of axial pairs (lift valve), turning pairs (rotary valve motion), screw pairs (helical valve motion), and sliding pairs (gate valve). These valve elements are accepted practice, have been utilized for centuries and there are many manufacturers using these principles to accomplish the same task.
The miniature valve market, typified by manufacturers like Clippard, Pneumadyne and Whitey, offer a variety of metering valves. However, all are needle valve designs. Needle valves are capable of precise metering but have several drawbacks. A needle valve is an axially arranged device and its accommodation to applications usually require shapes, ports and manufacturing complexity. In order to adjust flow rates a tapered needle is screwed in and out of a circular aperture enabled by threads coaxially constructed along the needle shaft. The resulting space offered as a flow passage is at best an annulus (and often deteriorates to a crescent) where the area varies with axial needle position created by screw threads. Area is an arithmetic function of the radii squared and accordingly the range of linear sensitive control is only approximate and at the same time narrow. Also, unless the same material is used throughout, the valve differential expansion leads to an inherent lack of temperature compensation. Furthermore, the tiny clearances generated clog easily and good filtration of the medium is required. Unless exceptionally complex shapes, and/or threads and/or controls are used in the design of the valve, the flow through needle valves is not a linear function of needle position. The needles themselves require precision manufacturing techniques. Since the needle requires several rotations from off to fully open they do not lend themselves to rapid automatic operation. It is also very difficult to arrange a needle valve for "fail safe" operation, i.e., should the valve actuator loose power, the valve cannot be spring or gravity returned to the off position. Moreover, the needle and seat surfaces are subject to damage due to brinelling scuffing and scoring.
Accordingly, there is a need for a valve that solves the problems associated with needle, ball and butterfly, valves. It is among the objects of the invention to provide a valve that simplifies manufacturing requirements. Another object of the invention is to provide a valve the provides a linear response curve. A further object is to provide a valve that allows for customized flow resistance versus valve position. These and other objects will become apparent from a reading of the following summary and detailed description of the illustrative embodiment.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A method of determining a relative condition of an ionizer in an ionization system includes placing the ionization system in a calibration mode, stepping the ionization system through one or more of a range of adjustments, collecting calibration data at each step and storing the calibration data in a memory, placing the ionization system in an operating mode, collecting real-time data regarding an output of the ionization system, comparing the real-time data to the calibration data and determining difference values therebetween, and using the difference values to determine the relative condition of the ionizer.

Air ionization is an effective method of creating or eliminating static charges on non-conductive materials and isolated conductors. Air ionizers generate large quantities of positive and negative ions in the surrounding atmosphere that serve as mobile carriers of charge in the air. As ions flow through the air, they are attracted to oppositely charged particles and surfaces. Creation or neutralization of electrostatically charged surfaces can be rapidly achieved through this process.
Air ionization may be performed using electrical ionizers, which generate ions in a process known as corona discharge. Electrical ionizers generate air ions by intensifying an electric field around a sharp point until the field overcomes the dielectric strength of the surrounding air. Negative corona discharge occurs when electrons are flowing from the electrode into the surrounding air. Positive corona discharge occurs as a result of the flow of electrons from the air molecules into the electrode.
Ionizer devices, such as an electrostatic charging system, an ionization system, or an alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) charge neutralizing system, take many forms, such as ionizing bars, air ionization blowers, air ionization nozzles, and the like, and are utilized to create or neutralize static electrical charge by emitting positive and negative ions into the workspace or onto the surface of an area. Ionizing bars are typically used in continuous web operations such as paper printing, polymeric sheet material, or plastic bag fabrication. Air ionization blower and nozzles are typically used in workspaces for assembling electronics equipment such as hard disk drives, integrated circuits, and the like, that are sensitive to electrostatic discharge (ESD). Electrostatic charging systems are typically used for pinning together paper products such as magazines or loose leaf paper.
Ionizers typically include at least one ionization emitter that is powered by a high voltage power supply. The charge produced by the ionization emitter is proportional to the current flowing through the high voltage supply into the ionization emitter. Over time, an ionizer may accumulate debris. In order to maintain optimal the performance of the ionizer, it is necessary to clean the ionizer in order to remove the debris. As an ionizer accumulates debris, the ionizer's charge will decrease and, therefore, the current flowing from the voltage supply into the ionizer will also decrease. Conventionally, the current flowing through the voltage supply into the ionizer can be measured by using the return leg of the high voltage transformer or supply, which allows the sum current from the supply to be measured.

Method and apparatus for self calibrating meter movement for ionization power supplies


A waler system includes a number of clamps each of which has a lower leg including a tab with a hole therein which is secured to the wall form of a poured concrete wall system by a standard pin connection. An upper leg of the clamp translates between a loading/unloading position so that a waler beam can be installed easily and conveniently on the clamp attached to the wall form. Each of the clamps is then simply translated into the clamping position by forcing the upper leg downwardly and inwardly toward the beam and the wall form. After the concrete has been poured and the wall cured, the waler system can be disassembled by simply translating the upper leg of each clamp upwardly and outwardly to disengage the waler beam. The transformation is assisted by a spring captured within the upper leg of each clamp.

This invention relates to concrete wall forms and, more particularly, to a waler system for concrete wall forms.
The construction of walls with poured concrete normally involves the use of a form system which includes a pair of spaced generally parallel wall forms. Each wall form is constructed with a plurality of aligned panels and the wall forms define a space between them in which the concrete is poured and allowed to cure. The forces tending to separate the wall forms under the tremendous liquid pressure of newly deposited concrete is resisted by a series of tie rods extending between the wall forms and located at the juncture between the adjacent panels of each wall form.
Typically, each panel of each wall form includes a plywood, metal or similar material panel portion reinforced on a back face thereof by flanges extending along the side, top and bottom edges of the panel. The flanges along the side edges of each panel are arranged vertically and are commonly referred to as "studs". The studs or flanges include a plurality of holes which, when aligned with the holes in the flange of the adjacent panel, provide an aperture through which a pin is typically inserted to connect the adjacent panels together and construct the wall form. Commonly, the pin includes a slot through which a wedge is inserted to further secure the assembly.
The displacement of the wall forms as a result of the pressure and forces exerted by the poured concrete is resisted by horizontally extending walers which extend transversely across a plurality of panels on the back side of the wall form. Walers of this type are commonly used to reinforce the wall form against the forces exerted by the concrete and to maintain respective panels in proper alignment to avoid unwanted displacement or wavering in the wall form resulting from misalignment of the respective panels with each other.
The prior art includes numerous waler designs for securing and attaching the waler beams to the back surface of the wall form panels. However, known waler systems typically do not allow for convenient and effective installation of the waler beams to provide a sturdy and effective reinforcement and alignment of the wall form panels. Further, typically the waler systems do not provide for convenient and user friendly attachment and removal of those systems from the wall form panels. Very often each wall form utilizes at least two waler beams including an upper and a lower horizontally extending waler beam. Furthermore, each waler beam requires a plurality of clamps for attachment to the wall form panels. Therefore, the installation and removal of the waler system on a single wall panel can include dozens or more attachment devices. Therefore, the installation and removal of the waler system during the construction of a poured concrete wall can prove to be very time consuming and burdensome for the worker.
Therefore, a need exists in the industry for a waler system which is convenient and easy to install and remove from the wall form panels while still effectively reinforcing the wall forms and maintaining the alignment of the respective panels.

Waler system and clamp for concrete wall forms


A device for utilizing combustion, residual and waste materials containing carbon and ash by gasification with an oxygen-containing oxidizing agent at temperatures above the melting point of the inorganic parts in a reaction chamber and at a pressure between ambient pressure and 60 bar. The reaction chamber contour is formed in part by a refractory-grade lining and in part by a cooling system comprising cooling coils connected in a gas-tight manner. The coils are coated with a thin layer of a ceramic mass that conducts heat well on a side facing the reaction chamber. The cooling coils are operated, while being cooled by pressurized water, below or above the boiling point of the cooling water.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for utilizing combustion and waste materials containing carbon and ash by means of gasification.
The device can be used wherever waste materials containing carbon and ash are gasified with oxygen or an oxidizing agent containing oxygen at increased or atmospheric pressure in a flame reaction at temperatures of at least 1100.degree. C.
2. Description of the Related Art
Combustion materials containing ash include solid fuels with greater or lesser ash content, such as brown coal and hard coal and their cokes, as well as oil and tars slightly loaded with inorganic components and mixtures thereof with solids. Waste materials containing ash include solids and liquids found in the waste and recycling industry, in particular, such as communal and industrial sludges, used oils, oils containing PCBs, plastic and household waste fractions and their processing products, light shredder from the processing of auto, cable and electronic scrap, and contaminated aqueous solutions.
In gas production technology, the autothermal fluidized gasification of solid, liquid and gaseous combustion materials has been known for years. The ratio of combustion material to gasification agents containing oxygen is selected in such a way that, for reasons of synthesis gas quality, the higher carbon compounds are completely cracked into synthesis gas components such as CO and H.sub.2, while the inorganic components are extracted as molten slag (see, i.e., J. Carl, P. Fritz, Noell-Konversion-Verfahren, EF Verlag fuer Energie- und Umwelttechnik GmbH, 1996, p. 39).
In various known systems the gasification gas and the molten slag can be extracted separately or jointly from the reaction chamber of the gasification device (see, i.e., F. J. Schweitzer, Thermoselect-Verfahren, EF Verlag fuer Energie- und Umwelttechnik GmbH 1994, p. 156).
German reference 4446803 A1 discloses that refractory-grade lined systems or cooled systems can be provided as the interior border for the reaction chambers of gasification systems.
Gasification systems equipped with refractory-grade linings have the advantage of lower heat losses, and thus provide energy-efficient conversion of the supplied combustion materials. However, such systems can be used only for ash-free combustion materials, because the molten slag that flows down the interior surface of the reaction chamber during the fluidized gasification process dissolves the refractory-grade lining. This means that only limited reactor runs are possible before costly relining becomes necessary.
To overcome this disadvantage, cooled systems based on the principle of a membrane wall have been created for combustion materials containing ash. The cooling initially causes a solid slag layer to form on the surface associated with the reaction chamber. The thickness of the solid slag layer increases until further slag ejected from the gasification area runs down this wall as a liquid and flows out of the reaction chamber, e.g., together with the gasification gas. Such systems are highly resistant and ensure long reactor runs. A substantial disadvantage of these systems, however, is that up to roughly 5% of the furnished energy is transferred to the cooled screen and is available only in the form of hot water or low-pressure steam. This can be a considerable disadvantage, especially in the case of low-caloric combustion materials and waste materials.
Various combustion and waste materials (e.g., oils containing heavy metals or light ash, tars and tar-oil-solid sludges) contain too little ash to form an adequate protective slag layer on the cooled reactor walls. This, too, leads to energy losses. On the other hand, in reactors with refractory-grade linings, the ash content of such materials is too high to avoid the melting or dissolution of the refractory-grade layer or to achieve sufficiently long reactor runs before re-lining is necessary.

Apparatus for gasification of combustion and waste materials containing carbon and ash

Noell-KRC Energie-und Umwelttechnik GmbH


A closet unit for a vehicle and a threshold assembly for use with a door are provided. The threshold assembly includes a threshold body that is coupleable to a frame of the closet unit with the threshold body including an opening formed therethrough. The threshold assembly further includes a striker component, in which the striker component includes a plate removably coupleable to the threshold body and a cup coupled to and offset from a center of the plate with the cup positionable through the opening of the threshold body. The threshold assembly further includes a fastener to removably couple the plate of the striker component to the threshold body.

Doors and interior closets within a vehicle, such as an aircraft, a train, an automobile, a bus, and/or a boat, are used to secure loads during transit of the vehicle. These doors and closets, however, may stick or jam, such as by having the loads move within the vehicle during transit, or from having components of the vehicle itself bend or move from transit (e.g., a fuselage of an aircraft bending during transit). A threshold assembly and a striker plate may be adjustable to avoid such sticking and jamming. However, such threshold assemblies and striker plates may be overly complicated and expensive, potentially resulting in other inconveniences.


A casing of a device has a pair of vertical side walls, and a plurality of vertically arranged optical discs. Each side wall has a vertical guide slit. A disc player has two pins projected from opposite sides. Elevation plates are horizontally slidably mounted on the vertical side walls at outsides thereof. Each of the elevation plates has a V-shaped guide slit comprising an upper diagonal slit and a lower diagonal slit. Each pin is slidably engaged with vertical guide slit and with the V-shaped guide slit so that disc player is held at a vertical position. The elevation plates are driven in a horizontal direction which is changed to an opposite direction at a joint between the upper diagonal slit and the lower diagonal slit. Thus, each of the pins is moved along the vertical guide slit and the V-shaped guide slit, so that the disc player is carried to a position corresponding an optical disc.

The present invention relates to an automatic disc changer having a disc player and a plurality of recording mediums such as optical discs stored therein so that the discs are automatically reproduced. More particularly, the invention relates to a carrier for transporting the disc player to a position for playing a desired disc.
There is known an automatic disc changer wherein a plurality of CDs are stored, and a desired CD is automatically taken out and transported to a disc player to be reproduced.
Referring to FIGS. 12a to 12c, an example of a conventional automatic disc changer has a disc storing section 103 wherein a magazine (not shown) holding a plurality of CDs 101, six in the present case, is disposed. The magazine has a plurality of horizontal trays 102, in each of which is disposed one CD, aligned in the vertical direction at a predetermined interval. A disc player 104 is provided adjacent the storing section 103 so that one of the CDs 101 can be pulled out of the magazine and carried to the disc player 104.
The disc player 104 comprises a turntable 105 mounted on a chassis 107 for rotating the CD 101, and a damper 106 for clamping the CD 101 on the turntable 105 during reproduction.
When a select switch (not shown) is operated to play one of the CDs 101, the disc player 104 is vertically moved along the alignment of the CDs 101 from the position shown in FIG. 12a to a position shown in FIG. 12b where the tray 102 holding a selected CD 101 is stored. A tray drawing device (not shown) in the disc player 104 draws out the designated tray 102 and carries the tray to a playing position between the turntable 105 and the clamper 106, as shown in FIG. 12b. The turntable 105 and the damper 106, in cooperation, hold the CD 101 therebetween so that the CD 101 is released from the tray 102 as shown in FIG. 12c. Hence the CD 101 is rotated by the operation of a motor (not shown) of the disc player 104 and a pickup (not shown) reproduces the information recorded on the CD.
The disc player 104 is thus provided with a carrier means for vertically moving the player, which is shown in FIGS. 13a and 13b. As shown in FIGS. 13a and 13b, vertical grooves 109 are formed in opposite side walls 112 of a casing of the disc changer. A pair of horizontally slideable plates 111 each having a diagonal groove 110 are disposed against the opposite side walls 112 of the casing so that the diagonal groove 110 and the vertical groove 109 cross each other. A chassis 107, which supports the turntable 105, is provided with a pair of pins 108 projecting sideways from the opposite sides of the chassis as shown in FIG. 13b. Each pin 108 engages the vertical groove 109 of the wall 112 and the diagonal groove 110 of the slidable plate 111 at the crossing of the grooves, so that the chassis 107 is held between the two opposite walls 112 of the casing.
When the slidable plates 111 simultaneously slide horizontally in the lateral direction thereof in accordance with the operation of a driving means (not shown), the pins 108 in the diagonal grooves 110 ascend or descend along the grooves 109 and 110. Thus, the chassis 107 supported by the pins 108 is vertically elevated or lowered. Although not specifically shown in the figures, a controller is provided to control the operation of the driving means. The disc player 4 is stopped at an appropriate position confronting the tray 102 with the selected CD 101.
Hence in the conventional disc changer, the disc player 104 is moved in the aligning direction of the CDs 101 and stopped at the desired position facing the tray 102 having the selected CD 101. The tray 102 is then drawn out and set in the disc player 104 to play the CD 101.
It is advantageous to the user of such a disc changer to increase the number of the CDs to be stored therein, because the trouble of exchanging the CDs is reduced. In order to increase the number of CDs 101, the volume of the magazine must be increased. As a result, the length of the alignment of the CDs is increased, inevitably increasing the traveling distance of the disc player 104.
Namely, a longer diagonal groove 110 must be formed in each slidable plate 111, rendering the sliding distance of the slidable plates longer. Accordingly, the size of the entire disc changer is enlarged so that the place where the disc changer can be disposed becomes restricted. Particularly in the case of an automotive disc changer, it is difficult to secure a sufficiently large space for the disc changer in a limited space of a vehicle.

Device for carrying a disc player in an automatic disc changer


Carbon powder having low temperature calcined carbon derived from pitch adhered to a portion of the surface of natural graphite powder is obtained by solids mixing of natural graphite powder and pitch powder as a carbon precursor followed by heat treatment at 900-1500° C. to carbonize the pitch. The amount of pitch powder is such that the ratio V2/V1 of the pore volume V2 of pores having a diameter of 50-200 nm to the pore volume V1 of pores having a diameter of 2-50 nm in a pore size distribution curve obtained by analysis of the nitrogen desorption isotherm of the resulting carbon powder by the BJH method is at least 1. This carbon powder can be used as a negative electrode material for a nonaqueous secondary battery able to operate at low temperatures.

The use of lithium ion secondary batteries as power supplies for portable electronic equipment is rapidly spreading. Carbon powder is used as the negative electrode material of a nonaqueous secondary battery typified by a lithium ion secondary battery. Due to the demand for small batteries with higher capacity, it has been attempted to increase the discharge capacity of negative electrode materials. To this end, synthetic graphite powder having a high degree of graphitization is primarily used as a negative electrode material for the current nonaqueous secondary batteries. In addition, in order to further increase the discharge capacity of a battery per unit volume, it has been attempted to increase the packing density of electrodes so as to make the electrode density higher.
There is another desire to lower the cost of negative electrode materials for nonaqueous secondary batteries. Particularly in large-sized batteries such as those for automobiles, since a large amount of negative electrode materials is used, there is an increasing demand for lower their costs. On this account, attempts have been made to use natural graphite, which is inexpensive and which has a high degree of graphitization and a high true specific gravity, in place of expensive synthetic graphite.
However, due to its extremely high degree of graphitization, natural graphite has problems such as a high reactivity with an electrolytic solution, which leads to an increase in irreversible capacity caused by decomposition of the electrolytic solution, and deterioration of battery properties such as shelf stability and safety. Recently, in batteries for use in automobiles such as electric cars or hybrid cars, since they sometimes must operate at low temperatures, it has been attempted to use an electrolytic solution containing propylene carbonate (abbreviated below as PC), which is a low melting point liquid (melting point −49° C.), as a nonaqueous solvent. However, graphite powder having a high degree of graphitization causes decomposition of PC, so natural graphite powder cannot be used as it is in batteries as a negative electrode material in combination with a PC-based electrolytic solution (i.e., a nonaqueous electrolytic solution containing propylene carbonate as a solvent).
In order to suppress the reactivity of graphite powder having a high degree of graphitization with an electrolytic solution, there have been many attempts to use a multilayered carbon powder prepared by coating the surface of graphite powder with a carbonaceous material having a low degree of graphitization called turbostratic carbon or low temperature calcined carbon.
JP H08-50897 A1 discloses carbon powder prepared by heating a carbon precursor such as pitch to melt, mixing the resulting melt with graphite powder, and subjecting the mixture to heat treatment at a low temperature to form carbon powder in which the surface of the graphite powder is coated with turbostratic carbon having a low degree of graphitization (low temperature calcined carbon).
JP H04-368778 A1 discloses carbon powder formed by depositing turbostratic carbon with a low degree of graphitization on the surface of graphite powder by the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method.
Each of the above-described multilayered carbon powders is based on the concept of using graphite powder as a core and coating its entire surface with carbon having a low degree of graphitization in order to suppress its reactivity with an electrolytic solution. Therefore, a large amount of carbon having a low degree of graphitization is used as a coating material.
Carbon having a low degree of graphitization such as low temperature calcined carbon exhibits a gradual change in electrode potential. In addition, it has charge and discharge voltages vs lithium which are higher than those of graphite. Therefore, the use of a multilayered carbon powder having a core of graphite coated with such carbon result in a decreased battery voltage compared to current batteries using graphite alone as a negative electrode material. Accordingly, under actual conditions of use, the multilayered carbon powder produces a battery with a decreased discharge capacity and decreased charge-discharge efficiency. In addition, carbon having a low degree of graphitization such as low temperature calcined carbon has a low true specific gravity compared to graphite, and it is extremely hard. Therefore, with the multilayered carbon powder, the density of an electrode cannot be sufficiently increased by compression, and the discharge capacity per unit volume becomes smaller than that of graphite powder. Furthermore, when pitch which melts when heated is used for coating, if a large amount of pitch is used, the amount of liquid phase formed by heating so increases that aggregation of powder particles occurs during heat treatment. As a result, there is the problem that an additional grinding step becomes necessary, resulting in an increase in costs.
For this reason, it has been proposed to coat a core of graphite powder with a limited amount of carbon having a low degree of graphitization such as low temperature calcined carbon.
JP 2000-58052 A1 discloses a method of manufacturing a carbon material in which graphite powder is immersed in a melt of carbon precursor such as pitch, and after washing the powder with a solvent to remove excess carbon precursor deposited thereon, it is heated to carbonize the deposited carbon precursor. JP H09-213328 A1 discloses a method in which graphite powder is mixed with a carbon precursor such as pitch in a solvent, and the mixture is heated with stirring to remove the solvent and then calcined for carbonization.
These two methods are also based on the concept of using graphite powder as a core material and coating the entire surface of the graphite powder with a carbon powder having a low degree of graphitization to suppress a reaction with an electrolytic solution. In these methods, pitch, which is a carbon precursor, is used in a liquid phase for contact with graphite powder. Therefore, a portion of the pitch is consumed for filling the relatively large pores of the graphite powder. As a result, pitch has to be use in a considerably large amount. If the amount of pitch which is used is insufficient to completely coat the surface of the graphite powder, a portion of the surface of the graphite powder is exposed, and the charge-discharge characteristics in PC-based electrolytic solution cannot be improved to a desired level.
A common problem in the technology disclosed in the above-described patent documents is that due to coating of the entire surface of graphite powder with carbon having a low degree of graphitization, the contact resistance between particles of the resulting carbon powder increases, leading to a decrease in rate capability (i.e., rapid charge characteristics and high rate discharge characteristics) of batteries.
JP 2003-100292 A1 proposes a method in which pitch powder and graphite powder are simply mixed in a solid phase and the mixture is then subjected to heat treatment at a temperature of 600 to 800° C. Since that method is intended to obtain a negative electrode material having a capacity exceeding the theoretical capacity of graphite (372 mAh/g), pitch powder is used in a large amount for mixing with graphite powder. The electrochemical properties of the negative electrode material were tested using a PC-free electrolytic solution, so its charge-discharge characteristics in PC-based electrolytic solutions is unknown. Because this material contains a large amount of pitch-derived low temperature calcined carbon having a low degree of graphitization, it unavoidably has the problems that the battery voltage cannot be increased and that the discharge capacity per unit volume cannot be improved due to its electrode density which cannot be increased.
JP 2003-272625 proposes a graphite material having a controlled pore volume. Specifically, it proposes a graphite material in which the ratio V2/V1 is in the range of 2.2-3.0, wherein V1 is the pore volume of pores having a diameter of 4-10 nm and V2 is the pore volume of pores having a diameter of 30-100 nm. That patent document explains that charging load characteristics are deteriorated when V2/V1 is above this range, while if it is below this range, the specific surface area of the material becomes so large that the initial efficiency of a battery decreases. The pore volume in that patent document is determined from the pore size distribution on the adsorption side measured by the BJH (Barrett-Joyner-Halenda) method using nitrogen adsorption. This graphite material is prepared by surface oxidation treatment of graphite particles at 500-1500° C. There is no description in that document concerning electrode density or charge-discharge characteristics in PC-based electrolytic solutions.

Carbon powder suitable as a negative electrode material for nonaqueous secondary batteries


A computing environment of the invention comprises a graph structure, or multiple interconnected graph structures, the behavior of which is driven by data flow through interconnected nodes, independent of an external code base. The computer system may include a plurality of interconnected nodes in which data flow between the nodes drives execution of one or more functions and wherein code within the system is restricted to said nodes, each of which performs a dedicated function and an engine to drive communication between said system and operating hardware. Data are injected into a node and the node responds by outputting a value (data) to one or more subsequent nodes. Those nodes, in turn, output a behavior that is dependent upon the value (data) they received from one or more other nodes. Thus, it is the data that drives operation of the graph and not a traditional code stack.

Traditional computing systems consist of thousands or even billions of lines of continuous code, often referred to as source code. The source code typically is transformed by a compiler into object code or machine language. In some coding environments, source code is run through an interpreter which converts the source code to an intermediate form which then executes a specified function. In either case, any code changes require a run-stop and recompiling of code once the changes are made. There typically is no effective way to continuously run a program while making changes to the functions performed by that program. In addition, code typically is not readily interchangeable so that a library in one language cannot simply be placed in an existing code base in another language.
Some advanced operating systems make use of a graph structure. A graph is a non-linear data structure consisting of nodes and edges or vertices. Nodes can connect to edges in a number of different ways and can be as simple or complex as desired for a particular application. Edges can be "directed" such that communication between the nodes flows in only one direction, or edges can be "undirected" in which communication can flow in either direction. Graphs have been used as a formal way to describe a network. In mathematical terms, a graph consists of ordered sets of pairs and is often represented by a set with nodes and edges expressed as G=(V,E), where V=(v1, v2 . . . ) and E=(e1, e2 . . . ). In computer operating systems, nodes are defined as ordered objects in the form of code. In a traditional graph structure, data are stored at the nodes, and edges connect nodes to each other. Graph structures are common in computer science and are used, for example, to model airline trafficking and social networks. The internet itself is a large graph. Traditional graph structures are represented in one of two common ways. The first is called an adjacency matrix. An adjacency matrix shows which nodes are connected to each other via one or more edges. Alternatively, vertices and edges in a graph structure can also be represented in an adjacency list. Additional specificity can be attained by weighting edges to indicate the importance of a particular connection or connections between nodes. In most graph structures, a code base is used to direct communication between nodes. Traditional graph-based structures rely on an external wall of code that drives execution within the graph. Thus, a traditional graph structure must access code in order to perform any actions specified by the code. The graph structure itself is unable to perform any useful action absent an external code base. The external code is typically composed of many thousands or millions of lines of code.
Regardless of the configuration of the graph, all traditional graph structures are driven by an external code base and require run-stops and compilers in the same way required by linear code. The external code base is what drives execution of graph behavior. Moreover, code in most graph structures is not modular and any change in a section of code must be compiled in order for the code to run. Thus, traditional code (whether in a graph structure or not) is not ideal for continuous function or modular code changes without interrupting run-stops and recompiling of code.


An adapter that electrically couples a portable touchpad keyboard to a portable electronic appliance, wherein the adapter couples a proprietary connector of a portable electronic appliance to an interface of the portable touchpad keyboard through a modified pin connector assembly, and wherein the portable touchpad keyboard also includes a physical support assembly on a bottom portion thereof, wherein the support assembly is unfolded and extended partway therefrom to thereby provide a physical support area on which to rest the portable electronic appliance, wherein the support assembly is unfolded in order to extend the support assembly far enough away from the portable touchpad keyboard to thereby support portable electronic appliances whose physical dimensions are relatively long when compared to a width of the portable touchpad keyboard.

This invention relates generally to a system for coupling a touchpad-based keyboard to a portable electronic appliance, wherein the system includes providing physical support for the portable electronic appliance when coupled to the touchpad keyboard, and interchangeable connectors that enable a plurality of different portable electronic appliances to be coupled to the same touchpad keyboard.
The prior art of portable keyboards that can be coupled to portable electronic appliances includes mechanical keyboards. These mechanical keyboards apparently are of two different designs. The first design is generally smaller than a normal desktop-type keyboard, but is considered to be portable, or to at least be capable of being connected to a portable electronic appliance. The keys are discrete but small mechanical buttons, and so the design of the keyboard is simply smaller than a standard keyboard. It should be mentioned that the portable electronic devices include personal digital assistants (PDAs).
The next type of portable keyboard design is more mechanically complex than a miniaturized keyboard described above because it is designed to be more portable. The complexity comes from the desire to enable the keyboard to collapse so that it can be carried more easily. A collapsing keyboard is one that can be folded to a relatively compact shape. For example, a collapsible keyboard of the prior art will fold to make four different sections. The sections are relatively thin, but when stacked on top of each other in a folded position, the thickness is often greater than the thickness of even the largest PDA.
The collapsible keyboards are also mechanical in nature. That is, the buttons are mechanical, but generally larger than the keys found in a non-collapsible keyboard. This is because the ability to fold enables the keyboard to assume larger dimensions when unfolded into a usable position than the non-collapsible keyboards.
It has been observed that despite the proliferation of portable electronic devices, there are generally no standard interfaces to them. Furthermore, the interfaces, even along a product line of a single company continue to evolve. Thus, a portable keyboard must be designed specifically for each type of portable electronic device. This can become expensive for a purchaser and the manufacturer. This also reduces the ability of the manufacturer to respond to market demands because an entire keyboard must be manufactured, instead of taking an existing keyboard and providing an adapter that is specific to the portable electronic device.
Thus, it would be an advantage over the prior art to provide a single portable keyboard that was adaptable for use with a plurality of different portable electronic devices by providing an adapter.
It is also the case that the prior art portable mechanical keyboards are relatively large when compared to the size of the portable electronic device to which they are coupled.
Accordingly, it would be another advantage to provide a smaller portable keyboard that can be used with the plurality of different portable electronic devices, through the use of the adapter.
It is also noted that the portable mechanical keyboards of the prior art are generally more susceptible to breaking than a standard desktop keyboard. This is probably a function of the environment in which the keyboards operate. In other words, a portable device is going to be knocked around and receive rougher treatment than a stationary keyboard.
Accordingly, it would be another advantage to provide a keyboard input device for use with the adapters that is not as susceptible to damage as are the portable keyboards that have mechanical keys.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a connector and physical support system that enables a portable touchpad keyboard to be used with a plurality of different portable electronic appliances.
It is another object to provide a connector and support system that enables the portable touchpad keyboard to be used with the plurality of different portable electronic appliances by using an appropriate adapter selected from a plurality of adapters.
It is another object to provide a connector and physical support system that lowers costs for using a portable touchpad keyboard with a plurality of different portable electronic appliances by providing a portable touchpad keyboard that can be used with all of the portable electronic appliances.
It is another object to provide a connector and physical support system that provides a modified pin connector in the adapter that couples the portable touchpad keyboard to the portable electronic appliance.
In a preferred embodiment, the present invention is an adapter that electrically couples a portable touchpad keyboard to a portable electronic appliance, wherein the adapter couples a proprietary connector of a portable electronic appliance to an interface of the portable touchpad keyboard through a modified pin connector assembly, and wherein the portable touchpad keyboard also includes a physical support assembly on a bottom portion thereof, wherein the support assembly is unfolded and extended partway therefrom to thereby provide a physical support area on which to rest the portable electronic appliance, wherein the support assembly is unfolded in order to extend the support assembly far enough away from the portable touchpad keyboard to thereby support portable electronic appliances whose physical dimensions are relatively long when compared to a width of the portable touchpad keyboard.
In a first aspect of the invention, the modified pin connection is comprised of a saddle mount connector for coupling an adapter to an electronic circuit board of the portable touchpad keyboard.
In a second aspect of the invention, the saddle mount connector includes a tuning fork pin which couples the adapter to the PC board at a right angle.
In a third aspect of the invention, the support assembly pivots outward away from the underside of the portable touchpad keyboard to thereby extend itself beneath the portable electronic appliance, and thereby form a triangular support system.
These and other objects, features, advantages and alternative aspects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in combination with the accompanying drawings.

Connector and support system for a touchpad keyboard for use with portable electronic appliances